The Harlotry of Idolatry

Ezekiel 23:22-35

22 "Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD:
'Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,
From whom you have alienated yourself,
And I will bring them against you from every side:

23 The Babylonians,
All the Chaldeans,
Pekod, Shoa, Koa,
All the Assyrians with them,
All of them desirable young men,
Governors and rulers,
Captains and men of renown,
All of them riding on horses.

24 And they shall come against you
With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,
With a horde of people.
They shall array against you
Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.
'I will delegate judgment to them,
And they shall judge you according to their judgments.

25 I will set My jealousy against you,
And they shall deal furiously with you;
They shall remove your nose and your ears,
And your remnant shall fall by the sword;
They shall take your sons and your daughters,
And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.
26 They shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.

27 'Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry
Brought from the land of Egypt,
So that you will not lift your eyes to them,
Nor remember Egypt anymore.'

28 "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself. 29 They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. 30 I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.'

32 "Thus says the Lord GOD:
'You shall drink of your sister's cup,
The deep and wide one;
You shall be laughed to scorn
And held in derision;
It contains much.

33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You shall drink and drain it,
You shall break its shards,
And tear at your own breasts;

For I have spoken,'
Says the Lord GOD.

35 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
'Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back,
Therefore you shall bear the penalty
Of your lewdness and your harlotry.'"

Judgment on Jerusalem fell because of their harlotry of spiritual adultery in worshiping very lifeless and powerless rock and wooden idols in place of the very much living God who is high above the heavens (Psalm 113:4).  Oholibah who chose to worship idols in tents on the high places was given over to her enemies by the LORD God for such defiance and denial of His sovereign rule and due worship as their Creator and Sustainer (Isaiah 43:15, 21).  God handed them over, delegating His judgment into their hands to attack and bring His justice on them as if it was their own.  Whoever was left would be devoured by the sword and by fire in His furious judgment on their sin of idolatry in substituting dead gods for the Living One and immortality for following His word for their good and His glory of holiness which they should have imitated.  It is a fearful thing (Hebrews 10:30-31) to fall into the hands of the living God!  God would put a stop to such lewdness and harlotry which is idolatry by hard discipline to correct them to,and through confession and repentance.  Because they followed the nations who did not know or serve God, He would hand them over for correction and destruction (1 Corinthians 5:5) of their sinful desires.  Jerusalem was warned by the bad example of her sister Samaria of the same consequences they would face for following that bad example and drink deeply of the results.  This was God’s word to them.  Because they had cast off the LORD and made idolatry and immorality their objects of worship, they would be made as lifeless as their idols and suffer the just due of lewd living contrary to the word of God.  Remember the consequences of the harlotry and adultery of God’s people before us.  May we learn from this and not do the same as Jerusalem and Samaria in these temples of our bodies where God dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19-20, but live according to God’s word by the power of His Holy Spirit living in us and leading us for His name’s sake which is to the glory, honor, and praise of Him and not any worthless and transitory substitute of affection or devotion.  May we learn the principles of this example’s lesson of what not to do and do what is right in honoring our Lord.