Two Sisters

 

Ezekiel 23:22-35

 

December 20, 2023

Two Sisters

Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors, and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.  And they shall come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.  And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire.  They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.  Thus, I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring have brought this upon you because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.  You have gone the way of your sister; therefore, I will give her cup into your hand.  Thus says the Lord God: “You shall drink your sister's cup that is deep and large; you shall be laughed at and held in derision, for it contains much; you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow.  A cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria; you shall drink it and drain it out, and gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.  Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

We have two sisters, Israel and Judah. Israel went after the little gods of their neighbors, and God brought Judgment on them.  Then Judah became more evil than Israel, and they experienced God’s wrath.

I sound like a broken record, but what about you, are you allowing this present darkness to dim the light that lives in you, in our nation God spoke these words to Judah, are we not guilty of much the same?  Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

It is time to be the light of the world, for it has lost its soul seeking the little gods that have no power to do anything.  Matthew 5:16 gives us marching orders; “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” And the apostle Paul gives us this insight on how to do so. In Ephesians 5:8-10, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, discerning what is pleasing to the Lord.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

Oholah and Oholibah

 

Ezekiel 23:1-21

 

December 15, 2023

 

Oholah and Oholibah

The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.  They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled.  Oholah was the name of the elder, and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

“Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians, warriors clothed in purple, governors, and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.  She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted.  She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth, men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her.  Therefore, I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.  These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women when judgment had been executed on her.

“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister.  She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.  And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way.  But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea.  When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.  And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust.  When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister.  Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses.  Thus, you longed for the lewdness of your youth when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts.”

 

 

This chapter describes the spiritual infidelity of Israel and Judah, picturing them as two sisters.

 

Ezekiel refers to Oholah and Oholibah and identifies them as Samaria (the capital of Israel) and Jerusalem (the capital of Judah) in Ezekiel 23:4. The sisters are “daughters of the same mother” (verse 2) because Israel and Judah were originally one nation, Israel. The meanings of two names have special significance. Oholah means “her own tent or tabernacle”—Samaria had a separate worship place apart from the temple in Jerusalem. Oholibah means “my tabernacle is in her”—this represents Jerusalem, where God did establish worship.

Both Oholah and Oholibah engaged in prostitution (spiritual infidelity) in Egypt in their youth (Ezekiel 23:3). The older sister, Oholah, later played the harlot with the Assyrians (verses 5–8). That is, Samaria and Israel had sought fulfillment and security by aligning themselves with idolatrous Assyria. The punishment of Oholah fit her crime: “Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword” (verses 9–10). Israel was conquered, and its people were deported to Assyria in 722 BC (2 Kings 17). The Assyrians were the instruments God used to inflict His judgments upon Israel.

In Ezekiel 23:11–21, Ezekiel portrays the younger sister, Oholibah, as even more corrupt and promiscuous than Oholah. Rather than learning from her sister’s mistakes, Oholibah craved after the Babylonian idols and then the Chaldean lifestyle, committing spiritual prostitution with the Babylonians. Because of Jerusalem’s and Judah’s idolatries, God alienated Himself from them and allowed them, too, to be taken into captivity: “I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury” (verses 24–25). Oholibah had learned nothing from her sister’s sad story, and Judah finally fell to Babylon in 586 BC.  (Taken from Got Question)

 

What about the spiritual infidelity of the USA?  How about in the Church, is there pride, arrogance, theft, hate, and unbelief?  Now, in a pagan nation as we have become, where both man’s law and God’s are made little of, do you not have spiritual infidelity, much the same as God is talking about to Ezekiel, His prophet,​of Israel, and Judah?

 

So, as you go are you being a light to a lost world? ​ Are you telling them what Jesus has done for you and desires to do for them?   How will you be? I found that each morning, I must ask the Lord to guard my mouth and let me be light so that someone will ask me about the hope and peace I seem to have.  And I can tell them about Jesus.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

JESUS LOVES ME

 

 

JESUS LOVES ME

 

My Dearest_______________

 

I love you!

I shed my own blood for you…to make you clean.  Please, I don’t call common and unclean that which I called clean!  You are new…so believe it is true!  You are lovely in my eyes. I created you to be just as you are.  Don’t criticize yourself for not being perfect in your own eyes.  This leads only to frustration.

         I want you, trust Me,______________

One step…one day at a time.  Dwell in my power and love…and be free…be yourself.  Don’t allow other people to control you!  I will guide you…If you will let Me.

         Be aware of my presence in everything.  I give your patience…love…joys, and peace.  Look to Me for answers.  I am the Shepherd, and I will lead you.  Follow Me only! Do not forget this.

         Listen, and I will tell you My will.

Please understand I love you__________.  I love you!  Let it flow from you…spill over to all you touch.  Don’t be concerned with yourself…you are My responsibility.  I will change you without you hardly knowing it.  You are to love yourself and others…simply because I love you!  Take your eyes off yourself!  Be confident in My love.  Look only to Me!  I lead…I change…I mold, but not when you are trying; I won’t fight your efforts.  Let Me have the joy of making you like Christ.  Let Me Love You!  Let Me give you happiness!  No one else can!  You see________ you are not your own.  You have been bought with blood…now you belong to Me, and I love you…

Just because you are Mine.  It is none of your business how I deal with you.  Your only comment is to look to Me!  Never to yourself, never to others.  Don’t struggle…don’t fight…and don’t rebel…but trust Me!   I know what is best and I will do it for you.  How I long for you to allow Me to love you freely!  My will is perfect…My love is sufficient…I will supply your needs…for I love you.

Jesus                                                                  Author unknown

Israel's Shedding of Blood

 

Ezekiel 22:23-31

 

December 19, 2023

 

Israel's Shedding of Blood

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.  The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.  Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths so that I am profaned among them.  Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.  And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.  The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.  And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.  Therefore, I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

 

Have you lived in a time of Fear?  If you were alive during COVID-19, you lived in a time of Fear.  Many false prophets, such as Dr. Fauci, told so many lies, like the mask would protect you, that we need to shut down our businesses and stay in our homes.  Then we would be safe, and the answer was to take a Covid shot, then you would never get Covid, and next came the booster shot, and we witnessed many who still got Covid, and many died from the shot, or got very sick, and are still sick.  

What about the little children who were required to wear a mask to school, and also the closing of schools? Yes, we listen to the false prophets and not to God.

And preachers who are supposed to listen to God, listen instead to the government, and doctors who were some of the biggest Fear providers, and did not allow their congelation to do as God had commanded, to assemble, and worship.

 

Many of us who were experiencing this Fear did not listen to the false prophets, and some of us got COVID-19, but we did not die. I got COVID-19, and cannot be sure if it was COVID or other things like blood pressure medicine, that removed the salt from my body, made my sodium drop way below 100.  I was told by my doctor that I had double pneumonia, and he was clear it was not from Covid.  My point, Jan and I did not get the shots, we were sure that after asking the Lord, he said not to do so.  We also did not stay home, nor wear a mask, but where it was required.  We did our best not to look at the Fear that was being sold, and look to the Lord for our direction, as many in the Church did.  And many others outside the Church also did not buy into the lies that were being told.

 

It is my understanding of Scripture that not one person died before the moment that God had numbered their days on planet Earth.  If I’m wrong, I’ll have no doubt someone will correct me.  Fear works, and in that it was so successful for those who want to control the public, it will be used again.

 

Fear is a tool of unbelief, and faith is a tool of God, so choose this day who you will serve. Scripture tells us to fear God, not man.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Dross has to be remove to have the pure thing

 

Ezekiel 22:17-31

 

December 14, 2023

 

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.  Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.  As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.  I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.  As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”

What is God saying when He compares Israel to dross?   “DROSS is the scum or unwanted material that forms on the surface of molten metal.”  And fire is used to remove it from the metal.

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.  The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.  Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths so that I am profaned among them.  Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.  And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.  The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.  And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore, I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

 

 Israel and her prophets are liars, and looking for personal gain, they have no regard for the people and are responsible for making many widows.  Is that not a close parallel to what is happening in our day?

 

God is not happy with the priests, because they were not teaching God's precepts and commandments.  Is that also a problem with the priest and preacher today, who do not teach the Scriptures, but are doing what 2 Timothy 4:3-4 said they would do?  “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”  We, the Church, have seen many who have gone after teachers that suit their own passions, and truth is what they say it is, with no regard for what Scripture states.

 

Her princes sound a lot like many in the Congress and Senate of the United States of America; they seek only power and wealth, with no regard for the people.  Many have entered office with little wealth, but not many leave office that way.  And we, the people, have allowed this to happen.

 

The prophets had said God had spoken when they knew that God had not, and they would receive a special place in Hell if they did not repent and confess.

 

The people have no regard for the law of man or God and have done all kinds of evil.  And the Church as a whole is silent.

And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.   Have we forgotten that God often uses a total pagan to bring about His will? I do not know anyone's heart, but we sure need to be praying for our next President and remember that we have an election, but God puts whom He desires in office, to bless or to curse.  And often He allows the people to get the one they want.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Israel's Shedding of Blood

 

Ezekiel 22:1-16 

 

December 13, 2023

 

Israel's Shedding of Blood

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.  You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!  You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near; the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore, I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.  Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

“Behold, the princes of Israel in you, everyone according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.  Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.  You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.  There are men in you who slander to shed blood and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.  In you, men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you, they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity.  One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another, in you violates his sister, his father's daughter.  In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

“Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.  Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.  I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.  And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

 

A nation that is asleep, a sinful people who have rejected God, in their desire to live life on their terms.  I am not a Prophet, but a follower of Jesus Christ, and I believe we, the Church, are more like them than we understand.  Were there not Prophets like and priests who saw and understood how Israel was becoming an abomination to God, and they kept silent?  That is what the Church has done.  Overall, we, the Church, have been witness to The Consequences of Roe v. Wade, 63,459,781 Total abortions since 1973. (Taken from National Rights to Life).  One evil woman was used by the devil to steal, kill, and destroy the lives of over 63 million babies, and as a whole, we, the Church, were silent.  We watched our nation get invaded by people who have no regard for our law and who lie when caught. They say as a whole, they are fleeing from persecution. We, the Church, have been silent and allowed our school system to fill our kids with untruths, and have told our children that God made a mistake, and they should be another gender.  And we have allowed some of the evilest people to be our representatives in Washington; they do not care about this nation or its people, they are in it for themselves.  And we keep silent, payday is coming, and the house of God will be the first to be judged.  You will find that in 1 Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

God's Judgment on a Rebellous People

 

Ezekiel 21:14-34

 

December 12, 2023

 

 “As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them,  that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. At all their gates, I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up for slaughter.  Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.  I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I, the Lord, have spoken.”

 

We who have been so blessed should have a hard time grasping God doing this to Israel, His chosen people.  Let it be a wake-up call to the Church: our Father in Heaven will not put up with rebellion, even from His chosen, much less from His Church.

 

The word of the Lord came to me again: “As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city.  Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem, the fortified. For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. But to them, it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken.

 

The king of Babylon is using his 'idols', or 'household god(s for divination, but it is God who is pulling the string; he is God's instrument for the destruction of both Israel and Judah.  

 

“Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear, because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.  And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted.  A ruin, ruin, ruin, I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.

“And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning—while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.  Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.  And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy.  You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice