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 her 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 about, 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 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
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 her 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 about, 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 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
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