Deeper Commentary
Ezekiel 23:2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one
mother- Unlike the similar lurid passage in Ez. 16, this appears to
be a private revelation to Ezekiel, addressed personally as "son of man".
Perhaps he still struggled to realize that the priesthood and society he
had come from were really as bad as God saw them to be. The Jews
considered the Israelites of the ten tribes to have been so far worse than
themselves that they had gone into captivity in Assyria. One purpose of
this allegory was to remind them that Israel were not worse than Judah; in
fact the opposite was the case, and they were all the same sisters.
Ezekiel 23:3 And they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the
prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there
were fondled the breasts of their virginity-
Ezekiel 23:4 Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister:
and they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters- God's grace
is here noted, that He married such defiled women; and by grace, they had
children, when prostitutes were stereotypically perceived as barren.
Ezekiel 23:5 Oholah played the prostitute when she was Mine; and she doted
on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours- Those lovers turned
on her and destroyed her. She was taken captive to Assyria, the people
whose gods she had so loved. "Doted" is literally 'to breathe after', the
language of a woman in heat. This is how God presents her attraction to
the Assyrian idols. And the word and extreme image is repeatedly used here
(:7,9,12,16,20).
Ezekiel 23:6 Who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them
desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses- It was as horsemen
that the young men of Assyria came as soldiers to destroy Samaria and lead
her into captivity. Her rulers were attractive because Israel thought that
they had power to protect and save them instead of their God. And there
again is a timeless warning. What they found so attractive turned to be
their destruction. It was God's Kingdom which should have been "desirable"
to Israel (s.w. Is. 27:2; 32:12), but the passing visual attraction of the
world was more "desirable".
Ezekiel 23:7 She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of
Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she
defiled herself- Idolatry is presented as prostitution. But she
"bestowed her prostitution on them", rather than them coming to
her. For "doted" see on :5. Every relationship with the idols of our age
is likewise prostitution against the God who has so loved us. "Choicest
men" is used of soldiers (Dan. 11:15; Jer. 48:15; Ex. 15:4). It was the
protection of Assyria's handsome soldiers which was so attractive to
Israel; and therefore they agreed to serve their idols to have their
protection. And it was those same soldiers who were to turn and destroy
them.
Ezekiel 23:8 Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of
Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they fondled the breasts of
her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her- Israel
is presented as having been sexually unstable from her youth; her
subsequent encounter with Yahweh, her marriage to Him and His pouring out
His love upon her... didn't change her basic mentality. She was not
serious, light minded, and went to whatever her eyes and flesh were
attracted to. This is our tendency as humans. She didn't leave her
prostitution "for" or because she had lost her virginity in Egypt, before
she met Yahweh. The long term effect of her idolatry there, just like the
long term effect of sexual promiscuity in youth, was that she never
settled down to a stable monogamous relationship, even though she had the
best ever husband.
Ezekiel 23:9 Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into
the hand of the Assyrians on whom she doted- For "doted" see on :5.
It was appropriate that she should be delivered into the hand or power of
the Assyrians, for they were the ones she had loved more than Yahweh.
Ezekiel 23:10 These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her
daughters and her they killed with the sword, and she became a byword
among women; for they executed judgments on her- The 'death' of the
ten tribes must be compared to the insistence of all the restoration
prophets that a revived Israel and Judah would together return to the land
and form God's reestablished Kingdom. This has to imply that the slain
Samaria would be as it were resurrected; which is what Ez. 37 predicts, a
resurrection of the dry bones. The uncovering of nakedness implies shame,
as does becoming a byword. This was a fate worse than death in their
terms. The uncovering her nakedness means she was revealed for who she
was- a worn out whore, self-ruined by her profligate life. What was
uncovered by the Assyrians was her whoredom (:29). The Assyrians realized
that Samaria had not been faithful to them as she had promised, but in
fact had made similar agreements with other powers, and also worshipped
their gods- as well as Yahweh. It was this discovery which made the
Assyrians so angry with Samaria, just as the Babylonians were to be with
Judah.
Ezekiel 23:11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in
her doting than she, and in her prostitution which was more than the
prostitution of her sister- This repeats Jeremiah's message to the
Jews still in the land (Jer. 3:7). For "doting" see on :5. The idea seems
to be that Jerusalem was encouraged in her immorality by Samaria. The
reasoning was that because the sanctuary was in Jerusalem, Judah were
automatically more righteous than Israel, and could therefore sin more
than her. This is where mere tokenism and externality leads in religious
life- to spiritual and literal immorality. "Corrupt" is the word used
about the situation before the flood, when the eretz was again
"corrupt" and was "destroyed" (Gen. 6:11-13)- both are valid translations
of the same Hebrew word. To be corrupt was to destroy oneself. The
judgment was the sin.
Ezekiel 23:12 She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her
neighbours, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of
them desirable young men-
Ezekiel 23:13 I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way-
Again it is stressed that Judah was not better than Israel, as she
imagined; she took the same "way". "Defiled" means that she was no longer
a virgin (s.w. Gen. 34:5,13,27). But she had lost her virginity in Egypt;
it was there that she had been defiled by idolatry (Ez. 20:7). The idea
therefore is that God recognized that this was how she had been from the
beginning; He "saw" the iniquity in His people which earlier by grace He
had not 'seen' because He imputed righteousness to them, as the object of
His love (Num. 23:21). It was specifically the temple which was "defiled"
(s.w. Jer. 32:34; Ez. 5:11; 43:7), and perhaps that is the location of
"the wall" in :14.
Ezekiel 23:14 She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on
the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion- I
suggested on :13 that the context is of the temple. It could be that Jews
went to the land of the Chaldeans and were impressed with the friezes on
their walls, coloured with bright red. For they loved anything foreign,
rather than the things of Yahweh. But more likely were these friezes
replicated on the walls of the temple. Instead of the motif of the
protecting cherubim within the temple, there were friezes of Chaldean
soldiers, her pinups, her heroes and preferred saviours. "The wall" in Ez.
8:10; 43:8 refers specifically to the wall dividing the holy and most holy
place; there, perhaps on the inside of the most holy, there were the
friezes of idols and Chaldean warriors, used in a pornographic
sense.
Ezekiel 23:15 Dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans
on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the
Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth- See on :23. The men
depicted on the wall (:14) were like the Babylonian soldiers
depicted on the friezes in the palaces and cities of the Chaldeans. The
Jews had visited these lands and in their love for anything foreign, had
replicated such motifs and friezes upon the walls of the temple.
Ezekiel 23:16 As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent
messengers to them into Chaldea- For "doted" see on :5. She sent to
Chaldea for these men to come to her, suggesting the pictures of the men
were on the walls of the Jerusalem temple, and even within the holy places
(see on :15). It is stereotypically men who respond to visual
representations of females. Here it was men responding to the
pictures of Chaldean men. It could be a reference to homosexual
attraction, but the idea was that the lust was for the military protection
of these soldiers; when the entire Angelic army symbolized by the cherubim
was ready to protect Jerusalem. But they had removed the cherubim motif
and replaced it with these images.
Ezekiel 23:17 The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they
defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and
her soul was alienated from them- Judah felt that she had not been
given the protection and support from Babylon which she had expected.
Ezekiel 23:18 So she displayed her prostitution, and uncovered her
nakedness: then My soul was alienated from her, like as My soul was
alienated from her sister-
Ezekiel 23:19 Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of
her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt-
Despite God's departure from her, perhaps symbolized by the visible
departure of the cherubim and glory from the temple described earlier in
Ezekiel, she instead repeated her prostitution and multiplied it, by
trying to make treaties with the Egyptians and accepting their idols and
gods.
Ezekiel 23:20 She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of
donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses- For "doted" see
on :5. The language here is crude, but it reflects the crude nature of
Jerusalem's attraction towards the other nations simply on the basis of
their external attributes. Donkeys or asses were famed for having large
reproductive organs, and horses for having much sperm. And these
characteristics of the men portrayed on the walls of the temple (see on
:14) were so attractive to the Jews. The horse was used by the Egyptians
as the hieroglyphic for a lustful person; and as just pointed out in :19,
Judah was still influenced by Egyptian thought and idolatry.
Ezekiel 23:21 Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the
fondling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth-
Under threat from the Babylonians, Judah returned to Egypt to make
treaties with them, which involved accepting their idols into the
Jerusalem temple. She was thus returning to her youth, acting as she had
done then.
Ezekiel 23:22 Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I
will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated,
and I will bring them against you on every side- This alienation
refers to the falling out between Judah and her masters in Babylon. She
fell out with all her lovers once they realized she had been making
similar treaties with other nations ["lovers"] and therefore her temple in
Jerusalem was filled with the idols of various nations. She was alienated
from Yahweh (:18) and now was alienated from her lovers. She was
pathetically and tragically alone- and this is the picture of the
condemnation of all who reject Yahweh. A gnashing of teeth alone in the
darkness.
Ezekiel 23:23 The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans- The "Chaldeans"
refer to a group of Aramean people who attacked and conquered Babylon in
625 BC. They came to establish the kingdom known as Babylon, but strictly
the "Babylonians" at this stage referred to the local inhabitants of
Babylon before the Chaldeans arrived there.
Ezekiel 23:24 They shall come against you with weapons, chariots and
wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against
you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the
judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments-
LXX "And
they all shall come upon thee from the north, chariots and wheels". This
is clearly an allusion to the cherubim, seen also from the north, with
chariots and wheels. The armies of cherubic protection which they had
rejected (see on :14) would turn against them in the form of the
Babylonian invaders. God could have judged Jerusalem for her
unfaithfulness to Him, but He allowed the other offended lovers to judge
her for her unfaithfulness to them. In this sense He committed her
judgment to them.
Ezekiel 23:25 I will set My jealousy against you, and they shall deal with
you in fury- As explained on :24, God too was jealous, as the
betrayed husband and lover. But the other lovers were also jealous, and so
He judged them through allowing those lovers to judge her in their own
way.
Ezekiel 23:26 They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away
your beautiful jewels- This alludes to the Mesopotamian custom (see
on :25) of the executioner taking the clothes and jewels of the
adulteress, and then leaving her dead body to be sexually used by any who
wished. We note that Babylon was judging Judah for adultery against her;
Judah had sworn total loyalty to Babylon as well as other nations, and
when her whoredom / nakedness was discovered, when it was realized that
the Jerusalem temple was full of the idols of all manner of gods; then
Babylon judged Jerusalem as an adulterous wife. And God Himself of course
wanted to do so, but as noted on :25, He allowed Babylon to do this for
Him as it were.
Ezekiel 23:27 Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your
prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up
your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more- The emphasis upon
Egypt is perhaps because it was Egypt who tempted Judah to trust in her
strength and therefore break her agreements with Babylon and Assyria. The
unfaithful woman Jerusalem would be stoned to death by her one time
lovers; but here we get the impression she would somehow be revived,
resurrected to a position where she would never again make the same
mistakes. And this is the revival spoken of in the valley of dry bones
prophecy in Ez. 37. But this spiritual revival didn't happen at the
restoration; it is yet to come, when these prophecies shall come to their
final term.
Ezekiel 23:28 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you
into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom
your soul is alienated- Illicit love always turns to hatred. Never
was this more true than in the case of Judah and her lovers. The true seed
of Abraham were to dominate those who hated them (Gen. 24:60 s.w.). But
Jerusalem was dominated by her haters. For she had broken the covenant.
Ezekiel 23:29 And they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away
all your labour, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of
your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your
prostitution- Their lovers hated them now, and so did God because of
their deep unfaithfulness (Jer. 12:8; Hos. 9:15; Am. 5:21; 6:8 s.w.).
Their prostitution was uncovered [the same word used of exiles being sent
into captivity] in that all the nations came to realize what God already
had experienced with Jerusalem- that she had made exclusive covenants with
them all, and accepted their gods into the Jerusalem temple. But she
Ezekiel 23:30 These things shall be done to you because you have played
the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their
idols- Jerusalem's prostitution involved idolatry in that as noted on
:29, each of her lovers expected her to worship their idols as part of the
covenant deal they made with her. The exposure of all this was when they
each realized that they were being spoken with in just the same way as
Jerusalem was dealing with various nations.
Ezekiel 23:31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I
give her cup into your hand- Again the point is made that Judah were
so wrong to think that they were so intrinsically better than the ten
tribes. To drink a cup from the Lord is a double symbol- either the cup of
blessing which we bless at the communion service (1 Cor. 10:16), or the
cup of condemnation, also given from the Lord. In this sense at the
breaking of bread service we drink either blessing or condemnation to
ourselves, as Paul teaches in 1 Cor. 11. Hence self examination at that
time ought to be naturally elicited.
Ezekiel 23:32 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You will drink of your sister’s
cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision;
it contains much- To be ridiculed and derided was a fate worse than
death in the ancient world, and is often mentioned as Israel's fate. As
with Job, the thing greatly feared comes upon those who are condemned; the
nature of their condemnation will be appropriate to them. But the degree
to which derision and ridicule is so painful to a person is directly
related to their pride. It was Judah's pride which made these things so
hard for them. If they had been humble, the derision would have been far
less painful.
Ezekiel 23:33 You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the
cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria-
The physical desolation of the land during the exile was a reflection
of this, and was one of the curses for breaking the covenant (Lev. 26:33).
And yet there is archaeological evidence that agriculture didn't cease in
the land during the exile, the poor of the land, the vast majority of the
population, were left there; and they even brought grain offerings to the
temple site (Jer. 41:5). So God ameliorated this absolutely deserved
judgment, in His pity and grace. And this God is our God. The
"astonishment" reflects how they had wilfully believed the words of the
false prophets. They really thought they were better than Samaria. And it
was this deep seated spiritual arrogance which was their worst problem,
and which enabled their conscience to become so blunted.
Ezekiel 23:34 You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw
the broken pieces of it, and shall tear off your breasts; for I have
spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh- This is the picture of absolute self
hatred. Plucking off their own breasts is another way of describing the
weeping and gnashing of teeth of the rejected in their self hatred. The
Bible has a lot to say about condemnation. Yet God doesn't wish to condemn
and takes no pleasure in it. This vast array of Biblical information is
therefore given, I suggest, in order to help us appreciate what a great
salvation we have received by grace in Christ; this is what we deserve,
and yet we have been saved from it. Without that backdrop, the concepts of
salvation, grace, redemption, rescue etc. all seem less wonderful.
Ezekiel 23:35 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have
forgotten Me, and cast Me behind your back, therefore you also shall bear
your lewdness and your prostitution- They had committed awful
"lewdness" but there is here the implication that they didn't have to
'bear' it, to take the judgment for that sin. But they cast Yahweh behind
their back, and so they had to bear the consequences. They refused
Ezekiel's urgent calls for repentance. They worshipped their idols with
their backs to Yahweh's sanctuary (Ez. 8:16). They did not literally
'forget' Yahweh. But effectively they did, for He was not continually in
their self awareness and conscience. And this again is a timeless warning
to all who claim to be His people. To cast Yahweh behind the back meant
worshipping other gods (1 Kings 14:9). And yet they claimed to be Yahweh
worshippers. So the point is that if we do not put God first and solely in
our lives, then we have cast Him behind our back. We cannot have Him as
merely part of our devotions and religious life. Nehemiah had heard these
words of Ezekiel, and interpreted them as meaning that they had cast God's
law behind their backs (Neh. 9:26 cp. Ps. 50:17). God is His word; "the
word was God". Our attitudes to His word are our attitudes to Him.
Ezekiel 23:36 Yahweh said moreover to me: Son of man, will you judge
Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations- This
could imply (as elsewhere) that Ezekiel struggled to really understand
that his people, especially the priesthood he had come from, were really
that bad. By declaring to the people what he had been privately shown in
this chapter, he would thereby judge them. This is a parade example of
knowledge of God's word bringing responsibility to judgment. If the word
was declared to them and they refused to respond, then they had thereby
their judgment.
Ezekiel 23:37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their
hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery- This may
appear a mere repetition of the obvious. But perhaps the stress is upon
"they have...", because as noted on :26, Ezekiel was reluctant to
accept they had in fact sinned this deeply.
Ezekiel 23:38 Moreover this they have done to Me: they have defiled My
sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths- God feels
sin very deeply and personally; what they did was "done to Me". We marvel
at His sensitivity, that so far from us and above us, yet He is so close
and so deeply affected by our actions. We can likewise touch His heart so
relatively easily by our devotion to Him. It seems Judah purposefully
committed their worst sacrilege in the temple on the sabbath, "in the same
day". The child sacrifices of :39 were committed on the sabbath. They had
justified their perversions by claiming that they were in fact a form of
Yahweh worship. That was the only way their consciences could be numbed to
do as they did. This is the scenario of Jer. 7:7-10; they offered their
children in nearby Gehenna and then came into the temple, reasoning that
they were "delivered", saved from Egypt and from threatened judgment, in
order to be able to sin without conscience. This was the Old Testament
form of continuing in sin because grace abounded (Rom. 6:1).
Ezekiel 23:39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then
they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it; and behold, thus
have they done in the midst of My house- See on :38.
Ezekiel 23:40 Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom
a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash
yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments- As
explained on :16, this was in response to their beholding the images of
these men carved on the friezes of the temple instead of the cherubim,
symbols of God's protection. The painting of eyes recalls Jezebel,
notorious queen of apostate Samaria. Judah were no better; that is the
recurring message. For it was that sense of spiritual superiority which
led them into so much of their grosser sin.
Ezekiel 23:41 And sat on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it,
whereupon you set My incense and My oil- The fornication committed
involved elements of Yahweh worship. As noted on :38,39, this was the way
in which they allowed their consciences to be so numbed. They justified
their immorality as Yahweh worship. The table was the altar, with
the incense and oil of Yahweh worship upon it; and they had sex with the
representatives of the Gentile nations right in front of that altar. This
was typical paganic worship- to sleep with the cult prostitutes before the
altar. And they did this right within Yahweh's sanctuary. We too have an
altar, a table at which we eat as Christian believers (Heb. 13:10). And
before that we surely cannot commit such adultery.
Ezekiel 23:42 The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and
with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness;
and they put bracelets on both their hands, and beautiful crowns on their
heads-
Ezekiel 23:43 Then I said of her who was an adulteress of old, Now will
they play the prostitute with her, and she with them- The final
section of the prophecy is a reflection upon the fact that right to the
end, the two women had continued their immorality. The idea here may be
'Who would really want to use such an old worn out prostitute?'. But as
she was in her youth, so she continued to old age. She had no attraction,
reflecting the lack of benefit in forming any alliances with the failed
state of Judah, but still she desperately tried to sell herself. There was
no repentance right to the end.
Ezekiel 23:44 They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went
they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women- Now both sisters
are again mentioned; neither repented (see on :43), they were merely used,
there was no love, no permanence. That alone was available in Yahweh their
God and husband.
Ezekiel 23:45 Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of
adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they
are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands- The judges were
"righteous" in that they executed just judgment upon her; she was a
"lawful captive" (Is. 49:24). The judgment of an adulteress and of a woman
who sheds blood is apparently different. The latter may refer to a woman
who slays her own children. The two charges were connected in that
Jerusalem slew her children as part of her spiritual adultery with other
gods.
Ezekiel 23:46 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will bring up a company
against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed-
This "company" equate with the crowd of witnesses who stoned an
adulteress to death. And yet the figure implies she was both killed, and
yet survived to be tossed back and forth and robbed- a description of
Judah in exile. Does she survive this death, or not? This paradox is
finally resolved in Ez. 37, when the dead bones of Judah are resurrected.
Despite the awful sin of Judah, by God's grace He was not finished with
her and would resurrect her to an intended further relationship with Him.
That after all that she rejected Him and murdered His beloved Son is a
tragedy beyond words. "Tossed back and forth" is literally "be removed",
the word used for the punishment for breaking the covenant (Dt. 28:25).
"Robbed" is s.w. 'to take for a prey'. Having repeatedly said that sinful
Jerusalem would be given for a prey (Jer. 15:13; 17:3; Ez. 7:21; 23:46) we
read that the latter day invasion of Israel comes as a great company (as
in Ez. 23:46) to "take a prey" (Ez. 38:12,13); but that invasion is not to
be successful, unlike the previous historical invasions which took
Jerusalem for a prey. The implication therefore is that Jerusalem finally
repents, and so shall not be given for a prey in the very last invasion.
Ezekiel 23:47 The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them
with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and
burn up their houses with fire-
Ezekiel 23:48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that
all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness- Through such
terrible judgments it was God's intention that a resurrected, revived
Judah would not again commit such unfaithfulness, and "all women", the
other nations, would likewise be taught God's ways. Both these things were
potentially possible at the restoration. But they didn't happen. Judah
again fell into unfaithfulness, and the Gentile world weren't preached to
by a repentant Judah. And so these things have been rescheduled and
reapplied to the last days.
Ezekiel 23:49 They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall
bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh-
As noted on :48, Judah were intended to bear the punishment for their
idolatry and immorality. Although the punishment was total and shameful
death, yet for her to 'know Yahweh' she would be revived, resurrected from
the pile of dead, disgraced bones, as Ez. 37 states. But this didn't
happen at the restoration as was potentially possible. Judah shall only
know Yahweh ultimately through the application of these things in the last
days.
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