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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Oholah engaged in prostitution while she
was still Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors clothed
in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted
horsemen. She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians
and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. She did
not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men
slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.”
“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. She became a byword among women, and
punishment was inflicted on her.”
Ezekiel 23:5-10
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Yesterday, we looked at the opening verses of Ezekiel 23 and
an allegory God tells regarding His people and their unfaithfulness towards
Him.
You’ll recall that He introduced us to two sisters which
represented major groups of the Israelites, Oholah correlating to the northern
group in Samaria and Oholibah, the southern group in Jerusalem. In their early
years, these “sisters” grew up together engaged in prostitution during
captivity in Egypt. But God rescued and delivered them from their oppression
and brought them to a land where they could live in holiness and righteousness,
a land where they would be God’s people and He would be their God.
Indeed, God was faithful to these “sisters” as they grew
into adulthood and the expectation was that they would remain faithful to Him.
But that’s not what happened. Not by a long shot.
For starters, there were problems in the family and the “sisters”
decided to part company and go their separate ways, forming two separate
kingdoms. The life choices they made and the end results form the basis for the
next two devotions. Today, we look at Oholah (Samaria) and the northern kingdom.
Look again at these words from God here:
“Oholah engaged in
prostitution while she was still Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the
Assyrians—warriors clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them
handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. She gave herself as a prostitute to
all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of
everyone she lusted after. She did not give up the prostitution she began in
Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and
poured out their lust on her.”
“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. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on
her.” Ezekiel 23:5-10
Note here that in her adulthood, Oholah deferred to the same
sinful behavior of her youth. She could have decided to be obedient to God,
adopt His will and way as her own, and turn toward living a life that was
pleasing in His sight, but she didn’t. She gave into her lust and the lust of
her many lovers who weren’t even of her nation but rather from Assyria. Her
suitors weren’t just run-of-the-mill, every day citizens but rather included
warriors, governors, and commanders, the elite of the Assyrian society. And as
if it weren’t bad enough that Oholah (Samaria) was committing sexually sinful
acts with the Assyrians, she was also worshiping their idols as well.
God was obviously just an afterthought.
So He took action and handed Oholah (Samaria) over to her
lovers, the people (the Assyrians) she shared lust with. And it didn’t take long
before Oholah’s (Samaria’s) pleasure turned first into pain and then into death
as the Lord sent the Assyrian forces upon the northern kingdom and the
Israelites within to bring judgment. Horrific punishment was afflicted on a
nation that became a byword among other nations, a once holy nation who had
fallen badly from grace.
Such was one half of the tale about unfaithful kingdoms God
shared in Ezekiel 23. Tomorrow, we will examine the choices of Oholibah
(Jerusalem) in the south.
Would she choose the same path as her sister to the north?
Stay tuned for the answer.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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