There are some graphic sexual descriptions in Ezekiel 23 as Ezekiel speaks to Judah about unfaithfulness. He does so by describing the lust of unfaithful sisters as an example.
Ezekiel 23: Oholah and Oholibah
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.
3 They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled.
4 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.
5 "Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors
6 clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.
7 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.
8 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.
9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
10 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.
11 "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.
12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armour, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way.
14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
15 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.
16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17 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.
18 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.
19 Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt
20 and lusted after her lovers there, whose penises were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses.
21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts."
22 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:
23 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.
24 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.
25 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.
26 They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.
27 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.
28 "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,
29 and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labour and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring
30 have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.
31 You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.
32 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;
33 you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria;
34 you shall drink it and drain it out, and gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.
35 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."
36 The LORD said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations.
37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.
38 Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths.
39 For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house.
40 They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.
41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil.
42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 "Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!
44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women!
45 But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands."
46 For thus says the Lord GOD: "Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder.
47 And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses.
48 Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done.
49 And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD."
Things to think about…
1. Two sisters are described – Oholah (her tent) represents the northern tribes of Israel – Samaria and Oholibah (my tent is in her) represents Judah and the two southern tribes. The northern tribes were caught up with the idols of Assyria and were taken captive in 722BC by the Assyrians. They were spiritually unfaithful and were judged as whores as a result. Judah should have learned from the older sister’s punishment. Do you think we learn the lessons from the previous mistakes of Christians? Or do you think we keep making the same judgement calls in every generation? The Holy Spirit acting in each generation is the only thing that stops this from occurring? Each generation must learn faithfulness and obedience to Christ.
2. Oholibah – Judah, whom Ezekiel is writing about is only a few short years away from Jerusalem being totally destroyed by the Babylonians. Judah played the harlot with Babylon, she was then disgusted by him and went and played the harlot with Egypt. What does this all mean? Judah sought help from Egypt after the Babylonians had come against them in 605 and 597BC. The year 588BC and the Babylonian judgement had already begun. It would not be long before Jerusalem would be brought top her knees. What lessons do we still need to learn as Christians? We must be aware of not seeking out worldly answers to spiritual problems?
3. Ezek 23:40 and 41 speak about dressing up for their lovers. Do you think we as Christians can dress up our message to make it attractive to the world? When we do so what we are really telling them is that Jesus is not sufficient. Jesus stripped His message right back and lost thousands of followers by saying ‘eat my flesh and drink my blood’, Jn 6:51-58. Our message is not called to be palatable but truthful.
4. Judah’s lovers would ultimately be the instruments of her judgement that would bring her down, just as Samaria’s lover Assyria was for her, Ezek 23:47-49. Praise God that Jesus has taken the punishment due to our sin. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful, 2Tim 2:13. Amen.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Title was “What do we do with Lazarus?” – Reading Jon 12:1-11
1. The raising of Lazarus was an incredible miracle that nobody could deny. Martha showed incredible faith. Discuss her faith after reading John 11:21-27.
2. Her sister Mary also displayed incredible devotion, John 12:3-8. Discuss the different reactions to the raising of Lazarus.
3. In what ways can we fall into the same areas of control that the Pharisees fell into?
4. Pray for each other and the outreach of the gospel
Prayer Points
1. Pray for the people who have been affected by hurricane Ian in Florida. Over one hundred lives have been lost.
2. Pray for the people of Iran. There is horrible oppression of women who are being beaten and killed by a corrupt government, simply for refusing to wear a head covering.
3. Pray for Ukraine and the final defeat of Russian aggression.
4. The right choice for a full time Youth and Young Adults Pastor to start Jan 2023 and the finances to support them.
5. More young families and youth into the church.
6. Ministry leaders within the church.
7. Our One for Israel ministry.
8. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
9. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Visitors to church on Sunday.
2. Some returning back to church after a while away.
3. Worship on Sunday – thankyou Paul, Suzy, Gina. Maddison on Words and Doug on sound. Thankyou. Suzy and Maddison in café always do a stellar job. Thankyou for those who welcomed at the door.
4. All those who faithfully serve in ministries, Worship, Sound/Technical/Kids Church/ Cell Groups/Admin - Bulletins/Finances/Property/Welcoming/Spiritual Leadership/Cafe
5. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
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