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| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Ezekiel 22-23 Listen 
You Jerusalemites are an abomination! (Ezekiel 22:1-16)
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 “Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations!
3 Then say, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself.
4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries.
5 Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult.
6 ¶ “Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you.
7 In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
9 In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness.
10 In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity.
11 One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter.
12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord GOD.
13 ¶ “Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst.
14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and will do it.
15 I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you.
16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”
This string of prophecies began in Ezekiel 20 (see notes). The elders of the exiled Jews had requested an audience with Ezekiel to get an idea of what to expect now. This prophecy details the manner in which Judah, led by her leaders in Jerusalem, had broken the Mosaic covenant. This passage is quite detailed in the specific rejection of principles of the law by Israel and Judah. Jerusalem is referred to by God as "the bloody city" in verse 2. This blood on the hands of its inhabitants is mentioned seven additional times throughout this chapter. In that same verse, Ezekiel is told, "Yes, show her all her abominations!"
The detailed list of specific sins are listed in verses 3-12, with the penalty found in verses 13-16. That penalty is summed up in verse 15, "I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you." This prophecy references the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and the subsequent deportation of its influential citizens, an event recorded in II Kings 24 (see notes).
Incidentally, you will notice at the top of their list of sins in verses 3-4 is found the problem with which Israel always struggled - the false worship of idols. Every other rebellious act against God seemed to have at its roots this sin of idolatry.
God: You're the dross, and I'm the furnace! (Ezekiel 22:17-22)
17 ¶ The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from silver.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out My fury on you.’ ”
"Dross" is the waste material that comes off fine metals (silver, gold) when they are purified by fire. Jerusalem, get ready for a judgment by fire! And why? Ezekiel says in verse 19, "Because you have all become dross." The penalty is creatively worded in verse 21, "I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath." Here's another prophecy regarding the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians recorded in II Kings 24 (see notes).
You have no righteous leadership! (Ezekiel 22:23-31)
23 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’
25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.
26 Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.
28 Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD had not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.
30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.
Jerusalem, all your leaders are wicked and your prophets are liars...and your regular ol' everyday people are corrupt too. I memorized verse 30 back in the late 1960s before I even understood the context: "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." I thought it sounded sort of American-ish to me. Notice that Ezekiel specifically prophesies against the prophets (25, 28), priests (26) and princes (27) along with the common people (29) within Judah prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Good principled leaders have always been hard to find. How many ways can you prophesy the doom of Judah/Jerusalem? Well...here's one more in verse 31, "'Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,' says the Lord GOD."
Back to the ol' prostitute analogy (Ezekiel 23)
1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, there were two women,
The daughters of one mother.
3 They committed harlotry in Egypt,
They committed harlotry in their youth;
Their breasts were there embraced,
Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
4 Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister;
They were Mine,
And they bore sons and daughters.
As for their names,
Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
5 “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,
6 Who were clothed in purple,
Captains and rulers,
All of them desirable young men,
Horsemen riding on horses.
7 Thus she committed her harlotry with them,
All of them choice men of Assyria;
And with all for whom she lusted,
With all their idols, she defiled herself.
8 She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt,
For in her youth they had lain with her,
Pressed her virgin bosom,
And poured out their immorality upon her.
9 “Therefore I have delivered her
Into the hand of her lovers,
Into the hand of the Assyrians,
For whom she lusted.
10 They uncovered her nakedness,
Took away her sons and daughters,
And slew her with the sword;
She became a byword among women,
For they had executed judgment on her.
11 ¶ “Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.
12 “She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians,
Captains and rulers,
Clothed most gorgeously,
Horsemen riding on horses,
All of them desirable young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled;
Both took the same way.
14 But she increased her harlotry;
She looked at men portrayed on the wall,
Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
15 Girded with belts around their waists,
Flowing turbans on their heads,
All of them looking like captains,
In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea,
The land of their nativity.
16 As soon as her eyes saw them,
She lusted for them
And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17 “Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,
And they defiled her with their immorality;
So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them.
18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.
Then I alienated Myself from her,
As I had alienated Myself from her sister.
19 “Yet she multiplied her harlotry
In calling to remembrance the days of her youth,
When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she lusted for her paramours,
Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,
And whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,
When the Egyptians pressed your bosom
Because of your youthful breasts.
22 ¶ “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,
From whom you have alienated yourself,
And I will bring them against you from every side:
23 The Babylonians,
All the Chaldeans,
Pekod, Shoa, Koa,
All the Assyrians with them,
All of them desirable young men,
Governors and rulers,
Captains and men of renown,
All of them riding on horses.
24 And they shall come against you
With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,
With a horde of people.
They shall array against you
Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.
“I will delegate judgment to them,
And they shall judge you according to their judgments.
25 I will set My jealousy against you,
And they shall deal furiously with you;
They shall remove your nose and your ears,
And your remnant shall fall by the sword;
They shall take your sons and your daughters,
And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.
26 They shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.
27 “Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry
Brought from the land of Egypt,
So that you will not lift your eyes to them,
Nor remember Egypt anymore.’
28 ¶ “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself.
29 They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.
30 I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.
31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’
32 ¶ “Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup,
The deep and wide one;
You shall be laughed to scorn
And held in derision;
It contains much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You shall drink and drain it,
You shall break its shards,
And tear at your own breasts;
For I have spoken,’
Says the Lord GOD.
35 ¶ “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back,
Therefore you shall bear the penalty
Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”
36 ¶ The LORD also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them.
38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.
39 For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.
40 ¶ “Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.
41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.
42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, “Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’
44 Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.
45 But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
46 ¶ “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder.
47 The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.
48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness.
49 They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”
Idolatry and worshipping false gods is often referred to as spiritual adultery or harlotry in the Old Testament. The Israelites were the people of God, and the Mosaic Law was very specific and severe in its punishment for physical adultery and harlotry among its people. On a national level, when the Israelites wandered away or blatantly forsook God (which they repeatedly did) the prophets of God always treated it with the same severity - as national spiritual adultery. You will recall that Ezekiel used the prostitute analogy back in Ezekiel 16 (see notes). Prostitution goes beyond mere adultery; it is the blatant disregard for the marriage vows altogether. We finish off this series of prophecies with another prostitute analogy - one depicting a period later in Israel's history. Notice that these two prostitutes are clearly identified in verse 4, Judah and Israel aka Southern Kingdom and Northern Kingdom aka Jerusalem and Samaria. Ezekiel's prophecy even gives feminine names to these representative prostitutes; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. It's a very heavy prophecy.
Let's take a look at the two names assigned here by Ezekiel's prophecy:
Note: Both Hebrew names assigned in this prophecy have "tent" as the their root. The sense seems to be that the tent is the place of business for a prostitute.
The first prostitute, Samaria (Northern Kingdom) adopted the idolatrous practices of the surrounding nations and fell to the Assyrians (verses 5-10). Now Samaria's sister, Jerusalem (Southern Kingdom) is doing likewise and will get the same punishment, the punishment of an adulterous prostitute (verses 11-49). The prophecy against Judah/Jerusalem of their imminent fall to the Babylonians begins in verse 22. And if you need the reason for their fall spelled out very clearly, there it is in Ezekiel 23:30, "I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols." As a matter of fact, Ezekiel gives another mention of the sacrifice of their own children upon the pagan altars, a subject he also deals with in Ezekiel 16:20-21 (see notes). Ezekiel's prophecy gives God the credit for the fall of Jerusalem, but only because of Judah's idolatry. And just in case you are still wondering why Judah fell, there it is stated once again in verse 49, "They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD."