Ezekiel Chapter 23

Wednesday, 01/28/26 at 09:27
Solitary Man
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Eze 23:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

Just in case you haven’t had enough of Yehovah speaking to us in the excessively uncomfortable language of the filthy harlot and her ways, we will now proceed to round two. Once more the language of the Father would not be found in the women’s bible study, nor from the lips of the modern day Laodicean pastor. There is something so primal, so masculine, when the Father decides to reveal this blunt, offensive, even shocking side of him. Our tender ears will once again be barraged with the language of the barroom.

In chapter 16, Israel was compared to an old, exceedingly filthy whore. The breaking of her marriage covenant with Yehovah was emphasized. In this chapter, Israel is spoken of as the 2 separate kingdoms that they became. Here her faithlessness is highlighted. Her alacrity in running off to make alliances with those who would eventually destroy her is spoken of in lurid sexual terms. Rather than looking to Yehovah, she looked to the world for her security.

I don’t think it takes much imagination if we were to guess what God thinks of such decisions. We will see that God looks upon unholy alliances with the wicked of the world in the same way as he looks upon particularly indecent sexual congress. The language God uses would be considered exceedingly foul by most believers. Why does he choose to talk like this? To try and use every possible means to penetrate our hardened hearts. To try and rekindle our sensitivity to sin. The longer we live in a sinful environment, the more we get used to it. The longer we go without being challenged about what is sin and what is not, the harder it is to penetrate the heart with the truth of our transgressions. The longer and deeper we wallow in a culture of sin, the more hostile we become when someone simply points out what the bible has to say about it.

Eze 23:2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

We will see in verse 4 that God will now speak a parable regarding Samaria and Judah. Judah will receive the vast bulk of the rebuke. Samaria is brought into the picture for comparison purposes. Of course, Israel was the mother of these 2 children.

Eze 23:3 And they committed whoredoms (zaw-naw – wantonness, idolatrous sex) in Egypt; they committed whoredoms (zaw-naw) in their youth: there were their breasts (shad) pressed (maw-ak – handled), and there they bruised (aw-saw – do, make, brought forth) the teats (dad – breast) of their virginity (beth-oo-leem – maidenhood, the tokens of virginity).

Here we go again. If you think chapter 16 was over the top, as they say, ‘You ain’t seen nothin yet!’. One more time Yehovah will use the symbolism of a totally defiled, faithless whore, who was also an adulteress, to try and depict the spiritual state of the 2 kingdoms, Judah especailly.

Yahweh tells us that their hearts were trained in idolatry by their long sojourn in Egypt. Yahweh had birthed the nation in Abraham, and spiritually speaking, had kept them generally free from idolatry as a virgin was kept free from sexual relations. But once they went to Egypt, it was only a matter of time before their hearts became defiled with the idols of Egypt, even as a young virgin would have become aroused with the fondling of her breasts. The idea is that this young woman’s nipples would have been brought forth to stand erect as a sign of her arousal. Thus was Israel’s latent penchant to worship other gods aroused in Egypt, by exposure to all its idols and images.

Here is a great truth for the church. We all love a good conversion story. That is, how someone who lived in sin for a long time was miraculously touched by the Spirit of God and wonderfully saved. Sometimes those who were brought up in a solid Christian home, and did not experience much sin, secretly wondered about what those sins must have felt like.

Egypt represents the enticements of the flesh. It is the land of sin, which we all had to come out of. Those who were sheltered from the practices of Egypt as children should be forever grateful. They would not have the memories of the pleasures of sin implanted in their minds, like those who wallowed in it before they came to Christ. As wonderful as the stories of conversion are, there are countless stories of those who may have tried to come out of a sin soaked lifestyle, only to fall back again. The torments of certain sinful memories tear at the soul.

This verse lets us know that exposure to the idols of Egypt will deposit dark things in your soul. Don’t add to them by going back and dabbling into what you should flee!

Eze 23:4 And the names of them were Aholah (her tent) the elder, and Aholibah (my tent) her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

Yahweh makes it easy on us. He gives us 2 symbolic names, and immediately identifies them for us. They are appropriately named. Aholah is ‘her tent’, and Aholibah is ‘my tent’. Samaria created their own version of Yahweh, and invented rules and rituals to their own taste. Thus it was her tent that they worshipped in, not God’s. Judah had the true tabernacle, thus they are called my tent, or God’s tent.

Eze 23:5 And Aholah played the harlot (zaw-naw) when she was mine; and she doted (aw-gab – to breathe after, to love sensually) on her lovers (aw-hab – sexual partners, friend), on the Assyrians her neighbours,

A short history of Samaria, the northern kingdom, ensues. God sees her history from a spiritual point of view. She shared a border with lands controlled by Assyria. For political reasons, she may have sought beneficial alliances with it.

This word aw-gab occurs 6 times in this chapter and in only one other place in the entire bible. The idea is that Samaria pursued after the things of Assyria, as someone who pursues someone who has aroused their lust. Perhaps she desired a commercial relationship, or some sort of military alliance. But inevitably, she was corrupted with the idols of these people. The idea is that her heart was already predisposed to idolatry. It was always in there, potentially. She came out of Egypt, a place drenched in idols. Even 40 years of wandering in the wilderness did not purge her of these urges. Throughout the book of Judges, that urge manifested time and time again. David and Solomon did what they could to install the true worship of Yahweh, but Solomon, towards the end of his life, allowed his heart to turn away. Jeroboam established the northern kingdom, called Ephraim and Samaria. They set up 2 golden calves to represent their version of Yahweh, reminiscent of the golden calf their ancestors created in the wilderness. Thus when it came time to interact with the Assyrians, their unfaithful hearts were trained in apostasy already.

Eze 23:6 Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

The things of this world are always dressed up as something desirable on the outside. This reminds me of China today. They dress up their main cities in neon lights, and at night, their cities dazzle and inspire. Take a close look at them in the daylight, and they are horribly constructed, cheaply made, falling apart, and the society is awful.

Eze 23:7 Thus she committed her whoredoms (taz-nooth – harlotry, idolatry) with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted (aw-gab): with all their idols she defiled herself (taw-may – contaminated, become foul, unclean).

Here God indicts Samaria with embracing the idols of Assyria. Perhaps she reasoned that if Assyria had become so powerful, it must be their gods that they serve!

Eze 23:8 Neither left she her whoredoms (taz-nooth) brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay (shaw-kab – for sex, ravishment) with her, and they bruised (aw-saw) the breasts (dad) of her virginity, and poured (shaw-fak – to spill, to mound up) their whoredom (taz-nooth) upon her.

Samaria did not exchange one set of gods for another. She simply added more false gods to her collection. The golden calves at Bethel and Dan would have reflected the type of idolatrous practices that the Egyptians practiced. It would have been a natural thing for Samaria to revert to that form of worship.

Have we purged our hearts from Egypt? A good way to tell is when you encounter something that made you stumble in your former sinful life. Is there yet a pang of attraction? Have we zealously attempted to obey the admonition of the apostle?

2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

You wanted something from the New Testament that talks about the importance of the fear of God. Well here it is. We are to cleanse ourselves from all defilement. Not just desires of our bodies, but desires of our inner man. We are not to strive for more holiness, but rather to perfect it. And we are to do it motivated not by the love of God, but by the fear of God.

This chapter will do quite nicely, if you are able to complete it, as far as instilling a deeper sense of the fear of the Lord. We will be taken as deep as we can go into the mind of God, as far as understanding just how much he loathes sin. And I’m talking about sin that is committed by those who say that they belong to him, not the lost.

When Israel was young, she spread her legs and consummated a relationship with the gods of Egypt, just as a young girl with loose morals would allow herself to be ravished and fondled and mounted. The idea is to show that Israel lost any sense of self control, even as a young woman lost all restraint, once she was totally aroused.

Eze 23:9 Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted (aw-gab).

Because Samaria chose to give in to their basest passions, Yahweh decided to allow the one whom she had relations with spiritually to come and destroy her.

Eze 23:10 These discovered (gaw-law – stripped, revealed) her nakedness (er-vaw – disgrace, exposure of the female genitalia): they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous (shame – conspicuous) among women; for they had executed (aw-saw) judgment (shef-ote – a judicial sentence, punishment) upon her.

The reward Samaria received for abandoning Yahweh and embracing the gods of Assyria was that her lover would now come and violate her in every way imaginable. She would be exposed, even as a slave woman would be stripped bare so the soldiers could leer at her private parts. Her children were taken from her. She would be killed. Samaria became an object lesson to anyone with ears to hear and eyes to see. Betray your god, and watch what it gets you. Judgment and punishment were her reward.

Eze 23:11 And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt (shaw-khath – decayed, spoiled) in her inordinate love (ag-aw-baw – amorousness, only time in OT) than she, and in her whoredoms (taz-nooth) more than her sister in her whoredoms (zaw-noon – adulterous idolatry).

The 2 words Yahweh uses over and over in this chapter are taz-nooth – whoredom, fornication, harlotry, idolatry. It comes from a root word zaw-naw – whoredom, wantonness, to be highly fed, idolatrous sex, to cause to, to commit illicit sex. It is the doing of, and the act of, sex in its most treacherous and unholy form. It involves betrayal (of Israel to Jehovah as a wife to a husband), idolatry (Israel’s heart lusted after the gods of their neighbors), and treason (betraying their own God). It also connotates the idea of uncleanness, both morally and ceremonially. Israel became defiled, polluted, contaminated, and unfit for a relationship with Yehovah. It is to get across the idea of how consequential is inappropriate sexual behavior in the eyes of God. Once you understand that, you will then begin to understand just how unfathomably abominable did Yahweh regard the behavior of his own people.

Judah should have learned a great lesson observing the fate of her northern neighbor. Instead, she doubled down, according to Yahweh. God claims that her feats of whoredom greatly outshone anything Samaria did. That is quite an indictment.

Eze 23:12 She doted (aw-gab) upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

At first glance, why does God accuse Judah of intermingling with Assyria? Wasn’t her history mostly tied up with Babylon? It turns out that God has a long memory. During the reign of Ahaz (742-726 BC), he built an altar after the pattern of an Assyrian altar that he saw in Syria. He defiled the house of the Lord with it.

2Ki 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
2Ki 16:10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
2Ki 16:11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
2Ki 16:12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
2Ki 16:13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
2Ki 16:14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
2Ki 16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
2Ki 16:16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
2Ki 16:17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.

During the last gasp of the northern kingdom’s existence, their land was filled with political intrigue. Assassination after assassination, betrayal upon betrayal, generals and princes continually switching sides, the whole nation was in total upheaval. Strange alliances were made. Samaria allied itself with Syria to go and attack Judah. Who knows, most likely the Samaritan king concocted some ‘fake news’ that blamed Judah for their current predicament. The fact that Judah asked Assyria to intervene indicates that they must have made some sort of treaty with Assyria, and Samaria would have felt threatened by that, as Assyria has already attacked them previously in 732 BC. As we see today, Canada has turned against America, aligning itself with China, with the bought off media totally complicit. At the end of 2025, a majority of the citizens in Canada still think negatively about Trump, and believe that he is Canada’s greatest threat. All the while their own beloved Liberal government continues to turn the nation over to the Chinese and to the muslims, and continues to pass more and more laws designed to remove what little rights and freedoms that we thought that we had. And the majority of the people seem to love it. Polls today show that the Liberals would win yet another election if it were held today. No matter how much the Liberals steal and enslave, the people of Canada want more and more. So I think I can relate a little bit to the decade before Samaria’s destruction, when they aligned with their enemies and attacked their brethren in Judah. Why Canada wishes to sever itself from America can only be explained by the just judgments of Yehovah.

So Judah had been guilty of fornicating spiritually with Assyria. Even though that was over a century in her past, God never forgets unatoned for sin.

Eze 23:13 Then I saw that she was defiled (taw-may), that they took both (shen-ah-yim – two) one (akh-awd) way (deh-rek – a path or course of life),

The idea is that Judah followed in the same pattern of behavior as Samaria. The two both took one road, the road that led to destruction.

Eze 23:14 And that she increased her whoredoms (taz-nooth): for when she saw men pourtrayed (carved) upon the wall, the images (tseh-lem – idols, resemblances) of the Chaldeans pourtrayed (engraved) with vermilion,

I am sure that Ahaz and other wicked rulers of Judah would have seen much more than one simple altar. They would have been exposed to the entire pantheon of images, statues, and building motifs. The idols of Assyria are famous even to this day. Many still exist in places such as Iraq. Not satisfied with the level of intermingling that Samaria had practiced, Judah seemed to indulge herself even more deeply. All we need to do is hearken to the reign of Manasseh (697-642 BC) to get an idea of how he flooded Judah in idolatry.

Eze 23:15 Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding (extending) in dyed attire (taw-bool – turban, only time in OT) upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:

The kingdoms of this world certainly appeal to the senses. These troops were wonderful to behold. They would have dazzled the eyes, and produced envy and fear in the observers. They all seemed to be great leaders. After the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea is inserted because this would have been the area of the empire that encompassed the most luxurious and powerful corner of it. It was probably well known to all Judeans of the time.

Eze 23:16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted (aw-gab) upon them, and sent messengers (mal-awk) unto them into Chaldea.

Judah was enticed by what she saw. She wanted to be just like them. Not satisfied anymore with what her God had provided for her, she ran after whatever her eyes fastened upon.

And this is the crux of the whole chapter. Yahweh may be using the most vulgar, disgusting language that he can think of. But it is to try and come up with a physical, earthly comparison as to what is really occurring in the spirit realm. The level of betrayal and treachery could only be most imperfectly communicated by painting a picture of the most vile and reprehensible sort of sexual congress that one could imagine. Whenever we are tempted to think that God has gone way too far in his lurid descriptions of filthy sexual imagery, always keep in mind that the crassness of the dialogue is to serve as merely a comparison to try and communicate just how deeply Judah has offended their God.

Eze 23:17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love (dode – to boil), and they defiled (taw-may) her with their whoredom (taz-nooth), and she was polluted (taw-may) with them, and her mind (nephesh – soul) was alienated (yaw-kah – severed, dislocated, abandon, to drop by rotting) from them.

I believe there is a better way to translate this. The Babylonians came to her and caused her to boil in lustful idolatry, defiling her with their harlotry, so she was defiled. Therefore her soul was severed from me (God). Sometimes the Hebrew words used are few, and don’t have all the connecting words in a sentence like the English language does. It is then up to the translator to fill in the gaps. I believe God is implied in the last part of the sentence, as it makes more sense to see Judah severed from God while screwing with the Babylonians, rather than being severed from Babylon while she is in bed with them!

However, a good case can also be made for the King James, if we add an explanation to clarify. Judah had made a covenant with Babylon to be subject to her. This was done out of necessity, due to God punishing Judah for her sin. But then under king Zedekiah Judah went behind Babylon’s back and tried to ally with Egypt, in effect alienating her mind from Babylon.

But if we look at the next verse, I think the former interpretation makes more sense.

Eze 23:18 So she discovered (gaw-law) her whoredoms (taz-nooth), and discovered (gaw-law) her nakedness (er-vaw): then my mind (nephesh) was alienated (yaw-kah) from her, like as my mind (nephesh) was alienated (naw-kah – to feel aversion) from her sister.

Here it is very clear that it is Yehovah whose mind was alienated from Judah, since his mind had already been alienated from Samaria. Babylon had stripped Judah of her false pretense that she was still a devoted bride of Yahweh, by the fact that she jumped into the bed of Babylon. Not simply by any military alliance she might have made, but primarily by embracing her idols, as Manasseh would have most certainly done.

2Ch 33:9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
2Ch 33:10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
2Ch 33:11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

In Manasseh’s day, Assyria was at its peak of power, and they reigned from the city of Babylon. This was before the kingdom of Babylon rose up and conquered Assyria. So Assyria and Babylon were tangled up with each other. I am sure they shared many gods.

During Josiah’s reign, that was the time when Babylon was replacing Assyria as the world power. Egypt was still an ally of Assyria, and went to fight against this Babylonian upstart. But Judah favored Babylon, as they had suffered at the hands of Assyria previously. Remember that during the days of Hezekiah, God produced one of the greatest miracles of all time, when he sent his angel to destroy 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night. Then remember what Hezekiah did at the end of his life?

2Ki 20:12 At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
2Ki 20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

2Ch 32:31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

This Berodachbaladan was most likely a usurper to the throne of Babylon, who had come looking for allies. When he somehow had heard of Assyria losing 185,000 soldiers in one night, and maybe perhaps the sundial going back 10 degrees (2 Ki 20:11) in the land of Judah, he must have thought that here could lie a most powerful ally against the hated Assyrians. It is not a stretch that some sort of alliance was made.

If that is true, it helps to explain the actions of Josiah that got him killed. Egypt was going to make war against Babylon. Judah may have had an alliance with Babylon, and certainly did not want to see Assyria receive any assistance from anyone.

2Ki 23:28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 23:29 In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
2Ki 23:30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

2Ch 35:20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
2Ch 35:21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
2Ch 35:22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
2Ch 35:23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
2Ch 35:24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

An interesting side note concerning the above passage is, that this is why some think the ark of the covenant was in Egypt at this time. Some think that some faithful priests would have sneaked it out of the temple during the days of Manasseh’s total apostasy, for safekeeping. This might be why it is said that Necho was obeying words from the mouth of God. Perhaps there was a priest there, along with the ark, maybe with the Urim and Thummin, who received a word from the Lord. In Yehovah’s calendar, it was time for Babylon to rise and Assyria to fall. Unfortunately for Josiah, he did not get the memo!

This is such a great lesson for us. There was never such a righteous king as Josiah. In our day and age, no one has done more to restore good and just things than president Trump. Josiah thought that God must be on his side, no matter what he chose to do. But in this case, he was wrong. He had had a 31 year reign, and had succeeded in delaying the inevitable judgment of the Lord. But when it was time for judgment to begin, God allowed Josiah to be deceived. He was taken out, so that the next phase of God’s plan could proceed. I pray that God does not take Trump out early, as the whole world holds its breath while America fights its own enemies from within. But we need to be prepared for whatever God decides to allow in the future. Should America’s respite be fulfilled, then all bets are off. In short, even the most righteous can be led astray. And sometimes they can be absolutely convinced that they are doing the right thing. But God is sovereign, and perhaps this was the first of many punishments that God bestowed upon Judah, for making unholy alliances with the heathen nation of Babylon.

Eze 23:19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms (taz-nooth), in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot (zaw-naw) in the land of Egypt.

Yahweh wants to make the claim that Judah’s continual dalliances with Egypt sprang from a historical tie to that land. She had come out of Egypt, but had Egypt fully come out of her? Would she continue to rely on the arm of the flesh, rather than trust in her God? So it would seem.

Josiah may have tried to fight against Egypt, and it cost Judah the ability to place their own choice of king on the throne. Jehoiakim (608-597 BC) was installed by Egypt. During this time the first deportation to Babylon occurred in 605. Babylon had replaced Assyria as the world power. Egypt had been an ally of Assyria. When Judah tried to place their own king on the throne (Jehoiachin), Babylon intervened and placed Zedekiah on the throne (597-586 BC). Zedekiah had cut a covenant with Babylon. But he then tried to treacherously make an alliance with Egypt. God saw all of this politicking as whoredom. It was akin to an adulterous woman shopping her body around, trying to get the best deal. Instead of seeking God and relying on the words of God’s prophets, Judah kept looking out for whomever was available to get into bed with, politically, militarily, and ultimately, spiritually.

Eze 23:20 For she doted (aw-gab) upon their paramours (pee-leh-ghesh – like a male concubine), whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue (zir-maw – a gushing of semen) is like the issue (zir-maw) of horses.

Quite disgusting, is it not? I warned you that this chapter would make you squirm. This verse contains the only 2 spots in the bible where you will find this word for the gushing of semen. The fact that the Hebrew language had a word for this is telling in and of itself, is it not?

We must face the fact that different cultures have different standards of civil public discourse. Think of the classic English culture. How restrained, how formal, how self controlled they were! Any outburst of emotion would be seen as a sign of boorishness and a lack of breeding. Whereas if one goes into a Russian or Ukrainian village, that sort of formal behavior would be regarded as snobbish. I get the sense here that this sort of rude, lewd, and crude vocabulary would not be considered nearly as outrageous as it sounds to us.

Think about how our standard of speaking has evolved over the last 200 years. Remember the scandal when the movie ‘Gone With the Wind’ used the word ‘damn’? It was considered outrageous blasphemy at the time. Likewise, the mildest of curses was considered blasphemous in the 19th century. But today, the word ‘damn’ elicits no response. In fact, I’m seeing a lot more swear words being used, even from pulpits. Not that this is a good thing, merely an observation that cultures change.

If God is okay with talking about gushing semen, then are you bold enough to tell him that he’s blaspheming? The idea is that this kind of talk should make us extremely uncomfortable. Not just because of the imagery it conjures, but that Yehovah is so angry with his people that he seems to have thrown off all restraint in chastising them.

The idea is of someone who is so depraved in their sexual practices, they they actively seek to have sex with animals, so that they can get turned on by the fountain of semen that an animal such as a horse would produce. I know, it’s sickening, isn’t it? But Yehovah is saying that Judah’s apostasy, their treachery and their idolatry is so extreme in God’s eyes, that this is the closest thing that he can think of to describe it.

How would you like your actions to be compared with someone who lusts after a similar sex experience, and not with another human, but rather with an animal, because it is able to ejaculate in such copious quantities? In the same way that something so disgustingly obscene and atrocious excites the degenerate, so too did Judah pursue this illicit relationship with Egypt, because it appealed to her idolatrous nature.

I believe this is the absolute low point in the entire bible, as far as to how low God can regard the behavior of those who were once his own. Never does God speak like this about the heathen. Even though the heathen do engage in the kinds of obscene sexual practices that God compares Judah to, he does not make mention of it. He knows that they are lost in sin, and nothing that the heathen does can surprise him. Saddens him, but never surprises him.

But when it comes to those who once knew him, or who sincerely claim to know him, his anger knows no bounds. He does not place himself under any sort of restraint, as far as how he chooses to describe their behavior. This verse, perhaps more than any other verse in the bible, plumbs the depth of his abhorrence and utter disgust at the behavior of those whom he knows should know better.

Some of you may have become nauseous reading this. And perhaps that is a good thing. We must strive with all our might to understand what God really thinks about our sins. I don’t know if there ever has been one man who has truly grasped the seriousness of sin in its entirety. Think about how God feels about it, based on what we just read. We need to apply ourselves as never before, in embracing the mind of God when it comes to our transgressions. We need to make all effort to do so.

Does not the word say that we are to love God with all our strength, and all our might?

Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Mar_12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

With whatever strength we have, we must resist sin. If we think we have tried, Paul brings us back down to earth, when he tells his hearers this fact:

Heb_12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

This is not some sort of works based salvation, or works based Christian life. There is a teaching out there that is really a disguised form of the hyper grace heresy. It says that we cannot do anything for God in our own strength. Therefore, you need to stop striving, and let God work through you.

Sounds nice, doesn’t? It seems to have wisdom in it. But it is a lie. It directly contradicts the first and foremost commandment of all time. No, we choose how to live. How can we be judged, if we have no ability to choose to obey? A works based error occurs if you believe you alone can please God. Or, if you obey out of pride and wanting to be recognized for what you have done.

A true child of God chooses to obey all that the word tells him to do. He knows that it is up to him to decide what to do. And when he decides to do the will of God, he knows that the Holy Spirit in him gives him the ability to do so. He always gives the glory to God, consciously and subconsciously. That is what it means to live by faith. We just know that God is in us, he is with us, and he will enable us. We can do all things in Christ, who strengthens us. Note that we do it, not God. But we do it in Christ. To try and do the will of God outside of Christ is futile. It cannot be done.

So let us quit letting the sweet sounding lies of the deceived in our pulpits throw us off the narrow path. Read more of Ezekiel, and find your motivation to stop sinning!

Eze 23:21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness (zim-maw – bad plans, heinous crimes, wicked devices) of thy youth, in bruising (aw-saw) thy teats (dad) by the Egyptians for the paps (shad) of thy youth.

It is not a good thing to put God in remembrance of your former ways. Jesus has redeemed you out of Egypt. He has delivered you from your bondage to sin. To go back to those same practices that you were so well known for when you were lost, you remind God of how vile you once were, and how much under judgment you had placed yourself in. Do not risk igniting the anger of the Lord. Remember the words of the beloved apostle:

1Co 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
1Co 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
1Co 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
1Co 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
1Co 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

We love to quote verse 13. But verses 6 to 12 hold the key to verse 13. Instead of solely focusing on God’s faithfulness to help you not to sin, read the 7 verses of warnings as to what happens to those who think it is a light thing to succumb to our evil desires. I know that all the sermons that I hear on this verse emphasize God’s help. I don’t remember a single sermon that spoke of the warnings as to what happens to those who do not find a way to achieve the victory over their temptations.

Eze 23:22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers (aw-hab) against thee, from whom thy mind (nephesh) is alienated (naw-kah), and I will bring them against thee on every side;

Once again, one could read the middle portion as Judah’s mind being alienated from God, not those whom she is playing the harlot with. But it does no harm to the text to concur with the King James translators, as Judah had entered into a covenant with Babylon, only to treacherously betray them when she went to look for help from Egypt under king Zedekiah. In the 2 previous verses where this phrase was used, the context made much better sense if we thought it was speaking of Yehovah and Judah, rather than Judah and Babylon. But perhaps in this context God has indeed switched and now is speaking of Judah, who had betrayed Babylon by trying to make a deal with Egypt. In the actual Hebrew being used, there are more connecting words that seem to favor what the King James did with the text.

Eze 23:23 The Babylonians (bane baw-bel – sons of confusion), and all the Chaldeans (astrologer), Pekod (punishment), and Shoa (sho-ah – rich, only time in OT), and Koa (ko-ah – cut off, only time in OT), and all the Assyrians (bane ass-shoor – sons of success) with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.

Judah thought that by getting help from one source that she stood a chance against Babylon. But Egypt was one, and she was weak. Babylon was the new world power. She had many nations that she could call upon for troops and supplies.

The commentators do not agree as to what these names represent. Some think they are names of rank in the Babylonian army. Others believe they are provinces within Babylon. I agree with the latter. One of the names is a proven location:

Jer 50:21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Since Pekod was a real place, I am confident that Shoa and Koa are also.

What I find more interesting is the meaning of these places. We have the sons of confusion in charge of all these disparate places. And isn’t that so descriptive of the world’s system? The way that godless people decide to live, the rules that they make, so often they are entirely irrational, and not conducive to a well functioning society. The more they sin, the worse society becomes.

The Chaldeans bring the occult with them. That is, we see where the world gets their wisdom from. Pekod and Koa speak of the rod of the tyrant. Cross the one with the power, and punishment and death is your lot. Shoa and Assyria speak of the backbone of commerce that drives these empires. Success and riches are what they live for. The trinkets of the world are what they continually lust after. Lust drives them, never allowing them to say ‘Enough’. The true disciple of Christ has been set free from such enslaving passions.

Eze 23:24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment (mishpat – verdict, sentence, formal decree) before them, and they shall judge (shaw-fat – pronounce sentence, punish) thee according to their judgments (mishpat).

They are coming with the latest tech. They have the majority of the world on their side. Unfortunately for you, Judah, your only hope was your God. And you have decided to play the harlot. This has caused your God to judge you, and to give you into the hands of your enemies. They have been given latitude to execute judgment upon you, as they see fit. This is a terrible fate. David spoke of this, when God gave him a choice of what punishment to accept for his sin:

2Sa 24:10 And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
2Sa 24:11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
2Sa 24:12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
2Sa 24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
2Sa 24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

Judah would be judged according to Babylon’s judgments. Judah had countless opportunities to be judged by Yehovah, but they would not. So now they would be judged by wicked men. Kind of sounds familiar, does it not? Are we not also under the cruel dictates of wicked men today? Have we not been rendered helpless to the capricious whims of the globalists?

Eze 23:25 And I will set my jealousy (kin-aw – zeal) against thee, and they shall deal furiously (khay-maw – hot poisonous wrath or rage) with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant (uttermost) shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

Apparently the cutting off of the nose and ears was a well known punishment for adulterous women. This was common in Egypt, and was most often done by the husband. Since her beauty was attracting many men, she would be beautiful no more. In the same way, Judah’s beauty would be most violently taken away by these agents of God’s hot, poisonous wrath. One could also think of the nose as a symbol for the king, being the most prominent feature of the face. The ears would signify the priest, as being the one who should hear the voice of the Lord for the people. King and priest would be cut off.

The word for remnant here means uttermost, or the last of them. Instead of viewing remnant here as God’s holy remnant, think of God looking in every nook and cranny of Judah, in order to ferret out every last sinner for punishment.

Loss of children is always one of the worst punishments God could mete out. But it was so fitting. As the people placed so little value on their children, tossing them into the fire for Moloch, so God would grab their children wholesale, and allow then to be taken as slaves for the pagan. And whatever was left after the Babylonians were done plundering, they would set on fire.

Eze 23:26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.

More details are given as to the severity and comprehensiveness of the calamity that these Judeans have brought upon themselves.

Eze 23:27 Thus will I make thy lewdness (zim-maw) to cease from thee, and thy whoredom (zen-ooth – adultery, infidelity) brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.

When God looked at Judah, he saw something that was akin to the most unfaithful, sexually perverse bride that one could ever imagine. They turned for help and spiritual guidance in every direction possible, except towards Yehovah. And for the hundredth time, Yehovah is making it crystal clear, that if his people refused to stop sinning, then he will put a full stop to it himself. There is only so much evil that God can stand.

Egypt was a poor choice to oppose Babylon. They were a forlorn hope, with such a small chance of success. It would be like Ukraine turning to the Canadian army to help them defeat the Russians. Guess what the odds of success of that venture would be? And yet Judah did exactly that. Even if there was a one in a million chance of getting out from under the onerous burden which Babylon had placed on the land, they were willing to do it, regardless of what Yahweh had to say about it. There was something so contrary in these people’s hearts, that I believe if God commanded them not to jump off a bridge and kill themselves, they would have all done it, just for spite! Sort of how the far left thinking works today. There is no rhyme or reason as to what they do, except that it must defy Yehovah and his commandments in one way or another.

Eze 23:28 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind (nephesh) is alienated (naw-kaw):

These horrible punishments are what it takes for an adulterous, idolatrous, apostate heart to finally stop turning to the world. God has to make them stop.

Judah had been in friendship with Babylon. Josiah had even tried to prevent Egypt from warring against them. That turned into a disaster, and caused Judah to lose the ability to choose their own king. Babylon saw what Egypt had done, and crushed them. To ensure Judah would not be a problem, they made a covenant with king Zedekiah, whom they had installed on the throne. But the princes, the elite of Judah, did not take kindly to Babylon removing their lawful choice of king (Jehoiachin), and they put relentless pressure on Zedekiah to break his agreement with Babylon and conspire against her.

This put Zedekiah in an impossible situation. He was on the throne because Babylon put him there. But he found that he could not rule without the approval of the power brokers in the land. The deep state, if you will. And then there was the prophet Jeremiah, who was telling him what God’s will was. It would take a man of strong character to choose to do the right thing, while so much pressure and danger was all around him. And Zedekiah was not such a man.

Note that God cut him no slack. He called what he did evil. He did not make allowances for the coercion he felt from his princes. This is a strong principle to adhere to. Why have we cut ourselves so much slack for disobeying God and shutting down all our churches during covid? Yes, there was pressure. Yes there was coercion. But that was true in Zedekiah’s time as well. He caved, and God called it evil.

Now, we may hate the muslims and the communists. But our rebellion to the path of life found in God’s word has caused our nations to be turned over to those whom we hate. Traitors have embraced our enemies, and welcomed them into our lands. And now we must eat the bitter fruit thereof.

Eze 23:29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully (sin-aw – exceedingly hateful), and shall take away all thy labour (toil), and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness (er-vaw) of thy whoredoms (zaw-noon) shall be discovered (gaw-law), both thy lewdness (zim-maw) and thy whoredoms (taz-nooth).

The illegal immigrants have stripped us of all our wealth. Trillions have been spent in the last 15 years in ferrying these vile creatures from all 4 corners of the earth to the west. We give them more welfare than any citizen ever received from their governments. They have siphoned off our health care, our education, our social services, and our law enforcement resources. It is simply the excessive wealth of our nations that were once so blessed by God that allows us to still stand for this long. But that time is fast running out.

We should be as ashamed of how we have given away our countries to strangers as a whore should be ashamed when her depravity has been made known to everyone in her town. Especially if she was found to be exceedingly depraved, worse than any other whore before her. Judah was found to be such – worse in the eyes of God than any who had gone before her.

Eze 23:30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring (zaw-naw) after the heathen (goy – gentiles), and because thou art polluted (taw-may) with their idols.

Again and again Yehovah wants it known that he will crush them because of their unfaithfulness to him. Turning your heart to embrace the pagan and their ways is going a whoring in God’s eyes.

Let us strive to always turn back just as quickly as possible, whenever we find our desires straying from our Savior. Let it never be said of us that we have gone astray, like some old, depraved whore.

Eze 23:31 Thou hast walked in the way (deh-rek) of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.

Since you decided to live just like Samaria, is it any wonder that you will experience the same fate? As she was removed out of the land that I gave her, thus shall it be done unto you.

We need to take the stories of God’s judgments found in the bible and start exercising our faith. We are always being taught to believe for positive things to happen to us, such as healing, deliverance, prosperity, etc. How about growing in our faith and really believing in all of God’s promises? God’s negative promises far outweigh the positive ones. Sin like Samaria, and her judgment shall be yours. Sin like Judah, and our judgment shall be like hers. If we really believed this, we would stop treating sin so casually. I know that all you can do is take care of your own choices. You cannot make the church, nor your nation, stop sinning. But it all starts with one. If just one believer started to take this perfectly seriously, then perhaps another one would join. And so on, and so forth. Until a movement began, which just might turn some things around.

Eze 23:32 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup deep and large (broadly): thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth (kool- keep, hold, measure) much (meer-baw – abundance, a great quantity, only time in OT).

The sense is that Judah shall suffer the same judgments as Samaria. Her cup of judgment was deep and broad. You will be humiliated and brought very low. This cup of judgment holds much content. That is, it holds a great quantity. If you think that you can handle whatever chastisement God is thinking of handling out, think again. Come and see and realize just how terrible a situation that you are really in.

Eze 23:33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow (yaw-gohn – affliction, grief), with the cup of astonishment (sham-maw – ruin, desolation) and desolation (shem-aw-maw – devastation, waste), with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

Drunkenness is a symbol for stupid leadership. Leaders who make decisions that only the mentally retarded would make. Things like DEI, carbon taxes, transgenderism, embracing islam and condemning Christianity as far right wing extremism, loving communism and hating patriotism, these are the ideas of madmen and lunatics. These sorts of decrees will most certainly fill the nation with sorrow. You will drink the cup of ruin and desolation. Just as all nations who have decided to pursue wickedness whole heartedly, so we all will join the Sodoms and the Samarias and the Judeans in a long list of failed nations and empires.

Eze 23:34 Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off (tear off) thine own breasts (shad): for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

The symbology here is that of a drunkard who would tilt the bottle back in order to get the last drop of booze out of it. And not satisfied with that, they would break the bottle and lick every shard, so that not one molecule of alcohol would escape their lips.

So it shall be with Judah, as far as experiencing God’s punishments. Not the smallest shard of what God intended to do to them will be held back. Not one single drop of mercy shall be found. Since they adamantly refused to turn back even one degree from their evil ways, they will receive the fullest dose of evil recompense that God has to offer.

This is a sickening state of affairs for anyone to find themselves in. So steeped in sin, so accustomed to the ways of wickedness, that not one single thought of repentance is even able to enter anyone’s mind. How far gone do you have to be to end up like this? What sort of vile behavior would it take to fall so far? Just from a self preservation standpoint, it seems to be the height of irrationality that anyone would plunge himself so steeply and fully into absolute eternal ruin.

And yet, how can we explain the actions of those around us? How can one fathom the mindless rage of the transgender, the Antifa lunatic, the Democrat retard, the Liberal nutjob? We have become so divided that coming back together is not possible any longer, save for a sovereign miracle from God.

The plucking off of one’s own breasts can be taken two ways. First off, doesn’t this remind you of the genital mutilation that has captured so many? To think that so many parents actually applaud this! Remember the days of our youth, when we heard stories of Nero taking his boy lover and castrating him, in order to ‘marry’ him? All of us universally agreed that this was the sickest thing that we had ever heard of, at the time. And now, all of our western governments (with the exception of the American reversal under Trump) not only applaud and encourage this abominable mental illness, but prosecute those who would try and interfere with this barbarity in any way. In effect, all the governments of the west have much more in common with Nero than with Washington or Churchill. We have become nations of depraved, demonic lunatics, dancing on the corpses of those we have slain.

God help us all.

Tearing off the breasts would normally be associated with a sign of repentance, similar to plucking off one’s beard, tearing one’s garment, throwing dust in the air, or falling on one’s face. But in this context of a repent-less nation, I don’t think so. I think it is a sign of the torment of the damned. The punishments of Yehovah have become so fierce, that you are plucking off your breasts in maddening pain. It may also mean that finally, when it is far too late, that you decide to cut off that which tempted the heathen to fornicate with you. Finally at the uttermost end, you try to stop the heathen from wanting to rape you. But of course it’s too little, far too late.

Revelation speaks of the torments of the wicked that they will sample as a down payment before they are thrown into their final place:

Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

Rev 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

As the very last generation of God haters would gnaw their tongues, so these God hating Judeans would tear their breasts as they witnessed what God has brought for them to partake of. Starvation at a level where people ate their own children. Rape and pillage and plunder such as they have never seen. And there was no stopping it, no ending of it. Not until the very last penny was paid for their whoredoms.

Mat_5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Luk_12:59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

Show no remorse, show no repentance, and expect to pay the price. But it is a terrible fact that not a single human being has ever come close in understanding just how much punishment their sin really deserves. There is a universal thought that even if they somehow end up in hell, that they will somehow be able to endure it.

Jesus weeps at such delusion.

Eze 23:35 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness (zim-maw) and thy whoredoms (taz-nooth).

The sense here is that their punishment will be of a significant duration, since God decrees that they shall bear the full penalty for their sin. Their sin is like the committing of filthy sex. And this all happens when you forget God.

Backsliding is no game. I know that many of us have backslid at one time or another. While we did it, we were conscious of what we were doing. But our justification for it kept us comfortable enough to continue in it, until something happened to bring us back. Most of the time a person backslides because of something that happened in church. That is, a pastor or a parishioner betrayed them in some way. They couldn’t handle it at the time, so off they went! Back into the world, back to whatever gave them momentary comfort in their old life.

But the problem is that if you continue to wallow in sin, your heart grows colder and colder. You can come to a place where you forget God. And when that occurs, God may turn his back on you. While we love to preach on the idea that Jesus always goes after the lost sheep, if that sheep continues to choose to not be found, then that is what will occur. Think about the prodigal son. The father never went after him while he was in the foreign land, living it up. He met him a long way off, but only after he made the decision to shoob, to turn back and come home. You can come to the place where you cast God behind your back, and God will leave you to bear your lewdness and your shame for all eternity.

Eze 23:36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge (shaw-fat) Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations (to-ay-baw);

God loves to throw this rhetorical question at Ezekiel. Of course Ezekiel will proclaim the word of the Lord. Maybe one can look at this challenge as God asking Ezekiel if he can come up with anything in Judah’s defence? No? Then tell them the following instead. Apparently there is more to their odious behavior than has not yet been revealed.

Eze 23:37 That they have committed adultery (naw-af – apostasize), and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery (naw-af), and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour (as food) them.

Yahweh reiterates their grossest sins. Apostasy. Murder. Idolatry. Child sacrifice, to feed the demons.

Even by the standards of today’s cabal, that is quite an impressive list of wickedness.

Eze 23:38 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled (taw-may – befouled, contaminated) my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned (khaw-lal) my sabbaths.

But Yehovah has one more atrocity that he wishes to mention. Besides the known sin of defiling the Sabbath, which was to let all the nations know of God’s covenant with Israel, they actually have the audacity to defile his holy temple in a certain way, that when you hear of it, your ears will tingle.

Eze 23:39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane (khaw-lal) it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.

Picture this. These so called children of Yahweh would first go to the place where Moloch was worshipped. There they would toss their baby into the fire, to feed the insatiable bloodlust of this horrid pagan god. Then on the very same day, they would stroll over to the temple of Yahweh, and perform some sort of sacrifice there, as an additional religious ritual in the service of some sort of lesser god. To cover all bases, as it were. And feel perfectly okay with themselves.

Their understanding of the great I AM had degenerated to such an extent, that he was relegated to the bottom of the list of importance in the list of gods that they worshipped. Offer a sacrifice to Yahweh? Sure, but only if I can find the time. Moloch is having his big festival today, and we’ve been saving Junior for this special occasion. See, we’ve even gotten him an ‘I love Moloch’ t-shirt! He’s been washed and anointed, and he’s ready to be tossed! If that service doesn’t go too long, we’ll drop by Yahweh’s place and sacrifice something. I hear there’s a sale on turtledoves, so we’ll probably go with that!

Of course I am being facetious, but is my little story so far off the reality? These horrid creatures, who burnt their baby in the fire, had the audacity to then go to Yahweh’s temple of holiness and actually think that they would be welcomed there! Maybe from the Levite’s point of view, the freewill offerings had gone way down, so even Moloch worshippers were welcome, as long as they had something to put in the offering plate! That anyone could actually do this shows just how far one can plunge down a moral abyss. It seems there was no limit to the sins that these creatures were willing to commit. Burning your baby is one thing. To then go and worship Yahweh with a clear conscience? That is a special kind of demon, is it not?

And are we any better today? How many evil women have aborted their babies, then gone to church? Some think nothing of it. Others may have felt great guilt, but come to church where they demand no one judge them. They ask God to heal them, and for the church to accept them.

Murderers! First degree murderers! Under the law, there was no atonement for such, only death. Thank God that Jesus forgives these intentional sins, if repented of. But that doesn’t mean that one should ever feel that this is a sin like any other. God is very careful to tell us there are differing punishments for various sins. Abortion is not the same as stealing a candy bar. This acceptance of gross sinners without evidence of genuine repentance is an abomination in the eyes of God. How dare an unrepentant child murderer approach the presence of God and act as if nothing is wrong!

How about parents who ship their kids off the public school, if they can afford to do otherwise? Do they not know that they are placing them in the hands of sodomites and pedophiles? What about rushing to get your baby jabbed with vax poisons? Or attending churches that embraced covid money to keep their doors shut, and zealously obeyed every evil mandate, even demanding vax passports, and barring the doors to the unvaxxed? Do you think God will accept those who live in deliberate, wilful sin, and then dare to come and worship this holy God?

Where are our consciences? How can Christians smoke dope one night, then the next day go to church? How can you be living in sin, fornicating outside of marriage, and attend church? How can you be a homosexual or a lesbian, and the pastor accepts you just as you are, as he says it is up to Jesus to change you? Are you kidding me?

Why do we make a mockery of all the commandments of God? This stinking garbage of an idea that I can’t stop sinning until Jesus does it for me is from the pit of hell. How could Jesus and the apostles command the Christian to stop every kind of sin, if it was not possible for them to do so? How could God judge any of us if we did not have the ability to obey?

Do we need to rely on Jesus to change us? I would hope that would go without saying. Faith is believing that Jesus will give us the ability to do whatever he asks. But you can do it. It might be very hard, but you can do it. You may be convinced that you cannot. But that is a lie. Sometimes we just do not know at the moment how to get free. But that does not mean it is impossible. It just means that you’re not understanding something. Keep digging. Keep plowing. The solution will come to those who keep seeking.

Eze 23:40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger (maw-lak) was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash (bathe) thyself, paintedst (khaw-kal, only time in OT) thy eyes, and deckedst (decorate) thyself with ornaments (finery),

Judah looked everywhere for help except from God himself. As they courted alliances with the worst of the heathen, they enthusiastically would sample and embrace the gods of all those people. Yahweh was near to be found, if only they would shoob. Instead, Judah went far and wide to find anyone and any god but Yehovah. They actively sought out aid by spending resources in sending diplomats everywhere that they could think of. Yahweh had said that they were a chosen race, a chosen people. But Judah wanted to be just like everyone else. They wanted to be part of the world order, just another faceless nation in a sea of nations.

While Judah did not lift a finger to obey any of God’s commandments, no effort was spared to doll herself up, in order that these heathen strangers would fornicate with her. The picture here is of a whore who will use everything at her disposal to lure her client into bed with her. They washed, perfumed, and used every sort of makeup and jewelry to adorn themself. All to attract the eye and show that she was ready to take on all comers into her bed.

Eze 23:41 And satest (sat) upon a stately (magnificent) bed, and a table (meal) prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.

Whether the bed was for eating or for fornicating, Judah had pulled out all stops to entice her guests. The meal would have been top notch. God says that Judah took God’s incense and his oil and profaned it by offering it to the heathen and their gods. Yahweh had strict rules about incense and oil that was to be devoted to him. Instead, Judah took it and gave it to God’s celestial enemies.

Eze 23:42 And a voice of a multitude (loud tumult) being at ease (living carelessly) was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

Some think ‘being at ease’ should be translated ‘being stilled thereby’. That would render the meaning that these raucous, revelling drunkards of pagan armies would be stilled by the gifts Judah gave them. I think the King James translated it just fine, which would render the second clause as an expansion of meaning of the first. That is, these pagan hordes, raising an ungodly tumult, were those whose entire lives were one of carefree ease. That is, they lived for the moment.

What kind of men did Judah go to for help? Men with no moral standards whatsoever. Commoners, who came with a tribe of Sabeans, who lived in the wild. We have heard of these once before:

Job 1:14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Job 1:15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

This most likely was some sort of Bedouin like tribe who lived by theft and plunder.

And what did Judah do for these base sorts of fellows? Why, they paid them! Judah was willing to hire the most vile of creatures as mercenaries, perhaps to help them break their vow that they made to serve Babylon.

Some think that the Sabeans were the ones who put bracelets and crowns upon themselves, to array themselves in gaudy trinkets. I think the context better fits Judah doing this, since she has already been exposed as a harlot who pays others to have sex with her, rather than taking payment herself.

Eze 23:43 Then said I unto her that was old (baw-lwh – worn out, from a root meaning to decay, utterly spent) in adulteries (nee-oof), Will they now commit (zaw-naw) whoredoms (taz-nooth) with her, and she with them?

God is still comparing Judah to the sluttiest, foulest, most squalid and soiled whore that one could imagine. And this picture is in regards to how many times and in how many ways the men of Judah chose to turn their back on Yahweh and embrace any and every god that they encountered. Even the most desperate whore may have reached some sort of red line over which she would not cross. There may have been some filthy act that she would not be willing to perform. But not Judah. She was willing to go all the way. In fact, the filthier the act, the better.

What made it all the worse was that she was now very old in years. That is, she had fornicated with other gods for a very long time. And instead of tiring herself out, or finally becoming so engorged with her adulterous behavior that she would finally have had enough, it seems that her lust for betraying Yahweh was bottomless. This is the reality that God is trying to get across to us. In his eyes, Judah could not seem to stop defiling herself, by betraying her husband Yahweh at every opportunity.

And there was no remorse. There was never any shame. So much so, that even Yahweh himself now is shocked at the fact that at this very late hour, at this utter ending of her existence, this old worn out whore was willing to spread her legs one more time. And spread her legs for the nastiest, the filthiest of men that were out there.

And this is exactly what the governments of the west have done. They have spread their legs wide open and embraced the worst people on the planet. We have brought in muslims by the millions. A large percentage of these people are the filthiest, vilest, cruellest, and most disgusting of human beings that you can find, and are a huge problem. They want to do nothing but murder us. But only after they have consumed all of our wealth, and raped all of our women and children. And we spread our legs wide open for them! We paid them billions to come and do this to us.

All of us are sick in the head. The fact that we did not tar and feather every single politician who would even suggest that it would be a wonderful idea to bring these demon possessed terrors into our lands is to our lasting shame and destruction. We truly do deserve everything that is coming to us. We let the wicked do whatever they wanted, because it was easier to let them have their way, while we were too busy enjoying our lives.

Eze 23:44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot (zaw-naw): so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd (zim-maw) women.

God paints this disgusting scene as sort of a mockery of these filthy pagan tribes of no character, in that they were bereft of any standards of decency, that they would even choose to make an alliance with this nation that obviously had no more strength than a worn out whore. God decides to include Samaria back into the picture, to remind us that they too committed this sin of illicit mixing, but Judah is the greater offender. If there is money to be taken, there is no shortage of people who will take it, regardless of what they have to do to get it, or who they have to mingle with.

Covid taught us that our nations are full of people no better than the citizens of Germany in the 1930’s. The vast, vast majority of people went along to get along, as they say. And with far less coercion needed to get us to comply. 99% of people complied with masks and lockdowns. 70 to 90 percent of people got jabbed with the bioweapon. The majority sided with the murderous depopulators, actually believing all the lies about how we all were in such grave danger, when our eyes kept telling us that there was zero evidence of any sort of outbreak of sickness. The only outbreak of sickness that occurred was due to the jabs. Everything else was theatre, simply smoke and mirrors. Yet the whole planet was paralyzed in abject terror.

Give people money to murder, to promote absurdities, and to convince people to harm themselves permanently, and they eagerly participate. So did these bands of thieves and cutthroats. Judah wanted to pay them for whatever help they could offer, and they would take the money. As far as what Judah would get in return, the answer would be nothing.

Eze 23:45 And the righteous (tsad-deek – just, lawful) men, they shall judge (shaw-fat) them after the manner (mishpat) of adulteresses (naw-af), and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses (naw-af), and blood is in their hands.

Judah did nothing but rebel against God. Everything that they did, especially at the end of their existence, was one rebellion after another. They would not listen to a single thing that God told them to do. If there was a commandment to break, Judah would find it and break it. Those few who still walked in righteousness would easily discern and find them guilty of adultery. Adultery against Yahweh. Adulterers and murderers. Blood and sex. Sex and blood. That is what the backslid man will wallow in, if he persists in his rebellion against the Lord.

Eze 23:46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company (multitude) upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled (plundered).

God had already commissioned Nebuchadnezzar to be his instrument of judgment to the nations. It was now Judah’s turn.

Eze 23:47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.

It is said here that Babylon would stone Judah with stones. Stoning was the punishment for adulterers. Obviously this was meant symbolically, to indicate the fact that God was sending Babylon to execute punishment on the adulterer, whose name was Judah. As Babylon killed them primarily with the sword, metaphorically God saw it as the stoning of a woman caught in adultery. God reserved the right to punish the sinner in the manner that he saw fit. Their offspring would be cut off, and their wealth destroyed.

Eze 23:48 Thus will I cause lewdness (zim-maw) to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught (yaw-sar – chastised, punished, reformed) not to do after your lewdness (zim-maw).

While all women should certainly take this lesson to heart literally, in that committing adultery is the height of folly and suicidal behavior, God has others in mind. Any nation that claims the God of the bible as their God needs to take heed. Yahweh is a very jealous God. He will have no other gods before him. What more does he have to say than what he has said in this chapter? Disobey this most fundamental of commandments, and you will die. Your nation will end up just like Judah’s.

Given this truth, can you honestly see any escape for any western nation today? Have we not all committed gross adultery against Yahweh? Have we not behaved even worse than Judah? God said that he promises that he will cut off all lewdness out of the land. Our apostasy, idolatry, and sexual sin are all tied up together in one big package of total rebellion against our creator. We love to quote the promises of God. Well, learn this one. God promises to remove our morally disgusting behavior out of our lands. And since we refuse to stop sinning, God will remove the sinners themselves.

Eze 23:49 And they shall recompense your lewdness (zim-maw) upon you, and ye shall bear the sins (khate – crime and its penalty) of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Every sin carries a price. Some worse than others. Zim-maw is a wicked device, a heinous crime, a very bad plan. Our plan of turning our backs on the commandments of Yehovah is a very bad one. Sin has consequence. We will have to experience those consequences, since so few are willing to break off completely from their wicked ways.

So be it. At least God has left for us the book of Ezekiel. Want to know what’s next in our near future? Stop going to the psychics and the soothsayers for the answer. Read this book. Everything you need to know is right here.

Thus ends this long and most shocking of chapters.

We have now made it through the worst of God’s rants against the worst of sins that he has discovered amongst his own people. I wish that we were of a generation such as the first generation church. Or that our church age most resembled the Philadelphian age rather than the Laodicean. But it does not. And here we are. This chapter is for us, here in the west, late in the year 2025.

I pray that Jesus takes the truths in this chapter, and spreads it far and wide, as quickly as possible, so that whatever good that we can still accomplish with our acknowledgement of these things, followed by our genuine repentance, can take place as quickly as possible, while there may yet be time to do some good.

Solitary Man
https://solitaryman.substack.com/