Ezekiel 23 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Ezekiel 23 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
This chapter is dated to the 7th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin (Eze 20:1), 590 or 589 BC. Jehoiachin had been king in Judah but was dethroned by the Babylonians and taken as a captive.
Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:
Amon (642-640 BC)
Josiah (640-609 BC)
Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)
Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)
Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)
Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)
WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY
Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.
Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.
Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.
Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.
Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.
Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.
Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.
Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.
Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.
Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.
Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.
Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.
Ezekiel 15 – God compared the citizens of Jerusalem to useless vine wood that was good for nothing except to burn.
Ezekiel 16 – God compared his people to a young woman who he had raised and cared for. When she grew up, she turned her back on God and prostituted herself with foreign nations and idols.
Ezekiel 17 – Ezekiel spoke a parable to the people of Judah about two great eagles. The parable indicated that the King of Judah would betray Babylon and be uprooted by them.
Ezekiel 18 – The people of Judah were accusing God of punishing them for the sins of their ancestors. God clarified that each man was responsible and would be held accountable only for his own sins.
Ezekiel 19 – God lamented the unfaithfulness of His people through two laments, the lament of the lion cubs and the lament of the vine.
Ezekiel 20 - The elders of Israel wanted to consult with God, but God refused them based on their continual and cyclical rebellion against His laws. God spoke of His future judgement on Judah and His future grace that would restore the nation.
Ezekiel 21 – Ezekiel spoke of the sword of the Lord that God had sharpened to punish Judah. The king of Babylon stood at a fork in the road, and God was going to direct him and his army to Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 22 – God condemned Judah for a litany of sins and their total neglect of any attempt to keep His commands. He told them He would melt them down like metal within the furnace of Jerusalem.
OUTLINE:
OHOLAH AND OHOLIBAH (23:1-49):
God illustrated the nations of Israel and Judah with two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah.
Oholah represented Samaria (the capital of Israel) and Oholibah represented Jerusalem (the capital of Judah).
God accused them of “playing the whore” from the time of their youth when they lived in Egypt.
Their sexual promiscuity was meant to show how they defiled themselves through idol worship, unfaithfulness to God, and infatuation with the practices of foreign nations.
Oholah (Israel) is described first.
She lusted after the Assyrian young men and gave herself to all of them and their idols.
Israel was once infatuated with the power, wealth, and religion of Assyria, and they gave themselves to their foreign customs in neglect of the God of Israel.
God said he delivered Oholah over to her lovers and they killed her after they had used her up.
This parallels God giving Israel over to the Assyrians, who conquered them, dissolved the government, and scattered them throughout the nations.
Oholibah saw her sister’s behavior and fate, but she learned nothing from it. Oholibah became even worse than her sister.
She lusted after the Assyrians and then the Babylonians (Chaldeans).
The Babylonians came to her bed and defiled her thoroughly, and God turned in disgust.
She regretted nothing about her dishonorable youth; in fact, she turned back to the Egyptians with longing eyes.
God was going to stir up the Babylonians to put an end to her lewdness.
They would destroy Judah because they had “played the whore with the nations and defiled” themselves with their idols.
God was going to give them a cup of horror and desolation to drink, and they would drink it until it was drained.
Judah deserved the sentence of an adulterer because they turned their back on the Lord. God was sending an army to stone them and kill them with swords.
“Thus will I put an end to the lewdness in the land… and you shall know that I am the Lord God” (23:47-49).
APPLICATION:
God places some people in your life to teach you how not to live.
God let Judah live through the sinful downfall of Israel so they could witness the consequences of their sins.
We are meant to learn from the things God permits us to live through.
Think about the people God has ordained to be around you.
All of them are your teachers.
Some will teach you about God, mimic His character, and guide you through His word.
Others God has appointed to teach you about the consequences of sin, the effects of a godless life, and the tragedy of a life that disregards God’s words.
