Yahweh said moreover to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh said moreover to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
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The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
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The LORD said moreover unto me: 'Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 23:36 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 22:2 “You, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.
- Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud! Don’t spare! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Ezekiel 16:2 “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;
- Ezekiel 20:4 “Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.
- Jeremiah 1:10 Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
- Jeremiah 11:14 “Therefore don’t pray for this people. Don’t lift up cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble.
- Jeremiah 14:11 Yahweh said to me, “Don’t pray for this people for their good.
- Hosea 2:2 Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
- Micah 3:8-11 But as for me, I am full of power by Yahweh’s Spirit, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin. Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”
- Matthew 23:13-35 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves. “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who has been living in it. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
- Luke 11:39-52 The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also? But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.” One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”
- Acts 7:51-53 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
- 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 23:36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son…
Eze 23:36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
Ver. 36. Wilt thou judge?] See Eze 20:4; Eze 22:2.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Wilt thou judge, excuse or plead for such adultresses.…
Wilt thou judge, excuse or plead for such adultresses. so Eze 22:2.
Declare unto them plainly, fully tell them, what they have been, and what they must expect for all their abominations.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The Lord said moreover unto me, son of man,…
The Lord said moreover unto me, son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah?.... Plead the cause of Israel and Judah? say any thing in their defence, and in excuse of them? or intercede and pray for them, that threatened judgments may not come upon them? no, do nothing of this kind; if thou wilt do anything, do as follows:
yea, declare unto them their abominations; their abominable sins, their murders, adulteries, and idolatries; set them in a true light before them, in all their aggravated circumstances; that, if it can be, they may be brought to a true sight and sense of them, to repent of them, be ashamed of them, loath them, confess them, and forsake them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 23:36-39. Wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah —…
Eze 23:36-39. Wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah — That is, Samaria and Jerusalem? The meaning is, Wilt thou not judge, or, Wilt thou not condemn them? That they have committed adultery, and blood is, &c. — That they have been guilty of the heinous sins of murder and adultery; and have also caused their sons, &c. — Have caused their children, who of right belonged to me, and who ought to have been bred up to be my worshippers, to be burned in the fire, by way of sacrifice in honour to false gods. They have defiled my sanctuary in the same day — They have also come directly from these idolatrous and abominable rites and sacrifices into my temple, as though they could worship me acceptably when they were thus horribly polluted. And have profaned my sabbaths — Have spent the sabbaths, which I appointed to be observed to my honour alone, in the service and to the honour of idols. Or, they profaned them by coming into God’s courts to observe them, immediately after they had defiled themselves by their idolatrous and horrid ceremonies. For when they had slain their children to their idols — To my great dishonour, and the reproach of the human nature; then they came into my sanctuary — With their hands imbrued, and their clothes stained with their children’s blood, to present themselves before me; expecting acceptance with me notwithstanding their villanies, as if I either did not know their wickedness, or did not hate it. And lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house — In the inward part of my temple. Some expound the words, of their setting up idols in the very temple, and worshipping them there.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Deeds. He is thus admonished to condemn them; (chap.…
Deeds. He is thus admonished to condemn them; (chap. xx. 4.) as times and places tended to aggravate their crimes, ver. 39. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain A summing up of the sins of the two…
A summing up of the sins of the two sisters, especially those of Judah.
wilt thou judge--Wilt thou (not) judge (see on Eze 20:4)?
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 36. Here begins a new description of the wickedness…
36. Here begins a new description of the wickedness of the two sisters who have committed adultery by idol worship (Eze_23:37); whose hands are stained with the blood of their own children (Eze_23:37); who are sabbath breakers and profane (Eze_23:38), yet, notwithstanding all this, hope for beauty and happiness (Eze_23:41).
Wilt thou judge — See Eze_20:4.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 36. yea, declare] then declare.
36. yea, declare] then declare.
36–49. New exposure of the immoralities of Oholah and Oholibah (Eze_23:36-44), and threat of their punishment (Eze_23:45-49)
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The passage is not a continuation of Eze_23:1-35, but an independent description, parallel to these verses.
(1) Eze_23:36-37. The adulteries, that is, idolatries, and bloodshed of which the two women are guilty.
(2) vv, 38, 39. Their profaning the house of Jehovah, and breaking; his Sabbaths—the former particularly in their entering his house fresh from the sacrifice of their children.
(3) Eze_23:40-44. Their alliances with idolatrous nations and receiving their gods, under the figure of a harlot receiving and entertaining men.
(4) Eze_23:45-49. Their punishment with the death of an adulteress at the hands of righteous men.—The text in some passages is extremely difficult.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (36) Wilt thou judge?—Rather, judge thou, as in Eze_20:4;…
(36) Wilt thou judge?—Rather, judge thou, as in Eze_20:4; Eze_22:2.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain As often, Ezekiel emphasizes by reiteration, begins yet a…
As often, Ezekiel emphasizes by reiteration, begins yet a fresh discourse with the same words, wilt thou judge, as in Eze_20:4 and 22:2, and enters on another summary of the sins of the two harlot sisters, in which Moloch-worship (Ver. 37) and sabbath-breaking (Ver. 38) were conspicuous elements. The nature of the guilt is emphasized (Vers. 38, 39) by the fact that the idolatrous ritual was performed on the very day in which the people sacrificed in the temple; that it found a local habitation even there. (comp. Eze_8:17 2Ki 21; Jer_32:34)
Ver. 36 (last clause). Abominations declared.
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I ABOMINATIONS MAY BE HIDDEN.
1. They may be committed in secret. Then they are unknown to every one but the guilty persons and their accomplices.
2. Their corrupt character may not be admitted. Then they may be done in open daylight without shame or rebuke. Not only the outside public, but even the guilty persons themselves, may not perceive the full evil of what they are doing.
3. They may be forgotten. People do not wish to call to mind a disagreeable past. As the years glide by it slides further and further into the dim land of forgetfulness. By dint of reiterated self-flattery the guilty persons almost persuade themselves that they did not do the evil things of those old bad years, or that somehow they have left their former selves behind them in that evil past; or they put the thought of it quite out of their minds.
II ABOMINATIONS CANNOT BE HIDDEN FOREVER. God does not forget them. The recording angel has written them in his awful book with ink that never fades. The subtle poison of them lingers in the souls of the guilty. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Some seeds take long to germinate. But the seeds of evil deeds have a fatal vitality, though they be slow to make an appearance. We cannot escape the consequences of our misdeeds by forgetting them.
III IT IS BEST THAT ABOMINATIONS SHOULD BE REVEALED TO THE GUILTY ON EARTH. It is no piece of idle vengeance that tortures Israel with a revelation of its abominations.
1. It is well for the guilty to know them. There is no chance of repentance until the heinousness of sin is acknowledged. But that this may be the case, the abominations must first be revealed to the sinner. There may be little good in proclaiming his guilt aloud to the world. What is needed is that it should be brought well home to his own conscience.
2. It is well that they should be known now. If men wait for the certain revelation of final judgment, the abominations will be declared in trumpet-tones of denunciation, and burned into the soul in memories of fire. It is infinitely better to become conscious of them first, that the awakening knowledge of guilt may perchance lead to contrition and repentance.
IV GOD DECLARES THEIR ABOMINATIONS TO SINNERS. He is too merciful to permit his children to perish without warning. The Bible contains awful revelations of human sin. If we take it as a lamp, and turn its light on our own lives and into our own hearts, it will reveal many an abomination of wickedness hitherto calmly ignored. The prophets of Israel were required to reveal man"s sin quite as much as to make known the thoughts and will of God. John the Baptist came to prepare for Christ by declaring to men the abominations of their ways. Christ himself makes men feel their sin by his own holy presence. So Peter feared to be near him. (Luk_5:8) A vision of Christ throws a wholesome light on the hideous condition of an impenitent soul. This is to lead to repentance and salvation through Christ. Then the abominations may be blotted out. (1Jn_1:7)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain EXEGETICAL NOTES.—Judah and Samaria are considered as joined together…
(Eze_23:36-49)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—Judah and Samaria are considered as joined together in their sin and punishment.
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Eze_23:37. “They have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands.” “The actual subject matter of these verses is closely connected with Eze_23:16, more especially in the designation of the sins as adultery and bloodshed (compare Eze_23:37 and Eze_23:45 with Eze_16:38). They committed adultery with the idols, thus placing the idols on a par with Jehovah as the husband of Israel (compare Jer_3:8; Jer_2:27. For the Moloch-worship compare Eze_16:20-21, and Eze_20:31”).—Keil.
Eze_23:39. “Then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it.” “So callous and daring were the Jews in their idolatry that on the very day on which they had burned their children to Moloch in the valley of Gehenna, they hypocritically presented themselves as worshippers in the temple of Jehovah. Compare Jer_7:9-10.” (Henderson). The profanation consisted, not simply in idol-worship considered by itself, but in worshipping the true God in connection with their idols. Thus they placed Jehovah on a par with Moloch.
Eze_23:40. “Ye have sent for men to come from far.” The Heb. verb being in the imperfect tense shows that the action was continuous. Not that they merely sent once and again, but that they were wont to do so. “For whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments.” “They spread fine paint of a black colour on the eyelids so as to produce a black margin, and thus make the white of the eye look more beautiful and seducing. It is a custom still practised by Oriental females. Jerusalem is represented as so doing to entice her lovers. She left nothing untried by which this might be effected” (Henderson). “The eyelashes and eyebrows were stained with a powder, so as to make the glance of the eye more brilliant.”—Lange.
Eze_23:41. “Satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it.’ “She seated herself upon a cushion (not lay down upon a bed), and in front of this there was a table, spread with different kinds of food, upon which she placed incense and oil.”—(Keil.) “The board or table is furnished with meats and drinks. Eating and drinking play an important part in adultery, either in the usual or in the spiritual sense.”—(Hengstenberg). “Where-upon thou hast set Mine incense and Mine oil.” The force of this charge lies in the fact that she devoted the offerings which belonged to Jehovah to the gratification of her lovers. “Religious ceremonies are not here spoken of. We find ourselves in the region of political idolatry, which in the latest times of the people, from the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah, far outweighed that of religion. The corresponding reality consists in the rich gifts by which Judah endeavoured to purchase the favour of the heathen sovereigns (Isa_30:6).”—(Hengstenberg.) Some understand this passage as describing the lascivious worship of the Babylonish Mylitta. The wanton Israel is described as preparing herself for one of the high festivals of this goddess, and as abandoning herself to strangers like the young women of Babylon.
Eze_23:42. “A voice of a multitude being at ease was with her.” They are at ease, in careless, undisturbed prosperity. “Sabeans from the Wilderness.” “Instead of receiving the warnings given them by the prophets, and humbling themselves on account of their idolatries, the inhabitants of Jerusalem indulged in rioting and drunkenness—bringing even the vulgar Arabs from the desert to keep them company.”—(Henderson.) The phrase “from the desert,” cannot indicate the home of these men, but simply the place from which they came to Judah, namely, from the desert of Syria and Arabia, which separated Palestine from Babylon. These peoples decorated the arms of the harlots with clasps, and their heads with splendid wreaths (crowns). The thought is simply that Samaria and Judah had attained to wealth and earthly glory through their intercourse with these nations; the very gifts with which, according to Eze_16:11, &c., Jehovah Himself had adorned His people.”—(Keil)
Eze_23:43. “Old in adulteries.” Lit. who was debilitated for adultery. “The Heb. word does not indicate the means by which the strength has been exhausted, but is an accusation of direction or reference, debilitated with regard to adultery, so as no longer to be capable of practising it.”—(Keil.) “Will they now commit whoredoms with her?” “Disgusting as was her character as an old adulteress, Jerusalem found those who encouraged her in her wickedness. Taken in connection with the next verse, the two sisters are again presented to view, though Aholibah is specially singled out, being the more guilty of the two.”—(Henderson.)
Eze_23:45. “The righteous men.” Men who had the right on their side. Such were the Chaldeans, who were the instruments of God’s righteous anger. “The Chaldeans are righteous according to their mission as ministers of the Divine vengeance. The heathen tyrant also, in Isa_49:24, is designated as righteous.”—(Hengstenberg.) “A moral comparison between the Chaldeans and the Jews is not intended, nor are prophets and righteous men among the people themselves to be imagined.”—(Lange.)
Eze_23:46. “I will bring up a company upon them.” “Here the prophet is first addressed. What shall happen is, as it were, wrought by him, as the power which gave the prophecy produces also the fulfilment; in the prophecy also, ideally considered, the fulfilment is already present. The community denotes usually the congregation of Israel. As this has failed to do its duty, reacting against the crime, as once happened in the war against Benjamin (Judges 20), so stands here the community of the heathen, which God summons to execute His vengeance.”—(Hengstenberg.)
Eze_23:48.“All women.” All the nations, to whom Israel would serve as a warning and deterring example.
Eze_23:49. “They shall recompense your lewdness upon you.” “The punishment is announced to both the women, Israel and Judah, as still in the future, although Aholah (Samaria) had been overtaken by the judgment a considerable time before. The explanation of this is to be found in the allegory itself, in which both kingdoms are represented as being sisters of one mother; and it may also be defended on the ground that the approaching destruction of Jérusalem and the kingdom of Judah affected the remnants of the kingdom of the ten tribes, which were still to be found in Palestine; whilst, on the other hand, the judgment was not restricted to the destruction of the two kingdoms, but also embraced the latter judgments which fell upon the entire nation.”—(Keil).,
HOMILETICS
ANOTHER SUMMARY OF THE SINS AND PUNISHMENT OF JUDAH AND SAMARIA
I. Their Sins.
1. Idolatry. “With their idols have they committed adultery” (Eze_23:37). Jehovah was to Israel as a husband. To serve other gods was to forsake and forfeit His favour and protection. It was a fearful crime, such as adultery would be in the judgment of all nations.
2. Cruelty. “Blood is in their hands.” They offered their children to the cruelties of Moloch worship. Idolatry leads to perverted and unnatural views of human duty and of the requirements of religion. Hence the cruelty of its rites.
3. Impurity. She sought to make herself attractive to her lovers, using every art to pander to her lust (Eze_23:41-42). Israel made herself attractive to the surrounding nations, “For whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments.” They washed themselves before men, but were unclean before God—the way of hypocrites. Israel sought for occasions of sin. “Ye have sent for men” (Eze_23:40). They tried to excite a jaded appetite (Eze_23:43). They were old and worn out in the service of sin, but tried hard to awaken the impulses of it, to stir up the embers of a smouldering fire. Even in Christian lands, how many serve such impure and cruel gods and even use infamous arts to plunge into the lowest depths of iniquity! “He who serves Venus and Bacchus offers to them also his children.”—(Lange). And how many, also, become more shameless as they grow old in sin!
4. Profanity. They profaned the Sabbath and the sanctury (Eze_23:38). They employed in the service of idolatry the “incense” and “oil,” God’s own property, which He had reserved for sacred uses (Exo_30:23-33). More than this, they dared to combine the service of Jehovah with that of idols, thus adding to their sins the boldest and most wicked hypocracy. After they had indulged in the most cruel rites of idolatry, they came “in the same day” into God’s sanctuary to defile it. “To run from the harlot-house to God’s house, from murder to the place of prayer, from sin to sinning, is not pleasing to God.”—Lange.
II. Their punishment.
1. It would be felt to be just even by the heathen nation who inflicted it. “And the righteous men, they shall judge them.” (Eze_23:45). The Chaldeans had right on their side. They were the righteous instruments of God to execute His vengeance. Even heathen nations looked upon perjury and breach of covenant as fearful crimes. (Eze_17:15-16).
2. It would be a severe, and yet a most fitting punishment. (Eze_23:46-47). The Judgment hour had come, and God’s army was ready. “They shall stone them with stones,”—the punishment of those who commit adultery and shed blood (Joh_8:5).
3. It would be effectual. The punishment would completely cure the evil (Eze_23:48). It would be a warning example to all (Eze_23:48). It would bring them to the true knowledge of God (Eze_23:49). The whole of this chapter illustrates the words of St. Paul, that “the Law entered that the offence might abound” (Rom_5:20). It would seem as if the presence of God’s holy Law served to stir up the proud will of the chosen people to more desperate self-assertion. They sought those sinful alliances with the powers of the world, which seemed to have all the more attraction because they were forbidden. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (Jas_4:4).
(Eze_23:36-44.)
1. Sinners make little or no conscience of horrible sins, or holy duties; they pass from one to the other immediately. When they had slain their children to their idols, that same day they came into the Sanctuary. From shedding of blood and sacrificing to idols, they step into the temple and worship of God. Had not their consciences been seared, they would have accused them and told them that they were unclean, not fit to meddle with holy things. But they go boldly and impudently into God’s presence. So Jeremiah tells us, they did steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, walk after other gods, and then come presently and stand before Him in His house, and say: “We are delivered.” (Jer_7:9-10.) They passed from wicked practices to holy duties, making no conscience of the one or the other.
2. The Lord takes notice how men draw near to Him in the duties of His worship. They thrust themselves into the temple worship and into the presence of God, as if they had been innocent and as acceptable to God as any. Men may deceive others and themselves, but they cannot deceive the Lord. He sees their spirits, and whether they come unprepared in the guilt of former or present sins.
3. Profaning of holy things is wronging God. “This have they done unto Me. Lo, thus have they done in the midst of Mine house.” God had instituted their worship, and had stamped holiness upon them; and therefore the defiling and profaning of them He counted the defiling and profaning of His name and of Himself. Three ways, especially, are holy things defiled, profaned:
(1.) When men come in their sins, without purging themselves. (St. James, Jas_4:8.) If men draw near to God without cleansing their hands, and purifying their hearts, God will not draw near them. He will not touch unclean things.
(2.) When we mingle aught of us therewith. Additions of human things are pollutions of divine things. When they brought aught into the Temple which God appointed not, then was God’s worship defiled. When Nadab and Abihu put strange fire into the censers, they defiled God’s worship and provoked Him to their destruction (Leviticus 10); and when they set their threshold with God’s threshold, they defiled His name and worship (Eze_43:7-8).
3. When holy things are handled irreverently. The Bethshemites in a rude manner peeped into the ark and profaned it, which caused the Lord to smite them with sudden death (1Sa_6:19). Solomon gives counsel that men should keep their feet when they go into the house of God (Ecc_5:1). For if they look not well to their affections, they will play the fool, and profane those holy things, and procure a curse instead of a blessing.
4. Sinners will show great activity in drawing others to themselves and their wicked ways. These harlots sent to Assyria, to Egypt, and to others to come unto them. They trimmed and decked themselves, they spared not for any cost whereby they might please and satisfy them. Thus did the harlot (Proverbs 7). She perfumes her bed, trims up herself, goes forth, and diligently seeks, finds, and brings in the prey. Some compass sea and land to make proselytes. Shall wicked ones and wickedness be active, expensive to draw and ruin others, and shall not godly ones and godliness be as active and expensive to win and save sinners?
5. Those who are given to corporeal or spiritual uncleanness are seldom, recovered, but go on and grow old in those sins. These women had many reproofs and threatenings, but none prevailed (Eze_23:44). Such sins are bewitching, and hold men captive. “None that go unto her return again” (Pro_2:19).
6. The Lord takes notice of sinners, as to the beginning, progress, and continuance of their sin. He observed when Aholah began her whoredoms, when the calves were set up at Dan and Bethel, how she grew up and grew old in adulteries. God’s eye goes along with sinners, from the beginning to the end.
7. God’s judgments are teaching things. He brought these judgments upon the two harlots, that all women might be taught thereby. Gideon by thorns and briars taught the men of Succoth (Jdg_8:16). There is no judgment of God upon any city, nation, or people, but it speaks and teaches: “Hear ye the rod” (Mic_6:9); it hath a voice, a teaching voice.
1. It teaches all who are guilty of the same sins, and not visited with the same judgments to admire the goodness and long suffering of God towards them.
2. It teaches those who are guilty of such sins to repent and turn to the Lord, lest the Lord, being now in the way of judgment, should break out also upon them, and make them examples of His justice.
3. It teaches others to fear and to flee from such practices, as being such destructive judgments. When Samaria and Jerusalem shall be destroyed for their confidence in the arm of flesh, will not every other city learn what is the reward of wickedness, and fear to do the like?
8. God’s ways with sinners in judging them righteously brings them to acknowledge the equity of His dealing with them. When the just punishment of your lewdness and idolatry shall be upon you, “ye shall know that I am the Lord,” who observed all your ways, who waited long for your repentance, who have dealt justly with you in all the evils I have brought upon you; you cannot but justify Me, and condemn yourselves.—(Greenhill.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah?
Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah?
Yahweh uses this rhetorical question as a command for Ezekiel. This question can be written as a statement. The cities of Jerusalem and Samaria are represented by Oholah and Oholibah. AT: "Son of man, you will judge Oholah and Oholibah!" or "Son of man, judge the people of those two cities represented by Oholah and Oholibah." (See: Rhetorical Question and Metaphor)
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Son of man
"Son of a human being" or "Son of humanity." God calls Ezekiel this to emphasize that Ezekiel is only a human being. God is eternal and powerful, but humans are not. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 2:1.
there is blood on their hands
This is an idiom. AT: "they have murdered people" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
Son of Man
adultery
blood
false god
son
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 23:36-43 The prophet again adopted the role of prosecuting…
23:36-43 The prophet again adopted the role of prosecuting attorney, whose task was to confront Jerusalem with her sins (described in detail in ch 22). Far from being holy cities, Jerusalem and Samaria had become worn-out prostitutes whose only attractiveness was in their availability.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.