Ezekiel 23 Devotional

Learning from a Sister's Fall

“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’””Ezekiel 23:35 (BSB)

Chapter 23 tells of two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, who stand for Samaria and Jerusalem (23:4). Like chapter 16, it uses deliberately shocking imagery of unfaithfulness, here for the way both cities sought security from Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt and took up the idols of those nations (23:5-21, 30). Samaria went first and was handed over to the very power she had trusted (23:9-10). Jerusalem watched it happen and went further still (23:11).

Seeing someone else fall did not keep Jerusalem from falling. The people even sacrificed their children to idols and walked into God's sanctuary on the same day (23:38-39). God names the heart of it: they had forgotten him and pushed him out of their lives (23:35). Paul says Israel's history was written down as a warning for later believers, and that those confident in their footing should watch themselves. Then he adds that God is faithful and makes a way through temptation (1 Corinthians 10:11-13). Others' failures call for humility, not gossip, and God's faithfulness is your way through.

To think about: Whose failure have you been quick to judge, and what might God be warning you about in your own heart through it?