Ezekiel 23:10
These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her. These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.
Ezekiel 23 was spoken as a warning before the destruction of Jerusalem, setting forth the fearful sins of Israel and Judah and the awful suffering that would come upon them. Samaria and Jerusalem are portrayed under the figures of lewd, adulterous women, and the unfaithful woman in this verse is backsliding Israel and Judah. In symbolic prophecy a woman means a church, an assemblage of people called out and united for a spiritual purpose, good or evil.
The corrupt woman here stands for a corrupt, false, evil church, likened to a harlot who ensnared souls and corrupted the nations of the earth. This is in contrast to the true church as a comely and delicate woman, a pure virgin espoused to one husband, without spot or wrinkle, with Christ as husband to His people. The unfaithfulness means apostasy from God as husband, abandoning His law and worship for idolatrous or false religious groups. It was shown in turning to political and religious alliances with Assyria and Babylon and in seeking help from Egypt, an attraction to foreign powers that made Judah like the heathen and was rebellion against God.
The judgment in the verse means violent downfall by exposure of nakedness, taking of sons and daughters, and slaying with the sword, making her famous or notorious among women because judgment was executed upon her. It was carried out through the king of Babylon coming against Jerusalem, connected with removal of the crown from Israel's wicked prince and overturning of the kingdom until the rightful ruler comes. This judgment belongs to the scattering that began with the Babylonian destruction because of disobedience to God's commandments.
The same lesson applies as a warning to churches that seek union with civil power, which repeats Israel's rebellion in forsaking God and seeking help from Egypt. Yet the verse's judgment on apostasy does not condemn a church's lawful use of civil government for temporal matters. Like Ezekiel 16 and 23 generally, the chapter's presentation is best read in private, although some passages in them are suitable to read anywhere.