Ezekiel 23:25
And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
The verse belongs to a rebuke exposing the fearful, awful sins and the spiritual unfaithfulness and apostasy of Israel and Judah. That rebuke presents forsaking God and seeking help from Egypt as rebellion, while exposing sin in its awful wickedness. The unfaithfulness is pictured as a lewd, adulterous, corrupt woman, with Samaria and Jerusalem as the women, symbolizing a corrupt church. The adultery means spiritual apostasy by turning from God's law, testimony, and worship into unlawful alliance with idolatrous and false religious groups. It is seen in forsaking God and seeking help from Egypt, lusting after Assyria and Babylon, allying with foreign powers, and adopting their ways. In this context the image concerns religious unfaithfulness, not a church's use of civil laws for its temporal affairs.
Even while exposing sin in its wickedness, God repeatedly instructed His children and pleaded with them to turn to Him. The verse announces awful suffering as punishment for disobedience to God's commandments, with God setting His jealousy against the unfaithful and using surrounding kingdoms to deal furiously and humble pride. Specifically it points to the king of Babylon coming against Jerusalem, the removal of the diadem from Israel's wicked prince, and the overturning of the kingdom until the rightful ruler comes, events that began the scattering of Israel. Ezekiel's own sufferings and privations served as signs of the calamities awaiting the people. The passage gives searching moral instruction and predicts the last days. Because of its figure it is best read in private, although some passages in its chapter can properly be read anywhere.