For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
Ezekiel 23 exposes the fearful, awful sins of Judah and Israel under the figures of lewd, adulterous women representing Samaria and Jerusalem. Their unfaithfulness pictures abandoning the covenant with God to turn to foreign powers, including the Assyrians and Babylonians, and adopting the ways of surrounding nations. That spiritual fornication was forsaking God and seeking help in Egypt, which was rebellion against Him. The corrupt woman is a symbol of a corrupt church, which identifies the woman in Zechariah's vision as representing religious corruption among God's people.
The judgment announced is famine, captivity, and the loss of Jerusalem and its temple coming upon the people, shown by Ezekiel's symbolic sufferings. It is the king of Babylon coming against Jerusalem and the removal of the diadem from Israel's profane, wicked prince, with the kingdom overturned until the one whose right it is comes. This forms part of the scattering of Israel, which began with Babylon's conquest and may have continued through Rome's later destruction of Jerusalem.
The chapter gives searching moral instruction and prediction of the last days. Professed Christian churches today who seek union with the civil power are guilty of the same spiritual fornication and rebellion. God has given full blessing in Jesus Christ and demands the whole allegiance of His church and will not divide His glory with another. The chapter is best read in private, although some passages in it are properly read anywhere.
Ezekiel 23 exposes the fearful, awful sins of Judah and Israel under the figures of lewd, adulterous women representing Samaria and Jerusalem. Their unfaithfulness pictures abandoning the covenant with God to turn to foreign powers, including the Assyrians and Babylonians, and adopting the ways of surrounding nations. That spiritual fornication was forsaking God and seeking help in Egypt, which was rebellion against Him. The corrupt woman is a symbol of a corrupt church, which identifies the woman in Zechariah's vision as representing religious corruption among God's people.
The judgment announced is famine, captivity, and the loss of Jerusalem and its temple coming upon the people, shown by Ezekiel's symbolic sufferings. It is the king of Babylon coming against Jerusalem and the removal of the diadem from Israel's profane, wicked prince, with the kingdom overturned until the one whose right it is comes. This forms part of the scattering of Israel, which began with Babylon's conquest and may have continued through Rome's later destruction of Jerusalem.
The chapter gives searching moral instruction and prediction of the last days. Professed Christian churches today who seek union with the civil power are guilty of the same spiritual fornication and rebellion. God has given full blessing in Jesus Christ and demands the whole allegiance of His church and will not divide His glory with another. The chapter is best read in private, although some passages in it are properly read anywhere.