EZEKIEL 23 THE TWO HARLOT SISTERS2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 23 The Two Harlot Sisters

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. He took captives back to Babylon. He left a remnant back in Jerusalem. And that remnant is about also to be attacked the third and final time by King Nebuchadnezzar, who for this third time will conquer the city, level the walls, leave no inhabitants remaining. There will be a few who flee to Egypt. The rest will either die in the battle that takes place or they'll be taken captive back to Babylon.

And so there's been a lot of destruction. We've been talking about that for quite a while now as we've been going through Ezekiel. And Ezekiel's been prophesying about this coming judgment upon the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. And as we look at chapter 23, he is kind of recapping, giving an overview as God is speaking through him about the nation of Israel and the nation of...

And how God is bringing judgment upon Judah, just like he brought judgment upon the nation of Israel.

We pick it up in chapter 23, verse 1, where it says,

And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Ohola and Jerusalem is Oholiva.

Here as we begin in verses 1 through 4 of chapter 23, we have God again speaking to Ezekiel and he is speaking kind of in a parable. He's using an illustration of two ladies, two women. He calls them sisters. And these two women, these two sisters were harlots. They were committing harlotry. They were committing adultery or prostitution.

He talks about them committing harlotry with Egypt in their youth, the very beginning of their life, at a very early age they were committing harlotry.

Now, as God is speaking about harlotry, that's a major theme of this chapter, so we'll be seeing this word over and over again. You need to understand that although harlotry, of course, can speak of physical and literal harlotry, really God is using this here as a spiritual sense of harlotry, in that Israel...

Although they were to be married to God and devoted to God, they were betraying that relationship with God and serving other gods and following other gods and worshipping other gods. And so in a spiritual sense, it is harlotry that is being practiced as they have turned away from God and are now serving and devoted to and committed to and passionate about these other gods.

And so they're involved in idolatry, which we've talked about quite a bit throughout the book of Ezekiel because that's what they were practicing. They were worshipping false gods. Now, the idolatry that they were practicing often included idolatry.

And so harlotry also is very appropriate description for their activity because not only was it spiritual harlotry, but they were involved in sexual immorality as they worshipped these false gods. And so they were practicing these things that were really hideous, these things that were completely against God.

And so God is dealing with these nations. He's already dealt with the nation of Israel as God is speaking this through Ezekiel. They've already been conquered and carried away captive and destroyed. The nation of Judah is still left, but they're about to receive the final judgment as King Nebuchadnezzar is heading that way and about to conquer them.

And so God speaks to these two nations and refers to them as two sisters, one named Ohola, that's the nation of Judah, I'm sorry, the nation of Israel. He says there in verse 4 that Samaria is Ohola. Now the name Ohola that God calls the city of Samaria, which was the capital of Israel, the name Ohola means her own tabernacle.

Now, after Solomon reigned in Israel, at that time Israel was one united kingdom, but after Solomon, under the reign of his son, the kingdom was divided into two. There was the northern kingdom, which was Israel, the capital city was Samaria, and then there was the southern kingdom, which was Judah, and the capital city was Jerusalem.

Jerusalem had the temple of God, it had the worship of God, the practices of the priests and the Levites and such. But the northern kingdom, because Jerusalem wasn't a part of it, they immediately began to worship other gods and they set up other altars and they began to practice idolatry right away as the nation was split in two.

And so the name, her own tabernacle, which is what Ahola means, it's very appropriate because she didn't have the tabernacle of God, she had her own tabernacle. She established her own system of worship and did not follow after the things of God. And so the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom, after it was divided, was invulnerable.

involved in idolatry, and then in 722 BC, it was conquered by Assyria. And as a result of their immorality and their idolatry, they experienced the judgment of God. Well, God refers to the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem as Oholibah.

which means my tabernacle is in her. And so you have Samaria or Israel where he says her own tabernacle and then you have Jerusalem and God says of them, my tabernacle is within her. And so it's a reference to the fact that the temple was there in the city of Jerusalem in the midst of the nation of Judah.

The idea of a tabernacle, of course, you remember the tabernacle was kind of the prototype for the temple. It was what God called Moses to set up for the people to meet with him as they traveled through the wilderness. And then as they were established in the land, then it was on David's heart to build a temple. And Solomon was able to build that temple.

But the tabernacle is the place where God meets. It's really a reference to God's desire for relationship with His people. And when it came to the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom, they had nothing to do with God. They set up their own tabernacle. They had their own thing going on. They had no relationship with God. When it came to the nation of Judah, God's tabernacle was in their midst, but they weren't devoted to Him.

And so it speaks to us here about God's desire for relationship. That's really what God wants. That's the whole point of our existence is for us to be able to have relationship with God. But the nation, both the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, had turned against God. And that's what he's dealing with in this chapter. And that's why he calls them sisters of harlotry.

They were involved in idolatry, worshipping other gods. Now for you and I today, as we consider this idea of harlotry and idolatry, we can kind of easily say, oh yeah, I'm not involved in anything like that. But understand and remember that idolatry is not just bowing down to some wooden or golden object. Idolatry is giving praise.

the place that God deserves to anything else in our lives. Really, if you are practicing disobedience, understand that that is idolatry. If you're continuing and living in a lifestyle of sin, if you're practicing sin, understand that you're putting your own self and your own desires aside.

above God's desires. You're saying, I want to do it my way, and you're disregarding what God has said. That's idolatry. And so as we look at this picture, understand it's very relevant to us in the days that we live. It's very easy to, well, forget about the things of God and involve ourselves in the things that we want to be involved in, in the areas that we want to be doing things.

This also speaks to us about trust. Where is your trust? Where is your faith? Because when the nations were in trouble, now that they were practicing these idolatries, they were trusting in these false gods that they were worshipping to deliver them. And as you and I go through difficulty and come against hard situations, we need to ask ourselves, where is our trust?

Who is it that we are trusting in? You see, to trust in something else besides God is idolatry. For someone else to be our source of comfort, our source of hope, that is idolatry. We need to be holding fast to God, walking in relationship with Him, giving Him the place of prominence, preeminence, first and foremost in our lives.

He's the one we trust. He's the one we obey. He's the one we seek to please. He is the one that we are living for. That's the right relationship that we are called to have with God. And other than that, outside of that, what that is described as is idolatry.

For God to have any other role in our lives, that's idolatry. Because He needs to be first and He needs to be foremost. And so these two sisters, these two nations, were not living that way. They had given the rightful place of God to other things, to other gods, even to other nations that they were looking to for protection.

Going on in verse 5, it says,

And with all for whom she had lusted, with all her idols she defiled herself. She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, for in her youth they had lain with her, pressed her virgin bosom and poured out their immorality on her.

Here as we look at verses 5 through 10, we're looking at the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom after the nation had been split in two.

And this northern kingdom, again, it never walked with God after that separation. They always were involved in idolatry. And so God brought judgment upon the nation through the kingdom of Assyria. Now here what we're learning is that

Now again, he's using this idea of lust and this harlotry,

It's a good picture visually because that was much what was being involved. There was immorality going on. But also what he's talking about is they were relying upon and trusting in the nation of Assyria. They were courting the nation of Assyria saying, you guys come and protect us as Egypt is growing strong. Let's have an alliance, us and Assyria, that you will fight our battles and that you will take care of us.

And so they were attracted to, notice it says that they were captains and rulers and all of them desirable young men. They were like, yeah, this will be wonderful. We'll have this alliance with this nation. They'll protect us. They'll provide for us. They looked at the nation of Assyria and they said, wow, that's the kind of lifestyle that we want to have. Let's get in bed with them. Let's unite with them. Let's join together with them.

They'll protect us. We can enjoy that kind of lifestyle. We can worship their gods. And so it was involving themselves with this unequal yoke, this relationship with a nation that God did not want them to be involved with. Not only that, but God says that in verse 8, that they had never given up the harlotry that they brought from Egypt.

When they were in the land of Egypt, before God delivered them through Moses, they were involved in idolatry there. And even though they were involved in idolatry, God brought them out and He delivered them, but they never gave up those idols that they had been worshipping in Egypt. They had never given up those things that they had been involved in when they were in bondage in the nation of Egypt, in the land of Egypt.

It's very interesting. They continued to hold on to those things. Even as they watched God provide for them and deliver them, they held on to those things that they once worshipped. They held on to those things which they once trusted in. She never turned away from the idolatry of Egypt. Listen, I would ask you to consider, have you given up the things that God has delivered you from? God delivered them from Egypt.

He proved with the plagues that those gods that they were worshipping were false and were not gods at all. But they never gave them up. In the same way, Jesus Christ has given us victory. He's delivered us. He set us free. And he who the Son sets free is free indeed, Jesus said. But have you given up those things that he has delivered you from? Have you let them go?

He's broken the power of sin. He's broken the power of those things. But have you given them up? Have you turned them aside? Well, the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom, they did not. And so God says, therefore, I've delivered her into the hand of her lovers for judgment.

They are executing judgment on her. The very thing that they were worshipping, the very thing that they were desiring to be like, the ones that they were in bed with, the ones that they wanted to be like and that they were trusting in, those are the very ones that brought the judgment upon them. That's an interesting point. We'll come back to that in a little bit.

But they continued to rebel against God. They continued to persist in idolatry. And so the result was judgment. Now that's really not a surprise because that's God's law. You reap what you sow. You know, it's no surprise when you plant corn that you get corn, right? You plant corn, you go, oh my goodness, I can't believe it.

There's corn growing. Well, that's what you planted. That's not a surprise. You reap what you sow. In the same way, spiritually, it's not a surprise that when you involve yourself in idolatry, that what you reap is judgment. When you involve yourself in the things that are not of God, that what you reap is judgment. If you sow to the spirit, you reap everlasting life. But if you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption. Galatians chapter 6 verse 7 and 8 tells us that.

And so the northern kingdom lusted after her neighbors, never gave up the things that she was involved in idolatry-wise from the land of Egypt, and as a result, she experienced the judgment of God. Verse 11, Now although her sister Aholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister's harlotry.

She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. Then I saw that she was defiled. Both took the same way. But she increased her harlotry. She looked at men portrayed on the wall, images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion.

girded with belts around their waists, flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like captains in the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity. As soon as her eyes saw them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

And so here as we go on in verses 11 through 16, now God's turning his attention to the sister. We've been talking about the northern kingdom, now the southern kingdom, the nation of Judah, the city of Jerusalem. And God says, although Jerusalem saw what happened to Samaria, although the southern kingdom saw what happened to the northern kingdom, because the northern kingdom was conquered in 722, the southern kingdom wasn't conquered for another 135 years.

And so they saw what happened. They watched it take place. They heard the prophecies. They heard it all. They knew what was going on. And although they saw all those things, they continued in the same path. Not only did they continue in the same path, but God says in verse 11, she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister. Jerusalem, the nation of Judah, watched what happened and then they increased their harlotry.

They also lusted after Assyria, looking to Assyria for protection, looking to Assyria for help, trusting in Assyria instead of trusting in God. You can read about that as you go through 1 and 2 Kings and how the kings were making deals and negotiating and trying to put their trust in these other nations to protect them and provide for them instead of trusting in God.

There's some examples of those who trusted in God and they were delivered and God blessed them for it. But there's many examples of those who, instead of trusting in God, they saw the armies coming, they saw the nations rising, and so they'd reach out to Egypt or they'd reach out to Assyria. Or here he also goes on to say, they reach out to Babylon.

They heard about Babylon. They saw pictures of, drawings of the Babylonian soldiers. And then in verse 16, he says, as soon as her eyes saw them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. They said, oh, Babylon's our savior. They're the ones who are going to take care of us. They're the ones who are going to provide for us. We want to live like them. Oh, they have some awesome gods. We're going to worship their gods. They decided to involve themselves with the nation of Babylon.

which God had not instructed them to do. And so the nation of Judah followed in the footsteps of the nation of Israel, but they even got worse. It says in verse 14, she increased her harlotry. She saw she should have learned the lesson, but instead she leaned forward and went further into idolatry and into sin than the nation of Israel. Now the whole time, the people of Judah are thinking that

Well, of course God judged the northern kingdom because they didn't have the temple. We have the temple, they said. We have the temple. God's not going to allow us and this nation, this city to be destroyed. God will protect us. We have the temple. They were counting on the temple. So they, thinking they were safe, thinking they were secure, increased their harlotry.

They went to great lengths to fulfill their lusts, thinking, hey, I'm okay. You know, Christians do that today. And if that's a good description of you, let me share with you that that's not a good place to be. Counting on and saying, hey, we have grace. It's okay. We can continue in sin. Thinking that you're secure, that you can persist, that you can carry on. Because, hey, there's grace. There's the cross.

Listen, disobedience brings judgment. You reap what you sow and that is no surprise. Judah did not learn from Israel's example and God holds them accountable for it. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 6, Paul writes in regards to the things of the Old Testament, he says, Now these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

And so in the same way that Israel was an example to Judah, the Old Testament and these things that we're reading about, Paul says these are examples to us so that we don't lust after things like they lusted. Judah did not learn from their example, but will you and I learn from this example? Will we place our trust in other things besides God? Will we devote ourselves to other things besides God? Will we give faith?

other things, God's rightful place of passion and devotion, first and foremost in our lives. We need to learn the example. You know, the world around us is full of things that we can lust after. And we look around and we think, wow, I really want that lifestyle. We get in a situation, there's some difficulty mounting against us, and we begin to wonder, where am I going to get my trust? Where's my help going to come from? Is it going to be from this person? No.

Or that person? Or this credit card? Or this job? Where's my help going to come from? And we put our trust in things instead of God. Will we learn the example? Or will we lust after things like they also lusted? Verse 17. He says, Then the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their immorality. So she was defiled by them and alienated herself from them.

Verse 2.

Verse 2.

Again, this picture of intimacy, of sexual immorality, because much of the idolatry that was taking place would involve these types of things and immorality that God had forbidden.

But also speaking spiritually, he says, look, you trusted in the Babylonians and you reached out to them and then they came to you and you developed this relationship. But after you were involved in this relationship with them, then you despised them and you tried to separate from them. You see, Judah reached out to Babylon, made a deal, let's negotiate with Babylon. Babylon, you protect us from Egypt. But then after they...

got into that agreement after they'd made that negotiation then the nation of Judah says oh we don't we don't like being in this relationship with Babylon let's not pay tribute let's not be aligned with them any longer let's separate ourselves from them and so they alienated themselves from Babylon they tried to break off that agreement after they had reached out and and made an agreement with them that Babylon would protect them from Egypt and

And so God says, then I alienated myself from her. And so God says, I took a step back. I separated myself from the nation of Judah. He says, just like I separated myself from the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom. And as I stepped back...

as kind of a warning to them for them to recognize, hey, God's stepping back. We need to make sure our life's right. We need to get right with God. We need to turn back to Him. Instead of turning back to God, it says in verse 19, yet she multiplied her harlotry. And so as God stepped back, instead of them realizing and recognizing, oh man, we're in trouble. We need to get right with God. Instead, they went further away from God and pursued even more the things that were not of God.

He says that they called to remembrance the days of her youth when she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. And so again, like the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, they involved themselves again in the worship of these gods that they had been practicing or this idolatry they had been practicing in Egypt. He says that she lusted for her paramours. Paramours are illicit lovers. And so again, she was lusting after these things that were not of God.

He says in verse 21, lewdness. Lewdness is the idea of unrestrained immorality. They let go of all restraints and they just went headlong into the things that were not of God. And see, that's the danger. That's one of the many dangers of allowing yourself to continue in sin. You know, you continue in sin and you think, it's okay, there's grace, I've got it under control, I can stop anytime I want.

But many times what happens in the life of a person who has that mentality is God steps back because sin separates us from God. God steps back. And that's the point where you think, hey, at that point, you know, when it's really serious, then I know I can turn back. But what happens many times is when that sin separates us, when there is that break, instead of turning back to God, they fall headlong into sin. You know, we always think we got it under control. We can handle it. We can take care of it.

And at the right time, we'll know when it's the right time, when it's really important for us to stop. And at that time, we can do it. But sin deceives us, and it darkens our understanding, and it hardens our heart. And so when we get to that point, like the nation of Judah did, more often than not, what happens is not a turning back to repentance, but what happens is a turning more towards sin. That's why we can't play with sin.

That's why we can't play with idolatry. That's why we can't play with the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. That's why we can't play with this world and compromise because it puts us in a very dangerous position where we lean into sin and we go towards it, pursuing it instead of pursuing the things of God. Judah went farther away and multiplied her harlotry instead of turning back to God. Verse 22 says,

Therefore, O holy boss, says the Lord God, behold, I will stir up your lovers against you.

Verse 2.

Notice what he says here. He says,

and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt anymore. As God continues on, He says, Therefore... He says, Look, I judged the northern kingdom for their immorality and their idolatry. You watched, and you didn't learn the lesson. In fact, you went further away, and you multiplied and increased your harlotry. So therefore...

It is just and right for me to bring judgment upon you, just like I brought judgment upon the northern kingdom. So he says, Therefore, behold, I'm going to stir up your lovers against you. Notice who it is that God is stirring up against the southern kingdom here. It's their lovers. The ones that they are committing spiritual harlotry with. It's the ones that they are trusting in instead of God.

It's the ones that they are having a relationship with instead of God that are being stirred up against them. And he describes them, you know, governors and rulers, captains and men of renown. That's what attracted them. They were like, oh, this is the nation, man. This is the one. They're going to protect us. They're going to take care of us. We want that kind of lifestyle. We want to worship their gods. It was those that they were so attracted to.

Those that they trusted in instead of God. Those that they turned to instead of God. That God is now going to use to bring judgment upon them. You see, the very things that we involve ourselves in that are not of God are the things that bring judgment upon us. Your sins, my sins, will trap us, enslave us, and bring judgment upon us. Sin is a cruel master. And that's why we must not

Surrender ourselves to sin. God says there in verse 24, I will delegate judgment to them.

God says, here, I have authority to judge. It's my right to judge. I'm delegating that to Babylon. And they're going to judge you. And they're going to judge you with fury. They're going to take off your noses and take off your ears. They're going to deal harshly with you. Sin is a cruel master. When we surrender ourselves and submit ourselves to sin, we put ourselves in a position, God will delegate our judgment to those things and judge.

Sin does not deal kindly with us. Sin will tear off your face. It will rip you to shreds. It will destroy your life. The wages of sin is death. It's still the case. The wages of sin is death. And that's why we must not continue in sin, play with sin, dabble in sin, compromise with sin, or have a little bit of sin on the side. It's deadly. It's destructive. And those things that we're lusting after and those things that we're involving ourselves in

will be the very things that bring judgment upon us. And it will be severe and harsh. But notice there in verse 27, he says, The whole point and the purpose of judgment...

is for cleansing, for restoration. You see, God's not doing it in anger just because He wants to be mean or just because He's angry. The point is, He's allowing this. He's delegating the judgment to Babylon. He delegates the judgment to those things that we involve ourselves in so that we will be set free from those things, that we'll be cleansed of those things, that we'll be made to stop living in that way. And so the wages of sin is death so that we learn not to practice those things any longer.

God is cleansing us. He's working in our lives. And if He needs to, He'll use chastening, He'll use discipline, He'll use judgment to open our eyes and show us how He wants us to walk in relationship with Him. Verse 28.

For thus says the Lord God, Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself. Notice, He's delivering them into the hands of those who hate. These were the same ones that they lusted after, that they were desiring for. Oh, we need them. They're going to be our Savior. They're going to provide for us. They're going to protect us. We want to be like them.

But those things that they lusted after so hard and the things that they longed for so much, the things that they loved so dearly have now become the things that they hate. And that's how sin is. That's how idolatry is. That's how disobedience is. Those things that we long for, those things that we lust for, those things that we chase after, that we think that's going to satisfy us, that's going to take care of us, those very things that we chase after are the very things that we end up hating.

And why do we hate them? Because we learn that they do not satisfy. We learn that sin is a cruel master.

So he says, I'm going to turn you over to those that you hate. Verse 29, they will deal hatefully with you. Take away all you have worked for and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols. Verse 29,

So God says, I'm going to deliver you into the hands of those that you hate and they're going to deal hatefully with you. And how are they going to leave you? Well, they're going to leave you naked and bare. Listen, this is what sin does to us. Sin is a cruel master that leaves you naked and bare in the end. All you end up with is destruction, devastation, hurt, pain.

And severe shame. Naked and ashamed. That's what sin does to us. Now that's why God says don't do it. Because he doesn't want us to go through that. He doesn't want us to experience that. That's the result. It's a cruel master. He says I'm doing these things because you've chased after the Gentiles. You've trusted in them. You've longed for them. You've put your hope in them. Instead of trusting in me, longing for me, putting your hope in me and letting me satisfy you. Verse 31 says,

He says,

You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. You shall drink and drain it. You shall break its shards and tear at your own breasts. For I have spoken, says the Lord God. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore you shall bear the penalty of your lewdness and your harlotry.

He says, look, you've been like your sister. You've been like the Northern Kingdom. You continued in their practices. So I'm going to give you the same cup that they got. It's a cup of judgment. The cup represents judgment. He says, you're going to have to drink it all up. It contains a lot. There's a lot of judgment in there and you're going to have to drink it all up. You ever take Alka-Seltzer to help, you know, treat your cold symptoms?

And you know what that's like? It's like it's really repulsive, but you got to drink it all up. That's the mentality here. You don't want to, but you have to. They don't want the judgment that God's bringing. But God says you're going to drink it all up. It contains a lot. But you're going to experience the fullness of judgment for the ways that you've been living, for the things that you've been practicing, for the idolatry that you've been involved in. He says, because you've forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore you shall bear the penalty.

You see, if they had turned to God, instead of forgetting God, if they had turned to Him, instead of casting Him behind their back, if they had turned to Him, God would have delivered them. He gave them opportunity after opportunity. But they insisted. They continued in the hardness of their heart, in their rebellion. And so God says, you're going to experience the penalty of your lewdness and of your harlotry. Verse 36 says,

The Lord also said to me, Son of man, will you judge Ahola and Aholiba? Then declared to them their abominations, for they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons, whom they bore to me, passing them through the fire to devour them. Moreover, they have done this to me. They have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths.

You see what God's saying in here? This is quite devastating. This is quite eye-opening here in verses 36 through 39. God says, How? Well, not only have they turned away and turned against me,

Not only have they continued to come to the temple and offer sacrifices and try to worship me as well. Not only are they going to church and living in disobedience, but they're doing both at the same time. So on the very same day, they're out there doing these incredibly grotesque, idolatrous practices. And then straight from there, they go right into the temple and

And say, we want to worship God. This is hideous what's going on. He says, look, they're offering their children. One of the practices, the idolatrous practices, was that they would sacrifice their firstborn to a god by heating the god up in the fire and then putting the child on the arms of the hot idol, the metal idol. And

the child would burn to death. They would sacrifice their child in this way. And so they would go and they would involve themselves. They would do this incredibly hideous practice and then they'd go into the temple and say, Hallelujah, praise the Lord. We're here to worship God. It gives you a picture of an understanding of the brazenness and callousness of the hearts of the people. They're not even pretending like they're wholly devoted to God anymore. On the very same day,

It's really the same mentality of those who live in disobedience but still come to church. They don't change their life. They don't repent of sin. They don't turn from sin. But they continue to come to church. It's the same mentality. Now, this is not saying, look, if you sin today, you shouldn't come to church tonight. That's not what God's saying. He's not saying, you know, don't come if you're not perfect. He knows we're not perfect. We all sin. We all fall short of the glory of God. All of us sin today and we're supposed to be here tonight.

And so that's not what God's saying. But what He's pointing out is the matter of the heart is that they're hardened. They don't care anymore. They don't desire to change. It's not that they're struggling in sin. They're just living it up and trying to do both and thinking, I'm fine. I'm okay. Listen, if that's your attitude, if that's your heart, hey, if you're involving yourself in sin all day Wednesday and then coming to church Wednesday night, understand God has an issue with that.

If you're involving yourself in sin Friday night, all day Saturday, and then coming to church Sunday morning, and that's your normal practice, and that's your routine, and that's what you do, and that's your weekend, that's how you live, God has an issue with that. That is not okay. And coming to church on Sunday doesn't cancel out everything you did on Friday and Saturday, or the rest of the week. No, it's a result of that attitude and that heart that the nation of Judah is being judged. So don't be surprised.

If that's your heart, if that's your attitude, don't be surprised when you reap what you sow. When corn comes up because you planted corn, that's not a surprise. You sow to the flesh, you will reap destruction and corruption. Sow to the Spirit and you reap everlasting life. Verse 40. It says,

Verse 2.

Yet they went into her as men go into a woman who plays the harlot. Thus they went into Ohola and Oholiba, the lewd women. But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses and after the manner of women who shed blood because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. God is describing the scene as it's not that all of these sins came and enticed the nation, the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, but that they sent out

They dressed themselves up. They got all pretty and they said, hey, they're luring in sin. They're luring in idolatry. They're luring in these other nations. They're bringing them. It's not that it was there and they were struggling and they stumbled, but that they were seeking after those things that were not of God. They were pursuing those things that were not of God. That was the issue. That was the state of these nations.

They committed harlotry in this way, turning against God and pursuing after things that were not of God. And so God says there in verse 45, the righteous or righteous men will judge them. Notice they're not graded on the curve. Judah is not graded based on the northern kingdom. Well, we had the temple. We're better than them. And the northern kingdom is not graded against the southern kingdom. Look, well, we didn't get as bad as they got. Now, what is the judgment based upon? Righteousness.

They will be judged by righteous standards in the same way you and I will be judged by righteous standards. There's people who continue in sin because they're justifying in their own minds, hey, I'm way better than Royce. I'm nothing like that guy, so I can continue on like this. I'm not as bad as this other person. I don't do this like that person does.

And we grade ourselves based upon everybody else around us. And we think, hey, it's okay. I can continue on in sin. I can continue on in this practice. It's okay that I gossip like this. It's okay that I'm involved in immorality. Hey, it's okay that I involve myself in these things. That's not a big deal. Oh, there's grace. And look at this person and look at that person. God judges us based on righteousness. So if you want to compare yourself to someone else to see how you stand, you've got to compare yourself to Jesus Christ.

Find out where you stand. Find out how much you need God and the mercy of God and call out to Him and cry out for mercy and ask Him to deliver you. It's why we need Jesus. It's why we need relationship with Him. It's all about relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It's why we need to pursue Him and trust in Him and rely upon Him and not lusting after these things like the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel did. Verse 46 says,

For thus says the Lord God, Bring up an assembly against them. Give them up to trouble and plunder. The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords. They shall slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire. Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness. They shall repay you for your lewdness and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord."

So again, God says, for this reason, because this is how you are, this is what you're practicing, this is the way that you're going. He says, I'm bringing up an assembly against you. The assembly is going to bring judgment. He's delegated his judgment to the nation of Babylon and Babylon is going to execute judgment. Why? Verse 48, thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land. God is purging. He's purifying.

He's dealing with that sin so that they do not continue in it any longer. Again, his judgment is not just because he's angry, but his judgment is because he loves them. His discipline in our lives is because he loves us. So don't despise the chastening of the Lord, but be zealous and repent, the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12. He says, they're going to repay you for your lewdness and you will pay for your idolatrous sins there in verse 49. And then you shall know that I am the Lord.

After going through the judgment, after going through the discipline, the chastening, the scourging, then you will know that I am the Lord, he says. This phrase we see over and over again. And every time I see it, I ask ourselves the same question. When will you know that he is the Lord? What's it going to take?

Are you going to wait until the very end after you've pursued all the lusts of your heart and pursued all of these things that are not of God and God has had to turn you over to those things and those things that you lusted after and turned to, those are the things that have brought judgment upon you and you have to go through some serious, hardcore judgment because of your rebellion against God and then finally you'll know that He is the Lord and you'll submit to Him and surrender to Him. You can do it that way. That's the hard way.

Or you can know right now that He is the Lord. You can submit to Him right now. That you can surrender to Him right now. Turning from sin and turning towards Him. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in a song. And as they do, I would ask you to consider these things. Is He Lord?

Does he have full reign and authority? Is he your master? Because sin is a cruel master. God is a gracious and loving master. And he wants what's best for us. Sin is a cruel master. Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 6.12, he says, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. He said, all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Paul says, look, I can do anything I want.

The grace of God. God's paid the price for my sin. But I will not be brought under the power because sin is a cruel master. And so I keep myself from sin. I remove myself from that so I don't experience the harsh, cruel master that sin is and the judgment that it brings. One final example. One final illustration. This can be applied in all kinds of ways. There's lots of things. I'm sure God's speaking to your heart.

Just in case you need a little bit more clarification. You come up to a difficult situation. Financially, you're in a tight spot. Where do you turn? Who do you look to? Who's going to provide for you? And you pull out of your wallet your platinum God. Here's my Savior. This will deliver me. This will take care of the situation. What happens? What does the Bible say? That the borrower is slave to the lender. And then, that platinum God becomes a cruel master.

I've experienced this. We think, I need to live this kind of lifestyle and we spend beyond our means. We look at Babylon and we go, oh, that's beautiful. I want to live like that. I want a car like that. I want TV channels like that. I want a phone like Mario. So we pull out our God. This will save me. This will provide me the lifestyle that I want. But we find out in the end it's a cruel master. Listen, we need to be fully submitted to God in every aspect, in every area.

He's a gracious and loving Master. When will you know that He is Lord? Let's take this time as we worship the Lord together to know that He is Lord, to surrender ourselves to Him, to submit ourselves to Him, and be willing to change and give up and follow Him in whatever way He desires to speak to us. Amen? Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.