Ezekiel

Ezekiel 23: God judges the unfaithful sisters

Begin in prayer

Before hearing God's charge against the two sisters, let us ask Him to keep our hearts faithful. Ask Him to quiet our hearts and be near our family, teaching us to recognize Christ as we read Ezekiel 23.

For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses.”

Hosea 8:14

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Please help us understand the sin of forsaking You and see Jesus, who saves guilty people through His death. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

God pictures Samaria and Jerusalem as sisters who belong to Him, yet pursue foreign lovers and their idols. Samaria is given to her Assyrian lovers, who take her children and kill her. Jerusalem sees this and becomes more corrupt, turning toward Assyrians, Babylonians and remembered sins in Egypt. God turns away from her and will raise her rejected lovers against her to strip and destroy her. He gives her Samaria's cup of sorrow and desolation because she has forgotten Him. The sisters sacrifice their children to idols and enter His sanctuary on the same day, defiling His house and Sabbaths. God brings a company to stone them, kill their children and burn their houses, making them bear their sins and know Him.

As you read Ezekiel 23, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God judges unfaithfulness and makes the guilty know that He is the Lord.

Oholah means her tent, and Oholibah means My tent is in her, names God applies to Samaria and Jerusalem. The second name recalls God's sanctuary in Jerusalem, making the city's covenant privilege part of the charge against her. Both cities belong to Him, so worshiping foreign idols is pictured as adultery against the Lord who calls them His own. Foreign lovers picture their pursuit of nations whose idols they adopt, joining political desire with unfaithful worship. Jerusalem sees Samaria delivered to Assyria, yet her greater corruption shows that she refuses the warning of her sister's judgment. Following the same way brings the same cup, so Samaria's sorrow and desolation become a warning Jerusalem must now drink. Child sacrifice followed by worship in God's sanctuary exposes the contradiction of claiming His house while killing children He calls His own. The severe sentence answers adultery and bloodshed, ending this lewdness in the land and teaching all women not to follow these sisters.

How does Ezekiel 23 show us that God judges unfaithfulness and makes the guilty know that He is the Lord?

God sees the unfaithfulness of both cities.

Samaria and Jerusalem belong to God, yet follow foreign lovers and idols (verses 1 to 21). Samaria's fall gives Jerusalem a warning. Jerusalem sees it and becomes more corrupt, and God turns away from her.

God gives Jerusalem the judgment she deserves.

God raises Jerusalem's rejected lovers against her to execute judgment (verses 22 to 35). They strip her, take her children and treat her with cruel violence (verse 25). Sword and fire consume those left. She drains Samaria's cup of sorrow and desolation.

God judges bloodshed brought into His house.

The sisters sacrifice their children to idols, then enter God's sanctuary the same day (verses 36 to 49). Righteous men will judge their adultery and bloodshed. A company will stone them, kill their children and burn their houses. God will cause such sin to cease out of the land, teaching all women not to be like the sisters.

Memorize

you will bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 23:49

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what do I follow instead of God, and will I ask Jesus to forgive me?

God names the root of Jerusalem's guilt, “you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back”. Her foreign lovers become agents of the judgment she cannot escape. She remembers her former life in Egypt while forgetting the God who called her His own. Bring your own unfaithfulness before Him.

Jesus remained faithful to His Father and went to the cross for His people. He suffered their punishment, carrying their sins in His own body as He died. His offering has settled their guilt once for all and is sufficient to save them. He rose again from the dead, and now holds out mercy to sinners who have forgotten God.

Please turn from your sin and come to Him. Trust the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness He promises to those who believe. He receives the sinner who has no defense for their unfaithfulness. Ask Him for a heart that remembers the God who saves and loves Him above every rival.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Christ died and rose to save people who have forsaken God. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please explain the adultery, child sacrifices and severe bodily judgments in your own words, preserving the seriousness of God's warning.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His holy warning and mercy through Christ, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.

Hosea 3:5

Lord, thank You for warning people who forget You and offering mercy through Jesus. Forgive our unfaithfulness and help each one turn from sin and trust Him. Please give us hearts that remember Your kindness, hear Your Word and love You above the things that compete for our loyalty. Amen.