Ezekiel 23:22

Ezekiel 23:22 says, Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;  God said He was going to raise up those who the people of Jerusalem and all of Judah loved instead loving God and putting their faith in Him to turn against them.  Whether God actually caused the people of these nations that the people of Judah had courted, first the Assyrians, then then Chaldeans. and now the Egyptians according to Matthew Henry, to turn against them or just removed His protection from them would be my question.  Either way, they were going to suffer defeat.  We can debate whether God actively empowers other nations or even individuals to overpower those who claim to be Hs people or just removes His protection from them today, but either way, they will suffer defeat spiritually.  

Verse twenty-three adds, The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.  God then speaks about how powerful the Babylonians and Chaldeans were in the world at that time.  We may not face great powers that attempt to destroy us as followers of Christ, but if we lose faith in God, then we will be easily defeated even by those with limited power.  

Verse twenty-four continues, And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.  God said that He was going to allow the Babylonians and Chaldeans with all their military might to judge the people of Judah according to their laws and that they would have right on their side.  Since the people of Judah had turned away from God’s laws and put their faith in these other nations, God said they would be judged by the laws of these nations.  If we do not put our faith in God but in some the powers of the world, it is only right that we be judged by their laws, which will lead to spiritual death.  

Verse twenty-five states, 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.  God said because they had failed to be obedient to Him that He was going to allow them to be totally defeated and that their sons and daughters would be taken away captive.  The only reason the people of Judah had been successful was because God was on their side, and now that they had turned away from Him, they lost His protection. As long as we as Christians have God on our side, we can never be defeated spiritually, but if we turn away from Him, we can be defeated by sin once more.  This doesn’t mean that we lose our everlasting life with God, but that we may lose His protective hand in our life.  

Verse twenty-six adds, They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.  God said that the people of Judah would be stripped of their wealth, from their clothes to their jewels.  When people put their faith in the things of the world instead of God, no matter how rich they may become, when they face God’s judgment, everything will be stripped away.  

Verse twenty-seven continues Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt anymore.  God said that when this defeat happened that the people would realize that there was no hope in any power in the world and would no longer look to them for help.  Until we acknowledge that God alone can redeem us and then put our faith in Him, no other power on earth can save us.  If we do accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we need to stop looking back to any other power to keep us safe. 

Ezekiel 23:18

Ezekiel 23:18 says, So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.  God said that when the people of Judah began committing spiritual whoredom that He alienated Himself from them just as He had done with her sister, Israel.  Now, the vast majority God’s chosen people in both halves of the kingdom had turned away from God and He therefore removed is protection from them.  We cannot be a Christian nation if we turn our backs on God and begin to worship false gods and don't even acknowledge Him.  

Verse nineteen adds, Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.  God said the people of Judah had multiplied their unfaithfulness to Him, just as they had in Egypt. God had set them free of bondage in Egypt, but now they were in bondage once more because of their sin.  If we are to be a Christian nation, we need to follow God’s commandments and be obedient to Him by faith, and if we don’t, we need may find ourselves in bondage to sin once more, even if we aren’t physically in bondage.  

Verse twenty continues. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.  God said that the people of Judah doted on the people of Babylon, even though they were no better than a donkey and their offspring were no better than horses.  Both an ass and a horse are animals to bear burdens with no say in whether they will or not.  If we reject God’s love and mercy, we are no better than animals that bear burdens without any say so in the matter. 

Verse twenty-one concludes, Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.  God called on the people of Judah to remember how badly they were treated in Egypt before they called on Him by faith, and He delivered them.  As Christians, we were in bondage to sin before we came to God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and we should never return to putting our faith in anyone or anything other than Him.

Ezekiel 23:11

Ezekiel 23:11 says, And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.   This warning was to the people of Judah, the two tribes, who had remained true to God longer than the people of Israel, the other ten tribes had.  Now, they had become even more corrupt than Israel.  Of course, neither was ever accepted by God because they were better or worse than the other, but they were accepted when they lived up to their covenant relationship with Him.  We can never hope to get into heaven based on whether we are better or worse than someone else but can only know that we will by confessing our sins and putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  

Verse twelve adds, She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.  God said the people of Judah had turned to the Assyrians, who looked strong and prosperous, for protection instead of looking to God.  People today are still putting their faith in many things that may look powerful and beautiful to them instead of putting their faith in God to save and empower them, but they are one day going to realize how futile this is.  If we are a Christian, we can never afford to do this but must always look to God for our strength if we are going to be successful spiritually.  

Verse thirteen continues, Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,  God said He then saw that the people of Judah had become defiled just as the people of Israel had.  Both parts of the nation of Isreal when it was united had followed the same way, chasing after other gods instead of being faithful to God.  If everyone else turns way from God and worships other gods, we as followers of Christ should never do so, and if we do find that we have allowed sin back into our life, we need to repent and return to Him.  

Verse fourteen states. And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,  God said that the people of Judah continued to worship false gods because they were portrayed as rich people by having beautiful pictures painted of themselves on the wall.  This was after they had seen the nation of Israel, the other part of the divided kingdom, fall.  I believe we should be wary of anyone who wants to portray images of themselves everywhere so that they may be idolized instead of God being glorified.  All those who are powerful and admired by the world will one day fall if they haven't put their faith in God.

Verse fifteen adds, Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:  God said that the people of Judah then began to adorn themselves as the people of Assyria did, so that they might also be idolized instead of living humbly under their covenant with God.  Too many professed Christians today want to live in luxury like the rich people of the world instead of living humbly by their relationship with God I believe.  

Verse sixteen continues, And as soon as she saw them with, her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. When the people of Israel saw all the images of the Babylonian rulers, they doted on them.  Then, the people of Judah sent messages to the rulers of Babylon wanting to be like them.  They were still looking to the powers of the world for protection as they idolized them instead of looking to God.   People today look to those who are rich and famous and idolize them instead of looking to God worshipping Him, but this shouldn’t be the case with those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  

Verse seventeen concludes, And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.  God said that the people of Babylon joined the people of Judah, though it was not as equals but as a superior power.  Then the people of Judah defiled themselves by worshipping the false gods of Babylon.  There are many false gods in the world today that people reject God for because it makes them rich and powerful in the world.