Ezekiel 23:31

Ezekiel 23:31 says, Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.  God said that the people of Judah had walked in the way of their sister, Israel.  The people of Judah had remained faithful to God longer than the people of Israel had, but they had now turned completely away from Him. The people of Israel had already been sent away in captivity, which was the cup that was referred to, and now the people of Judah were going to bear the same cup or suffer the same fate.   Those who have not put their faith in Jesus Christ and who have died are already forever separated from God and those who refuse to accept Him today will suffer the same fate one day.  

Verse thirty-two adds, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.  God said the people of Judah would drink deeply of the cup of their sister, Israel, and that the cup was deep and large.  The cup of God’s punishment for those who refuse to accept His gracious gift of salvation is deep and large, but we do not have to drink of it if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  God also said that the people of Judah would be laughed to scorn by people around them because they had claimed to have God’s protection without putting their faith in Him and obeying His commandments.  If we profess to be Christians but don’t really put our faith in Jesus Christ or obey His commandments while professing to be under His protection, when we fail in life, people of the world are going to be laughing at us and scorning us.  

Verse thirty-three continues, Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.  God said that the people of Jerusalem, or Judah, were going to be filled with drunkenness and sorrow and astonished at the cup of admonishment and desolation, just as the people of Samaria, or Israel, had been.  Many people today look to alcohol to find happiness, but it often just leaves them sorrowful the next day, and they will one day find themselves astonished at the judgment of God on their looking for happiness in the things of this world that are presented to bring happiness outside of God’s will.  Of course, alcohol abuse is just one of many things that people may look to for pleasure outside of God’s will, and all of them will leave those who do in sorrow when they one day face God’s judgment.  

Verse thirty-four states, Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.  God said that they would drink the very last of this cup.  Their destruction would be total, and so will the everlasting destruction of those who do not put their faith in Jesus Christ and accept His gift of forgiveness of sin.  

Verse thirty-five adds, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.  God said that since the people of Judah had forgotten Him and their covenant relationship with Him, which meant that they were His people in name only, that they would be punished for their sins.  As a nation that calls itself a Christian nation while turning our backs on God and His commandments, we may be astonished to see ourselves fall without His protection.  The same applies to someone who is a Christian in name only, but who has never accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.    

Ezekiel 23:28

Ezekiel 23:28 says, For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated,  God said just as He had delivered the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt that He was now going to allow them to be taken into bondage in the land of the people that they hated.  If we don’t put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, which delivers us from the bondage of sin, then one day, God will send us away to everlasting punishment.  The choice is always ours though, just as it was for the people of Judah in that day.  

Verse twenty-nine adds, And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.  God said that when they were taken away captive that they would be dealt with hatefully and that they would not benefit from their labor.  Their captors would take all of their good from their labor, and they would be left with very little.  This was after God’s judgment came on them, and when God’s judgment comes on people one day, they will have benefitted nothing from their worldly success if they have not accepted His gift of salvation.  

Verse thirty continues, I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.  God said this was going to happen to them because of their sinful actions and not because He had just decided to arbitrarily decide to punish them.  If we are one day sent away to everlasting punishment, it will be because we have refused to acknowledge God, and not because He just decides to send us away.  

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 His people but worship other gods instead 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 of 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.