Daily Devotions
Ezekiel
"Oholah played the harlot"
Text: Ezekiel 22:5
DRAWN TO IDOLATRY
Israel’s history of idolatry was a very real and sad one. The Lord revealed to Ezekiel the long and sordid history of Israel.
“Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
And she lusted for her lovers, the neighbouring Assyrians,
Who were clothed in purple,
Captains and rulers,
All of them desirable young men,
Horsemen riding on horses.
Thus she committed her harlotry with them,
All of them choice men of Assyria;
And with all for whom she lusted,
With all their 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 upon her.”
Ezekiel 23:5-8
1. Oholah’s idolatrous ways in Egypt.
a) Israel’s dalliance with idolatry did not begin with king Jeroboam (1 Kings 12).
b) Israel’s idolatrous ways were traced:
i) The years in Egypt.
ii) The strict laws of Moses only suppressed the idolaters.
iii) But in the hearts of many, immoral acts associated with idolatry never left.
2. Israel’s allured by Assyria.
a) Assyria offered things that Egypt did not.
b) Assyria’s offer:
i) Wealth
ii) Pomp and power
iii) Military might through alliance
c) Israel was greatly deceived.
i) Assyria desired to conquer Israel.
ii) Israel mistook the overtures of Assyria.
iii) The nation lusted for the things Assyria dangled before the eyes of Oholah.
iv) Israel was conquered by Assyria and its people scattered far and wide.