S) "30 These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand."
Ezekiel 23:30-31 (NASB)
*because there are already entries for each of these chapters, I also read Ezekiel 23
*because there are already entries for each of these chapters, I also read Ezekiel 23
O) In this chapter, Samaria (which is comprised of all the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, who had intermarried with gentiles) is represented as an older sister named Oholah. The younger sister, Oholibah, represents the southern kingdom of Judah. It's important to note, while reading this chapter, that it is not a judgment against women in general, or even the women of these two kingdoms. This is a personification of the two kingdoms as unfaithful women, but the warning was written to the men who led Judah. It is likely that God chose to personify their kingdoms as women, because it forced them to see God's perspective better, about their own unfaithfulness. By using analogies about an unfaithful woman, it would immediately conjure feelings of jealousy, betrayal, anger, and heartbreak, because that is how God views the spiritual adultery they were committing. With the two verses above, about half way through the chapter, God is rebuking Judah, because they learned nothing from the unfaithfulness of the Samarians (the northern kingdom of Israel). God executed judgment against them, and Israel was carried off into exile by the Assyrians. While the nation of Judah was preserved, it wasn't for long. Because they followed her example of spiritual adultery, God gave them the exact same judgment, and they were carried into exile to Babylon.
A) When I was a teenager, I heard someone say that smart people learn from their own mistakes, but wise people learn from the mistakes of others. I took that to heart, and viewing the lives of my two older brothers, I avoided a lot of the pitfalls that I saw in their lives. I avoided drug crime and drug use. I avoided greed and drunkenness. Even still, sin found me. I suppose that could be considered "original sin" because even without following examples from their lives about how sin looks, my sinful flesh still caused me to stumble, and hard, it just looked different. Ultimately, this verse is reminder that the window dressing of sin is irrelevant. The idols that the Samarians made differed from the idols in Jerusalem, but they were all idols. The specifics of the sins that took place in the northern kingdom may have varied from the southern kingdom, but it was all alienating them from the LORD, eventually costing them everything, even to their own lives. My sins may not look like those of another brothers, but they are still going to cost me. I may look at my life, and be thankful that my struggles don't look like the struggles of another person, but that is a façade that doesn't really even fool me, anymore. It certainly doesn't fool God. Without a doubt, the practice of sin will cost me dearly, eventually it will cost me my life. There is no escaping the truth of Romans 6:23. My real thanks should be rooted in that very same verse. When I see my sins, there is only one silver lining, and that is the free gift of God being eternal life in Jesus Christ. When I see my sins, it is just as deadly for me to compare them to another person's sins, as the sin itself is deadly. That is part of the deceitfulness of sin.
P) Father, You cannot be mocked. You are wise, powerful, omniscient and omnipotent. But, just as Your judgments are sure and Your righteousness is unrelenting, so are Your lovingkindness and mercy. Thank You for the convictions You give me. Let the Holy Spirit burn within me, when I am tempted to sin. Let the truth of Your words burn within me, when I have sinned. Discipline me to confess and repent without any delay, and to seek prayer for restoration. Discipline me to heed the warnings of the Holy Spirit. Let me walk more and more in Him, that I would not gratify the desires of the flesh, but that I would be actively and consciously and deliberately seeking to honor You, and worship You, and glorify You. Let Your will be done in me, and through me. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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