The Mystery of Ephraim

Chapter 23 exposes the idolatries of Israel, or the ten tribes, under the name of Aholah, which they committed with the Assyrians, of whom they had learned them, are exposed, and their punishment for them is declared, then the idolatries of Judah, or the two tribes, under the name of Aholibah, are represented as greater than those of the ten tribes.

Ezekiel 23

¹ The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

² “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother,

³ and they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth. There were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. — “they played the harlot in Egypt …”; the proof of this is their apostasy with their reverence and worship of the Golden Calf which started in Egypt.

⁴ And the names of them were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; and they were Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. Thus were their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem, Oholibah. — in allegory, Samaria is Israel or the ten tribes, under the name of Aholah, which they committed with the Assyrians, and their punishment for them is declared; and Aholibah represents the idolatries of Judah or the two tribes.

⁵ “And Oholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,

⁶ who were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

⁷ Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria and with all on whom she doted. With all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸ Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity and poured their whoredom upon her.

⁹ Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

¹⁰ These uncovered her nakedness. They took her sons and her daughters and slew her with the sword; and she became notorious among women, for they had executed judgment upon her. — for they had executed judgment upon her; that is, the Assyrians, who were the instruments in God’s hand in doing justice and inflicting judgments on her. God is the true executor in their Assyrian captivity, same as in 70 AD during the Jerusalem inferno.

¹¹ “And when her sister Oholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her — and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms; guilty of more idolatries than the ten tribes, as in the times of Manasseh.

¹² She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbors, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

¹³ Then I saw that she was defiled, that they both took one way,

¹⁴ and that she increased her whoredoms. For when she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

¹⁵ girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, in the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity—

¹⁶ and as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ So she uncovered her whoredoms and uncovered her nakedness. Then My mind was alienated from her, as My mind was alienated from her sister.

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

²¹ Thus thou called to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.”

²² “Therefore, O Oholibah, 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:

²³ 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.

²⁴ And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, who 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. — and I will set judgment before them, and they (your enemies) shall judge thee according to their judgments;

— that is, I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall judge and condemn you; not according to my laws and yours, but according to their own laws, according to the customs and usages among them, according to the law of nations;

— they shall deal with you as rebels and covenant breakers, such Zedekiah was: he broke the covenant with the king of Babylon, and rebelled against him: and this was fulfilled when he fell into his hands, and when he slew his children before his face, and then put out his eyes.

²⁵ 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. — Gill: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword; as gallants use their harlots when they leave them, or jealous husbands their adulterous wives, disfiguring them, that they may be marked and known what they are, and be despised by others;

— as has been the custom in some countries, particularly with the Egyptians, to cut off the noses of adulterous persons; here it is to be understood figuratively: by the “nose”, is meant the king, who is higher than his people, as the nose is the highest part in a man’s face;

— and by the “ears” the priest, who caused a noise to be heard when he entered into the temple with his bells; or rather because it was the priest’s office to attend to the word of God, and teach it the people; in general, these denote everything that was excellent among the Jews, their city, temple, king, kingdom, princes, priests, and prophets, which should be demolished and removed;

— and by the remnant is meant the common people, that should come into the hands of the Chaldeans, and fall by their sword.

— so the Targum paraphrases it, “thy princes and thy nobles shall go into captivity, and thy people shall be killed with the sword:” they shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire; take and carry their sons and daughters captive, and burn with fire the city left by them.

— that is, the city of Jerusalem, the temple, the king’s palaces, the houses of the great men, and others in it, which were all burnt with fire when taken by the Chaldeans, Jeremiah 52:13;

— and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire; so would all be consumed? No remnant at all? (more details at the end of this chapter).

²⁶ They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes and take away thy fair jewels.

²⁷ 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 any more.

²⁸ For thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of those whom thou hatest, into the hand of those from whom thy mind is alienated, — for thus saith the Lord God, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest…. historically the the Chaldeans and Babylonians, before loved by her, and doted upon, but now hated and rebelled against;

— but who are those enemies of the future? where they are to fall into similar hands; and this the Lord threatens to bring upon them for their sins; and he having said it, it might be performed; and it is to be repeated in the endtime.

²⁹ And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labor and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

³⁰ I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the nations, and because thou art polluted with their idols.

³¹ Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.

³² “Thus saith the Lord God: “Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and held in derision; it containeth much.

³³ Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of dismay and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

³⁴ Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the shards thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts. For I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

³⁵ “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.”

³⁶ The Lord said moreover unto me: “Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? Yea, declare unto them their abominations,

³⁷ that they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery and have also caused their sons, whom they bore unto Me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.

³⁸ Moreover this they have done unto Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My Sabbaths. — notice the plural, Sabbaths; and instead of observing the Sabbaths, they observe by following the sun-worshipping Samaritans, where they observe the SUN; on SUNday; facing the East; their backs against the Temple;

³⁹ For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it; and lo, thus have they done in the midst of Mine house.

And He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’S house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east. Ezekiel 8:16

Others, the Church of God Communities would always have their “wavesheaf offering” and Pentecost on a SUNday, Whitsundays.

⁴⁰ And furthermore, ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came, for whom thou didst wash thyself, painted thy eyes, and decked thyself with ornaments, — Gill: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments; just as harlots do to make themselves agreeable to their lovers;

— who use washes and paint, as Jezebel did, and dress themselves in their best clothes, and adorn themselves in the best manner they can. Harlots had their particular attire, by which they were known, Proverbs 7:10. 

⁴¹ and sattest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set Mine incense and Mine oil.

⁴² And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her; and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon their hands and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

⁴³ “Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries: ‘Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?’

⁴⁴ Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot; so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women.

⁴⁵ And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses and after the manner of women that shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is in their hands.

⁴⁶ “For thus saith the Lord God: I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and despoiled.

⁴⁷ And the company shall stone them with stones and dispatch them with their swords. They shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. — they shall slay their sons and their daughters; when they broke into the city, and took it; or when they found them making their escape, and hiding themselves in secret places;

— and burn up their houses with fire; as they did; the temple, the king’s palace, the houses of noblemen, and all the houses in Jerusalem; see Jeremiah 52:13.

⁴⁸ Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do according to your lewdness.

⁴⁹ And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.”

~~~

More on verse 25. Since Ezekiel’s message is for the endtime and meant for the house of Israel, which is the United States and its European allies and “thy remnant shall fall by the sword.” — if those remnant are put to the sword, then no more will be left, reaffirming there is no place of safety for those hopeful to have one.

But wait, this apparently contradicts Ezekiel 23:25, where “I will leave a few men of them from the sword . . . that they may declare all their abominations among the nations.“

Or, after testifying all their abominations to the nations, then they are put down by the sword? A remnant of martyrs?

Your thoughts for this apparent contraction, please; thanks. Or indeed a remnant of martyrs is on its way?

Ezekiel 24

This chapter of destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem is prophesied here; but as said before, it is meant for the house of Israel at the endtime. By the sign of flesh boiling in a pot are shown the miseries that would come; and by the sign of Ezekiel’s being forbidden to mourn for the sudden death of his wife is that the calamities coming on the captives would be so astonishing as to exceed all expressions of sorrow.

¹ Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² “Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: The king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. — although this parable is set “against Jerusalem,” this message is meant for the house of Israel which is the United States and its European allies.

³ And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it.

⁴ Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece — the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice bones.

⁵ Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it; and make it boil well, and let them boil the bones of it therein. — Coffman: analogies clearly visible in this parable: the cauldron is the city; the flesh in it is the people; the immense fire under it is the fire of war; the setting of the cauldron on the fire is the beginning of the siege;

— the rust in the pot (introduced later) is the inherent wickedness of the people; the “choice bones (Ezekiel 24:4)” are the bones with meat attached to them; their being “choice” bones indicates that the nobility and the landed gentry will also be ruined by the war; the “bones under the caudron (Ezekiel 24:5)” are the large bones used, along with the logs for fuel;

— the removal of the flesh from the cauldron indicates the destruction of the whole city, rich and poor alike, high and low, indiscriminately, whether by sword, by pestilence, by famine, or by deportation;

— the emptying of the cauldron indicated the removal of Jerusalem’s population; the cauldron’s still being rusted indicated Jerusalem’s worthlessness, at that time, as regarded God’s eternal purpose, entailing, of course, the necessity for its complete destruction;

— the severe burning of the cauldron in intense fire after it was emptied speaks of the burning and destruction of the city itself and the Temple of God.

⁶ “‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein and whose scum is not gone out of it! Bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. — scum is extraneous matter or impurities risen to or formed on the surface of a liquid often as a foul filmy covering.

— Gill: to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it; when a pot boils, a scum arises, and appears upon the top of the water, which the cook usually takes off:

— this denotes the filthiness and wickedness of the people, which would work up and be seen by the judgments of God upon them; yet should not be removed, but continue on them, unrepented of, and unpardoned. It signifies that they would remain hardened in their sins;

— and that the judgments of God would have no effect upon them to bring them to repentance; and that God would have no mercy on them, or pardon their sins.

⁷ For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust. — she set it upon the top of a rock; where it could not soak in, as when spilled upon soft earth: this denotes her openness and impudence in shedding blood, as not being ashamed of it, or afraid of punishment for it,

— but as rather glorying in it; perhaps there may be some allusion to the tops of hills and mountains, where idolatry was committed, attended with shedding human blood:

— she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; she did not take any methods to hide her sin; having no sense of the heinousness of it, nor any consciousness of guilt, or any remorse or repentance; respect is had to a law which obliged to cover blood shed with dust, Leviticus 17:13;

— the Targum of the whole is, “because innocent blood which is shed in the midst of her; with pride and with a high arm she shed it; she shed it not through ignorance, that she might repent of it.”

⁸ That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.

⁹ “‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.

¹⁰ Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.

¹¹ Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.

¹² She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her; her scum shall be in the fire.

¹³ In thy filthiness is lewdness. Because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused My fury to rest upon thee.

¹⁴ I, the Lord, have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it. I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent. According to thy ways and according to thy doings shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.’”

¹⁵ Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

¹⁶ “Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. — I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; meaning his wife; who very probably was of a beautiful countenance;

— this lovely object of his affection the Lord signifies he would take away from him by death unto himself; that is, suddenly and at once;

— and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, “with a sudden stroke”; as sometimes persons are struck with death at once with an apoplexy or palsy;

— the Targum renders it, with the pestilence; it was what the Jews call death by the hand of heaven, by the immediate hand of God; and, it may be, without any intervening disease; or, however, without any train of disorders which lead on to death.

¹⁷ Forbear to cry. Make no mourning for the dead. Bind the attire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.”

¹⁸ So I spoke unto the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. — and at even my wife died; suddenly, as it was said she should; this shows who is meant by the desire of his eyes, and what by the taking it away;

— and I did in the morning as I was commanded; neither moaned, nor sighed, nor wept, nor shed a tear, nor used any of the common ceremonies of mourning, but dressed and ate as at other times, as he was ordered to do; this was the next morning after his wife died.

¹⁹ And the people said unto me, “Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?”

²⁰ Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

²¹ Speak unto the house of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. — thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will profane my sanctuary; the temple, built for him, and where he dwelt, and was worshipped; where duties performed and holy sacrifices offered up formerly;

— this he says he would profane, that is, would bring the Chaldeans against Jerusalem, who should take and enter the temple, and so profane it, and make it common, yea, utterly destroy it;

— but how would this parallel in the future? New York city? London? Paris?

²² And ye shall do as I have done: Ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

²³ And your attires shall be upon your heads and your shoes upon your feet. Ye shall not mourn nor weep, but ye shall pine away [meaning: to become thin and weak because of sadness or loss] for your iniquities and mourn one toward another.

²⁴ Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do. And when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.’

²⁵ “Also, thou son of man, shall it not be on the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,

²⁶ that he that escapeth on that day shall come unto thee to cause thee to hear it with thine ears? — Rashi: on that day, it is impossible for the fugitive to come on the day of the destruction. Therefore this is the meaning: On that day that the fugitive will come to you to let you hear [of the destruction] with your own ears, on that day, your mouth will be opened;

— to let you hear with your own ears: to announce the news that the city has been struck.

²⁷ On that day shall thy mouth be opened to him who has escaped, and thou shalt speak and be no more dumb. And thou shalt be a sign unto them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.” — Peake: Ezekiel 3:22:  A Period of Silence — the Divine voice seems to decree for Ezekiel a period of temporary silence and inactivity. Perhaps Ezekiel 3:25 should read, “ I will lay bands on thee and bind thee”: at any rate, he is restrained in some way, whether, as some suppose, by some physical disability (e.g. catalepsy) or merely by the angry incredulity of his hearers, from proclaiming his message in public. He does not open his mouth, except in his own house to those who consult him privately (cf. Ezekiel 8:1), until his message is confirmed by the fall of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 33:21).

— Benson: In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him that is escaped; this implied, that the prophet was to prophesy no more about the affairs of Jerusalem and Judah till after the destruction of the city and temple; when the fulfilling of this part of his predictions, so contrary to the expectations of those who despised his prophecies, would give him more credit with them, and make them pay a higher regard to what other things he should prophesy of. According to this we find, that the spirit of prophecy, in regard to the affairs of Judea, did not come on him again till the news of the taking of Jerusalem was brought to him. See Ezekiel 3:21-27;

— Kretzmann: and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, before the very eyes of the rebellious people, that thou shalt be dumb and shalt not be to them a reprover [someone who finds fault or imputes blame], lest the words of his reproof might win the self-hardened sinners back; for they are a rebellious house, confirming themselves in their apostasy and obstinacy;

— v 27: But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, in revealing the judgment of God upon his countrymen, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, He that heareth, let him hear, and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house, and therefore would have only themselves to blame for the calamity which would surely strike them.

— every watchman in the midst of his congregation has a tremendous responsibility resting upon him, both in calling sinners to repentance and in warning believers against the ways of unrighteousness. One negligent in this duty is a murderer of fellow human beings.

~ by Joel Huan on September 19, 2021.

Posted in Ezekiel