Good day Beloved of God in Christ Jesus. You are all welcome to another new day. We thank God for the gift of life.
In our today’s episode 560 of studying and understanding the Bible, we shall be looking into the book of Ezekiel Chapter 23 titled:
A Must Read Now! Two Sisters Caught In Adultery
The older one was named Oholah, while her younger sister was named Oholibah and both were caught having extra-marital affairs with other men, which was very shameful.
Their problem started to get more complicated when they relocated to another country – a country where serving God was a taboo. What they like doing in that country was purely worship of idols and ritual killings, which was totally against God’s nature. It was in this country they were taught all forms of immoral activities and worsen it all, it was in this same country they became deflowered.
Eventually, they became married to a very loving and caring husband and they were blessed with wonderful children. Despite the love their caring husband lavished on them, they were not satisfied, they continued in their immoral acts which they were doing while single.
Unknowingly to them, their external lovers did not love them, these sinful lovers were only after what they would get from both women.
Then, one fateful day, their cup of sin became full. And their husband decided to let them go and satisfy their lustful desires with their external lovers since they had refused to listen to his series of warnings and advice.
No wonder Apostle Paul says in Romans 1:28 that
Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That’s why they do all sorts of indecent things.
Unfortunately for them, their lovers stripped them naked and defiled them further. The older was the first to be defiled and stripped naked. This was supposed to serve as a warning for her younger sister, but nay, she did not learn a single lesson. Rather, she proceeded further to crave after materialism and luxuries of her external lover and the same terrible thing was done to her. The beauty of their womanhood was taken away from them. What a sad experience.
This was the message Prophet Ezekiel received in story form, which God used to describe the disgusting things the people of Israel and Judah were engaging in.
The older sister named Oholah represents Northern Israel with Samaria as the capital, while the younger sister named Oholibah represents the southern Israel with Jerusalem as the capital, also called the people of Judah.
The external lover for Oholah (Northern Israel) was Assyrian empire, while the external lover for Oholibah (Southern Israel aka Judah) was the Babylonian empire.
Defiling both of them represents how both empires invaded their lands and took them captive to their countries.
The country they travelled to while they were starting out to form a nation (singlehood),where they were taught all forms of idolatry and immorality to the point of deflowering them was Egypt. They were negatively influenced by Egyptian civilization and they forgot about the only true God.
Their loving and caring husband was God, who did everything possible to woo them back but to no avail, God sent various prophets ranging from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc all to no avail, until God allowed them to face the consequences of their actions.
Let’s quickly look at the meaning of their names.
Oholah is a Hebrew transliterated word, which means “her tent” or “her idolatrous sanctuary.”
This implies that Samaria designed a separate temple for themselves apart from the one built in Jerusalem which they constantly defiled with idolatry and all forms of immorality.
Oholibah too is a Hebrew transliterated word, which means “my tabernacle is in her.” This gives us a picture of how God intends to tabernacle with His people in Jerusalem, but they did not give Him the chance.
Lesson To Learn
There is a Yoruba adage that says: “Ikun njogede, ikun nredi, ikun o mo pe ohun to dun ma npani.”
English Translation: “The rodent that becomes exuberant as it feeds on banana, should have known that eating sweet things can be deadly sometimes.”
Likewise, the Bible says, “there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov 14:12
Let’s pause for a second and examine the path we are treading at the moment; does it have eternal benefit? Does God approve of it? Does it glorify God? Can God be proud of what we are doing at the moment or the step we are about to take? Ask yourself that question and then amend where necessary.
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let us pray:
Whatever you will do that will take away your dignity as a human being, may God not allow you do it, in Jesus name.
Anything that can tarnish the image of God in our lives, may we not do it, in Jesus name.
I declare every loophole the devil is looking for to afflict you and your family is hereby blocked by the power in the name of Jesus.
Bible Readings For Today: Jeremiah Chapters 34, 35 & 36 with Isaiah 22
I call you blessed now and always.
Friday October 9, 2020 (DDMI)
