Ezekiel 23
Flee from the Seductress!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, June 28.
From God’s perspective, idolatry is spiritual adultery, and Ezekiel 23 is a forty-nine-verse allegory of Israel’s adultery against Yahweh. God builds upon the visceral imagery of Ezekiel 16, casting Samaria, the capital city of the northern ten tribes, and Jerusalem, the capital city of the southern two tribes, as two harlots in Ezekiel 23:2-4:
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled. Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
The allegory concludes in verse 49, “Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord God.”
We are all susceptible to seduction, whether by the desires of our flesh, or by the powers and principalities of this world. The devil is always on the prowl, seeking his next victim to devour (1 Peter 5:8). We are commanded to be sober-minded and on the alert against such seductions, regardless of whether they arise from within or come from without. There is only one way to handle the temptations of the seductress: “Flee immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18a)! Do not dabble with it and do not hesitate to remove the temptation from your life; it seeks to seduce you with counterfeit promises and lies.
Seize the moment and flee from the seductions of the flesh, the devil, and the world. There is only one way to do this faithfully, and that is by submitting yourself to God, putting on the whole armor of God daily, and praying in the Spirit continuously (Ephesians 6:11-18; James 4:7).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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