QT 7/10/2023 Ezek 16:23-34, Selling out for comfort

Ezekiel 16:23–34 (ESV) —

23 “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), … 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and diminished your allotted portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. … .

30 “How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

 

NOTE: The language God uses is full of hurt and pain. God is hurt by the rejection of the people he had blessed. Israel used his blessings for evil. Part of the reason the land is not the full size is that part of it was given to the Philistines (Gaza strip), and part to the Assyrians (West Bank) in order to bring Israel back to her senses -- God's discipline was mercy. He did immediately destroy them although he could have.

 

The interesting part is that unlike a normal prostitute, Israel did not charge. She paid for her prostitution. She offered her children to false gods and worshipped images and idols that only took away her joy. These evils gave her a false sense of good, like a shopper buying on impulse.

 

She was worse than a common prostitute in that she practiced adultery—not because she needed money from her lovers, but simply because it made her feel good. (Constable, T.(2003))

 

We don't understand what is for our good and we decide what we want to believe (this is the definition of an idol). Consequently, we give up real joy for a happiness that is dependent on right happenings. We exchange the living word for the lies of the enemy (trans sex, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, creation, lying, not working for our pay, etc). These things are against God's word, but it makes us feel good to be in tune with our (corrupt) culture. The church is infected too.

 

PONDER:

1. What truths of God have I dismissed because they are not something I can believe?

 

PRAYER: Father, give us the strength and courage to stand up to what is right and true, to be gentle and loving, but to be honest and unfaltering with the truth of God's word, no matter what our culture says to us.