Today’s reading: Ezekiel 22:1-23:49
My selection: Ezekiel 23:28-30
28 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.
My reflections: I once heard Paul Tripp speak to a small group of pastors in which he challenged us to be faithful in our marriages. Our sexual relationship, he said. should be characterized by “tenderness and beauty”. I relayed this to a men’s group later and one of the members said, “I understand tenderness. But what does he mean by beauty?” Whatever it means, certainly, Ezekiel 23 does not describe beauty in sex. It describes ugliness in every possible way. Here God again tells His people that they have sinned against Him by being unfaithful to Him. They have committed spiritual adultery by having other gods, many other gods over the course of their lifetime. They have not been satisfied by these gods. They have used them and been used by them. They have had uncontrolled lust and it has brought them nothing but bitterness and disgust.
The Bible does not hesitate to discuss sin, but, unlike most of our media, it never makes sin look attractive. Sin brings judgment. Sin never satisfies. Sin continues to create more longing for what has proven empty over and over again.
My challenge: Do you hate sin and love righteousness? Samaria didn’t. Jerusalem didn’t. Learn from them.
Tomorrow’s reading: Ezekiel 24:1-27:36
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