OHOLAH AND OHOLIBAH In this chapter, the history of the people of God in old days is presented through two sisters. He called them ‘Oholah and Oholibah,’ who coveted foreigners and committed treason against God. 1- Treason of Oholah (Samaria) 1-10. 2- Betrayal of Oholibah (Jerusalem) 11-21. 3- Judgment of Jerusalem 22-35. 4- A final statement to the two sisters 36-49. 1- TREASON OF OHOLAH (SAMARIA) This is the third and last time in the book of Ezekiel, in which God accuses His people of high treason (Ch 16; 20; 23). Yet there is a difference between His accusation in chapter 16 and here. In the former, he talked about treason of His people against the heavenly Groom; concerning their spiritual diversions. But here, He concentrates on the diversion of both divisions of His people (Israel and Samaria) to harlotry through erroneous political thought; namely leaning, sometimes on Assyria, and sometimes on the Pharaoh of Egypt. This leaning, that God considered as an insult to Him, and a lack of faith in His ability to save them; has opened the gates of the holy land to receive the idols and abominations of Babylon and Egypt at that time. God portrayed Israel and Judah as two sisters, daughters of one mother, who led a life of harlotry since their early age; the older is called ‘Oholah,’ referring to Samaria the capital of Israel; and the younger is called ‘Oholibah,’ referring to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah. The first refers to Samaria, capital of Israel; the first is the older, as it embraced ten tribes, and the second is the younger, as it embraced only two tribes. The two names were derived of the Hebrew word ‘Ohel,’ meaning “a tent.” He probably intended to remind His people, that actually they are committed to be the ‘Tent,’ to which He comes with His glory to dwell together with His people (Exod 33:7-10). And probably also meant by so calling them, to remind them of their sojourn on earth; that they are not to settle down in permanent houses, but in shifting tents, to be able to cross over from one condition to a better one, and from glory to glory. And as Origen says: [He dwells in tents, who runs toward God, free and with no shackles or burdens1.] [If we inquire about the difference between a house and a tent... The house is a something set and steady; with fixed boundaries; while the tent is the dwelling place of nomads who are all the time on the move, and their journey will come to an end2.] That is why the Hebrews had the feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:43) as a reminder of their dwelling in booths in the wilderness. And as Origen says: [It is fitting for each of us, as he departs from the land of Egypt (love of the world), and enters into the wilderness, to dwell in a tent, and to celebrate a feast in tents. Of what materials should these tents be made, but of the words of the Law, the prophets, the psalms, and all the statutes?! When the soul grows by the Holy Scriptures, it forgets those things which are behind, and reaches forward to those things which are ahead (Phil 3:13); forsakes the lowly places; grows, and progresses to what is greater; grows in virtues, and changes the place of dwelling through its continuous progress; By this we can say that we are 1 In Exod., hom., 5:2. 2 In Num., hom 17:3. 5 dwelling in the tent1.] Going back to the two sisters, we find that they were daughters of one mother, having been one people. The two sisters both fell into harlotry since their youth in the land of Egypt. They shamelessly surrendered their bodies to evil; lost their spiritual virginity, and opened up their hearts to the idols of Egypt since their youth; something that was revealed in the wilderness, when they made the golden calf of Apis to worship it in the absence of Moses on the mountain. And as we said before in our interpretation of the book of Exodus, that the absence of Moses caused a wrangle that exposed the gods which the people secretly carried in their hearts. Oholah (Israel) grew up, but did not mature spiritually, nor learned a lesson from her fall in Egypt; but lusted for the desirable young Assyrian men, clothed in purple; captains and rulers; horsemen riding on horses (Ez 23:5, 6). The Lord says: “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine” (Ez 23:5); namely, she rejected Me as her Groom, and sought strangers for herself. She rejected the true heavenly Lord, and lusted for those clothed in purple (a symbol of heaven), who pretended to be religious while they were lusty and violent earthly ones; she rejected her Groom who fought for her in the land of her bondage, in the wilderness, and on her entrance into the land of promise; assuming that those horsemen are capable of protecting her, under the care of the king of Assyria, in the year 738 B.C. This leaning on Assyria, led the later to think of destroying Israel in the year 721 B.C. The children of Israel did not only lean on Assyria politically, but lusted for its gods, and ran after its idols and abominations; as said: “The children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities... They set for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree... They worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger (2 Kings 17). That is why the Lord delivered them into the hand of those they lusted for according to their hearts’ desire; to come under captivity; uncovered their nakedness; namely brought them into shame and disgrace; and killed their sons and daughters. The children of Israel became like a treasonous woman, who tasted the bitterness of her treason before all women, to turn into an example for all of them! This is a living portrait of the nature and activity of sin; it is deceptive and attractive; after which man runs, on the assumption that in it, he would find carnal and mental fulfillment. Yet it would soon trample him under its feet, deprive him of his dignity and peace of mind, beside harming him physically, spiritually, and psychologically. The wise king Solomon described the work of the harlot in the life of those falling into her snares; saying: “Lurking at every corner; she caught him and kissed him. With an impudent face she said to him: ‘Today I have paid my vows. So I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. I have spread my bed with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning’... With her inciting speech she caused him to yield. With her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; till 1 In Num., hom 17:3. 6 an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he would not know it would take his life” (Prov 7:12-23). 2- TREASON OF OHOLIBAH (JERUSALEM) The younger sister “Jerusalem” did not benefit, neither from her own fall in her youth in the land of Egypt, together with her older sister (before their schism), nor from the experience of her older sister Oholah, who ran after Assyria and worshipped their gods, and eventually fell into captivity. On the contrary, she finally filled the cup of her wickedness, more so than what Samaria her sister did before her; The Lord says: “Although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry” (Ez 23:11). Indeed after the schism, the kings of Judah appeared more sanctified than the kings of Israel; and when it diverted, some reformers tried to uproot the abominations; but she soon returned once again, in the days of Manasseh, to corruption in a more horrible way than Israel in its worst days. That corruption extended over a long period; and this chapter demonstrates its features: a- Jerusalem lusted for the choice men of Assyria, for the sake of the luxury of their clothes that reflected the greatness of their appearance; beside their strength as young desirable men; those things deceived her like her sister. Jerusalem did not benefit from the experience of her sister, but did what was more corrupt; as Ahaz king of Jerusalem sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying: ‘I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who rise up against me.’ And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria” (2 Kings 16:7, 8). b- The young men of Assyria did not have the chance to seduce Jerusalem, who sought them to come to commit evil with her, even before seeing them or encountering with them. She looked at their images portrayed on the wall, and instantaneously lusted for them. It was the evil that lurked in her heart, she ran after it, and sought it; and not the evil that sought her and tried to seduce her. Some youth fall sometimes into what they call ‘love from the first sight,’ on their first encounter with someone of the other sex. Psychologists see in such love, a kind of immaturity; as it is not based upon rational study, but attached to mere emotion and physical attraction, a decision taken by the inexperienced. Judah did not even fall into lust from the first sight, but through seeing portraits on the wall! She was completely immature! c- She did not stop at falling for Assyria, through seeing portraits of its young men; but she got back to the Pharaoh of Egypt, seeking to play the harlot as she previously did in her youth (Ez 23:19). She turned into a horrible human being, seeking this, and running after that, impetuously and with no fulfillment. Here is also a reference to the leaning upon the Pharaoh of Egypt, to rescue Jerusalem from Assyria, as done by king Zedekiah. A girl who lusts for a young man, and proclaims to him that she has dedicated her whole heart to him alone; then does the same thing with another one, would be considered a loose girl who spreads deception here and there. So how would it be, if she does that with someone, and with his enemy at the same time? That is what the kingdom of Judah did, in her relationship with Assyria and the Pharaoh of Egypt! 7 Oholah represented a symbolic image of the soul that is attracted by sin; although shining, beautiful, and attractive, yet deadly and a killer. Oholibah, on the other hand, represents the soul that staggers right and left, runs after the sin, seeking it, unwittingly, hastingly, and with no fulfillment. 3- JUDGMENT ON OHOLIBAH (JERUSALEM) Seeing how Jerusalem has not benefited from the lesson that her sister Samaria has gone through (captivity), but became more corrupt. God used her lovers - the Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, especially the tribes of war: Pekod, Shoa, Koa; and all the Assyrians with them, to chasten her. ‘Pekod’ was an Aramic tribe that dwelt in the plains, east to the River Tigris, not far from its lower part (Jer 50:21). ‘Shoa’ is a Semite name meaning “wealthy;” an Aramic tribe that dwelt to the east of Babylon; and was in continuous war with the Assyrians, who used to call them in their records ‘Soter.’ ‘Koa,’ was a tribe that joined the Babylonians in their attack on Jerusalem. It is most probably the same tribe called ‘Kutu’ in the records of the Assyrians; that dwelt east to the River Tigris. Admiring those tribes as men of war and horsemen (Ez 23:23) God delivered her to them to humiliate her, as Babylon attacked Jerusalem, destroyed all her capacities, and distorted every beauty in her; as the Lord says: “They shall remove your nose and your ears, And your remnant shall fall by the sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters, And your remnant shall be devoured by fire. They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewelry. Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry, brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt anymore” (Ez 23:25-27). They shall remove her nose; namely, her king, who should have led her, with a sense of discernment between the safe and the risky ways. So if he erroneously resorted to the Pharaoh of Egypt against the king of Babylon, he would be removed from Jerusalem. As far as we are concerned, the fruit of sin is our loss of the spirit of discernment, by which we would realize the truth, and reject the vain; then we live with neither a taste for truth, nor a realization of knowledge. As to removing the ears, this refers to captivating the priests and the king’s counselors; who, instead of listening to the true prophets, they listened to the false and evil counsels, and pushed the people to perdition. Thus, by opening our ears to vain counsels, we would lose our recognition of the voice of God; like ‘Eli’ the priest, who did not recognize the call of the Lord, heard by the child Samuel. “And your remnant shall fall by the sword” (Ez 23:25). This is a reference to the people who will perish as a result of their lewdness; as a symbol of the body that would be defiled and would perish because of our deprivation of the grace of discernment, and of listening to the divine voice. As to causing sons and daughters to pass through fire; that was through the use of human sacrifices to the god ‘Ba’al or Moloch;’ a reference to wasting energies and talents, that, instead of being used for the glory of God and for the edification of souls, they are used on the account of the devil, the destruction of soul, and stumbling others. Leaving her naked and bare of clothes and jewelry, refer to her public shame and disgrace before the nations. This is the end of the sinner, who loses all his dignity, to 8 become disgraced before all; especially in the great day of the Lord; who says: “You shall be laughed to scorn and held in derision” (Ez 23:32). That is she shall be an example and shame after being completely destroyed by sin. 4- A FINAL STATEMENT TO THE TWO SISTERS This final statement, God addresses to the two sisters together, to reveal and proclaim the horror of their lewdness; concerning both the abominations and the blood shed: a- They committed a marital treason; having forsaken God, and worshipped the idols; defiled His sanctuaries and profaned His Sabbaths; to become worse than the Gentiles. So it shall be, as the believer diverts, and mixes the holies with the evil; the name of God and His holies shall be blasphemed because of his actions. b- They committed the most horrible of barbarian crimes: sacrificing their children - the children of God - to the god ‘Moloch.’ c- They sent for men to come from afar, to play the harlot with them; adorned themselves with ornaments; and used God’s incense and oil for evil. They did not fall by accident, or through seduction by others; but planned everything by themselves; and used even the divine sanctuaries to persuade others to commit lewdness with them. d- They received from their lover’s bracelets for their hands and crowns for their heads, instead of God’s gifts and eternal crowns. By that, they deserved to be chastened by the hands of those, with whom they shared the worship of their idols and abominations; and to whom they surrendered their bodies and hearts; “that all women may be taught not to practice their lewdness” (Ez 23:48). By that, He probably means that the Church of the New Testament, that came from the Gentiles, who was a harlot before; if it returns to God through faith in the Lord Christ, and entered into a life of purity, it will benefit from that lesson, that was realized in these two kingdoms in the old days. 9 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 23 GRANT ME TO BENEFIT FROM THE FALLS OF MY BROTHERS Grant me to benefit from the fall of my brothers. Samaria, the capital of Israel has fallen; And Jerusalem the capital of Judah, did not benefit; Assuming that she is above all laws! Instead of repenting, she fell in lewdness; And became more corrupt than her sister! Teach me, O God, to refrain from judging anyone; From being haughty; but to benefit from the falls of my brothers! I admit my weakness to You; And cry out to You, seeking Your mercies. Support me; and support my brothers! Help me; and help them; So that we would be all saved; And would enjoy the fellowship of Your glories, O You Lover of mankind!
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