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847. Bible Study: Ezekiel 23 (Spiritual Idolatry personified as Prostitution, Child Sacrifice/Abortion, and Porn) · Faith by annm2705

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  Ezekiel chapter 23 Dear Lord, please let us have eyes to see
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  and ears to hear what you have to say in Jesus name, Amen.
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  This is entitled to adulterous sisters and similarly to Amir's
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  commentary, this is a chapter I don't really have much to say
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  on. Neither did he, but it's one you
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  just want to kind of get through.
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  There is quite a bit of material though, in the questions and
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  answers from the Study Bible, so I will read those as we go
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  along. So let's get started.
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  The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man.
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  There were two women, daughters of the same mother.
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  They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution
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  from their youth in that land. Their breasts were fondled and
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  their virgin bosoms caressed. The older was named Aloha.
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  And oh, I'm sorry, Ohola and her sister Oholiba.
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  They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters.
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  Ohola is Samaria and Oholiba is Jerusalem.
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  Ohola engaged in prostitution while she was still mine, and
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  she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians, warriors clothed in
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  blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men
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  and mounted horsemen. She gave herself as a prostitute
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  to all the elite of the Assyrians, and defiled herself
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  with all the idols of everyone she lusted after.
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  She did not give up the prostitution and began in Egypt,
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  when during her youth, men slept with her, caressed her virgin
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  bosom, and poured out their lust on her.
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  Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the
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  Assyrians, for whom she lusted. They stripped her naked, took
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  away her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword.
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  She became a byword among women and punishment was inflicted on
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  her. So I will read some of the
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  questions and answers for this section.
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  So who were Ohola and ohol liba? It is not entirely clear why
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  these names were chosen for this parable.
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  Both names are derived from the Hebrew word for tent, which is
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  often used in tent of worship. The name Ohola used for Samaria,
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  the capital city of the northern Kingdom of Israel, means her
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  tent and might be paraphrased she who has her own tent.
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  This would allude to the idolatrous Northern Kingdom's
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  religious independence and rejection of the Jerusalem
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  Temple. The name Oholiba used for
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  Jerusalem, the capital city of the southern Kingdom of Judah,
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  means my tent is in her, which may allude to the Jerusalem
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  Temple, God's special dwelling place among His covenant people.
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  Why were Syrian warriors clothed in blue?
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  The royal blue, or purple was from a rare and expensive dye.
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  It conveyed a sense of wealth, privilege, and royal standing.
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  The rulers of Israel were impressed with the prosperity of
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  their neighbors to the north, so they emulated them even at the
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  expense of their own people. How was Samaria a byword among
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  women? The exiled N northern Kingdom of
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  Israel, whose capital city was Samaria, became an object of
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  ridicule instead of being celebrated as a blessed.
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  Instead of being celebrated as blessed and powerful, it became
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  the topic of idle, malicious, and worthless gossip.
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  OK, then we'll continue on. Her sister Uholiba saw this.
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  This is the second one. Jerusalem saw this.
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  Yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her
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  sister. She too lusted after the
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  Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors in full
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  dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men.
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  I saw that she too defiled herself.
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  Both of them went the same way, but she carried her prostitution
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  still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall,
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  figures of Chaldeans portrayed in red, with belts around their
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  waist and flowing turbans on their heads.
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  All of them look like Babylon chariot officers, natives of
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  Chaldea. As soon as she saw them, she
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  lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
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  Then the Babylonians came to her to the bed of of love, and in
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  their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled,
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  defiled by then, she turned away from them in disgust.
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  When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed
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  her naked body, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I
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  had turned away from her sister. Yet she became more and more
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  promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth when she was a
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  prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her
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  lover, lovers whose genitals were like those of donkeys and
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  whose emission was like that of horses.
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  So she, so you longed for the lewdness of your youth when in
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  Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breast fondled.
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  So there's a couple questions and the answers on here.
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  Who were these Chaldeans? The prostitute?
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  Jerusalem or Judah was engaged in a vile pastime looking at
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  provocative images of Chaldean men on the wall above her bed.
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  Red was the color of arousal and sexual imitation as in the
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  modern day phrase red light district.
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  These Chaldean lovers symbolized how Jerusalem or Judah had
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  prostituted herself, participated in the Pagan
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  worship of other people after courting the Babylonians.
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  Why did Jerusalem become disgusted with them?
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  Judah allied with the Babylonians against their once
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  powerful oppressors. Oppressors the Assyrians The
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  Babylonians conquered Assyria, defeated the Egyptians as at Kar
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  Kemesh in six O 5 BC and emerged as the most powerful empire in
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  the ancient Near East. At that point Judah realized
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  that the Babylonians were just as imperialistic and oppressive
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  as the Assyrians had been. Judah then embarked on an anti
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  Babylonian policy that eventually led to her demise.
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  So continuing on in the chapter. Therefore, Oholiba, this is what
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  the sovereign Lord says. I will stir up your lovers
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  against you, those who turned away, those you turned away from
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  in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every
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  side. The Babylonians and all the
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  Chaldeans, the men of Pekkad and Shoah and KOA, and all the
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  Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them,
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  governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of Ha
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  Rink, all mounted on horses. They will come against you with
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  weapons, Chariots and wagons, with a throng of people.
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  They will take up positions against you on every side, with
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  large and small Shields and with helmets.
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  I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish
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  you according to their standards.
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  I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal
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  with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and
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  your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by sword.
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  They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you
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  who are left will be consumed by fire.
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  They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine
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  jewelry. So I will put a stop to the
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  lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt.
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  You will not look on these things with longing or remember
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  Egypt any more, for this is what the Sovereign Lord says.
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  I'm about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, to
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  those you turned away from in disgust.
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  They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything
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  you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked
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  and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed.
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  Your lewdness and promiscuity have brought this on you because
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  you have lustered after the nations and defiled yourself
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  with their idols. You have gone the way of your
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  sister. I will put her cup into your
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  hand. And when this is something that
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  the cup of wrath, this is a comment that I do have, that
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  there is a cup of wrath, that that's how it's described as a
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  cup of drink, the cup of wrath. So that is what came to mind as
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  I read that verse 32. This is what the Sovereign Lord
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  says. You will drink your sister's
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  cup, a cup large and deep. It will bring scorn and
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  derision, for it holds so much. You will be filled with
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  drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of rune and desolation, the cup
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  of your sister Samaria. So I'm going to pause here
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  because there's some questions and answers on this page and
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  we'll cover that. Why is such repulsive imagery
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  used? The graphic imagery depicts
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  Egypt as a lusty mate with whom the promiscuous as a lust.
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  I'm sorry. The graphic imagery depicts
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  Egypt as a lusty male with whom the promiscuous female Jerusalem
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  desired intercourse. The reality behind the repulsive
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  imagery was Judah's obsessive desire for a political alliance
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  with Egypt, which God considered indecent.
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  When Judah looked to Egypt for help, Egypt was more than happy
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  to oblige. Egypt wanted to establish a
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  buffer state in the Land of Israel to challenge Babylonian
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  dominance in the Ancient Near East.
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  What was the difference between Babylonians and Chaldeans?
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  The Chaldeans were a group of southern Mesopotamian tribes who
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  took control of Babylon in the late 7th century BC and defeated
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  the Assyrians. They established the Neo
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  Babylonian Empire, which included the native Babylonian
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  population and some Aramean tribes.
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  This verse makes a distinction between the Chaldeans, the
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  dominant ethnic group, and the Babylonians, perhaps a reference
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  to non Chaldean residents of Babylon.
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  Why mutilate victims? Mutilating the face of an
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  adulteress was a common ancient Mesopotamian practice.
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  An Assyrian law allowed a man to cut off his adulterous wife's
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  nose. If he chose to do so, he also
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  had to castrate her lover, Jerusalem, personified, as an
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  adulterous woman, would be punished for her unfaithfulness
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  in this way. What?
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  And then the next question Answer.
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  What cup is this? This refers to the cup of God's
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  judgment, a cup of despair and woe.
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  Samaria, Jerusalem's long disdained sister was has known
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  woe and ruin. She now gives this cup of
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  suffering and lament and lament to Jerusalem to drink from.
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  The imagery is dark. Once the cup is drunk dry, the
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  people of God will tear their own chest.
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  It conveys stark suffering. Then the Bible addresses the
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  next Top 100 most asked questions.
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  What does the Bible say about the dangers of pornography?
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  Because of the time and culture in which the Bible was written,
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  no Internet, printed page or video, pornography isn't
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  directly discussed in the Bible. However, the parable of Israel's
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  unfaithfulness in Ezekiel 23, verses one through 49 provides
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  an interesting commentary on how images can seduce and corrupt.
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  Verse 14 describes a woman who represents Jerusalem who saw
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  figures of men drawn on a wall. As soon as she saw them, she
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  lusted after them. Not only did these depictions
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  stir up lust, they also fed her to seek out men with whom to
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  have sex. This is exactly what pornography
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  does. It arouses within people impure
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  and unhealthy sexual desires and intensifies sexual temptation.
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  Pornographic images and the idea of instant sexual pleasure can
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  dominate the way a person thinks about God's gift of sex.
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  Here's the bottom line. Pornography takes something
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  beautiful, which is meant to be shared intimately between 2
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  married people and twisted into something selfish and demeaning.
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  Furthermore, there are two other biblical principles that can be
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  applied to the issue of pornography.
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  Number one, we should fill our minds only with true, noble, and
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  pure thoughts. That's found in Philippians
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  chapter 4, verse 8. No matter what sins we've
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  committed in the past, we're never too dirty to be forgiven
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  and cleansed by God. And that's found in First
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  Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9 through 11, continuing on in
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  verse 34 from the book from chapter 23.
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  You will drink it, referring to the cup, you will drink it and
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  drain it dry and chew on its pieces, and you will tear your
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  breast. I have spoken, declares the
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  sovereign Lord. Therefore, this is what the
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  sovereign Lord says. Since you have forgotten me and
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  turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your
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  lewdness and prostitution. The Lord said to me, Son of man,
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  will you judge Ohola and Oholaba?
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  Then confront them with their detestable practices, for they
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  have committed adultery and blood is on their hands.
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  They committed adultery with their idols.
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  They even sacrificed their children whom they boredom me as
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  food for them. They have also done this to me
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  at the same time. They defiled my sanctuary and
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  desecrated my Sabbath's. On the very day they sacrificed
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  their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and
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  desecrated it. That is what they did in my
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  house. They even sent messengers for
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  men who came from far away, and when they arrived, you bathed
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  yourself for them, applied eye makeup, and put on your jewelry.
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  You sat on an elegant couch with a table spread before it, on
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  which you had placed the incense and olive oil that belonged to
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  me. The noise of a carefree crowd
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  was around her. Drunkards were brought from the
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  desert, along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets
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  on the wrist of the woman and her sister, and beautiful crowns
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  on their head. Then I said about the one worn
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  out by adultery. Now let them use her as a
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  prostitute, for that is all she is, and they slept with her.
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  As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with these lewd
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  women, Ohola and Aholiba. But righteous judges will
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  sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and
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  shed blood because they are adulterous and blood is on their
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  hands. This is what the Sovereign Lord
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  says. Bring a mob against them and
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  give them over to terror and plunder.
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  The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords.
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  They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their
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  houses. So I will put an end to lewdness
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  in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate
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  you. You will suffer the penalty of
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  your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of
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  idolatry. Then you will know that I am the
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  Sovereign Lord. So the remaining questions and
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  answers Why would parents sacrifice their children?
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  They probably thought by appeasing the Pagan gods they
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  could improve their quality of life.
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  Life's harsh realities. Example, high infant mortality
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  may have prompted some to place a lower value on children than
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  adults. Some neighboring cultures
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  abandoned unwanted infants to die.
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  Others didn't name their children until they were older
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  and more likely to survive. The thought of murdering
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  children shocks us. But the Israelites who were
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  calloused by the Pagan views around them appear not to have
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  been alarmed by it. And as I said before with this
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  explanation came up, that's kind of like the nation that we are
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  in right now when it comes to abortion.
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  People are not alarmed by it, but yet it's the same thing.
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  It's ending the life of a human being.
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  And something that we need to really consider when this
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  subject is addressed, I guess, in legislation, because it does
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  come up in legislation. And are we going to be
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  supportive of God's word? Are we going to stand up and
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  support what God support God's law?
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  Are we going to go against it? If we go against it, we can be
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  certain that there will come judgement for that.
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  OK, the next question and answer.
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  In what sense had children been born to the Lord?
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  Within the allegoric framework of the chapter?
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  Samaria and Jerusalem were viewed as the Lord's wives who
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  had borne Him children. These children belong to Him,
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  but His wives had the audacity to sacrifice them to idols.
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  Who were these men from far away?
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  This suggests a kind of summit meeting with men from faraway
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  nations. Judah's leaders tried to create
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  an alliance to avert the Babylonian invasion, but they
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  were relying on human protection to prevent God's judgment
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  instead of repenting from sin. That seems very relevant today
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  with what's happening like in the Middle East is, is God being
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  consulted on all of this or is there a not the Middle East?
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  I would say the whole world, because it seems like the whole
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  world is all these different armies are building up their
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  power and you know that it just doesn't seem like that's going
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  to go very well for the world. And you know, the absence of
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  God. No one's relying on God, and
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  everyone's looking at their. Their own ways of protection
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  instead of repenting from sin. So there are like God did
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  command people to go to war sometimes to eliminate enemies,
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  but the overall message in the Bible is repent.
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  Repent from sin and trust God. So the last question in or no,
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  there were two more. So who were these drunkards?
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  These were the descendants of Seba, son of Cush from Genesis
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  chapter 10, verse 7, known for their height.
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  They lived either on the Arabian Peninsula in Sheba, which is
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  modern day Yemen, or in Africa in ancient Ethiopia, modern day
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  Sudan. There is a close association of
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  Seba with Egypt and Cush, ancient Ethiopia, modern day
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  Sudan. And you can see this from the
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  book of Isaiah in chapter 43, verse 3 and chapter 45 verse
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  verse 14. It's always interesting when
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  they they put I'm going to read that verse because I don't quite
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  remember that it was verse 23, verse 40.
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  True, true. OK, the noise of a carefree
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  crowd was around her. Drunkards were brought from the
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  desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets
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  on the wrist of the of the woman and her sister and beautiful
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  crowns on their heads. So that's the verse it was
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  referring to. OK then were women punished
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  differently than men for adultery and murder?
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  According to the Old Testament law, both adulterous men and
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  women were to be executed by stoning, and that's found in
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  Deuteronomy chapter 22, verses 22 through 24.
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  It is uncertain if this law was consistently applied in ancient
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  Israel. And that wraps up chapter 23,
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  which I'm glad. So next time we will cover
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  chapter 24 and I, if you're not subscribed and you want to stay
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  in the word, please subscribe and share this if you find it,
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  this podcast show with whomever you want.
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  is it makes me accountable where I I need to do this everyday and
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  I hope it helps you stay in the word as well.