Chapter xxiii.

Once more a parable is given to illustrate and expose the wickedness of Samaria and Jerusalem in their ungodly relationship with Assyria and Chaldea. On the whole, this chapter bears a similar message as the one contained in chapter xvi, however, with this difference that here the later history of the two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah and their defilement with heathen nations is the prominent feature. The chapter has five sections.

I. The Two Sisters Aholah and Aholibah.

The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: And they committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah (verses 1-4).

The two daughters of one mother are Samaria and Jerusalem, called sisters in chapter xvi:46. They were sisters not only because they had the same mother, the Jewish nation, but they were also sisters in their vile idolatry. Samaria is called Aholah. Aholah means "her tent." Jerusalem is named Aholibah, "my tent is in her." The latter denotes the fact that the true sanctuary was in Judah, while the Kingdom of Israel, Samaria, practised a "false worship." Yet Jehovah owned them both as His people.

II. Aholah's Wickedness.

And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her (verses 5-10).

Aholah's, Samaria's, wickedness is described first. It began with Jeroboam's idolatry (1 Kings xii:25) and became worse and worse. They went to Assyria and shared their corruption in idolatry and made a covenant with that nation (Hosea xii:2). Thus Samaria played the harlot by forsaking the Lord and turning to Assyria, trusting on Assyria instead of on the Lord, and then she defiled herself with all their idols. Hosea described their condition. "Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart; they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. When they shall go I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me; destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me, though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me" (Hosea vii:11-13). The judgment of Samaria is also mentioned. The Lord delivered the people into the hands of the nation with which they had become enamored, to discover their nakedness. "Wherefore, I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted." The historical record of this is found in 2 Kings xvii, when Hoshea, King of Samaria, became servant to Shalmaneser, King of Assyria. And when Hoshea acted treacherously, Shalmaneser imprisoned Samaria's king and led the people away into Assyria.

III. The Wickedness of Aholibah.

And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredom more than her sister in her whoredom. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, And that she increased her whoredom: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermillion, Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of their nativity: And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. So she discovered her whoredom, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth (verses 11-21).

And her sister Aholibah, Jerusalem, saw this, but did not profit by it. She became even more corrupt than Samaria and increased her whoredoms. She was enjoying greater privileges and blessings than Samaria and therefore her wickedness and fall was greater. King Ahaz, when pressed by Rezin, the King of Syria and Remaliah, King of Israel, sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, with the message, "I am thy servant and thy son, come up and save me" (2 Kings xvi:5-8.)

He also took the silver and gold in the house of the Lord and gave it as a present to the Assyrian King. Isaiah's message and offer as described in Isaiah vii he refused. Then King Ahaz "went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest, the fashion of the altar, and the patterns of it, according to all the workmanship thereof." This strange altar was set up in Jerusalem, and the house of the Lord was defiled by him (2 Kings xvi:10-20). Likewise, Jerusalem also followed the Chaldeans and was inflamed by the pictures of the Chaldeans portrayed on walls in vermillion, the peculiar color used by the the Chaldeans. She loved Chaldea, Babylon with her vile idolatry, and sent messengers to the Chaldeans. And the Babylonians responded and came to her to corrupt Jerusalem. Then Jehovah says: "My mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister." Yet she continued in her evil ways. In all this we have a description of Jerusalem's history in becoming defiled by heathen nations, their idolatries and corresponding immoralities.

IV. Aholibah's Punishment.

Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side; the Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses. And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments. And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated: And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols. Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand. Thus saith the Lord God; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much. Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the shreds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou thy lewdness and thy whoredoms (verses 22-35).

And those with whom she had sinned were to be her chastisers. "Behold I will raise up thy lovers against thee.... I will bring them against thee on every side." Her well-deserved judgment would be, as it was, in the hands of the Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, as well as the Assyrians.... And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons and wheels, with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about, and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgment." A holy and righteous God in His wrath moved these vile nations to heap upon this disobedient and idolatrous people the worst punishments. "They shall deal furiously with thee, they shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire." The explorations in Assyria have brought to light wall-sculptures in which such atrocities are depicted. God is righteous, and divine retribution was thus manifested in Jerusalem's shameful history. And in our own times we behold similar judgments in the earth meted out upon nations, professedly Christian, who forgot God and rejected His holy Word. Jerusalem had walked in the ways of her vile sister Samaria and had even outdone her in wickedness. She was, therefore, to drink her cup, "because thou hast forgotten me and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms." Jerusalem had seen all what happened to the northern kingdom when Shalmaneser had carried them away, yet she kept right on in her evil course and did not repent of her idolatries, her vile immoralities and wickedness. And so it is to-day. Nations reap what they have sown, and other nations, like our own, do not take the warning. They continue in the downward course, rejecting God's holy Word and are guilty of the same sins as the nations who drink now the cup of divine displeasure. Ere long the judgments of God will reach every nation for the evil they have done.

V. Final Rehearsal of their Sins and Punishments.

The Lord said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house. And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments, And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads. Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them? Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.

And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. For thus saith the Lord God; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled. And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord God (verses 36-49).

Little comment is needed on this final section; there is a recapitulation of the sins of Aholah and Aholibah. They committed adultery with their idols, both in a spiritual way and also literally. Their offspring were cast into the fiery arms of Moloch and thus slain to their idols. They profaned the sanctuary of the Lord. Adulterers they were and blood was in their hands. What degradation! Licentiousness, violence and child sacrifice were the leading sins of the nation and these were produced by having forgotten God and by idolatry. The punishment of the adulterers, according to the law, stoning, awaited Jerusalem. "And the company shall stone them with stones and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women (surrounding nations who knew of Jerusalem's vileness) be taught not to go after your lewdness. And they (the heathen nations) shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." The Lord had manifested Himself to Jerusalem as a Lord of grace and power. He had dealt with that nation as He had not dealt with others. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos iii:2). In awful judgments they were to learn that He is the Lord; what they should have known through His mercies, they found out by the punishment from the hands of a righteous Lord. All this will be repeated in future history. The time is not distant when still greater judgments will be poured out upon nations as well as upon the Jewish people. During that time the world will find out that He is the Lord. "For when thy judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Is. xxvi:9).

THE BOILING POT AND THE LAST WORD.