Chronological Reading Plan for Sep 2, Eze 23-24

Today's readings are Eze 23-24. Tomorrow's are Eze 25-27. 

Eze 23 personifies the Northern Kingdom, Israel (Samaria), and the Southern Kingdom, Judah, in an allegory of two sisters. Oholah (Israel) acted unfaithfully with Egypt then Assyria. Then Oholibah (Judah). did the same with Babylon. Though they  belonged to the Lord and were blessed by Him, they lusted after other nations, looking to them for respect and affirmation. Those nations, used by God, would turn on both sisters, humiliating and disgracing them. It's impossible to seek respect and honor from the world and honor God at the same time. The world is lost and depraved. God is holy and pure. Those things the world values put it at odds with the character and nature of God. 

Eze 24 is tragic. On the same day Babylon begins the siege of Jerusalem, Ezekiel gets a parable of a cooking pot, caked with deposits of bloodshed and idolatry. The people of Jerusalem are the meat in the pot, being boiled and charred by the flames beneath (Babylon). The meat is removed, one piece at a time, a picture of the exile. The pot is left on the fire until all the deposits on the pot are burned away.  This is a graphic image of how God will use Babylon to burn away the sin that has plagued His people. 

God takes the life of Ezekiel's wife, instructing him not to mourn in public. Ezekiel represents God and his wife represents Jerusalem/Judah. When asked why he wasn't mourning, Ezekiel tells the people that God is showing them, through him, they are not to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem.