Ezek 23:1-49 | PS 109:1-31 | Prov 27:13 | Heb 10:18-39
Though prostitution is largely defined in sexual terms, a secondary definition in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary defines it as "the act of prostituting one's talents or abilities for wicked or base purposes." God created us from nothing. He sent His only Son to earth to settle the debts of our sins and enable eternal life with Him. He has endowed each of us with various talents and time. We owe Him literally everything. Yet, what is it that we give ourselves over to instead of Him. You might see this as harsh, perhaps even overreach, but is it possible that we prostitute ourselves over success, money, power, pride, self-importance, etc. We can call it ambition, drive, etc., but the reality is we are using that which God has bestowed on us, very often not to serve Him, but instead to serve ourselves or others. In the Old Testament, we often saw vividly the rampant spiritual adultery in the form of idol worship to other gods. How easy it is for us to explain away or not see the rampant spiritual adultery over our more contemporary idols.
In Ezekiel 23, the prostitution of the people, God's people is illustrated. Many feel that simply changing locations or changing positions in life end this form of idolatry, but we read in Ezekiel 23:8, "For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind. She was still as lewd as in her youth,...". Though wide periods of time, even generations can pass, eventually this prostitution will be confronted and paid for, as we read in 23:29-30, "They will treat you with hatred and rob you of all you own, leaving you stark naked. The shame of your prostitution will be exposed to all the world. You brought all this on yourself by prostituting yourself to other nations, defiling yourself with all their idols." God states we must bear the consequences of our actions in 23:25, "And because you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You must bear the consequences of all your lewdness and prostitution.” Realize, like now, many justified this prostitution, even felt good about themselves, even saw themselves as morally upright as we read in 23:37-39, "They have committed both adultery and murder—adultery by worshiping idols and murder by burning as sacrifices the children they bore to me. Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day! On the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house."
We truly need to repent, or change our minds, of the sins, of the idols that take precedence over our lives. We must never elevate ourselves beyond what we are, as we read in 1 John 1:8-10, "If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." We can continue, business as usual, horizontally focused on others, somehow elevating ourselves and our goodness over the goodness of others, yet we read in Hebrews 10:26-27, "Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies." Let us take seriously what we are, and what God has offered us, has made available to us, and move forward daily accordingly, as we read in 10:20-22, "By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water." Considering Jesus came to earth consumed with providing for our salvation, we should all be less consumed on ourselves, and more consumed with living our lives for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: