The Whore We Are

There is unlikely to be a more degrading accusation to a wife than that of being a whore. Simply reading the word privately makes us want to reach for a different translation hoping that it might render the word differently, perhaps into a more palatable or tame word. We know what a whore is, and we know what using this word is meant to convey.

Anyone who has been betrayed by someone close can understand the anger and disdain that wells up within us. Some have adulterous spouses and this actual word may have even come upon our lips. I am even tempted to read that this passage is about someone or some group of people I know. For sure it is but I know with even more assurance that the Holy Spirit is speaking about me. As He inspired Ezekiel to pen these words He provides a list of accusations that few of us if any can escape from. More than a whore He says we have multiplied our whorings among the nations. We don't even take payment! We pay others that we may continue in our lewdness! Oh how great is our sin!

What a wretched state we are in. If you notice, the accusations aren't aimed at the heathen but rather the children of God. Those who know the Word of the Lord. Previous chapters target priests, supposed prophets, and the rest of Israel. In this chapter even the despised Samaritans, Sodomites, and Philistines fare better than faithless Israel. I must admit that I could not read this whole chapter at first but had to shut it because the weight of conviction was so heavy.

It was then in my spirit that I felt Christ reach through. As I despaired I could even picture in my mind my Lord Jesus reaching through the darkness to pull me up while assuring me that He had suffered for my sin and that justice had been satisfied. When I was young I remember being chased by a dog and my earthly father pulling me up into his arms. There was no more secure place than this. Reflexively with my son I pull him up to me and he knows that he is not in danger. Ezekiel himself in earlier chapters was taken up (albeit by a shock of hair). When the Lord found Israel (and us) bloody and abandoned in a field He took her up. Finally despite her unfaithfulness (and ours) he takes her up again. His covenant will not be forgotten. His love covers over our shame. How great is His love for us! What a lover! What a husband to our soul!

Created about 1 year ago