Chapter 2

by John Greene

God has designed the method to confront sin issues. He will use His Word to say outright that something is sin. He will use people to quote His Word about sin. And He will use people who know nothing about someone's sin, and reveal that sin. Today, we have God's Spirit to convict of sin adding the intensity to what is revealed. The Old Testament has this parable to teach about Judah's sin which was more unrighteous than Israel's sin because she didn't learn from it. We must let this parable be taught and preached as God has seen fit to record it. To question God is not only reckless but absurd, simply because He is God and we His creation! We must be ever so careful to not diminish the penalty of wrong choices, the ignoring of correction, the deceitful desires of the flesh by justifying sin in any way, shape, form, or intention. We can't superspiritualize His Word and say, "God said it this way, but He now means this today"! Who are we to question God, to tell Him that He didn't know what He wrote? Or how about what He says He doesn't purpose. Or perhaps, God intends something else. We pervert Scripture to give us the solution we want, not necessarily what He said! Here God talks in a parable that has many practical understandings, but let's look at the Scriptures and go on from there.

Ezekiel 23:1-4

THIS IS THE WORD FROM GOD! "The Word of the Lord" that is given to Ezekiel! The Forgotten Parable talks about two persons, daughters that we later find out are cities, the capitals of two nations, Israel and the ten northern tribes, and Judah that make up the nation Israel! Two women who are in serious sin, all after a personal relationship with Almighty God!

It is sobering that the literal translation of their names makes it clear that these two women were saved! Aholah means my tabernacle while Aholibah means my tabernacle is within her.

God saved two people who were sinners and washed their sins away never to ever remember them again, and the relationship was established. God makes it clear, "and they were mine"!! They were virgins, pure and undefiled virgins! They belonged to God. This is crystal clear, set apart for God Himself, His people and their God.

They begin in sin at a very precocious age in their youth. Their sin was "whoredoms in Egypt" and the time frame of their sin was "in their youth"! This can not be overlooked as "youthful" stupidity. The power of their sins must be seen as God is revealing it to Ezekiel. Paul writes to his beloved friend, Timothy in 2 Tim 2:22 KJV, "Flee also youthful lusts; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." Or as paraphrased by me, "Tim, the choices are yours, but if you want some good advice, be careful that your friends are godly people, run from your youthful past of foolishness, and choose wisely things that will encourage and build you up that will last forever like right-living, faith in Jesus Christ, agape love, and let peace rule and govern your heart."

Following the crowd, hanging with the wrong gang, investigating one's own individualism, and doing things that stimulate the flesh for "self" gratification and enjoyment leads to a hell that was originally created for the devil and his fallen angels. I must realize that God has my best interests in His heart! God really cares about my life and wants to direct my paths desiring a relationship that will be eternal. yet, although this is His desire, He will not force anyone to accept His desire for each of us even after we are set apart or sanctified for His purpose. He will exhort us, He will reveal the folly of our choices, but He will never make anyone have this eternal bond with Him.

Aholah and Aholibah, set apart and sanctified for The Master's use, virgins that were undefiled, rejected the admonition and warnings of a holy God and went down to Egypt to commit whoredoms! This all happened in their youth. Understand, the time frame of rejection of God's comfort, protection, advice, and love is so soon after the establishing of this glorious relationship. Both sisters almost immediately reject God and His best for them to commit whoredoms!

Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. These sisters are the capi-tals of their respective countries or provinces within Israel. The first is Samaria, established by Ahab's father, Omri, and made glorious by Ahab. The second is Jerusalem, the place where Solomon built the temple, and for the most part considered the capital of all of Israel and not just Judah. As a matter of fact, the Scriptures teach us that how goes Jerusalem, so goes the world. These two sisters are saved, the first commits whoredoms and the second says, "That looks like so much fine, I must not deprive myself of it. So, I'll commit whoredoms as well and not learn from my big sister."

But we must stop here with this parable! These two sisters had sons and daughters! This fact must no go unnoticed because the implication is that they passed on their sinful habits and sinful choices to the next generation. However, we must know that sin isn't hereditary, the nature of sinful man is passed on, yet sin itself is a choice made by the sinner.

The choice of sin, the habits chosen by a parent or respected person, will nullify God's Word. Ecclesiastes 10:1 tells how even the respected and righteous person who sins will cause their testimony to stink. We hear it differently. "What you do speaks so loudly that what you say I won't hear." The sons and daughters of these sisters will not listen to God's Word because of the hypocrisy in their lives.

How many men are in pulpits across this world and are hiding their sin of adultery with their secretary? How many are sticking their hands in the offering plate and not declaring it on their income taxes or to their congregations? How many men are into drugs or alcohol, yet their mouths are declaring a different message? The truth is that people are seeing their sins and doing them! Their message is hypocrisy and well received. When you bring into this picture that Ezekiel is talking to the elders of the captivity of Judah, the message of hypocrisy becomes all that more important to see! God may love them, but their sin is a stench in God's nostrils. For all those that think that this is judgmental, you are wrong!! The Word of God has already judged their sin, not me!!

When God shows sin or when God says something is sin, it is sin and has already been judged as sin. Sin doesn't change when the receiver of this message wants to use a distraction by placing the emphasis on the messenger. The messenger may be and is imperfect, but the message from God is still clear. God has judged sin and the end of sin is hell. The messenger carries the message from God to his own life and is changed. Then He carries this perfect Word to those to whom God directs in order that they may have the same opportunity to be changed by God's Word! God loves us so He gives us the knowledge necessary to come into a right relationship with Him. To reject the message from a man sent by God is to be condemned to a devil's hell for all eternity. Just because the messenger isn't perfect doesn't negate the message nor the power to change a person through the message. God's Word changes lives!

Imagine that one day you say, "God, I want more than You! I want what I want!" These daughters were certainly baby Christians who loved God, and fellowship with God. But one day, He wasn't precious enough nor abundant enough for them, so they surrendered to the world. Can you imagine someone in love with God and turning their backs on Him for the world? Egypt and the world are interchangeable as we see a metaphorical picture of truth that is literal. "God, you're not enough!"

In the parable of the sower, Jesus taught that the cares of this world would grow around and choke the life out of what was planted! God establishes the basis for us to understand His relationship with man, His desired relationship with man, and man's crippled assessment of what he believes his relation with God truly is! Please ponder what I just said. God sets the criteria and basis for a relationship with Him, not man. God also reveals that His love and desire is for that relationship to be established, but He will only accept it from those who desire a relationship. God is a Gentleman in the highest sense and will never force Himself on anyone. Thirdly, man has a distorted and deceitful view of a relationship with God because man looks through eyes of flesh and sin always wanting to justify themselves. Man wants to believe that any way you chose to go to "god" is okay. This helps to alleviate the pain of choice and accountability. Without accountability, man may do, say, believe whatever he desires and it is okay simply because that what he chooses. That is why relationship is two ways! Relationship is not legalistic nor based upon man's interpretation, but upon the truth and accuracy of what God says!

There is absolutely no Scriptural basis to presume we are saved and therefore, always saved! Salvation was procured on Calvary by The God-man, Jesus Christ. He purchased the note or debt receipt from the devil for our sin, and the sin nature paying it in full!

It is tiresome to hear that you can hate Jesus and get to heaven. It is equally tiresome to hear that sin only takes away some rewards, not your salvation. We will never lose our salvation, but we will find out that these sisters rejected God with their choices after their salvation. When we choose to turn our backs upon God, He will make great strides and efforts to help us see our sin and repent of the sin, but He will never make us go to heaven, if we choose not to go to heaven.

The argument that there is a good kid and a bad kid, but both are still God's kids doesn't mean that they both go to heaven. It means that God's heart is broken because one of His kids has rejected His Word for the things in the world which choked out and destroyed the "good seed" in Jesus parable previously mentioned.

This parable deals with this beautiful act of mercy, kindness, and love. BUT it also deals with man's treacherous nature when sin is not properly dealt with. Sin must be dealt with the way that God tells us to deal with it. Having sorrow for sin is not having godly sorrow for sin. It is only that we had the Holy Ghost convince us that it was sin, but we must now choose to have a change of mind about that sin (repentance). We must see that when left unrepented, there is no remission of that sin and our relationship becomes strained. This attitude can and usually copied by those around us, especially our children.

The sons and daughters born without a dependence upon God or whose parents have a half-hearted relationship will be hard to approach if not hopeless if it were not for God's will that none should die in their sins. We develop a care-less attitude or a scoffing attitude because we don't see the immediate death to the sinner. Our men of God may have said that the wages of sin is death, but when received by a hypocrite from a hypocrite we have "an adulterous generation" that Jesus talked about! God wants to wash our sin away, and He has provided the means to wash it away, but we must come to Him on His terms. There is still a chance to save this generation and the sons and daughters born to them.

When the lukewarm parents confess their hypocrisy, repent of their back biting and slanderous tongues, and get on fire for Jesus Christ, the next generation will follow in repentance and the next great revival, perhaps the last great revival will burn throughout the hearts of people in our great USA. We need it, now! Be a part of it. Get hot!!

The truth is that trying to reach a missionary's kid or pastor's kid or a kid of parents that are two-faced is virtually impossible because of all the mire God's Spirit must get through. Yet, God is blameless and His Word is like a hammer that will blast that stony ground and break that hard heart apart that His Word may be able to take root. The devil may have a lot of company in hell, but we must be about The Father's business. God will do everything that He can to see people saved as we are faithful to be Ezekiels in today's world. When we get on fire for Jesus, His Spirit and His anointing will break the "yoke"! We can be used to bring revival to our land, and our towns, but we must do it.

Samaria was the capital of the ten northern tribes and we know from the Books of 1st and 2nd Kings that they had one evil, idolatrous king one right after another with none ever exhibiting any characteristics of Jesus whatsoever! Let me remind you of king Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. Their idolatry and evil were extensive and deep rooted in their flesh. I believe that Samaria had been cursed of God because of the sins of the fathers like Ahab, much like the curse Joshua placed upon Jericho. Once God wrote "Ichabod" on Samaria, it became a haven for ravenous wolves, devouring beats, and the worms of Joel (palmerworm, locust, cankerworm, and caterpillar) brought decay and fruitlessness.

The spirit of Jezebel must be attacked in the spirit realm, and bound in the name of Jesus. Her influences has caused many of the lukewarm to be passive and uncaring, believing that they are okay.

Jerusalem was not unlike her sister, Samaria. God told many writers of the New Testament that the Old Testament was written for our example. Jerusalem not only duplicated her sister, but even went beyond and expanded her whoredoms. A wise person doesn't have to realize the same error to learn from it. A wise person is one who will observe from other people and their faults, hence, the reason that God's Word builds faith. As we read and study it, we see why we are conquerors and overcomers, because of Jesus' blood and The Word of our "testimony" found in Rev 12:11. God working in other Christians' lives should bring joy and faith as His Word is confirmed by the witness of His power and what He has written through holy men of old!

Ezekiel 23:5-8

And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, 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 whoredoms upon her.

God makes it intentionally unmistakable that Aholah belonged to Him! Aholah knew Jesus and had a personal relationship with her. BUT, God WAS NOT good enough for her. She rehearsed the character of a harlot, seeking her next lover, the next bed that she could find gratification and her passion could be fulfilled. And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine is unmistakable! Aholah doted on her lovers, Assyrians.

Psychologists state that the strongest drive within a person is their "sex" drive. Freud built his career with this premise. We can see that in Aholah's case, this is true. Her lusts were stronger than her relationship with God. We also see that God was, is, and always will be The Perfect Gentleman. He does not violate His creation by forcing it to love Him, but on the contrary made man in His image and placed a free will to choose anything and everything man may desire or want.

I don't agree with psychology or those that call themselves Christian psychologists, but I agree with those that practice good, godly, Biblical counseling right out of God's Word. If the Christian psychologist is a rightly dividing Bible scholar that uses the Word of God properly to minister healing to man's psyche or soul, then there can be healing that God's Spirit will bring to the person.

The word, psychology is from two Greek words. Psyche when added to the Greek word logos which means word, you have someone studying people and doing what only God and His Word can do that we find in Heb 4:12 "...piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, ...and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." You can only minister to the soul of man with God's Spirit and His Word. All else is tampering and major problems can and usually do develop when one puts any trust in someone other than God and the chosen vessel He HAS CHOSEN to minister to a person through His Word!

Aholah needed a good spanking, but when the prophets and men of God are sent to her, she laughs, mocks, beats, and kills them. They were sent to correct her, to tell of God's love for her, but she had to have her lovers, the Assyrians. They were good to the eye to look at, for her flesh to lust after and crave, which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses all appealing and desirable! Is this any different than Eve and her conversation with the serpent? Eve accepted lies and Aholah rejected the prophets that were sent to her such as Hosea and Jonah and even Elisha and Elijah. Her hormones had control, not God!

Aholah used her fleshly eyes and saw only skin deep! If we could only believe God wants the very best for us and He has everything under His control. She also saw that they were horsemen riding upon horses, so she wanted a strong lover. Would this happen if Aholah waits for God?

Because of Aholah's impure love, she was deceived because of her overactive sex-drive, thinking that her neighbor was strong, handsome, authoritative, and dressed in the finest clothes of the day stylish and proper. Why do we insist on dressing like the world? Why do we have to be like the world in dress and if someone is dressed in the styles of the day and not Jesus' righteousness, we are impressed just like Aholah??!?

Paul told the Thessalonians, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." This has always been an issue in the church, especially the lukewarm church as well as those that have only "one foot" in the door! You know, those that are on the fringe, not in the core group where God is moving, and where Jesus is LORD! Paul in another location stated that he was all things to all men. This verse has caused many to backslide because of its incorrect understanding and application for doctrinal teaching.

If Paris controls the direction that clothing takes, and the designers of clothing have no relationship with God (many are confessed homosexuals), and the designs come from demonic and worldly thinking, then tell me why Christians must be "hip" to today's styles? If fads and styles come from Satan, then tell me what the Christian looks like when he or she wears satanic clothing? The clothing is either directly symbolic revealing its disgust for God through sexual overtones or it is indirectly symbolic as its overtones are more subtle desensitizing the Christian over the years until their dress is no different than the world's attire! Come on now? Where is our godly common sense?

Satan got Aholah through her own lustful desires that were attracted by the faddish clothes of her soon to be lovers! How often do we tell our kids to stay away from things that would hurt them, attitudes that would cause problems, yet Aholah rejects the truth and gives into her "animalistic" lust! You know the message of the world that sex isn't good unless it is animalistic and passionate. If this message hasn't been brought into the church, then I have no explanation to the high divorce rate in the church!

Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted!! She was going to fulfill her desires even if she belonged to God Himself, which she did! I wonder how often we teach that it is okay to sin because we are going to sin anyway? What kind of God do we have that won't make us obey Him? Why won't God stop us from sinning? Aholah committed her whoredoms with every Assyrian that she doted and was madly in love with. She was like Solomon in his Book of Ecclesiastes. He fulfilled all the pleasures of his heart, but it is interesting that he said that it was all vanity! Does Aholah realize that pleasure in sin is for a fleeting moment, but then come the consequences of evil choices?

Aholah "doted" on her lovers, the Assyrians. The word dote means to love with an impure love. If that doesn't describe what love is outside of God's confinements of Scripture, then we don't understand God and/or His Word! God's love is PURE AND HOLY! Doting speaks of the lust of the flesh ruling and dictating to our hearts and minds, under a complete and total taskmaster, the flesh! This opens the door for demonic oppression and eventually demon possession. From some such lusts springs forth pornography, pedifiles, adultery, fornication, masochism, sadism, and the list of aberrant behavior and abominations goes on. Consider the closeness of the flesh's attachment, a neighbor. It is not hard to understand why God gave The Ten Commandments and especially not coveting our neighbor's wife. We should learn from Aholah, but do we and will we? Why do we let our flesh dictate how we feel, who we love, and believe that grass is greener in the pasture next door?

How determined Aholah was! Look at what it says, "and with all on whom she doted"!! We don't use the term "dote" in today's language. Quite honestly, it has lost the power that it had in the 17th century. This is a serious word that means lustful infatuation, a sexual aberrant, far less than marriage and so much more than "puppy" love of the 50's and 60's during high school days. Whomever Aholah found attractive and sensual, she was moved by her hormonal imbalance and desired that man! For you theater goers, remember the Broadway musical "Damn Yankees"? Lola got whatever she wanted. "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets!" This is the power of doting.

Aholah through the lust of the flesh decided that wearing the blue clothing was better than God's garments of white and purity. She decided that she liked those in authority, a false authority, not realizing that God sets up rulers and God removes them.

Will we complain to God why He refused to physically stop us from completing our fantasies, our evil fantasies? Didn't even Adam tell God that he sinned because of the woman that He gave him? Adam still experienced death spiritually, and was cast out of Eden so that he would also experience physical death. Was Aholah so dull to the centuries and millenniums passed that she mocked death and God with her desires?

Aholah needs deliverance and only the pure, holy, unadulterated Word of Jesus can cast out these whoredoms that have remained in her from Egypt. Sure, it is partly her fault and she hasn't given them up. But, where is the boldness that we men of God should have, and the compassion to see her hurting as well as the discernment to know that she needs to be set free in Jesus!??

But the problem is not so simple when you sleep with another person. For a moment, think about what would happen if someone had AIDS and had sex with her. Let's not even argue about the signal sent by passing out condoms! Let's just say they had unprotected sex. Well, quite simply, Aholah would get AIDS! What if her partner had any other STD (sexually transmitted disease)? She would get what her partner had passed on to her. This is simple. Even your average dummy can figure this out. I did!! Whatever her bed-partner has, whatever your bed-partner has, you will get it! Every bed-partner that your bed-partner has had will be in your bed with your partner, just as true that every partner that you have ever had will be in bed with you! Some excess baggage isn't it?

Does the same thing apply spiritually? Look at Ezekiel's words!! "With all their idols she defiled herself!" Do you remember the Words of God out of Paul's mouth to the Corinthians? Think about 2Cor 6:14, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" The Greek here gives us our Science word for a fertilized egg, zygote. Paul makes clear that once we are saved (Ch 5), that we must not be fertilized again especially with another source that is evil and demonic. Even in 1Cor 10:21, Paul says, "Ye can not drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye can not be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." We can't be a zygote with Jesus and then be a zygote with the devil and still believe that we are a zygote with Jesus. Paul asks the questions in verse 22, "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?"

Aholah rejected the Word! "With all their idols she defiled herself!" We mustn't try to understand her rationale, nor should we judge her as a judge! The thing that is important, what we must learn, is simple. Sin is sin. We must recognize sin as sin, and we should learn from the examples in the Old Testament of which Aholah certainly is one. She grabbed for all the gusto, sowed her wild oats, did her thing, and defiled her life by worshipping at the altar of an idol and the altar of the Lord.

It is clear "all their idols", were in her bed: their god of war, their god of water, their god of fertility, their god of love, their god of peace, their god of death, their god of air etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! She brought every bed-partner she had and mixed them with every bed-partner the Assyrians had. The point is she was "the Lord's" and mixed idol worship with God worship. No wonder Ezekiel is so distraught wondering if anyone will ever teach the difference between the holy and the profane. She was probably a Mason, Baptist, drinker, drug-user, and choir singer! And was she saved? Yes! Then why was she doing this? Because she liked sin and sin deceived her! How can a once saved person toss their "Love" aside for an idol that can't talk or see?

We have a hint of insight in verse 8. "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 whoredoms upon her." God knows that when we are coming to Him in the act of salvation, we aren't perfect, we still have problems from which we must be delivered!

We need to recognize through the Word what is sin, confess it, and forsake it!! Search the Scriptures and see how many verses deal with this truth. A person must not go by feelings. In other words, even if they don't feel conviction, if God's Word says that something is sin, then it must be forsaken. If we come to Jesus and ask for Him to come to our lives by His Spirit, but we walk away maintaining our sin, then did we repent of our sin? No!! The Spirit of God will bring to remem-brance the sin and we must repent of it. This is part of sanctificat-ion, but only part! Jesus knows that we could never think of every sin and confess all of them at one time, because if you understand sin, then you know that it fills a part of your life. Since this is true, then Jesus sends His Spirit to sanctify "progressively" because He knows that we couldn't replace that spiritual vacuum with more of Jesus. We can't because we are babies and He wants us to grow and mature in a daily marriage walk with Him. This is the mystery of the gospel!

Aholah should have repented of her "whoredoms brought from Egypt", but she said a few words of a prayer because some liberal minister or layperson told her that this was salvation, a prayer. Now, she could wallow in the mud and be saved for all eternity. What a line? If her whoredoms were of no consequence, then why would the Third person of the Godhead convict of those sins? Why would the Second Person of the Godhead die for those sins? Why would the First Person of the Godhead give His only begotten Son for those sins? Aholah needed deliverance and got some misused and misapplied gospel from some person who was knocking on doors getting people to say a prayer for salvation.

Aholah became so deceived partially because God didn't come down and squash her like the sinner that she was (Like young kids who get into all kinds of trouble because Mom and Dad aren't there watching, but are "angels" when the mighty eye is on them.), a young, carnal Christian without "the fear of the Lord" in her heart. However, I believe that verse 8 tells the root cause of her moral bankruptcy! She never left her sins at the altar, at the foot of Jesus Who paid His life shedding His blood to make possible the purchase of all who will confess their sins, repent of those sins, turn to God with a clean heart, and accept His deliverance.

Egypt took a baby-Aholah, and "poured their whoredoms upon her"!! It is obvious that this remained in Aholah's heart and was a spiritual problem that she needed help with, but where is the church, where is the mature believer, where is the man of God preaching a Word of truth? Why are we so concerned that someone will leave the church because we preach the Word? Isn't better for thousands to be saved after your demonic, evil congregation walks out, then to play games with those that won't submit to The Word? Aholah needs strong, Spirit-anointed men to come to her need and prayerfully cast out those demons of lust and whatever else with which she became possessed! Egypt's whoredoms are strong, but the finger of God is so much more powerful!! Cast those demons out with the name of Jesus and set Aholah free!!

If you're reading this, then you know what I am talking about! We preach a namby-pamby gospel which has produced a powerless church that God intended to be His Son's bride, white and spotless, fearing God and on fire for Him! Laodicea is this age's church! When will we wake up and get right with God? Will the Son of Man return and find faith? I want to take a stand for Jesus. How about you? Are you tired of defeat and their pain of a wasted life? Don't you get sick of asking why? We must repent, be purged in our own lives, be filled with His Spirit that we may look at the Aholah's, be moved with compassion, perceive her deep rooted sin, and cast out the demons of lust in Jesus name!

When Jesus hung on the tree, He purchased back the title deed of the universe, made an open show of the devil, and broke his authority for anyone that would step into His chariot of triumph ride off into glory with Him. With the words "desirable" and "young" used as descriptive, speaks to the flesh and superficial eyes. God knows the heart and therefore should be consulted and allowed to choose our mate. The divorce rate would plummet if God was allowed to be the Father He desires to be in our lives.

We are called to be holy as God is holy and if this is true (which it is), Paul was not telling us to be like our surroundings, the styles, the dress, and the mannerisms, but instead was saying that as God's Spirit moved on him, he could minister in His Spirit and be a conduit for healing, for deliverance, for nurturing, for discipline, and for anything that God would use him to minister in. The other point is Paul was stating that we must have the compassion of Jesus and be moved in this compassion, know to whom we are ministering, respect their lives and background, and allow God to use you to separate the sin in the culture with God's Word, and not go overboard by insulting an area that may be gray or is not even sin only a fleshly dislike of yours! Jesus said it better. "Love your neighbor as yourself!" You don't have to be like the world to win them to Jesus, and you don't have to accept the world's standards and mannerisms which will only entice and lure you away as it did Aholah into sin.

"We must pray through" is a term commonly used in Spirit-filled churches. If we ask Jesus to be Lord, but never want to accept His commandments or obey His Word, then we must face the truth, and that is that we didn't accept Jesus as our Lord! However, in Aholah's case she did accept Jesus as Lord because verse 4 says, "they were Mine," indicating salvation. Aholah never left the world. She accepted the gospel that says, "Say yes to Jesus, He loves you and now you're saved! You may change your life if you want to, but Jesus saved you so if you don't you'll still go to heaven because you said that magical prayer."

Aholah finds out the hard way! She is told in verse 35 and 49 that she must BEAR her own sins since she refused the Savior that did bear them on Calvary! We will get to that a little later and in more detail. Remember that Egypt and the world are interchangeable, and if you make the exchange and say that Aholah never left the world, then you can see what Jesus was saying in His parable of The Sower about the seed that took root, grew, and the cares of this world began to choke it until it died! Powerful isn't it? God's Word has always been practical, and this beautiful chapter of Ezekiel is no exception! In her youth the world poured out its whoredom on her, and she now dwells on these things!

We do have the authority to tell the devil to get out, to stop his thoughts and lies from lambasting our minds in The Name of Jesus! But, it is our own fault and sin of remembering, when we take the devils weapons of fear and his thoughts and dwell on them, thinking of "the good ol' days" as if there was anything "good" about sin and its bondage! Aholah did this remembering, dreaming, and lustful desiring!

So, God sent the Assyrians. Aholah lusted, prostituted herself with all their idols until she had totally defiled herself like verse 7 tells us! She went from her lust, enticed into sin, became obsessed, then oppressed, and finally she was demon possessed. How fragile life can became when we forsake The Savior, Jesus. Aholah forgot Jesus, cast Him behind her back, and was lost as a goose in a fog! The truth is that there I go except for the grace of God!

John Greene