Ezekiel 23:32-39 - You must bear the consequences of your lewdness

23:32-34

We now get a poetic section. The section does not add much in the way of factual content. I.e the nature and causes of the coming disaster remain the same. The difference is the way it is expressed, which never really comes over in the English translations. The whole point is to make Judah aware of what is coming, and to use a different means of communication, striking at the emotions as well as the mind. The general lesson for us, and this particularly applies to those of us of a reformed inclination, is that straightforward preaching is not the only means of communicating the word of God (though it must be one of them, and should be the primary one!).

23:35-39

The disaster that was coming was entirely a consequence of Judah’s unfaithfulness. Ezekiel is again invited to judge them, for they are worthy of judgement. They are to be confronted with their detestable practices. This is a repeat of Ezek 22:2. It makes explicit that child sacrifice was part of their practices. And on the same day they did this, they entered the house of the Lord, thus desecrating it.