Protect the Innocent
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply
Title:
Protect the Innocent -------------------------------- Date: 2/21/2000
Keywords:
"children" "prostitution" "virgin" "youth"
Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand
strong in the face of sexual temptation.
Passage: Ezekiel 23:1-4*
1. The word of the Lord came to me:
2. "Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same
mother.
3. They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from
their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed.
4. The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They
were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is
Jerusalem.
Questions
1. What could this allegory have to say about us
today?
2. If this is an allegory, what do you suppose are
the actual facts that caused God to refer to the sisters' days in Egypt as prostitution?
3. What is the point of describing Judah and
Israel (the nations that inhabited Jerusalem and Samaria when this word was spoken) as
youths in Egypt?
4. What is the point of describing them as women
and daughters?
Practical help
This entire chapter of Ezekiel is given as a graphical depiction of
God's intended relationship with his people, and their repeated violations of that
relationship. His relationship is as a husband to a virgin bride, and in the Christian
age, that is no longer reserved for Israel but is for all who call on him for their
salvation (see Isaiah. 62:5, Revelation. 19:7). Yet the relationship is broken by sin. Sin
here is called prostitution, and means a whole lot more than selling sex, although sexual
sin was among the many downfalls of the Israelites.
One thought to be taken from this scripture is that the tendency toward this prostitution
starts in the early years. When a child's feelings, thoughts, will and spirit are still
being formed and developed, she (or he) is exposed to a sinful world. Certainly in today's
world the pressures toward sin are strong and compelling. The allure of porn is leaving
the brown paper wrapper, and is now exposed on the covers of magazines in the grocery
checkout line. Once the flood of perverted thinking is turned on, it's difficult to turn
it off.
Think about your own experience with sin (including sexual sin). When were you first
exposed to porn? Was it something you chose, or was it an accident, a result of someone
else's careless unprotectiveness? Once you were exposed to it, how easy was it to go there
again?
We can't do anything to change the past, but we can look to the future. At some level
there are youths in your life, who have the same tenderness and virginity as you once had.
Commit yourself now to do everything in your power to protect them from the trap you fell
into. Teach them to turn aside. If there's anything in your own home that could ensnare
someone else, get rid of it now.
Finally, your virginity can be restored. In fact you can do something about the past, not
altering it but erasing it through forgiveness. The pathway is confession, repentance, and
calling on Jesus Christ to cover over your sin. To learn more, click
here.
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*Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973,
1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.