What is the meaning of Ezekiel 23:46? This is what the Lord GOD says – The verse opens by grounding every word that follows in God’s own authority; He is not offering opinion but issuing a decree (Ezekiel 20:30; Isaiah 1:2). – It reminds us that Ezekiel is only the mouthpiece; the message originates from the Sovereign LORD who “does nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). – Because God’s word is flawless (Psalm 12:6) and eternally settled (Psalm 119:89), His pronouncement here will come to pass just as surely as earlier judgments on Samaria (2 Kings 17:7-18). Bring a mob against them – “Them” points back to Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem), the two sisters whose spiritual adultery filled the earlier part of the chapter (Ezekiel 23:4-21). – The “mob” pictures a coalition of hostile armies—Assyrians for Samaria, Babylonians for Jerusalem—whom God summons as instruments of His justice (Ezekiel 23:22-24; Isaiah 10:5-6). – Though the invaders act from their own ambition, Scripture shows God actively directing history, raising one nation and lowering another for His purposes (Daniel 2:21; Habakkuk 1:6). – This call echoes previous warnings: “They will bring up a crowd against you” (Ezekiel 16:40) and “I will gather all the peoples against Jerusalem for battle” (Zechariah 14:2). Consign them to terror and plunder – “Terror” highlights the psychological dread that accompanies siege and invasion (Leviticus 26:36-37; Jeremiah 6:25). – “Plunder” underscores material loss—homes, wealth, and even temple treasures taken as spoil (2 Kings 24:13-14; Ezekiel 7:21-22). – Together, the terms fulfill covenant curses warned in Deuteronomy 28:49-57: foreign nations would besiege, strip, and scatter Israel if she broke faith. – God’s justice is proportional: the sisters had “defiled My sanctuary” (Ezekiel 23:38-39), so He allows their enemies to defile what they valued. Yet even this severe discipline ultimately seeks repentance and restoration (Ezekiel 36:24-28). summary Ezekiel 23:46 is God’s sovereign verdict on Samaria and Jerusalem: because they traded covenant loyalty for idolatry, He summons foreign armies to overwhelm them with fear and loss. The sentence demonstrates that the Lord reigns over nations, keeps His covenant promises—including warnings—and uses temporal judgment to call His people back to Himself. |
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