The Lord said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah
and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; That they
have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their
idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons,
whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour
them. Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my
sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. For when
they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the
same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they
done in the midst of mine house. And furthermore, that ye have sent
for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo,
they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and
deckedst thyself with ornaments, And satest upon a stately bed, and
a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and
mine oil. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and
with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the
wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful
crowns upon their heads. Then said I unto her that was old in
adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with
them? Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that
playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah,
the lewd women.
And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of
adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because
they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. For thus saith
the Lord God; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give
them to be removed and spoiled. And the company shall stone them
with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay
their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women
may be taught not to do after your lewdness. And they shall
recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of
your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord God (verses 36-49).
Little comment is needed on this final section; there is a
recapitulation of the sins of Aholah and Aholibah. They committed
adultery with their idols, both in a spiritual way and also literally.
Their offspring were cast into the fiery arms of Moloch and thus slain
to their idols. They profaned the sanctuary of the Lord. Adulterers they
were and blood was in their hands. What degradation! Licentiousness,
violence and child sacrifice were the leading sins of the nation and
these were produced by having forgotten God and by idolatry. The
punishment of the adulterers, according to the law, stoning, awaited
Jerusalem. "And the company shall stone them with stones and dispatch
them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters,
and burn up their houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease
out of the land, that all women (surrounding nations who knew of
Jerusalem's vileness) be taught not to go after your lewdness. And they
(the heathen nations) shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye
shall bear the sins of your idols, and ye shall know that I am the
Lord." The Lord had manifested Himself to Jerusalem as a Lord of grace
and power. He had dealt with that nation as He had not dealt with
others. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth,
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos iii:2). In
awful judgments they were to learn that He is the Lord; what they should
have known through His mercies, they found out by the punishment from
the hands of a righteous Lord. All this will be repeated in future
history. The time is not distant when still greater judgments will be
poured out upon nations as well as upon the Jewish people. During that
time the world will find out that He is the Lord. "For when thy
judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn
righteousness" (Is. xxvi:9).