Hi to my Forum Friends,
In the recent discussion begun by David titled "Do Christians Need Buddhist Meditation Techniques to Handle Stress?" I had answered, "Simple answer: NO! In no way! . . . Buddhism is the antithesis of Christianity. Buddhist are closer to atheists than to Christians -- for most Buddhist do not believe in the existence of God. Virtually everything about Buddhism is the opposite of Christianity.
My suggestion: If anyone needs a meditation technique -- get your Bible, find a quiet place to sit, and study what God has written there. If one is not a believer and needs help in understanding the Bible; find a Christian Friend and ask for his/her help in a one-on-one study. This, I assure you, will be much more productive that any Eastern Meditation Technique."
And, our devout follower of the atheist religion, Uno, tells us, "Ahh yes. I admit, as a teenager, I found the following to be quite, er, umm, relaxing. I recall looking for that UFO story in Ezekiel (I was a big UFO not back then) -- but ran across this story relayed to Ezekiel by the Lord God Himself (before he became Jesus, of course).
'Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. She too lusted after the Assyrians -- governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men. I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way' (Ezekiel 23:11-13)."
And, in his typical atheist dishonesty, Uno, either deliberately or out of Biblical illiteracy, continues in his post a futile attempt to portray Ezekiel 23 as a book of ****ography. What Uno obviously, either out of dishonesty or illiteracy, overlooked is that, although we are all familiar with Jesus Christ using parables to teach in the New Testament, God also used parable-type stories to teach in the Old Testament.
If Uno had taken the time, or even wanted, to read the introduction to Ezekiel 23, he would have found this passage:
"The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 'Son of man (Ezekiel), there were two women, the daughters of one mother; and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their ******* were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled. Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah'" (Ezekiel 23:1-4).
Here, God, through His prophet Ezekiel is telling us that His teaching in Ezekiel 23 is a metaphorical story with Samaria as Oholah and Jerusalem as Oholibah. And, God is speaking of how these people prostituted themselves, playing the harlot to other nations.
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Commentary on Ezekiel 21-25 (C2000 Series)
Pastor Chuck Smith, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa
http://www.blueletterbible.org...iel&ar=Eze_23_30
Now in chapter 23:
"The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 'Son of man (Ezekiel), there were two women, the daughters of one mother; and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their ******* were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled. Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah'" (Ezekiel 23:1-4).
And he goes on to speak of these two daughters. The one's name is Oholah; she is the older one. And her younger sister is Oholibah. Now Oholah means "her tent." Oholibah means "her tent is in her." And in the interpreting of this little parable of these two sisters who were prostitutes, the one sister, the older sister, is Samaria, the Northern Kingdom which first went into idolatry. (And) turned against God when Jeroboam became king over the Northern Kingdom. He set up the calf in Bethel and in Dan and he said, "Now these are the gods that brought you out of Egypt. These are the gods that you worship."
And he installed calf worship; later on Baal worship and Molech (worship). And they introduced all of these gods of the Assyrians and the gods of the nations round about and they turned from the true and the living God and they began to worship idols. And thus, prostituted themselves, giving themselves unto idolatry in love for these false religions instead of giving themselves in their love for the Lord.
Now, as the result of Oholah and her lewd acts that is against God, (in) God's judgment He used the Assyrians to destroy the Northern Kingdom. And thus, Samaria was destroyed by Assyria.
Now, when Samaria was destroyed, you would think that that would have been a lesson to Judah, the younger sister. "Her tent is in her," referring to the fact that the tabernacle, the place of worship, was established in Jerusalem, in the Southern Kingdom, Oholibah. But rather than learning from the idolatry of the north that perpetrated its fall -- they started doing the very same things. In fact, king Ahaz went up to Assyria, and he makes mention of this here, how they went to Assyria. And her sister Oholibah saw this and she was more corrupt in her inordinate love, in her prostitution, than her sister. She doted upon the Assyrians.
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And, reading further in Ezekiel 23, we see that God pronounced judgment upon Samaria (Oholah) and Jerusalem (Oholibah) for their disobedience of playing the harlot to unGodly nations:
"Moreover, the LORD said to me, 'Son of man (Ezekiel), will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them as food. Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths' " (Ezekiel 23:36-38).
So, Uno, my Friend, I suppose if you try hard enough, YOU, and your non-believing bedfellows, could make something dirty and disgusting out of much that is written in the Bible -- since you are viewing it through eyes that are spiritually blind.
"There are none so blind -- as he who will not see!" --
or with our non-believing Friends, cannot see.
I will say this, God, in His teachings to us, in His Written Word, the Bible -- is "perfectly" honest. He did not have to show us all of "the good, the bad, and the ugly" -- He did not have to expose all the warts. However, this is His way of showing us just how depraved and lost in sin man truly is -- and how, being so disgustingly depraved, we cannot save ourselves. We are like the man who has brutally murdered many people; we cannot atone for, nor erase, the depth of our sin. Yet, He sent His Son to purchase our pardon through His precious blood.
But, why did Jesus Christ have to become a man? Man committed the sin against God; man has to pay for that sin. Since God's Justice is perfect; the only man who can pay that sin debt is a perfect man. Does anyone know a perfect man -- anywhere, at any time? No. Only Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jesus Christ had to come to earth as the only Perfect Man -- to pay our sin debt declared by God's Perfect Justice.
That is how much God loves YOU and me (John 3:16).
Yes, Jesus Christ came to earth in a human body. Why? Because man has sinned against God and is lost; man IS that guilty serial killer who can never atone for what he has done. Like our judicial system today; a like punishment must pay for the sin committed. So, man is condemned to death for his sin against God (Romans 3:9, 3:23, 6:23). That is God's perfect Justice.
Yet, in God's perfect Love -- "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) -- He has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay our sin debt, to purchase our full pardon. All we have to do is to accept the full pardon He has already purchased on the cross. Simple? Yes.
Then, why are there still so many atheists, secularists, cult followers, world religion followers, and other non-believers in the world today? Basically, because, like the metaphorical harlots in the story found in Ezekiel 23, Oholah and her sister, Oholibah, man still lusts after the treasures of this world -- and, either does not believe, or does not want to believe, that God has treasures much greater to offer. Man wants his temporal worldly gods and treasures -- and, is too spiritually blind to see past them.
As I suggested earlier, "If one is not a believer and needs help in understanding the Bible; find a Christian Friend and ask for his/her help in a one-on-one study."
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
