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Samaria and Jerusalem, 2 Sisters
Ezekiel 23:4 “Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah“
After King Solomon, Israel split into two kingdoms. The North was still called Israel, with the capital Samaria. The South was called Judah, with the capital Jerusalem. Click here for previous posts about the 2 Kingdoms.
Oholoh in Hebrew is H170 – ‘āhŏlâ, meaning “her own tent”. Oholibah in Hebrew is H172 – ‘āhŏlîḇâ, meaning “my tent is in her”. Both have to do with tents, the Hebrew word H168 – ‘ōhel. But not just any tent.. this word is mostly used actually for the word Tabernacle! So actually, the names mean “her own tabernacle“, and “my tabernacle is in her“. Which was true.. Israel/Samaria from the North, followed their own ways and made their own worship places. The Temple was in Jerusalem, and most prophets came from Jerusalem.
Since the beginning there has always been this picture of two brothers. Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob. Even Yeshua told a few parables about two brothers, like the prodigal son (Luke 15:31-32), and two sons about obedience (Matthew 21:28-31). In this case, we have two sisters. Other sisters in the bible were Rachel and Leah, and Martha and Mary. This story about Samaria and Jerusalem, one have to wonder, which is worse.. the become cold and have your own religion, or have the Temple with you, and changing the religion to suit your needs?
When Yeshua came, He was also from Jerusalem, which is to be the light for the world. Just before Yeshua’s ascension, He said to the disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Strongholds
Ezekiel 24:25 “And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds”
Even though most translations use “stronghold”, the Hebrew word used here is Maoz H4581 – māʿôz, meaning strength, place or means of safety, protection, refuge. See a previous post from 1 Samuel 23 about Stronghold, Hebrew word Masad.
In this Chapter of Ezekiel, YHWH is saying that the people have made the actual Temple their place of safety, their stronghold. They are proud of their Temple, they draw strength from their pride, and they think the actual Temple gives them safety. They are not looking at YHWH for safety, just like many fall to worship the sun, moon, stars and creation – but they forget who is the Creator of the Creation. So the Creator, will remove the thing that gives them strength, the thing they worship, the thing they put their pride in – their stronghold.
