Daily Prophets
Day 147
“You have played the harlot with the Egyptians…You have played the harlot with the Assyrians. You have carried your lewdness and your abominations, says God. God says, I will deal with you as you have done for you have despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you. Then you shall remember your ways and be remorseful. And I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall know I am God.(Ezekiel 16: 26,28,59,60,61,62)
This chapter is one of Ezekiel’s angriest so far, and that is saying something. I keep returning to my belief that Ezekiel is reliving his anger and frustration from the time he was a priest in Jerusalem and unable/unwilling to confront the people and/or get them to change.
The accusation against Jerusalem in this chapter is reminiscent of Hosea, comparing Jerusalem to a harlot, to an unfaithful wife. This is another reoccurring theme. We speak of monogamy and worshiping God with love and reverence, yet people continue to flirt with another(s), break the covenant of decency, leave the path of God, hate mercy and do unrighteous acts. Ezekiel the priest, witnessed and, possibly, engaged in these types actions and sees the error of the ways of the people and his own shortcomings. It enrages him, saddens him and causes him to seek ways to return.
The theme of lewdness, harlotry, and adultery all seem to be pointing to uncovering our nakedness “in private” and God is pulling down our masks and our facades to force us to look into the mirror. ‘You cannot continue to lie to yourself, you cannot continue to act as if you are the victim, you cannot continue to bemoan My abandoning you’ is what I am experiencing in reading this chapter over and over. Ezekiel is forcing us to look at the reality of our past behaviors through God’s experience, not our mendacity and self-deception. God is telling us that we can no longer play the harlot, the adulterer, the victim, the orphan; rather we have to be responsible for our past actions and be transparent and authentic in order to learn, return and recover from our past.
In the 3rd verse above, the prophet is reminding us that God will give us what we ask for, to be dealt with as we have done to God, to the poor, the needy, to each other. Breaking the covenant is an act of despising God, despising each other and, I would add, an act of despising oneself. We see this type of behavior over and over again throughout history, there are people who believe that they are above the law of their land and above the law go God. These people are so sure of their invincibility that they flaunt their lies,‘abominations’, prejudices and false pride. Then they wrap themselves in a cloak of being God’s true messengers while playing the harlot to the powerful and the adulterer towards the people they say they are helping. They sell their souls and their neighbors for a moment of ‘power’ that is as fleeting as a second. Yet, they deceive themselves and another(s) into believing they are serving God. This is the cause of the destruction of Jerusalem, this is the cause of the destruction of all the ‘great’ societies of antiquity up to today, I believe.
Yet, God will always honor God’s covenant. God will always take us back. God will remember us and will give us the opportunity to be remorseful, return and renew our covenant. God, in the last verse above, will establish the covenant with us again and again because God desires our return as our prayers call to us to return. Return comes from a sense of embarrassment for our past behaviors. It comes from a realization of the myriad of ways we have lied to ourselves, harmed another(s), left the paths of God and treated people as objects for our use and discard. AND, our return will allow us to be forgiven, re-invigorated and clean of our past errors and move forward with God, with community, and with a whole self to make this world a little better each day.
In recovery, we recount the ways we played the harlot and the adulterer. We are so aware and embarrassed by these behaviors that we once believed were good and right. We do this recounting so we know what to and how to avoid these ugly paths that separate us from God, from our authentic beings and our commitments to another(s). In recovery, we are blessed to be able to have established a new relationship with God, a new covenant with God and we have a new knowledge of God’s will and ways. Armed with this new path and strength, we get to live a life that is compatible with God.
I have played the harlot and adulterer prior to my recovery. In my recovery and in retrospect, I see how I played the harlot at times in my recovery, all the while excusing my harlotry as something I was doing for the greater good of the organization I was raising money for and running. I was so deep in my self-deception and mask that I did not realize what this was doing to my soul. I know now that being a “hooker for a greater cause” doesn’t work. I know now that depending upon people to “have your back” in the face of their friends, etc doesn’t work-especially if the people are concerned with optics. I have made a new covenant with God, my wife and myself-no more whoring, no more masks, no more self-deception-my covenant is a covenant of transparency, authenticity and walking in God’s path and let the chips fall where they may. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark