Speechless Whore

Speechless Whore


“You’ll remember your past life and face the shame of it, but when I make atonement for you, make everything right after all you’ve done, it will make you speechless.” Decree of God, the Master.
Ezekiel 16:63 THE MESSAGE


Ezekiel has a message from God for Israel. In short, the message of Ezekiel chapter 16 is an allegory of an unfaithful wife. God makes the assertion that Israel, the unfaithful wife, is a whore. She was nothing when God found her, naked and discarded. He raised her, showered her with gifts and they committed themselves to each other. Later, Israel is described as a wife who has grown tired of her husband and gone off on her own. God says men commonly pay for their whores. But Israel is the opposite. She pays for the favors of her men! As Eugene Petersen; author of The Message, explained it, “you spread your legs to everyone who passed by.” (Ezekiel 16:24 MSG)

If this sounds really hard, really crude and not traditionally Christian in its language, I am glad. It is time to start looking at things the way they are. There can be no healing when lies are allowed to whitewash over illness. Too many times we have wanted to build each other up by telling each other what we want to hear. But if we only tell each other what we want to hear, are we really telling the truth? It’s sort of like having all the symptoms of cancer, but the doctor does not have the courage to operate and heal you. He or she just medicates you with kindnesses, platitudes and lies, until you die. Indeed, the truth can be very hard to take. Likewise, it can also be hard to deliver. If you are sick, do you want the placebo or the real thing?

God said Israel was a whore because she looked for her needs to be met by anyone except God. I can’t help but identify with Israel. I have made huge mistakes with a myriad of inspirations. I have been inspired to sin by peer pressure, poor self-control and poor judgment to name a few. Sometimes I would use sin to relieve the pain of my failures, which of course equals more sin. I have tried drinking, sex, building my intellect, anger, entertainment, solitude, selling my self-esteem to be liked by others and many other things. Ultimately, I looked to other things for fulfillment, instead of going to God. If I had only gone to him first!

My true peace and joy in life has come from sticking to God and knowing he still wants me. I recognize my shame, and I am speechless at the idea that God would want to reconcile with me. After all that I have done to him, hurt him and in some ways, even bring him shame in front of others. And yet, the Father still wants me. His forgiveness is so amazing! His commitment to me is amazing. I am one speechless and redeemed whore.

My wife says this scripture should give us hope. Indeed, she summed up the whole matter in only a few words. Hope for those that think they have gone so far from God that there is no way back. Hope that no matter what has separated you from believing or trusting God, it’s not enough to escape God’s love for you. There isn’t anything high enough, low enough, wide enough or any ideology or powers that can separate us from the love of God, which we have in Jesus.