In one sense, there is nothing surprising. Jacob had two wives – two sisters, Leah and Rachel. Polygamy was common in the ancient world – and it was common in Israel.
But in Leviticus 18:18 God had forbidden marrying two living sisters.
And yet here, God takes two sisters. Ezekiel gets this from Jeremiah 3:6-11, where Jeremiah had identified Israel as the faithless wife whom Judah has imitated. Now, Ezekiel grew up in Jerusalem during the early years of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry. Jeremiah 3 says that this oracle was given in the days of Josiah – in other words, back when Ezekiel was a teenager in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 23 should be seen, at least in part, as an expansion of Jeremiah's message. The division of God's people into Israel and Judah, should be seen in the same light as the divisions in the church today. They shouldn't exist – but they do.
You may have noticed that Ezekiel 23 has no happy ending. Oholah dies in v10 and Oholibah is about to meet the same fate at the end of the chapter. Jerusalem is about to drink the cup of God's wrath to its dregs.
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