Daily Devotional For Wednesday, August 18, 2026
Good morning Southside. It’s “Hump Day” and I pray you let the Lord use you to talk to someone about Him. Our daily devotional for today comes from Ezekiel 16:53-55:
“But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. (54) Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. (55) Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored” (NLT).
When you read this passage and how it compares Sodom to Judah, it makes you wonder, “Just how bad and how sinful was Judah at this time?” We all know how sinful and evil Sodom and Gomorrah were in their public and open expression of homosexuality. And we read how and why God destroyed both of these cities (Gen. 19). Like these two cities, Judah has become so sinful and gone off the deep end, that God has decided to punish Judah so severely that she will end her sin.
Judah was not only engaged in sinful sexual sins, Judah was engaging in infanticide, offering thier newborn babies to Molech and Baal. They would take these precious babies and lay them on a fiery altar alive and watch them burn to death as these babies screamed at the top of their lungs. We wonder, “How in the world could anyone commit such a sin as this?” This just shows how far anyone can go when sin dominates their life.
Therefore, in the Mosaic Law, for the sins for spiritual adultery, the Law required that such persons be stripped of all clothing, put in a public square for humiliation and then dismembered of their limbs. This is the point of Ezekiel 16:37-41. The Old Testament Law on this can be read in Leviticus 20:10-12 and Deuteronomy 22:22. Israel’s sin and punishment by God would be seen as justice for spiritual adultery. Two key words in Ezekiel 16 stand out:
- [עֶרְוָתֵ֑ךְ, erwat] – This means “nakedness. God promised to expose their sin to everyone by stripping them of everything. In a Jewish culture, to be seen in public naked was considered a great sin and cultural taboo (Gen. 9:20-23). Israel was playing the harlot against the Lord and the Lord was done with being patient and warning them.
- [וַתִּזְנִי֙, zanah] – This means “to commit whoredom, to fornicate} and this word and its different forms are mentioned 21 times. Israel is like a married woman who is a serial nymphomaniac rather than an adultress.
Other key words in the original Hebrew are vivid portraits of Israel being a nymphomaniac with gods and In verse 36, if you could read Hebrew, you would see how graphic Ezekiel uses certain words euphemistically almost in a pornographic style by our standards in English. While Israel has been very public about this, God is about to humiliate her in the most embarrassing way. Once God is done with Israel, everyone will see Israel’s “nakedness” – their pagan gods could not stop God’s destruction of them and everyone will know, even her enemies as well as her loves, that it was the God Abraham Issac, and Jacob that exposed her nakedness.
The reason for the mention of Sodom is God uses Sodom to represent Israel’s sister and everyone knew what God had done to Sodom for her sin. As we read verses 47-50, not only is Israel engaging in the worst sins, she is proud of it. This reminds us of Proverbs 16:18 as well as of Proverbs 8:13. Many people say, “Well, my God is a God of love.” God is love (1 John 4:8), but God does hate. He hates sin and He especially hates pride.
Reflection Assignment: What in your life is an idol that is coming between Lord and you? In what ways are you prostituting your life in sinful ways? What do you need to do to live a holy and godly life for the Lord?
Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 5:8-11, “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (9) And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. (10) For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. (11 )So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please forgive me for going after other gods and even being proud of it at times. I want to love You, serve You and follow You. Please forgive me when I compromise my relationship with You. Help me to honor You with my life. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly