What do we do when following God costs us something we deeply love? And how do we keep God first when motherhood constantly calls for our attention, energy, sacrifice, and devotion?

In today’s episode of The Dwelling Place Bible Podcast for Busy Moms, Stephanie Hickox continues through the chronological Bible reading plan with Ezekiel chapters 19–24. These chapters are difficult, sobering, and at times deeply uncomfortable—but they reveal both the seriousness of sin and the extraordinary faithfulness of God.

From Ezekiel's lament over Jerusalem to the fall of the city, God repeatedly confronts His people with the consequences of their rebellion. Yet even in judgment, He promises restoration for the sake of His great name.

And then Ezekiel is asked to make an extraordinary sacrifice of his own.

When his beloved wife dies, God tells Ezekiel not to mourn publicly. Ezekiel's response is astonishing:

“On the next morning I did as I was commanded.” — Ezekiel 24:18

What could produce that kind of radical obedience?

As Christian moms, we may never be asked to make the kind of sacrifice Ezekiel was asked to make, but we are continually faced with the question: Is Jesus truly our first love?

Our families are precious gifts from God, but they cannot become more important to us than the God who gave them to us.

In This Episode, We’ll Explore:

• Ezekiel 19: A lament over the downfall of the Davidic kings and Jerusalem.
• Ezekiel 20: Israel's repeated rebellion against God and His determination to preserve His name and ultimately restore His people.
• Why God's statement that He gave Israel “statutes that were not good” in Ezekiel 20:25 does not mean that God's law itself is evil.
• The devastating sin of child sacrifice and idolatry and why God repeatedly condemned it.
• Ezekiel 21–22: God's judgment against Jerusalem and the injustice, corruption, false teaching, oppression, and violence that had infected the nation.
• Ezekiel 23: The graphic allegory of Oholah and Oholibah and what it reveals about Israel and Judah's spiritual unfaithfulness.
• Ezekiel 24: The beginning of Jerusalem's final siege and Ezekiel's heartbreaking personal sacrifice.
• What Ezekiel's obedience teaches us about following God when obedience is costly.
• Why Christian mothers must be careful not to make their families their first priority instead of Christ.
• How our children benefit from seeing a mother whose love for Jesus comes before everything else.

What Does Ezekiel Teach Us About Biblical Parenting?

One of the most important parenting reminders in these chapters is that our families cannot become our gods.

It is good and right for mothers to care deeply about their children. We are called to nurture them, teach them God's Word, discipline them faithfully, pray for them, and point them toward Christ.

But our children are not our ultimate purpose.

Jesus is.

When our identity becomes wrapped up in our children's success, happiness, behavior, approval, or faith, we can begin carrying a burden God never intended us to carry. We cannot control our children's hearts. We cannot save them. And we cannot make our families the center of our lives and still rightly understand what it means to follow Christ.

Ezekiel's life gives us a sobering picture of what it can mean to belong completely to God.

God Is Worthy of Everything

Ezekiel had already given up so much.

He was living in exile. He did not get to fulfill the priestly ministry he had likely anticipated. He was asked to perform strange and difficult prophetic signs. He repeatedly delivered God's message to a rebellious people.

And then God asked him to surrender something incredibly precious.

Yet Ezekiel obeyed.

His example challenges us to ask:

Do I believe God is worthy of everything—even when following Him costs me something?

For a mother, that question may look different.

It may mean choosing faithfulness when no one notices.

It may mean surrendering our plans.

It may mean loving difficult people.

It may mean saying no to something good because God has called us to something better.

It may mean trusting God with a child we cannot control.

It may simply mean choosing Christ again and again in the middle of the ordinary demands of motherhood.

The goal isn't to become a mother who does everything perfectly.

It's to become a woman who knows that Jesus is worth everything.

A Hopeful Perspective for Christian Moms

The book of Ezekiel can feel overwhelmingly heavy, but God's judgment is never the whole story.

Again and again, God promises that He will restore His people, not because they deserve it, but because He is faithful to His name and His promises.

That gives us hope as we read difficult passages—and hope as we live through difficult seasons of motherhood.

This life is not all there is.

For those who belong to Christ, our eternity is promised, purchased, and being prepared.

The trials we experience here will not last forever.

And that eternal perspective can change the way we respond to today's sacrifices.

Scripture Mentioned

• Ezekiel 19–24
• Ezekiel 20:25
• Ezekiel 20:40–44
• Ezekiel 22
• Ezekiel 23
• Ezekiel 24:15–18
• Romans 7
• Additional connections to Jeremiah and Hosea

A Prayer for Moms

Lord, help us to keep You as our first love.

When motherhood demands more than we think we can give, remind us that You are worthy of every sacrifice. Give us an eternal perspective when our circumstances feel overwhelming. Help us love our families well without allowing them to take Your rightful place in our hearts.

May our children see in us a woman who loves Jesus more than the pleasures and promises of this world. And may our faithfulness point them toward the One who is worthy of everything.

Amen.

Mom Ears Alone: Ezekiel 23 contains graphic and mature imagery, and this episode discusses some of those passages.Resources Mentioned:

• Entrusted With a Child's Heart
• The Again Podcast: Interview with Chris McKenna Part 1, Part 2
• Full-Circle Discipline Resources
• Journey Through the Bible

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

This is the Dwelling Place

from Entrusted Ministries.

2

I'm Stephanie Hickox.

3

In today's portion of Ezekiel,

in chapters 19 through 24, we'll

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begin by lamenting and end by not

being allowed to lament, and we'll

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consider if following God is worth

it even when it costs you everything.

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This episode will be

best for mom ears alone.

7

In yesterday's reading, we encountered

an entire chapter that affirmed

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God's heart is for forgiveness.

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It's His desire that we would turn from

sin and turn to Him, and He clearly stated

10

that He has no pleasure in the death of

anyone But today's chapters continue the

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consequences of sin When his people walk

in rebellion in chapter 19, he provides

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a lament for Ezekiel to speak regarding

the demise of the Davidic dynasty.

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This eulogy chronicles the

impending fall of their treasured

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city, Jerusalem, and portrays the

wicked final kings as lion cubs.

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In chapter 20, God reveals that

He searched out a glorious land

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for His people when He brought

them into their promised land, a

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land flowing with milk and honey.

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But over and over, as His people

abandoned His ways and His rules,

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he determined to discipline them,

but also that He would save them

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for the sake of His great name.

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I find it fascinating that multiple

times in the chapter He says, " You

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continued in the sins of your fathers."

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It's noteworthy to me because two

chapters prior, the Lord clearly

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laid out that each individual is

responsible for their own sin.

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He described how a child could look

at his father's sin and realized

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that they wanted to be different.

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Everyone has an opportunity to

make their own choice, and God

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will honor each and every person

if they walk in righteousness.

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Not because it's the path to salvation,

but because it's evidence of a changed

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heart The nations of Judah and Israel

had the same choice, but they continued

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in the wickedness of their forefathers

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this chapter is being delivered to tell

the elders in exile that God doesn't

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want to be inquired of by them anymore

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Yet God still issues words of hope

that after all of the judgment

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is over, he will be faithful

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But first, I want to clarify a

verse that's often misinterpreted.

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In verse 25, God says, " Moreover, I gave

them statutes that were not good, and

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rules by which they could not have life."

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Now, if you've read Paul's wrestling

in Romans 7 before, you know that

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God's law is righteous and good so

when you read this verse in Ezekiel

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in context, it becomes more clear.

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God is saying he gave them up to the

rules of the pagan nations around them

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but again, it's so that they can realize

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that Yahweh is the one true God.

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God takes multiple opportunities

to rebuke their child sacrifices

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It is certainly a reason that they've

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you present your gifts and offer up your

children in fire, you defile yourselves

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with all your idols to this day.

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And shall I be inquired of

by you, O house of Israel?

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As I live, declares the Lord God,

I will not be inquired of by you.

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But here are those words of hope,

beginning in verse forty: For on my

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holy mountain, the mountain height

of Israel, declares the Lord God,

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there all the house of Israel, all

of them, shall serve me in the land.

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There I will accept them, and there

I will require your contributions

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and the choices of your gifts,

with all your sacred offerings.

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As a pleasing aroma, I will accept

you when I bring you out from the

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peoples and gather you out of the

countries where you have been scattered.

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And I will manifest my holiness among

you in the sight of the nations.

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And you shall know that I am the Lord

when I bring you into the land of

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Israel, the land, the country that

I swore to give to your fathers.

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And here you shall remember your

ways and all your deeds with which

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you have defiled yourselves, and

you shall loathe yourselves for all

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the evil that you have committed.

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And you shall know that I am the Lord when

I deal with you for my name's sake, not

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according to your evil ways, nor according

to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,

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After all they've done, God will

restore them, make them return, and

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they will have repentant hearts.

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They will finally acknowledge

their sin Because they have

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been transformed by the judgment.

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In chapter twenty-one, God reveals that

he has a sword drawn, sharpened, and

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directed toward Jerusalem and Ammon.

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Ammon was part of the

nation that worshiped Moloch

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and required child sacrifices

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In chapter 22, the judgment of

Jerusalem and the reasons for its

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discipline are continued to be described

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In chapter 23, God gives

another parable to describe the

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history of Israel and Judah.

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They are like two sisters,

Oholah and Oholibah.

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And I got to tell you, as I was

rereading this chapter, I was thinking

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how people make such a big deal about

how Song of Songs can be scandalous,

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but this chapter is pretty racy as well,

and not in a good way And it made me

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consider tweaking my Pinterest username.

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I made it Oholiab because the first

mention of the Holy Spirit in Exodus 31

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is when God describes that he has put

his spirit within Bezaleel and Oholiab

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to do the work required for the temple.

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So when I created my Pinterest profile, I

thought well, Bezaleel sounds a little too

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much like Beelzebub, which is a demon name

that Jesus used in the New Testament, so

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I thought I'll go with Oholibah instead.

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but as I was reading Ezekiel again, I

thought, "Ooh, I hope nobody thinks I

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was claiming to be one of these sisters."

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Let me explain why.

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First, Oholah, who represents Samaria,

which was the capital of the northern

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kingdom of Israel, her name means

her tent or her own tabernacle.

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But Oholibah represents Jerusalem

and the southern kingdom of Judah

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Her name means my tent is in

her or my tabernacle is in her.

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Remember, the tabernacle

was God's dwelling place.

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This is a very powerful name, but

unfortunately, she does not live

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up to it Though Oholibah got to

see her sister's demise, she did

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not repent or change her ways.

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She actually became worse.

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This refers to the nation of Judah

witnessing Israel's downfall and not

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turning away from their own pagan worship.

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In this allegory, God repeatedly refers

to their alliance upon foreign nations and

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their turning to false gods as adultery.

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When you think about the sacredness of

the marriage bed and the intimacy of

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it, it is a premeditated sin to neglect

that sacred union, and the sins that

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the people were doing against Yahweh

also required premeditation they were

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neglecting the intimacy that they had

with the Holy God They had one of the

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most astounding buildings in the entire

world before them in the temple, and they

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had the opportunity to seek the Lord.

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But instead, they chose to embrace

wicked practices, repeatedly

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sacrificing their own children.

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These are premeditated acts that one

does not fall into God describes their

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wickedness in detail and makes it very

clear why the fall of Jerusalem is near.

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In verse thirty-five, Thus says the

Lord God: Because you have forsaken

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me and cast me behind your back, you

yourself must bear the consequences

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of your lewdness and whoring.

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The Lord said to me: Son of man,

will you judge Oholah and Oholibah?

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Declare to them their abominations.

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For they have committed adultery,

and blood is on their hands.

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With their idols they have committed

adultery, and they have even

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offered up to them for food the

children whom they had borne to me.

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Moreover, this they have done to me:

they have defiled my sanctuary on the

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same day and profaned my Sabbaths.

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For when they had slaughtered their

children in sacrifice to their

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idols, on the same day they came

into my sanctuary to profane it.

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The chapter concludes, And you shall bear

the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and

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you shall know that I am the Lord God.

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The previous chapter also mentioned

a list of things that the nation

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had done to deserve judgment.

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as I read these verses from

chapter twenty-two, listen

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for any overlap you heard.

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From the story of the wicked two sisters.

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They have devoured human lives.

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They have taken treasure

and precious things.

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They have made many widows in her midst.

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Her priests have done violence to my

law and have profaned my holy things.

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They have made no distinction

between the holy and the common.

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Neither have they taught the difference

between the unclean and the clean, and

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they have disregarded my Sabbaths,

so that I am profaned among them.

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Her princes in her midst are like

wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood,

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destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

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And her prophets have smeared

whitewash for them, seeing false

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visions and divining lies for them

saying, " Thus says the Lord God,"

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when the Lord has not spoken.

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The people of the land have practiced

extortion and committed robbery.

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They have oppressed the poor

and needy and have extorted from

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the sojourner without justice.

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And I sought for a man among them who

should build up the wall and stand in

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the breach before me for the land, that

I should not destroy it But I found none

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God was willing for

there to be another way

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But the people's sin negated

that opportunity, and it's for

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these reasons that they will be

refined and purified by fire.

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They are like dross and God

will cleanse them In chapter

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24, God reveals to Ezekiel

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exactly when the attack on Jerusalem

begins, it's in the ninth year, in

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the tenth month, on the tenth day

of the month In the ancient world,

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there's no way Ezekiel could have known

this without the Lord informing him.

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But it was that very day that the

king of Babylon began his 18-month

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battle on the chosen city of Zion

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God explains that Jerusalem is like

a boiling pot, so corrupt that she

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infects the pot that she's boiled

in it's this concluding chapter that

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continues to be difficult to read

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because God has yet another assignment

for Ezekiel In an effort to communicate

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to the people that they have no right to

mourn or grieve over Jerusalem because it

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was their own sin that led to its fall.

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God asks Ezekiel to not

mourn or grieve either

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If you recall when we began studying

this book, I confessed that I'd formerly

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had a connotation that Ezekiel was

kind of strange, but as I study it

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more and more, I'm realizing he is

just thoroughly obedient to the Lord.

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He does whatever God asks him to do

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Unlike Moses or Jonah, there was

only one time where Ezekiel asked

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for God's directions to be modified.

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He had a righteous reason, though.

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He was trying to stay clean

according to God's law.

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This man is in exile, and he

doesn't get to fulfill the role

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of priest that he had longed for.

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He's been doing radical signs to a

stiff-necked, rebellious people, and

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now God asks him to give up what's

probably the one thing in his life

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that brings him joy and delight.

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In twenty-four fifteen: The word

of the Lord came to me: " Son of

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man, behold, I am about to take the

delight of your eyes away from you at

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a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or

weep, nor shall your tears run down.

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Sigh, but not aloud; make

no mourning for the dead.

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Bind on your turban, and put your

shoes on your feet; do not cover

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your lips, nor eat the bread of men."

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So I spoke to the people in the

morning, and at evening my wife died.

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And on the next morning

I did as I was commanded.

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Thus far, we've encountered a prophet

that was told not to marry because the

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coming judgment would be so horrendous.

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God was protecting this prophet

from having children in a

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time of complete upheaval.

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Do you recall who that was?

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It was Jeremiah.

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We've also studied a prophet that

was told to go and marry a harlot

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and have children of harlotry.

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God's intention was that this prophet

and his wife would be a picture of how

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the nation of Judah was unfaithful to

the Lord God Does that sound familiar?

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It was Hosea.

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And now we've reached Ezekiel,

who has a wife he delights in,

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and the Lord allows her to die We

can certainly conclude that being

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a prophet was not an easy calling.

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These men gave everything

they had to follow the Lord.

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And I find that phrase remarkable

when Ezekiel says, " On the next

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morning, I did as I was commanded."

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What is it about Ezekiel that gives

him such relentless obedience, such

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radical submission to the Lord?

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I can picture myself in my grief

thinking, " What more do I have to lose?

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Does it really matter if I

just stay here grieving?"

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I mean, at another time, ezekiel

was told to lie on his side for

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three hundred and ninety days.

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But now, he doesn't get to

publicly lay down in grief.

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God has once again called him to

deny what is natural, and he obeys.

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Was it the visions of God's

glory that made him realize this

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earthly tent is not our home?

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Is this what gave him such unshakable

peace that there is an entire

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realm beyond what the eyes can see?

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I so want that confidence for us

that as we go through this life,

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we know there is more than this.

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To the unbeliever

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This life is the best

they'll ever experience.

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But to the believer, the

trials we experience here

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are the worst we'll ever know

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And they will soon be far behind us.

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Our eternity is promised and

purchased and being prepared.

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Whether Ezekiel understood about

heaven or the resurrection, he

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had seen the glory of the Lord.

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And he rightly knew God

was worthy of everything

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this lesson matters

deeply for our motherhood.

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Though I regularly want to encourage

you to be faithful and to point your

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children to the one true King who is

reigning on the throne, I also want

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us to be so careful that we are first

and foremost followers of Jesus Christ.

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Our families come after that.

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And I see that call to put God high

above our families through the life

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of Jeremiah and Hosea and now Ezekiel

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But I'm fully aware it can be difficult

to draw those boundary lines When we

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are needed over and over in our homes

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And that leaves us one place to turn.

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Heavenly Father, we praise you that you

are a good, holy God, and that you take

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no pleasure in the death of anyone But

when we encounter stories like this,

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it can be difficult to understand why

you ask your people to sacrifice and

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surrender so much I pray over the moms

that feel that they are in a season

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of giving more than they can bear.

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I pray that you would bless them

with the perspective that you

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are wholly and entirely worth it.

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May they feel your nearness and

feel empowered by your Holy Spirit

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To bring you glory in all circumstances.

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I pray that our hearts would

be rightly ordered before you

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Help us to not forsake

you as our first love.

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We long for you to be elevated above all

things, both in our own hearts and in

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the hearts of our families as we battle

constant distractions vying for our

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attention, help us to maintain our love

and our desire for you, And may that

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example be contagious to our families.

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May they be more drawn to you than the

pleasures and promises of this world.

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We love you, Jesus.

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We thank you that you went before

us laying down your own life.

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You are worthy of every sacrifice we make.

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It's in your name we pray, amen.