"For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; with their idols they have committed adultery; and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me" (vs. 37).
Ezekiel 23 is an extended metaphor with sisters Oholah and Oholibah symbolizing Samaria and Jerusalem (vs. 4). Both women grew up as whores in Egypt, but then God took them and married them. Unfortunately, their prostitution did not stop. Their unfaithfulness continued even after being in covenant relationship with God (vs. 5). Oholah, first, commits adulteries with the men of Assyria before facing the judgment of God and being killed by her lovers (vs. 9 and 10). This represents the end of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Whereas God expected Oholibah to learn from the poor example of her sister, this younger woman goes and outdoes her sister in her whoring (vs. 11). With some very colorful (and R-rated) imagery, the prophet declares that Oholibah has trampled on her wedding vows to God and stands guilty of adultery through her idolatry. According to Ezekiel, the extreme debauchery of Oholibah cannot be overstated.
So what will happen now? Just like the judgment came upon Oholah at the hands of her lovers, so will it be with Oholibah. "You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand" (vs, 31). Furthermore, Judah has no one to blame but herself. She is reaping what she has sown through her adultery/idolatry. "Your lewdness and your whorings have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations, and polluted yourself with their idols" (vs. 29 and 30).
Ezekiel therefore perceives God's wrath to be that of a jealous husband, angry at being played for a fool and used by a very unfaithful wife. This is what idolatry is to God: adultery.
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