The other day, I was studying a passage in the Bible that was not the most immediately ‘edifying’ or ‘warming’ or ‘family friendly’ or even G-rated for that matter. Yet, it packed a punch that hits home for us all.
It’s found in Ezekiel 16, here’s how it reads… ***viewer discretion is advised***
28 You played the whore also with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.
Yes, I know. It’s a place in your Bible that probably doesn’t feature the most highlighter markings, underlining, notes-in-the-margins, earmarks, or ruffles on the page. I understand that.
But what exactly does this text mean? Certainly, without getting graphic, we understand the concept of ‘whoredom’ as an act (so I can save myself a couple sentences, and save yourself some awkward blushes behind the screen). But what does it mean to ‘play the whore with Assyria’? How does one actually commit whoredom with a nation state? Or what kind of analogy is being deployed?
To give some historical context, Assyria reigned as the most powerful empire in the world during the time the book of Ezekiel was written. And the author, Ezekiel, frequently utilized the motif of ‘spiritual whoredom’ to compellingly describe the nature and extent of Israel’s broken relationship with God.
Time and time again, Israel would miserably fail to uphold their side of the covenant with God, looking to everyone and everything but God for its primary sense of purpose, hope, happiness, security, and significance.
So Ezekiel’s admonition—“You played the whore with the Assyrians… you multiplied your whoring with the trading land of Chaldea”—essentially communicates the reality that the Israelites tried finding lasting satisfaction away from God. And what does the text say was the result?
A lack of satisfaction… time and time again…
And time and time again… emptiness.
Here’s why the motif of Assyria and Chaldea is so compelling and profound: If there were any nations that possessed things that promised pleasure, fulfillment, and happiness—it’d be them. These nations possessed all the resources; all the comforts; all the luxuries; all the opportunities and power—they had everything this world had to possibly offer and everything one could possibly ask for.
And because Israel wasn’t finding satisfaction in their own spheres, they looked to the best options: Assyria and Chaldea. And they failed to find satisfaction again. And then they kept trying and trying with even the best. Same result.
So God essentially speaks into their dissatisfaction and brokenness saying, “Israel, you’ve tried it all! The best of the best, even! And you’re still not satisfied!”
Have you ever felt like that? Struggling with the thought that if you could only get the ‘best’ that there was to offer—be with ‘that’ significant other, have ‘that’ job, live in ‘that’ city or neighborhood, look like ‘that’ person, or possess ‘that’ talent or ability—then, and finally then, you’d be happy and free.
God looks upon our futile attempts with deep compassion, and helps us lovingly see that this is a tiresome chasing after an elusive, nonexistent wind.
I’m reminded of a particular episode on CBS’s popular broadcast, 60 Minutes, where the host interviewed Tom Brady, asking him if he feels like he’s finally ‘made it’ in life, achieving the status of perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time. Yet, Brady’s response was more than just underwhelming; it was, in fact, shocking. Brady admits—even with a supermodel wife, wealth, fame, recognition, and an impeccable legacy—“This can’t be what [life] is all cracked up to be. I’ve done it. I wish I knew the answer.”[1]
It appeared as if his own admission tasted like a vicious cocktail of shock, sorrow, and dissatisfaction that was seemingly too repulsive for him to swallow, even for the very QB who’s stomached the nerves of performing in front of millions—and succeeded.
This degree of pleasure, it seemed, had the opposite effect than what we would typically think: it sobered him up to reality instead of intoxicating him from reality.
To be sure, all the blessings Brady enjoys are certainly not bad things in themselves… but when good things become god things, even he admits, “These things don’t fulfill me like I thought they would…”
Philosopher and theologian, Ravi Zacharias refers to this phenomenon as ‘The Problem of Pleasure.’ I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘The Problem of Pain’ before. Ravi poignantly connects the two ‘Philosophical Problems’ by fascinatingly describing them each as two sides of the same coin. Here’s what he says:
“Although I agree that the problem of pain may be one of the greatest challenges to faith in God, I dare suggest that it is the problem of pleasure that more often drives us to think of spiritual things. Sexuality, greed, fame, and momentary thrills are actually the most precarious attractions in the world. Pain forces us to accept our finitude. It can breed cynicism, weariness, and fatigue in just living. Pain sends us in search of a greater power. Introspection, superstition, ceremony, and vows can all come as a result of pain.
But disappointment in pleasure is a completely different thing. While pain can often be seen as a means to a greater end, pleasure is seen as an end in itself. And when pleasure has run its course, a sense of despondency can creep into one’s soul that may often lead to self-destruction. Pain can often be temporary, but disappointment in pleasure gives rise to emptiness—not just for a moment, but for life. There can seem to be no reason to life, no preconfigured purpose, if even pleasure brings no lasting fulfillment.”[2]
Doesn’t that profoundly describe the Hollywood culture? It often seems like the people who have greatest access to the greatest pleasures become the ones who run into the dead end of the ‘Problem of Pleasure’ the most frequently and the most substantively.
Tom Brady reached the top of the ladder and confessed, “I guess it’s not what I thought it’d be”… And let’s be honest and take a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror—finally confronting eye-to-eye the brutal fact that we, too, have wrestled tirelessly with this exact dilemma and are deeply exhausted from this exact disappointment.
So, why, then, is this the case?
The Bible profoundly answers this predicament by ultimately pointing us back to our fundamental design: namely, that we weren’t primarily made for career, money, sex, pleasure, or experiences. We were made primarily for God, knowing him, and living under his good, life-giving authority.
Philosopher Blasé Pascal described that, having been made in the image of God and having been made primarily for God, we each carry inside of us a ‘God-shaped’ vacuum in our souls that only God can fill and fulfill. Or as Philosopher Augustine famously remarks, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”
In other words, we’ve been created with an infinite spiritual space inside of us that only the Infinite itself can lastingly satisfy—in any season of life.
This means that anything else we make primary or ultimate in our lives will simply rattle around inside of us—whereby each clanging and dinging, sounds off the alarming reality of our own emptiness with it and its own deficiency with us.
Tim Keller says, “If you try to put anything in the middle of the place that was originally made for God, it is going to be too small.”[3]
Truly, the reason a life devoted to sex never satisfies is because you aren’t primarily a sexual being who needs sex. So, sex will never primarily satisfy. And the reason a life devoted to career success never satisfies is because you aren’t primarily a working being. So career success will never primarily satisfy. Rather, you are first and foremost a being made primarily for relationship with God, which means your only real, lasting satisfaction is living primarily for Him.
Without that knowledge, you will keep looking to false gods to fulfill you. But they won’t fulfill you; they can’t fulfill you; because they don’t have it in them to fulfill you, and because you don’t have it in you that allows them to fulfill you.
Only until we come to terms with our design will we then be able to access the satisfaction that our design was meant to run on—God himself.
This comes by recognition of who we are; repentance of who we’re not; reconciliation with the God who made a way for us in Jesus; and resolve to live in the light of his grace and truth.
[1] 60 Minutes: Overtime with Tom Brady. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TA4_fVkv3c.
[2] Ravi Zacharias, The Logic of God, p. 116-117.
[3] Keller, Timothy. The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, p. 15.
