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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Feb. 28, 1998
Update	: May 28, 2025
Parts	: 12

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part two, the tragedy of this situation regarding King Solomon's apostasy from the Lord is that many years earlier, when the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, He clearly warned him of what would happen if he forsook the Lord and followed after the false gods of the nations around them. Consider the following group of Bible verses:

"That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.‭ And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.‭ And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, ‭and‭ wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:‭ Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.‭ But‭ if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments ‭and‭ my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:‭ Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:‭ And at this house, ‭which‭ is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?‭ And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil."


Thus, as the following verses reveal, the Lord kept His word to Solomon, and ten tribes were ripped away during the reign of his son, Rehoboam:

"Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.‭ Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: ‭but‭ I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.‭ Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; ‭but‭ will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen . . . And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two ‭were‭ alone in the field:‭ And Ahijah caught the new garment that ‭was‭ on him, and rent it ‭in‭ twelve pieces:‭ And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:‭ (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)‭ Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do ‭that which is‭ right in mine eyes, and ‭to keep‭ my statutes and my judgments, as ‭did‭ David his father.‭ Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:‭ ‭‭But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, ‭even‭ ten tribes.‭ And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.‭ And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel."


If even one aspect of our spiritual relationship with the Lord should falter, just as occurs with human marriages, the entire relationship may come tumbling down. And therein lies the problem. You see, since God first created the institution of marriage in the Book of Genesis, the enemy has fought to destroy it. One of his primary tools of destruction has been human lust, which, sad to say, has quite often led to marital infidelity -- that is, adultery -- and the total annihilation of the marriage, leading to divorce. Because God views human marriage as a reflection of the relationship between Christ and His Church, He set down very strict rules regarding those people who would break this sacred bond. In fact, since the pages of the Old Testament, people who were caught in the act of adultery, were stoned to death. This is in fact how the scene in the Gospel of John came to take place, as we see by the following verses:

"And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.‭ And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,‭ They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.‭ Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?‭ This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with ‭his‭ finger wrote on the ground, ‭as though he heard them not‭.‭ So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.‭ And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.‭ And they which heard ‭it‭, being convicted by ‭their own‭ conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, ‭even‭ unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.‭ ‭‭When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?‭ She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."


Now, technically speaking, we can conclude that the scribes and the Pharisees were doing the right thing. After all, the Laws of Moses clearly defined what adultery was, as well as what the punishment was for those who committed it. In fact, as you may know, even Jesus spoke on this subject, as we see by the following set of Bible verses:

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:‭ But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:‭ But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."


"And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except ‭it be‭ for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."


"And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery."


"Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery."


"Thou shalt not commit adultery . . . ‭‭Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that ‭is‭ thy neighbour's."


"And the man that committeth adultery with ‭another‭ man's wife, ‭even he‭ that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."


"Neither shalt thou commit adultery."


While the scribes and the Pharisees were technically correct by being obedient to the Mosaic Law, nevertheless, they were still very wrong. Why was this? Quite simply, because they erroneously placed legalism, and the harsh mandates of the letter of the Law, before love, mercy and forgiveness. That is not all. They were flaunting their own self-righteousness, which is why the Lord very quickly dressed them down. In his Epistle to the Roman brethren, the Apostle Paul also exposed the self-righteous and hypocritical nature of his own Jewish brethren when he wrote the following lines:

"Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,‭ And knowest ‭his‭ will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;‭ And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,‭ An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.‭ Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?‭ Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?‭ Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?"


Of course, the Apostle Paul was merely reiterating what the Lord had said in the Gospels when He blasted those very same self-righteous, legalistic hypocrites in Matthew 23, where He boldly said the following:

"Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,‭ Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:‭ All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, ‭that‭ observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not."


Thus far, we have firmly established through many Scriptures that the Lord's Church is symbolized as His faithful, virgin bride. Perhaps you are wondering why the Lord's spiritual wife is referred to as being a virgin bride. Well, aside from the fact that she has remained faithful to the one true God and to her Husband, Jesus Christ, she has likewise maintained herself without spot and blameless. In other words, she has not allowed herself to be besmirched by the world. She has not made herself a friend of the world. She has in fact kept herself separate from the world. You may recall that in part two, I shared the following verse with you:

"These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb."


When I was still a teenager -- and a very young Christian -- upon reading that verse for the first time, in my ignorance, I assumed that it was referring to physical virginity. As a result, I made a promise to myself that I would endeavor to remain a virgin for the rest of my mortal life. Of course, as I am sure you can imagine, human biological urges being what they are, I was unable to keep that promise to myself. However, quite a few years later, and after having studied the Scriptures more deeply, I finally came to realize that similar to other parts of the Book of Revelation, the verse was meant to be understood in a purely symbolic sense.

In other words, if God views the mystery city Babylon the Great as a whorish woman in the Scriptures, then it offers the distinct possibility that the women we see mentioned in the previous verse likewise represent cities of the world, or perhaps even the world in general. In my view, this seems to make perfect sense when we consider all of the following verses which speak about committing spiritual adultery with the world, keeping ourselves separate from the world, being blameless, without spot, unrebukeable, etc.:

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."


"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."


"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"


"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."


"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."


"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."


"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."


"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."


"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."


"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."


"And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away."


"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."


"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."


"I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, THAT YE MAY BE BLAMELESS in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."


"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: THAT YE MAY BE BLAMELESS and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."


"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body BE PRESERVED BLAMELESS unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."


"I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment WITHOUT SPOT, UNREBUKEABLE, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:"


"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, WITHOUT SPOT, AND BLAMELESS."


"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content . . . I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment WITHOUT SPOT, UNREBUKEABLE, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:"


It might interest you to know that in the previous verses, the phrase "without spot" is derived from the Koine Greek word "aspilos". Pronounced as'-pee-los, This word means to be spotless, irreproachable, unsullied or free from vice. In other words, in the context of the previous verses, it is referring to being unsullied by the world. Looking at this issue from another perspective, it does not make much sense that God would say "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" to Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis, and bless human marriage relationships -- which Jesus confirmed in the Gospels -- and then turn around and tell us that we must be physical virgins in order to enter the Heavenly Realm. ‭ Neither would all of the New Testament verses which speak of a bishop having one wife make any sense at all if we choose to interpret Revelation 14:4 in a physical sense. I mean, my gosh. That would eliminate Joseph and Mary from the Kingdom, as well as the Apostle Peter who was married, not to mention the many saintly married couples who we find mentioned in the New Testament. So again, we can only conclude that Revelation 14:4 is referring to spiritual virgins who keep themselves separated from and undefiled by the world, and who remain faithful to Christ.

At this point in our discussion, you may be wondering what all of this has to do with Babylon the Great. Quite simply, in order for us to determine who Babylon the Great is, we need to know who she is not. Or perhaps it would be better to say who Babylon no longer is. In other words, if we can understand how Christ views His spiritual bride, and what He expects of her, it becomes a lot easier for us to grasp why Babylon the Great is viewed as a whore, as well as what she did to become a harlot in God's eyes in the first place. Are you confused? Well, please just keep on reading, and it will all become clear to you very soon.

Now that we understand who Christ's bride is, we are going to look at a considerably darker page of ancient Bible history by exposing a proud, rebellious bride who repeatedly forsook her spiritual Husband, committed spiritual adultery through engaging in marital infidelity, and went a whoring after other lovers. That is to say, after other gods. What follows are examples of the many verses which are found in the Old Testament which depict ancient Israel's waywardness, and her rejection of the one true God. The Lord refers to such acts as spiritual whoredom, or playing the harlot. In particular, please pay special attention to the words I have placed in uppercase letters:

"And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger . . . And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they WENT A WHORING AFTER OTHER GODS, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so."


"And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and WENT A WHORING AFTER BAALIM, and made Baalberith their god."


"And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and WENT A WHORING AFTER THE GODS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND, whom God destroyed before them."


"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number."


"The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, AND THERE HATH PLAYED THE HARLOT . . . And I saw, when for all the causes whereby BACKSLIDING ISRAEL COMMITTED ADULTERY I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and PLAYED THE HARLOT also."


"My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for THE SPIRIT OF WHOREDOMS hath caused them to err, and THEY HAVE GONE A WHORING from under their God."


Turning to the Book of Ezekiel, we discover that chapter 23 is in fact titled "Two Adulterous Sisters" in some versions of the KJV Bible. As we read below, similar to the Prophet Jeremiah, Ezekiel plainly informs us that Aholah represents Samaria -- which was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel which was the first to go into Assyrian captivity, as had been prophesied by Isaiah -- and Aholibah is her younger sister, Jerusalem -- who went into Babylonian captivity during the days of the Prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, et al:

"The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: And THEY COMMITTED WHOREDOMS IN EGYPT; THEY COMMITTED WHOREDOMS IN THEIR YOUTH: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah . . . And that SHE INCREASED HER WHOREDOMS: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they DEFILED HER WITH THEIR WHOREDOM, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. So SHE DISCOVERED HER WHOREDOMS, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. Yet SHE MULTIPLIED HER WHOREDOMS, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein SHE HAD PLAYED THE HARLOT in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth."


Please notice that Ezekiel is describing how from the time of their youth -- that is to say, when God first made Israel a nation when Jacob went down into Egypt many years before -- she began to commit her spiritual whoredoms by worshipping the Egyptian gods. Not only that, but as I explain in other articles, when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem for the third time around the year 587 BC, some of the Jews again escaped to the land of Egypt, where they again fell into worshipping the Egyptian gods. This, despite the fact that the Prophet Jeremiah clearly warned them not to go to Egypt, but rather to accept God's punishment. Jeremiah told them that if they escaped to Egypt, God would follow them there and destroy them; which is exactly what He did.

So this is what Ezekiel is talking about when he says "in their youth". That is to say, when Samaria and Jerusalem were one nation in the land of Egypt, during the days of Jacob and his sons. This is why even after they physically left Egypt, Egypt was still in their hearts, and they made the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai, also known as Horeb. Returning to Ezekiel, if we go back one chapter to chapter 22, we discover that in some versions of the KJV Bible, the chapter is actually entitled "Indictment of Jerusalem". So clearly then, both of these chapters are really describing the sins and whoredoms of the Jews of Jerusalem, who were now in captivity in Babylon.

While the previous verses are strong in content and may be offensive to some Christians, they are nevertheless a clear depiction of a nation and a bride who had rejected her true spiritual Husband. Please notice that while God is against divorce, in the previous verses from the Book of Jeremiah, we are told that the sins of the northern kingdom of Israel had become so great, and she had become so far gone in her apostasy, that symbolically-speaking, He did exactly that. The Lord divorced her. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we find the following verse:

"When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house."


Thus, God sent her out of His house. He simply abandoned His rebellious bride. As I explain in other articles such as the seven-part series "The Fruits of Disobedience", that is when the Assyrian invasions occurred which carried away the ten northern tribes to foreign lands, as we see by the following two verses:

"Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.‭ In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor ‭by‭ the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes."


Please go to part four for the continuation of this series.

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