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

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part four, as I just noted, to my knowledge, Isaiah 1:21 is the very first verse in the Old Testament where the city of Jerusalem is clearly described as being a harlot. The Prophet Jeremiah likewise does the very same thing, as does the Prophet Ezekiel. You will recall that in part three of this series, we discussed the two adulterous sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, who the Prophet Ezekiel told us represent Samaria and Jerusalem. So we now have three of the major Prophets -- Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel -- who are all pointing the finger at Jerusalem, and accusing her of being a harlot. As we saw in part three, this is a clear indictment against Jerusalem. Consider now the following verses. Again, please notice the words which I have placed in uppercase letters for emphasis:

"‭‭Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,‭ ‭‭Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying . . . For of old time I have broken thy yoke, ‭and‭ burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, PLAYING THE HARLOT.‭"


"They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but THOU HAST PLAYED THE HARLOT with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.‭ Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land WITH THY WHOREDOMS and with thy wickedness.‭ Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and THOU HADST A WHORE'S FOREHEAD, thou refusedst to be ashamed.‭"


"But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and PLAYEDST THE HARLOT because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.‭ And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and PLAYEDST THE HARLOT thereupon: ‭the like things‭ shall not come, neither shall it be ‭so‭.‭ Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and DIDST COMMIT WHOREDOM with them‭ . . . THOU HAST PLAYED THE WHORE also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, THOU HAST PLAYED THE HARLOT with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.‭ Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.‭ ‭‭How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these ‭things‭, the work of an IMPERIOUS WHORISH WOMAN;‭ In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;‭ But as‭ a wife that committeth adultery, ‭which‭ taketh strangers instead of her husband!‭ They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side FOR THY WHOREDOM.‭ And the contrary is in thee from ‭other‭ women IN THY WHOREDOMS, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.‭ Wherefore, O HARLOT, hear the word of the LORD:‭ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through THY WHOREDOMS with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;‭ Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all ‭them‭ that thou hast loved, with all ‭them‭ that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.‭ And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.‭ And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.‭ They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.‭ And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from PLAYING THE HARLOT, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.‭ So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry."


Why would God do this? Why would He purposely have three of the major Prophets make this very same accusation against Jerusalem? If we consider how just and righteous God is in His judgments, it makes perfect sense. You see, as you may know, in the laws that the Lord gave to His servant Moses, He established that before any punishment could be executed, the crime had to be verified in the mouth of two or three witnesses; as we can determine by the following verses:

"Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die."


"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you."


"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established."


"This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."


"Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear."


"He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:"


Thus, once Jerusalem's sins had been fully exposed, and once the three witnesses had come forth to bear testimony against her, then it was time to execute the punishment. As I noted earlier in this series, that is precisely what happened with the final Babylonian invasion around 587 BC, at which time, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and many thousands of Jews were carried away captive into Babylon to begin the Seventy Years of Captivity, exactly as had been prophesied by Jeremiah. Returning to the Book of Jeremiah for a moment, you will notice that the Prophet wrote regarding rebellious Jerusalem that she has a "whore's forehead". Let me share that verse with you again to refresh your memory:

"‭‭Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and THOU HADST A WHORE'S FOREHEAD, thou refusedst to be ashamed.‭"


So exactly what does the phrase "whore's forehead" mean? It appears that there are two schools of thought regarding this term. According to Easton's Revised Bible Dictionary, it was a common practice of some nations back then to either color one's forehead, or else to impress upon it some distinctive mark, as a sign of devotion to a particular deity. If this is indeed what it means in the case of Jerusalem, then I would propose that it may be a symbolic reference to their devotion to the Queen of Heaven -- the Babylonian goddess Ishtar -- who was the goddess of love, war, fertility and sexuality.

As I explain in the series "Our Pagan World: The Easter Myth Exposed!", this deity was known by a variety of names amongst the cultures of the Middle East, southern Europe and northern Africa. These included Astarte, Ashtoreth, Isis, Aphrodite and Venus. As we previously discussed in part two, even King Solomon worshipped her. Tragically, in more modern times, as some of you will already know, the misguided Roman Catholic Church also refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the Queen of Heaven. Consider the following verses where this goddess is mentioned as the "Queen of Heaven":

"Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?‭ The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead ‭their‭ dough, to make cakes to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger."


"As for‭ the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.‭ But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for ‭then‭ had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.‭ But since we left off to burn incense to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all ‭things‭, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.‭ And when we burned incense to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?"


"Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that ‭are‭ in the land of Egypt:‭ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.‭ Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.‭ ‭‭Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that ‭are‭ in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.‭"


There is a second possible explanation for the term "whore's forehead" which also finds strong support in the Scriptures. You will notice that the verse states "thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.‭" The implication is that to have a whore's forehead means to be impudent and unashamed. Given what we know, this would certainly be an apt description for the city of Jerusalem as a rebellious, impudent, hardhearted, unrepentant and unashamed harlot. In fact, the following verses which are found in the Book of Ezekiel suggest the very same thing:

"But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are‭ impudent and hardhearted.‭ Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.‭ As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they ‭be‭ a rebellious house.‭"


So in conclusion, given the Scriptural evidence that we have uncovered, it may be that both explanations have some degree of merit regarding the phrase "whore's forehead", because she was indeed unashamed and impudent, and she did worship the Queen of Heaven. As we continue this study, with regard to Jerusalem and Babylon the Great, you will see even more exactly how true this really is.

While we have now exposed the whorish Jerusalem's primary sin against her God -- that is to say, marital infidelity or adultery, and her worship of the pagan gods -- we have not yet exposed all of her sins. Returning to Isaiah 1:21, the second half of that same verse clearly states "it [meaning Jerusalem] was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers." Wow! A city full of murderers! If there is one thing which sinners do not like, it is having their sins exposed. As you may recall, in the Gospels, Jesus made this point rather evident when He said the following:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."


"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin."


". . . Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad."


"For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known."


There are a number of other Scriptures found in the Bible which likewise inform us that nothing is hid from the face of the Lord. He knows each and every one of our sins; as we can easily determine by the following group of verses:

". . . behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out."


"For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings."


"O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee."


"Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance."


"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."


"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."


"He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him."


As I said, whether we are talking about the LGBTQ crowd of our modern day, or the heartless abortionists, or the evil people of Jerusalem of thousands of years ago, the wicked simply do not like having their sins exposed. They will do everything, and resort to any means necessary, in order to prevent that from happening. They will fight back. In the case of the rebellious people of Jerusalem, as the Prophet Isaiah notes, it also included resorting to murder! As the following verses reveal, God sent those stiff-necked people Prophet after Prophet to warn them to turn away from their sins:

"And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:‭ ‭‭But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till ‭there was‭ no remedy."


"Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD."


"I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me."


Sadly, as the previous set of verses plainly reveal, rather than be convicted of their sins, and rather than return to the Lord, the people of Jerusalem viewed the Prophets as a constant thorn in their side, and as an annoyance. Thus, as the Scriptures make abundantly clear, they chose to silence many of them by murdering them. They bloodied their hands with the blood of the innocent. They cut down the just and smote the righteous. Is it any wonder then that the Lord, through the Prophet Ezekiel, referred to Jerusalem as the "bloody city"? Consider the following verses:

"Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the BLOODY CITY? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries."


"Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the BLOODY CITY, to the pot whose scum ‭is‭ therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.‭ For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;‭ That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.‭ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the BLOODY CITY! I will even make the pile for fire great.‭ Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.‭ Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and ‭that‭ the filthiness of it may be molten in it, ‭that‭ the scum of it may be consumed.‭ She hath wearied ‭herself‭ with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum ‭shall be‭ in the fire.‭ In thy filthiness ‭is‭ lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.‭ I the LORD have spoken ‭it‭: it shall come to pass, and I will do ‭it‭; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.‭"


After Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians, in the Book of Lamentations, the Prophet Jeremiah also mentioned not only the sins of her false prophets, but the sins of the priests who likewise shed the blood of the just, as we can determine by the following set of verses:

"The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.‭ The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.‭ ‭‭FOR THE SINS OF HER PROPHETS, ‭AND‭ THE INIQUITIES OF HER PRIESTS, THAT HAVE SHED THE BLOOD OF THE JUST IN THE MIDST OF HER,‭ They have wandered ‭as‭ blind ‭men‭ in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.‭"


Last, but not least, while we are discussing the sins of Jerusalem, let us also not forget the sins of that wicked pair, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who ruled the northern kingdom of Israel from Samaria. As you may know, that vile witch slew many of the Lord's Prophets, as we see by the following verses:

"For it was ‭so‭, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)‭ . . . Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD'S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?‭"


"And he [Elijah] said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, ‭even‭ I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.‭"


"And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.‭"


Turning our attention to the New Testament, as you may know, this is likewise one of the things of which Jesus accused the self-righteous religionists who also sought to slay Him. Consider the extremely harsh words which the Lord used when He exposed the sins of the Scribes and the Pharisees in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke:

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because YE BUILD THE TOMBS OF THE PROPHETS, AND GARNISH THE SEPULCHRES OF THE RIGHTEOUS, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in THE BLOOD OF THE PROPHETS. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that YE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THEM WHICH KILLED THE PROPHETS. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I SEND UNTO YOU PROPHETS, AND WISE MEN, AND SCRIBES: AND SOME OF THEM YE SHALL KILL AND CRUCIFY; AND SOME OF THEM SHALL YE SCOURGE IN YOUR SYNAGOGUES, AND PERSECUTE THEM FROM CITY TO CITY: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM, THOU THAT KILLEST THE PROPHETS, AND STONEST THEM WHICH ARE SENT UNTO THEE, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."


"Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.‭ And he said, Woe unto you also, ‭ye‭ lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.‭ Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.‭ Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.‭ Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and ‭some‭ of them they shall slay and persecute:‭ That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;‭ From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation."


Can there be any doubt as to why the Scribes and Pharisees hated Jesus as much as they did? The Lord very pointedly told them that they were "the children of them which killed the prophets". He then said that upon them would come "all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias . . ." In other words, they were guilty of it all; from A to Z; from Abel to Zacharias. Amazing as it may seem, despite the Lord's strong rebuke of these false religionists, do you recall what they said when Pontius Pilate gave them an opportunity to release Jesus? The answer is found in the following set of verses:

"When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, HIS BLOOD BE ON US, AND ON OUR CHILDREN. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified."


Isn't that just absolutely amazing? Only four chapters after the Lord dressed them down and fully exposed the heinous sins of those cold-blooded murderers, those wicked people shouted "His blood be on us, and on our children!"; thus fulfilling the very things of which He had accused them earlier.

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

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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