Romanticism Holds Husbands to Ransom, Escalating the Idolisation of Women
—An Artifice of The Great Whore

Conclusion Study

[Study Aired April 25, 2026]

1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

It’s important to remember in these studies, that since ‘all things are the Bride’s’, any perceived overuse or unearthings of women’s natural tendency unconsciously and consciously to manipulate using her arresting feminine wiles to influence a man for various reasons—particularly sensually targeting a specific man—may appear utterly vulgar and discriminatory to most women. However, the focus of every nuance of whoreish-like attention brought to the Bride’s attention is the price she unhesitatingly and gladly pays to be increasingly given her incredible calling to be Christ’s wife. It’s an understanding that the Shulamite in the SoS is so wholeheartedly and unashamedly devoted to reversing the shame of her former nakedness, to devote those same feminine jewels of mind, body and spirit washed sparkling and clean by her Lord and saviour, solely devoted to, and for his ravishment. Knowing that both sides of the equations, good and evil, are how the Lord designed her for his specific purpose for her to no longer resist being dragged to understanding her incredible calling, but to passionately get up and run to Him.

Psa 109:22  For I am poor and needy, and my heart [my breasts are…] is wounded within me. 
Psa 109:23  I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
Psa 109:24  My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
Psa 109:25  I became also a reproach unto them: when they [Her sisters, the world] looked upon me they shaked their heads. 
Psa 109:26  Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
Psa 109:27  That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. 

Pro 18:10  The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. 

While running that race, every female (the Body of Christ), regarding their physical nudity in self-examination to painstakingly amplify spiritual beauty, and while the flesh remains, she still bears remnants of infamy from her deeply rooted feelings of shame, stemming from Adam’s rejection of their Lord’s command in her presence. His already weak flesh, injured in his privy and stones while chaotically aware of her imminent eating, and no doubt, dread in his heart, his preconception to eat with her, unwitting that he is the cause of her exposure to the entire world, (Rev 17:16), effectively prostituting her (and all women thereafter) to the Serpent, thus spawning harlot churches.

Lev 19:29  Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

So it’s no wonder, and natural that that same shame can well up particularly in women today for her nudity to be laid bare before any audience—even in these studies that are designed to hopefully not deny any aspect of Christ, our Husband. That former shame is what the Shulamite in the SoS fully understands, and is given to reverse as honour for her high calling, and treasure her God-given feminine delights elegantly and dynamically for her Husband’s pleasure (Luk 12:32).

It has been patently clear in these Introductory Studies that all men, young and old, are captivated by any woman, young and old, who honours and respects him, and particularly if she is young and beautiful in her authentic personality, devoted in the moment, just for him, is an incredibly beguiling characteristic. Consequently, all men, to varying degrees of susceptibility to lustful visual attraction, influenced by diverse and self-professed moral perspectives, often believe that they could easily fall in love with such an exquisitely attractive being exuding sexual appeal. All women are highly attuned to their relative attractiveness and use it both righteously and in Babylon mostly unrighteously for their Ecclesiastes 7 advantage, and an idol is born.

So, let’s review and conclude how romanticism holds husbands to ransom and escalates the idolisation of women. But first, a recall of the overtly female proclivity of what ‘inventiveness’ means, while always remembering that her more, and highly varied from woman to woman, theatrical artifices, mirror men’s and mankind’s fabrications, their 200,000,000 lies. Since women represent a church or churches, indicative of mankind, Solomon, in his vast wisdom, concluded that all women, and from our experience, to highly varying degrees of intensity and cunning, use their inherent and natural beguiling ways both for good and for evil.

Ecc 7:23  All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.
Ecc 7:24  That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?
Ecc 7:25  I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
Ecc 7:26  And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
Ecc 7:27  Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account:
Ecc 7:28  Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man [Solomon, indicating Christ] among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. 
Ecc 7:29  Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. 

Women, in the context of the Bride’s deep personal reflection that ‘all things are hers,’ are starting to realise that she, the Church, filled with men, has developed many ‘inventions’. Specifically, she has romanticised the idea that her husband must focus on giving her sentimental gifts to evoke her sensual feelings, effectively holding him hostage when he inevitably grows weary of a lack of genuine, consistent reciprocation. We know that by Old Israel’s same God-given tardy libido for her Lord and Husband.

We will recall the meaning of “inventions”, and for our ‘romantic’ cause, from Ecc 7:29 – H2810 – “inventions” 1. device, invention. From H2803 – 1. to think, plan, esteem, calculate, invent, make a judgment, imagine, count.

Strong’s: A primitive root; properly to plait or interpenetrate [- permeate; pervade; mix; alloy] that is (literally) to weave or (generally) to fabricate; figuratively to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think regard value compute: – (make) account (of) conceive consider count cunning (man work workman) devise esteem find out forecast hold imagine impute invent be like mean purpose reckon (-ing be made) regard think.

Romanticism heightens the idealisation of women as it “inventively” (The term seen in Ecc 7:29 – an inherent feminine trait to create circumstances, especially for personal romantic benefit) asserts that, and evolving out of her Edenic curse, that her husband should focus predominantly on listening to his wife’s intellectual sensuality (Gen 3:6 – “to make her wise”) to foster a state of blissful anticipation before she can engage coitally—and is the anthesis of the Bride’s newly acquired “wisdom” from eating of the Tree of Life, her Husband! However, in the flesh, and due to her being effectively injured and bruised in her breasts, her heart in Eden, having discovered that her newly acquired “wisdom”, derived from the anticipated thrill, the lust for the ‘stolen fruit’ (Pro 9:17) of God’s word, instead devastated her sensual sentimentalities; utterly negating her expectation to have God’s wisdom through this initially fearfully unarousing knowledge of sin!—a massive disillusionment!—immediately experiencing the brand new emotion of shame of nakedness. Nonetheless, sin, entering the world first through Adam, had now steadily become her preferred method of experiencing physical affection. She now inherently holds him accountable for failing her. Adam is consequently compelled to undertake the largely unattainable role of trying to fulfil his ‘first estate’ as her head. This position is challenged by her newly acquired wisdom that Adam’s lust for her supersedes his love for the Lord’s word. Although Adam now appears weak to her, effectively wounded in his privy and stones, and initially irritates and unsettles her sensibilities, she still has to contend that he, as opposed to her, was not deceived; nonetheless, he deliberately watched her stumble since he couldn’t suffer the thought of once again being alone. Now, she cannot implicitly trust him to make wise decisions in anything, most eminently rightly washing her with their Lord’s word! Accordingly, akin to Adam’s injury, she, now severely wounded in her breasts, with her heart spiritually under Adam’s subordination to this veritable idol, steps forward to fill the largely vacant space characterised by his wounded leadership. Because of Adam and all men’s abdication of authority, here is feminism born in Eden.

Jud 1:6  And the angels [Including the budding Elect of God] which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness [The vast majority of whom] unto the judgment of the great day [The White Throne Judgment].

Since Eden, all women with varying degrees of sociopathic inventiveness derive ravishment from men, particularly young males, lusting after her sensually, maintaining her idolisation—now, effectively a whore even if men and women are not explicitly fornicating since our worship is to be solely for our Husband Christ, and God.

Possibly, there isn’t a more apt scripture to denote, particularly young men’s lust and idolisation of young women, than the following artistic verse to describe their lust, with personal focus on verse 10 for the spiritually astute, without raising exasperation for over-simplification:

Ecc 11:9  Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart [Initially, the flesh], and [Like Eve] in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. 
Ecc 11:10  Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. 

As Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam’s studies identified in “A Billion Wicked Thoughts”, the anticipation of sensuality is the most potent aphrodisiac, thereby fueling desire. In the SoS, it is the very same yet masterfully controlled mechanism our Lord demonstratively uses spiritually to fuel His Bride’s ravishment for Him, even while she sleeps, anticipating ‘an expected end’.

Although Solomon in the SoS perfectly patterned that erotogenic virginal anticipation, even with starting anew with training a prepubescent young girl in righteous ministrations, the reality is that the flesh is intrinsically corruptible. He experienced the perfection of the flesh with his 1,000 wives and observance of Israel’s and her neighbours’ women’s Eve-like proclivity to revolt against men of rulership and, of course, their husbands, the always present negative representation of her stone wall, and breasts like towers petulently blocking the fulfilment of his Shulamite’s ‘perfection’. Of course, the Body of Christ is given to break down that wall from where Solomon left off in his very last verse, where he says, “Make haste, my beloved [My pattern of the Heavenly], and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices” (Son 8:14), and make haste with the sweet-smelling balm of our Lord’s spirit where I can ‘rest betwixt your breasts’, your heart in total unity with mine.

Jer 29:10  For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 
Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

Driven sexually, men are infinitely greater romantics than women, forever searching for that “… thing of beauty, a joy forever; its loveliness increases; fantasising it will never pass into nothingness. Now a soft kiss-Aye, by that kiss, [he longs to] vows an endless bliss”… and diludedly, they do, on bended knee exchanging endless vows impossible to keep, all powerfully and unwittingly biased towards ‘searching for their wive’s heart’, a kind of appology for Eden’s injury in his privy and stones.

By now, I hope that we see that the world’s slowly evolving concept of “romance“, emanating from Eve’s wounded breasts, is a phenomenally insidious lie, serpentine, choking our Lord’s love, and is a corrupted version of Christ’s (romantic) allurements that ravish his Bride to reverse her curse.

As seen in all of these Introductory Studies, in our Babylonian marriages, bluntly, we, the woman, acquired a disconnection problem derived from Eden, expressed perfunctorily sexually—becoming typically carried out as a routine, mechanical duty rather than an expression of passionate desire, emotional connection, or mutual pleasure. It is often described as “going through the motions,” where one or both partners are physically present but emotionally or mentally disengaged. It is exactly what happened to our Lord, formerly with us, as Old Israel. Its origin was directly instigated by Adam, largely for Eve’s evil experience for the Bride’s journey. This venture exemplifies Israel’s Lord and Husband as uninjured in his figurative privy and stones, utterly refusing to ‘romanticise’ his wife by her methodologies, nonetheless eventually chastising her by giving her the idols of her heart, fruitlessly. It is exactly what all carnal husbands contend since Eden, and because of their combined curses, it is impossible to reverse. So, to keep the sensuality hopefully flowing, he has to bow in romantic servitude. It all was designed to be an uphill battle interacting with his wife, Old Israel, since she continued holding over him her bruised and injured heart beneath her breasts, resisting intimacy for not just forty years, but seven thousand. She, therefore, could not consistently and enthusiastically engage her husband with a Shulamite spirit as don’t the vast majority of worldly Babylonian wives today, without a good reason to venerate her husband, and thus resorts to worshipping herself (Rev 18:7).

Now, it is understandable that these studies may well be accused of having a preoccupation with sex, and it is true, since the Bible begins in Eden with sex depicting the word of God, its seven thousand year long torturous intimacies debased, and ends in Revelation with spiritual sexuality in the Bride’s marriage to Christ consecrated. So, yes, unapologetically, we do have every reason to see the natural before the spiritual, our definite preoccupation with Christ, our Husband’s word that Solomon precipitated an answer and remedy in Christ’s Song of Songs, the Song of Solomon.

According to data cited by professional studies, the definition of a sexless or low-sex marriage can be characterised by a total absence of sexual activity or a significant, lasting impoverishment in sexual frequency that causes distress to one or both partners. Isn’t that precisely what our Lord experienced with us as Old Israel in the Wilderness? In that case, he, too, has a preoccupation with not having his Wife repeat that destructive spiritual ‘sexless’ disconnectedness. To try to reconnect with her while in that state is akin to remarrying a divorced wife.

Mat 5:31  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32  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.

In our carnal marriages, it is men and husbands’ fawning veneration of women and wives that profoundly keeps them going to incredible lengths to romance wives to close that ‘sexless’ marriage gap. By design, and while a wife covertly, by a ‘billion wicked’ nuances, demands her husband romances her, a most futile devotion our Lord likewise experienced with Old Israel.

Hos 11:7  And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
Hos 11:8  How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. 
Hos 11:9  I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. [Carnally, effectively refusing to submit to her romanticised ways]
Hos 11:10  They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, [As Adam should have with Eve in Eden] then the children shall tremble from the west. 
Hos 11:11  They [A female proclivity] shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
Hos 11:12  Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. 
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, [As is the Shulamite’s bed, (Son 1:16) a ‘green tree’ denotes’ young and enthusiastic intimacies both righteous and evil] and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

The Lord situated Ephraim and Greater Israel within the very dwelling they constructed for themselves, analogous to how contemporary carnal wives now establish romanticised households for their husbands to maintain, now increasingly in a platonic manner, where enthusiastic intimacy becomes unattainable.

Eze 18:30  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your [for this cause, romantic] ruin. 
Eze 18:31  Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 
Eze 18:32  For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. 

When intimacy fades in a marriage, couples are usually advised to enhance communication and rekindle emotional bonds, hoping sex will naturally follow. (Sometimes that’s effective.) However, many couples facing difficulties are dealing with a different challenge: a marriage with low or no sexual activity, where, as Christ experienced formerly with us spiritually, sexual withdrawal becomes the main concern (Ecc 11). In long-term marriages, it’s common to see a decline in sexual desire, mismatched libidos, or extended periods without intimacy. These issues often lead to emotional distancing and communication breakdowns. For the most part, it is why our Lord said not to forsake meeting together (Heb 10:25).

Absent a more compelling justification than the ‘wisdom’ Eve stole in Eden, she and her sisters presently employ it primarily to ensure Adam remains attentive to her. Conventionally, this occurs chaotically, as is characteristic of lies, in an attempt to resolve dysfunctional relationships. Armed with that confounding delusion, now, and mostly irritatingly, our Lord says not to defraud a spouse of their marital dues, which compounds their already disconnected state, with her strong bias towards avoiding husband-focused intimacy, which appears optional.

1Co 7:5  Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
1Co 7:6  But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

We have seen that romanticism is a form of “usury” whereby a wife effectively charges a contract over her husband with romanticism before she will allow him intimacy. Whereas the Shulmite instantly negates that folly by giving her whole body, mind, and spirit to her Husband.

Usury is extortion, interest, moneylending, and romantically is not engaging in espousal intimacy, enthusiastically devoting her mind and body wholly. Therefore, it’s the self-righteousness she charges endlessly that is the hire of a whore—of the type that puts his teeth on edge; him, if an Elect knowing that she, and as the aforementioned song goes, “makes a better man”.

Eze 18:12 [We] Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
Eze 18:13  Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

Lev 25:37  Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

Psa 15:5  He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Because of Adam’s overweening love for the complexity of Eve’s beauty, as was King Ahasuerus (A-ha-sure-rus) for Queen Vashti, they, like wives finding hidden treasure, innately use that gift weaponised as romanticism, suspensfully concealing its immense power, insisting that it is the only avenue to their arousal; an insatiable and cunning technique exhausting husbands. Its intensity, she reluctantly relaxes from time to time coitally to keep the status quo—her husband, now the quintessential slave to both his and her gender specific lusts. That almost cultish intrinsic female artifice is an unspoken secret and unified spiritual-like understanding of the sisterhood (Pro 6:12-15) unyieldingly uses as a control, semiconsciously, a ‘confounded’ technique backfiring disasterously for Queen Vashti, as it does for The Great Whore and all carnal marriages; ‘ashamed’ for the underlying self-deception and resulting trauma of force-feeding husbands their bread, their doctrine of insatiable romanticised needs—of course, always signifying the world’s churches spiritually, and formerally we, ministering false worship of Christ. All the while moaning and groaning that His form of ‘romanticism’, his word is forboding, and decidedly judgmental and unloving, and so, and in representing The Great Whore, shockingly conceived in Eden at Adam’s hand, continues to the beginning of the One Thousand Years, demanding (“imperious”) to be ‘romantically’ ravished by her methodologies.

Eze 16:30 [Speaking of the Lord’s faithless Bride] How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious [Domineering; vixen – signifing cunning, inventiveness] whorish woman; 
Eze 16:31  In that thou buildest thine [for this cause, romantically] 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; [‘we don’t get paid for our services!’, yet stealing Christ’s fair jewels and in tithes and offerings]
Eze 16:32  But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! 
Eze 16:33  They [husbands] give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them [her 40,000 sister whores], that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.
Eze 16:34  And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms [“… I am no widow” Rev 18:7]: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward [she has no husband, Christ] is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
Eze 16:35  Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

Psa 97:7 Confounded [H954 – “ashamed”] be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

Confounded H954 – Origin: a primitive root. Ashamed, shame, shamefully 92 times. Confounded 22 times. Strong’s: A primitive root; properly to pale, that is, by implication, to be ashamed; also (by implication) to be disappointed or delayed: – (be make bring to cause put to with a-) shame (-d) be (put to) confounded (-fusion) become dry delay be long.

Of course, and from Eden, Adam’s actions didn’t give Eve and all subsequent women and wives a reason to desire him intimately. Due to Adam and Eve’s curses, women and wives (symbolising the Church) wounded in their breasts are now preoccupied with how much a husband makes them feel about themselves; how central they are to his world, and how feminine, seen, valued, understood, and thus alive they feel through his actions. Instead, it should be how much she esteems her husband, as typified by the Bride for Christ, for His peace and joy. She already knows how He feels for her and is thoroughly grounded in that belief.

In Babylon, whilst validation of each other’s qualities is a necessary validation, as the Shulamite expresses, it should not be a gun aimed at her husband’s head as a constant dripping of water of her doubting her husband’s devotion. She is a paradox. Since Eden, both husbands and wives overemphasise their neediness—women for constant romanticised validation, and men for sex—it being an unspoken truth, too prideful to acknowledge, their consciousnesses accusing and excusing themselves.

There is no escaping the overarching biblical theme established in Eden, where Adam’s psychologically and spiritually wounded privy engenders Eve’s equally bruised teats and breasts (Isa 23:3, 23:8), whereby both instruments now unrighteously govern their hearts’ Eccelesiastes 7 inventive treacheries to satiate their signatory lusts. Women crave romance, and men use it to seduce women. Women use sex to seduce men, with both contrivances carried forward in marriage, where each party grows weary of the other’s predictable, deceitful seductions.

Both genders’ customised wounds are the catalysts that later drive the Lord’s first wife, Old Israel’s same lusts against Him. Tremendously reinvigorated following the cross, that mysterious same Beast deludedly believing that they are saved, astride God’s throne, driven by those foundational lusts, now unwittingly expressed spiritually.

Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

The origin of Adam and Eve’s wounds, mostly symbolising those verses, is unintentionally prophetically depicted in John Keats’ ode. – “A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness”. “Now a soft kiss-Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss”.

The ‘thing of beauty’ that each gender desires for their ‘joy forever’ — being men’s hearts unquenchable yearn for sensual gratification, emanating from their private parts, and women’s hearts, radiating through every sensory organ in her body from her breasts — in Babylon, they are sensually insistent on being gratified. They gullibly believe that kisses and wedding vows, judicially fixed, would promise ‘endless bliss’. Historically, they are aware that their forbears’ marriages, dating back to Adam, were inherently fraught with disunifications of evil experiences. But, they sally forth, destined to repeat the sorry saga, demanding that their spouse ravish them by the very same creed Solomon’s 1,000 wives affirmed, and is the time-honoured model guaranteed to keep a husband in check—one that Solomon and all men hate, as does Christ.

Amo 5:21  I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 
Amo 5:22  Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Amo 5:23  Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 

Son 1:12  While the king [Christ] sitteth at his table, my [the Bride’s] spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

Mankind’s methods of seeking joy in marriage are entirely self-centred, with both genders focusing on their sensuality at the expense of the other. That diabolical problem is what Solomon devoted himself to addressing throughout his writings, culminating in the SoS. He found the outstanding solution detailed in his God-inspired Song. Yet, its righteous ravishing methodology, he concluded, was impossible for any woman, and particularly a wife, to implement since they all were inherently sexually mischievous in mind, body and spirit. He likewise concluded that neither men nor husbands could sustain his sensually elegant techniques. Because the holy spirit of all understanding wasn’t conceptualised, “he found not” that any husband or wife could ‘minister’ his formula righteously. So, he went back to indulging himself most unsatisfyingly with every conceivable pleasure.

Ecc 2:10  And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
Ecc 2:11  Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Nonetheless, what he didn’t know was that his God-inspired Song, “black” to his understanding, would shine more brightly upon the Bride, since the cross, and, maybe, Lord willing, be fully realised in these studies, whereby contemporary poets since early times no doubt inspired by scripture and Solomon’s verse, if righteously committed, would complement Christ’s love for his Bride.

Christ created the Serpent (Col 1:16-17; Job 26:13-14), his archnemesis, to humble and chastise mankind to establish his recreation of unity in him and the Father. He begins with the easily romanticised Eve, who effortlessly seduces her husband, Adam. He is eagerly entranced by this glorious creature, unwittingly establishing her as the idol of his heart, to which she, the more beautiful ‘Lucifer’ (H1966. Isa 14:12-19), equally unwittingly boldly agrees — incipiently emasculating the Old Adam, forever.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” 
Gen 3:2  The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,
Gen 3:3  but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
Gen 3:4  “You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. 
Gen 3:5  “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Gen 3:6  When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 

1Jn 2:15  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. 
1Jn 2:17  The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever. 

The subtle coup and emancipation brought forth by Eve’s devastating beauty in every nuance of her being, representing all women, particularly wives, is a gift and easy weaponisation of their beauty, compelling Adam and all men to submit uneasily, their teeth on edge, semi-consciously aware that further drip-fed intimacies will ensue. Irksomely to women, both parties know that male (God-given) dominance in headship will ultimately rule, with holding the cursed erotica trump card unflagging impudence—effectively the stamp of a whore on her forehead (Rev 17), alienating spiritual unity in marriage.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to against thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 

Adam and all men thereafter suffer the cursed ground of their wives’ intimacy aversion; thorns and thistles painfully in bitterness restrain his ardour. Their wives are increasingly obstinate (and understandably so) against their husbands’ unrighteous endless demands for sensual attention, both oblivious to its significance—the Shulamite’s understanding of it in the Song of Solomon instigated her unashamed and abrupt about-face, saying, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine”, and deliberately guiding him to, ‘ravishing my her breasts, her heart’, as seen in Son 8:1-2 as the most powerful means of eroticising physically any husband, as we, the Bride does to Christ today elegantly, moment-by-moment, day-by-day to day and forever in delighted reciprocation of His love for us.

1Co 9:18  What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. 
1Co 9:19  For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 
1Co 9:20  And unto the Jews [My harlot-like wife] I became [listening amiably to their viewpoint] as a Jew, that I might gain [My wife] the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21  To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 
1Co 9:22  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 

For this study’s purpose, those verses would require a husband to endlessly do what Christ did to his wife, Old Israel—fulfil her sensually in blessings of gifts, gold, silver and all sorts of riches, knowing that they never change any wife’s heart. So it is with an Elect husband and a non-Elect wife. In reverse, it is akin to some very few Christian sects where their young women go out of their way sensually and sexually to ensnare young men for Jesus. In both cases, the one supposedly gained for the cause was not won spiritually, but sensually. So, no matter how much a righteous husband wearily nurtures his wife’s romantic sentimentalities, she rarely responds with righteous coquettishness since it is not in her heart from the beginning.

It is similar to Aaron’s contriving a molten calf to be Israel’s god, usurping the Lord’s power and might and bringing them up out of Egypt, mixing her ‘romanticism’ with the Lord’s far more, nonetheless, unseen superior ravishments his word was to evoke, by making a feast to the Lord. Aaron, in making a feast to the Lord, is an ingratiating, blaspheming attempt to rule their Husband, and His subordination to her, by unwittingly placing herself on His throne as an unwitting Whore.

Thus, a Romantic is antagonistically ‘Christcentric’, as were Romans and every Epicurean mindset devoted to pleasing their wives rather than serving Christ. Romanticism can be considered a blend of Victorianism and Realism. Victorianism, which followed Romanticism, focused on rapid societal changes and technological advancements, contrasting with Romanticism’s emphasis on emotions developing from the organic nature of things—much like the million nuances, ‘too wonderful to know, such as the way of a man with a maid’ (Pro 30:18-19).

Romanticism is a convergence and mixture of mentally and emotionally charged sentiments, embroidering one’s established convictions, increasingly amplified with another’s actions—often heedless of the delusiveness and exemplified in all Babylonian marriages. The focus of attention is on the sensually beautiful fiancée becoming a bride and wife—a classic match made in heaven, facilitating the destruction of the flesh. Conversely, suppose we are to assume the term “romanticism”. In that case, the Bible represents Christ’s version from the Alpha and the Omega, the journey of His emergent Bride whose romantically ravished ‘Christcentric’ heart beneath her breasts, radiates out to every Christ-designed jewelled joint of her Body clothed in His fine linen. Her “reasonable service”, her responsive ravishment now equal to His breathtaking response.

Son 4:9  Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

The closure of the matter is that feminised romanticism is a gigantic Babylonian lie, facilitating the idolisation of women, now being reversed by the Shulamite-like Bride of Christ today, her Body wholly devoted to Him!

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, [For this cause, romantically] not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

The Bride’s sisters, who were also asleep, possessed a lethargic ravishment of Christ’s word to construct their house after the Shulamite pattern for Him. Like Ananias and Sapphira, they reserved a portion of the value of their land for their own use (Acts 5:1-22).

1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise [Wisdom has the feminine gender] masterbuilder, I [Christ, her Husband] have laid the foundation, and another [His Bride] buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. [Her sleepy sisters didn’t take heed of what ravishes the Groom, and it certainly wasn’t their idolised romantic dogma]
1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Pro 10:25  As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

In that ‘all things are the Bride’s’, neither party in the flesh are bitter for their God-deigned evil experience to journey. Elect husbands’ for their carnal wives continued withholding of enthusiastic intimacies, and Elect wives ‘endless portrayal from Eden to this day, having been emblematic of whoredom is, and for the major part, the Bride spiritually profits.

Romanticism Holds Husbands to Ransom, Escalating the Idolisation of Women—An Artifice of The Great Whore

Study 10 – Part 2

[Study Aired April 18, 2026]

As with each of these introductory studies, which unveil the Bride’s highly anticipated joy as described physically in the SoS, they starkly reveal the reason Solomon created his Shulamite Bride. It lies in his distressing and unimpressive experiences with his thousand wives, whose treacherous kisses (her word/doctrines/silver and gold) forcefully dictate that he be intoxicated by their wine of emblematic romanticised ravishment, which proved to be as inert as water, corrupted and moth-eaten sentiments of The Great Whore.

Jas 5:1  Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Jas 5:2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Husbands in marital sex are delusively wealthy men who subconsciously believe they are rich in (unrealised) feminine church doctrines as the only way for her to feel emotionally ‘safe, loved, heard and appreciated’ before she can participate intimately. They have physically, denoting them spiritually, drunk the filth of her water, her doctrines imagining it is arousing wine. She is a foil for his worst treachery in Eden for idly letting Eve even look upon the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, let alone touch it. Accordingly, all husbands listening to their wives’ Serpent acquired wisdom of better judgment in boudoir arouses, effectively have their wives witness against them, whereby their flesh, supposedly one in their wives, is eaten up, and burning him with fire for his submission to her. Juxtapose that with the opening verse of the Bride in the Son 1:2.

Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 

Hos 4:18  Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.

Her husband’s unwitting shame of abdication for the most part of his headship and authority, tries to love his wife by her criteria.

2Co 2:17  For we are not as many [… it’s a little flock/Church], which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. 

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine – Son 1:2

Demonstratively in Genesis 28 and 29, Jacob’s love for Rachel was not initially based on romantic love. It was a transactional love based on God’s commands for mate selection among the circumcised, with Jacob grateful for her virtuous beauty and, accordingly, a spiritually uncircumcised natural (1Cor 15:46) coquettish unity we today exaggerate as romance.

Romanticism, insidiously, becomes idol worship where the woman is the focus, the pinnacle of worship, displaying her thighs ungracefully. The sight of a wife, her thighs delicately revealed beneath an elegant dress by her spiritual walk, or, for that matter, any ‘innocent’ occasion, exudes a sense of grace and confidence. Her poised demeanour, complemented by a warm and inviting brightness in her expression, starkly contrasts with the overt lewd theatrics often associated with a harlot. This captivating elegance is reserved solely for her husband, embodying a profound allure. Similarly, the Bride’s walk, a sacred journey dedicated to Christ, carries with it a sense of reverence and beauty that further enhances the sanctity of the moment.

Son 7:1  How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.

In a world where almost every young woman’s tantalising curves are accentuated by seductive attire, the allure of elegantly dressed thighs invokes a powerful desire that captivates both men and women alike. The thought of a woman draped in exquisite fabrics, tailored perfectly to her silhouette, is enough to stir deep passions. While some may sway towards revealing G-strings and provocative ensembles, it’s the sophistication of demurely, gracefully crafted garments that truly ignites the imagination in honouring beauty righteously.

Picture a woman adorned in beautiful fabrics that highlight her body’s contours, her outfit harmonizing with her skin tone and hairstyle, capturing her ethnic beauty. The delicate interplay of rich colors and luxurious textures creates an enchanting aura, leaving onlookers spellbound. In such moments, men find themselves captivated and entranced, their usual cravings transformed into a desire not just for physical beauty, but for the elegance and depth that such refinement conveys. It’s a dance of allure that evokes both righteous and unrighteous lust, inviting a celebration of all that is beautiful in this tapestry and song of femininity.

The Song of Solomon is Christ’s equivalent of ‘romantic’ expression in Christ-centricity with and by his Bride.

Worldly feminine romanticism is the ultimate vanity of vanities that Solomon lamented (in the entire book of Ecclesiastes) and set out to correct. Its earthborn sentimentality has never transformed anyone’s heart to align with Christ. It inevitably leads to frustration, disparity, and bitterness, often resulting in divorce. In contrast, true love involves confronting oneself, reflecting on the depths of who we truly are, and acknowledging our brokenness. When we authentically review that mirror of the woman we are, it is not flattering; it threatens to betray every romantic ideal we deludedly thought shielded us from the responsibility Christ compels us to adhere to.

Love is not about finding the perfect spouse who will provide all our sensual needs and desires, but being forged in the fiery furnace of sustaining it by Christ’s power and might. Utterly foreign to the female world, the Shulamite, we shall ultimately see, is given to reciprocate her Fiancé’s dues enthusiastically.

Our Lord’s immense feeling of rejection by his wife of old is the most painful boudoir experience all husbands, to varying degrees, experience, questioning, ‘Am I not enough?’

Historically, men, symbolised by Christ righteously, have been the greater romantics, igniting a profound romantic desire in women, placing them on a pedestal to which they paradoxically declare, yet inwardly denounce, unable to escape the curse of romanticism. As women exhibit much more sensual expressions that excite both men and women, the world believes they hold the key to all romantic ideals. It sets them up to be idolised and worshipped, a majesty she fiercely protects and inevitably bereaved in that — “he shall rule over thee”.

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

However, in reality, romanticism expressed through the Shulamite’s intentional suspense harvests exquisite physical and spiritual emotions designed by Christ, exemplifying the devotion of a profoundly transformed heart towards her husband and eagerly affirming his headship. It resonates with unspeakable love in her husband, reverberating to his wife and amplifying extravagant spiritual realities that rebound between each other – spiritually forever.

Romanticism unfolds as a deep and intimate dance between a man and a woman, set against the backdrop of divine creation. In today’s whirlwind world, this delicate balance is often inverted. Passion ignites like a wildfire, engulfing two souls in an evening of electrifying chemistry, where every glance and touch sends shivers down the spine. Yet, all too often, this fervour flickers and fades, leaving behind the echoes of what once was.

This intense emotional surge especially captivates women, luring them into a dream of blissful union and endless romance. No doubt romanticising John Keats to pen the memorable quote, “Now a soft kiss – Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss.” Men, in their pursuit of thrilling encounters, might find themselves swept away by the allure of fleeting intimacy. Yet, ultimately, it’s the women who experience the deeper tides of longing and disillusionment. Just as Old Israel found herself torn between desires for material pleasures and the deeper spiritual fulfillment, today’s lovers often grapple with a similar disconnect. They chase the exhilarating rush of passion, overlooking the more profound connections that truly nourish the soul.

Amidst the vibrant chaos of desire, it’s easy to forget that genuine intimacy requires more than just physicality—it longs for an emotional tether—a spiritual bond that transcends the momentary thrill. In this erotic landscape, finding harmony between flesh and spirit is Babylon’s ultimate pursuit—a quest for love that is both passionate and enduring, not found in Zen, Buddhism, Tantra, or other esoteric pursuits, but hidden in Christ, only to be revealed to his Wife’s (the Bride’s) understanding for their mutual glory is in the Father.

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 

Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 

Men, driven by both righteous and unrighteous lusts for women, and to women’s delight, both seek the emotional highs that unified chemistry ignites that they unequivocally believe are love—those small and silly moments, a song that only you and she understand. A shared moment of uncontrollable laughter forms a powerful imprint that is recalled with equal hilarity for years. Chemistry is a tremendously powerful influence on mate selection; early in the relationship, it can be deceiving. When the vital spiritual elements are established and agreed upon, chemistry is a glorious and ravishing part of marriage.

Thus, in those verses, the wife, symbolizing the church, first desires to be enveloped in romanticism, initiated in Eden, ironically turning away from the very foundation of Christ’s teachings that underpin genuine romanticism! She cannot do those physical and, more importantly, the spiritual things she would that drive the very things she lusts! Consequently, it is crazy stuff to be “against” our Lord’s original husbandly headship, having never had the chance to prove its dynasticism until today.

Jacob never had time to develop romantic feelings. Since it was ‘doctrinally’ established that he must marry within his own family, the moral basis for choosing a wife was already set. All he needed was to notice a woman’s intriguing beauty, confident that she would be traditionally submissive to his authority as her husband.

Gen 29:9  And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.
Gen 29:10  And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
Gen 29:11  And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

Romanticism originates from genuine love. The most well-known biblical stories of Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Rachel do not portray romanticism as essential before engagement. Only through reflecting on these biblical accounts do we see how the concept of romanticism develops in our minds. The righteous men and women of old consistently teach that Godly covenant unity takes precedence over all emotions. Ideally, based on Christ’s truths, the minimally standard key for choosing a virginal mate, it subtly yet powerfully addresses various personal nuances and quirks of intimacy, such as hygiene—linked to spiritual cleanliness—and mutually agreeable traits, including raising children, work security, and creating a home. Spiritually, this, too, is the key to developing the wonderfully stimulating emotions and feelings the Bride longs to be imprinted by placing Christ first, as demonstrated in the Song of Solomon.

Christ introduced the concept of romanticism — God did it to incite mankind’s experience of evil further (Ecc 1:12-18) as a powerful means for mankind to boost self-glory, distinctly for women (representative of men and the harlot churches) and their inherent schemings manipulating men and patently husbands, collectively rejecting (“against”) Christ.

The supreme protagonist, Christ, represented by Solomon in the Song of Solomon, personifies the Bride of Christ and spectacularly reverses the curse, showcasing an elegant type of romanticism that glorifies her Husband. Having been a whore, she knows every detail of her former artifices that ruled her carnal husband. She is now highly skilled at using her former negative scheming to her righteous advantage, enthusiastically building her spiritual house to his pattern for him.

Eze 28:13  Thou [Mankind, typified by the woman] hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets [Timbrel, tambourine & representative or her “Song” no man could learn] and of thy pipes [Jewel settings; her joint of the Bride] was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. [Sounds pretty romantic to me]
Eze 28:14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:15  Thou wast perfect [Perfectly subject to corruption] in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Eze 28:16  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:17  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds [the Elect]; I will be like the most High. 
Isa 14:15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

What is Romanticism?

Romanticism was an artistic, intellectual, and literary movement originating in Europe toward the end of the 18th century (roughly 1790–1850) that championed emotion, individualism, and the power of nature. It emerged as a reaction against the scientific rationalism of the Enlightenment and the ordered, formal constraints of Neoclassicism.

Key characteristics and aspects of Romanticism include:

Emphasis on Emotion and Subjectivity: Prioritising intense personal feelings, imagination, and intuition over logic, reason, and empirical, objective truth.

Awe of Nature: Viewing nature as a spiritual, sublime, and untamed force, often in contrast to the artificiality of industrialization.

Individualism and the Hero: A focus on the “heroic” individual, the artist’s inner struggles, and the genius of the human spirit.

Interest in the Past and Exotic: A fascination with the medieval period, folklore, the supernatural, and the exotic, rejecting the modernisation of society.

Contextual Factors

The movement was heavily influenced by the social and political changes brought about by the French and Industrial Revolutions, which sparked a desire for emotional escape and a return to nature.

The fundamental distinction between contemporary Babylonian elements of romanticism and, perhaps, the romantic facets of Solomon and his Shulamite creation is that both he and she place primary importance on God’s reality as expressed through His truth. In contrast to Babylonian romanticism, this emphasis motivates only the Elect’s sensual perceptions, which are rooted in His empirical spiritual truth and are far more sensually arousing, both physically and spiritually, because they are anchored in Christ’s faith in the Father for the supreme truth, rather than centred on ourselves. Those characteristics represent the elusive love Solomon and the world seek and cannot find.

We know that God is love, but what does that mean?

Interestingly, the name” God” appears 700 times in the Bible, symbolising God’s fulfilment of the creation process.

1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1Jn 4:8  He that lovethG25 [G5723] notG3361 knowethG1097 [G5627] notG3756 GodG2316; forG3754 GodG2316 isG2076 [G5748] loveG26.

Loveth G25 – Tense, present.
Agapao
– Phonetic: ag-ap-ah’-o
– Definition:

of persons
to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly
of things
to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing

God G2316
Theos
– Phonetic: theh’-os
– Definition:

a God or Goddess, a general name of deities or divinities
the Godhead.
God the Father, the first person in the Godhead.
Christ, the second person of the Godhead, in submission to the Father.

Love  G26
Agape
– Phonetic: ag-ah’-pay
– Definition:

brotherly love, affection, goodwill, love, benevolence
love feasts

G25
Agapao
– Phonetic: ag-ap-ah’-o
– Definition:

of persons
to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly
of things
to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing

G53367
 Phileo
– Phonetic: fil-eh’-o
– Definition:

to love
to approve of
to like
sanction
to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend
to show signs of love
to kiss
to be fond of doing

Nowhere in those definitions is there a direct indication that the sentimentality of ‘romanticism’ is a derivative of love.

Considering the meanings of love mentioned above, here is God’s definition of love leading to eternal life:

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth [As God loves] is born of God, and knoweth God.
1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1Jn 4:9  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
1Jn 4:12  No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 
1Jn 4:13  Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his spirit.
1Jn 4:14  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

If we do not demonstrate love for God by adhering to His commandments, we lack the understanding necessary to love a spouse appropriately; we will fumble and bumble, focusing on sensual pleasure rather than on the supreme joy of spiritual knowledge, thereby amplifying our physical pleasure. Such is the result of the profound blindness when focused on the flesh.

Can we align the contemporary idea of romanticism with God’s love and appropriately grant that form to another person, particularly a husband or wife, appropriately reflecting Christ’s romanticised love for us? The following excerpt from Dr Brenda Ayres, with orthodox Christian leanings, is a full professor of English and member of the graduate faculty at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, helps us understand the Babylonian Christian’s view of romanticism. Ayers’ brief exposé on the origins of Romanticism reflected in Christianity, for this study’s purpose, somewhat commends and highlights a Christian’s struggle to ‘see through a glass darkly’ and to understand Christ through the beauty of nature and mankind. This represents the noble aspect of contemporary ‘romanticism’ that is widely recognised—indirectly enhancing the poetic Song of Solomon, which all Christians aspire to comprehend and diligently explore without one jot of success. It is understood solely by the Bride of Christ, that is to her, and by contemporary terminology, is inherently and phenomenally ‘romantic’ by her God-given spiritual understanding of who she is and how her idea of romance is utterly reversed!

Dr. Brenda Ayres
30 November 2016
Romanticism and Christianity

The Romantic Era, beginning in the late 18th century and flourishing in the early 1800s, made an unforgettable contribution to literature, intriguing scholars, students, and casual readers alike with its enchanting approach to the world. Reacting against the urbanisation and modernisation brought about by the Industrial Revolution, Romanticism recognised defects in modern society and sought refuge in what was simple and organic. Crafting literature that sparks the imagination and captivates the senses, the Romantics colored their poetry with themes of beauty, nature, youth, emotion, and escape. In each of these prominent Romantic features, the fervency of Romantic notions sometimes caused the Romantics to stray from Christianity; [Bold Grant’s] nonetheless, Romanticism offers many insights that can enhance Christian life and inspire worship of God.

One of the most appealing qualities distinctive of Romanticism is its appreciation of beauty. In “A Defence of Poetry,” Percy Bysshe Shelley describes poetry’s effect on the reality it portrays: “Poetry turns all things to loveliness; it exalts the beauty of that which is most beautiful, and it adds beauty to that which is most deformed” (1176). The Romantics not only wrote about beauty but also created it; their works, which include some of the most beautiful poetry ever written, focus on the stuff of daily life, drawing out the beauty in nature and in common things. A master at capturing beautiful scenes and settings, William Wordsworth exemplifies the Romantic inclination to find beauty and delight in nature. In his poem “It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free,” Wordsworth describes the stillness of an evening, painting a picture of the scene with his simple but beautiful descriptions, such as the quiet time’s likeness to a nun “breathless with adoration” and the sun’s “sinking down in its tranquillity” (3-4). He follows his description of the peaceful setting by expressing to his young companion that, through her participation in the serene moment, she is unknowingly brought closer to God. It is in its wonder at beauty that Romanticism perhaps best contributes to Christianity: the poets allow themselves to be filled with awe at the beauty of the world around them—a world that Christians know is the handiwork of a magnificent Creator. Beauty did not always lead the Romantics to worship the Creator God; yet Christians should seek to discover and delight in beauty as the Romantics did, with even greater appreciation for its Creator. [Bold Grant’s. End]

Doctor Ayres’s astute comment that “the fervency of Romantic notions sometimes caused the romantics to stray from Christianity” is, as we know, initiated by women, meaning the church’s unrighteous lust, and indicative of wives to their husbands in carnal marriages, to insist that their (unwitting) other Jesus’s obligation is to solely ravish her! Ayer’s final comment advocating the glorification of our creator, Christ, our husband, through righteous romanticism strongly reflects the Shulamite’s deportment in The Song of Solomon, mirroring her Husband’s —the Royal Lyricist of the Bible! So, yes, we can justifiably romanticise our interactions, righteously ‘inventing‘ (Ecc 7:26-29) anticipatory foreplay, precisely as the Bride does with Christ, and he, with her, each day in preparatory espousal incitements, consummately.

Deu 12:28  Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.
Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, [for this cause, the largely feminine notion for the only way for her husband to arouse her, is by her romantic methodology] saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 
Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. 

Typically, the Babylonian Christian mindset we are fleeing leans towards imagining that we are glorifying Christ by attributing a ‘romantic’ term to our journey from being a whore, to becoming His Bride. That ethos is akin to the Israelite’s taking on their heathen neighbour’s ways and doctrines, where we could spiritually sanitize a term to describe our “romantic” journey, maybe by calling it ‘Divine Eros’; to describe the passionate longing for God, viewing natural love as a reflection of the supernatural yearning for the divine. In the Song of Solomon, the connection is clearly observable. However, and in complete accordance with the integrity of God’s word, that passion between Solomon and the Shulamite—articulated effectively by Christ to His Bride, with Him placing the words and her actions He desires in her mouth spoken in the third person—is demonstrably his pure construct, namely, “love”—that’s all—simply, “love”.

However, mankind’s version of romanticism, compared to Christ’s in the Song of Solomon, sets carnal, espoused love up for failure.

Romanticism has enslaved the world to the worship of women. Its universally accepted stencil is: 1. marriage; 2. love and sex; 3. the end of Adamic loneliness; 4. adoration, all blithely accepted without any— 5. practicality of implementation and adjustment for mutually beneficial romantic change.

Romanticism is deeply optimistic about marriage; yet, in plagiarised marriage, fusing it to a sensually volatile shape and form in a passionate love recital, each party (in subconscious deceit) enthusiastically sees the other as their lifelong perfect match, made in heaven.

Compared to historically more localised observations of potential paramours from the field and community in agrarian society, the relatively modern notion of dating and its intensified focus on a possible mate for compatibility forces an unrealistic appraisal of the prospect. It’s a breeding ground for feminist ‘inventions’ highly evident in women and ever so easily accepted in men, as Solomon grieved in Ecclesiastes 7. It fostered unrealistic affections rooted in lust and often led to uncontrollable sexual expressions with individuals they didn’t truly care for, while their distorted ideals of love propelled the delusional, unending quest for extraordinary sex. The so-called ‘free sex’ became a fertile ground for catastrophe, and around and around the deadly cycle goes, ever searching for knowledge and with multiple partners, never coming to the truth of Shulamite-designed romantic love.

In all the purity of nude innocence, Adam’s intrinsic and righteous lust for everything Eve, and, to her unspoilt curiosity and delight, to him, seems to mark the conclusion to his loneliness. He chose to die with Eve rather than live without her love. For us today, such a unifying chemistry in marriage, intuiting our souls, is overwhelmingly refreshing. Unconscious of the holy spirit, such virginal impressions retrospectively cause mankind to yearn for a return to nature, nude in Eden.

Consequently, romanticism facilitated the conception that choosing a spouse should be guided by feelings rather than practical rationality let alone by our Lord’s covenant ministrations—you recognise that you are in love because you have a magical feeling, unwittingly enslaving you; rather, those endorphin-induced feelings should be the catalyst driving the pursuit of who her husband is designed to represent, and not solely to luxuriate in the sensuality they incite. Subsequently, that ministration of serving him is guaranteed to rebound most deliciously in his wife. Perhaps the unrivalled dissolute examples of lust were Amnon’s with his half-sister Tamar, and Ahola and Aholabah’s escapades with any endorphin-inducing young men’s eroticisms (2 Sam 13; Ezek 23), their parallel feelings unrighteously expressed most sinfully, far removed from the purity of Solomon’s conceptions of interactions with his Shulamite Bride.

Son 5:8  I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 

Typically, romantic love overshadows the lingering concerns that issues related to finances, bathroom and toiletry etiquette, and dietary laziness will inevitably change once married. It is so unromantic to make an issue of those matters while blissful feelings flood the senses. Romanticism suggests that true love corresponds to accepting everything about the other person, pushing to the background the need for personal change that he should easily see. It’s insulting to either party that one must change, and such expressions convey a strong message that the relationship is doomed.

Historically and complicated through modern courtship, everyone accepts this broad template, which has led to an advanced experience of evil (Ecc 1:13 CLV), causing the world, the woman, to cry out in pain of being born. We shall see that the Shulamite laps it up as food, nourishing her to reverse the curse and overcome a succession of lies, her 1,000 sisters of Solomon’s court, ‘tabering’ each other their sensual rulership over their husband and king.

Nah 2:7  And Huzzab [make one’s stand] shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering [play a sound {prattling}] upon their breasts.

These are some of the myths of romanticism: that a particular person is unique in inner and outer beauty and intelligence, inciting exquisite feelings of attraction to them and us; that the first few years of sexual curiosity and experimental delights should last forever; and that it should all happen intuitively, without guidance from elders or parents, as their examples are prominent by example, detrimental. We naively believe that we will learn the finer nuances of love along the way, without secrets, in constant company, work and raising a family, we believe, will never impede sexual interest or intensity.

Christ, the Lord of the Old Covenant, inspired Solomon through the holy spirit to critically examine the modern ideals of romantic love and to thoroughly explore what about his wives and his wisdom caused him and the husbands in his kingdom to experience marital discord and bitterness. Because the flesh is highly prone to corruption of body, mind, and spirit, instinctive feelings alone cannot help us hit the mark. Therefore, he endeavoured to create the ‘perfect’ wife (illusory in the flesh) in the Shulamite. In his Song of Songs, a rare few husband-and-wife elects get to enact the Shulamite version, physically and spiritually, in a beautiful way. Still, the rest of the Elect receive only the coveted spiritual version in and with Christ, their husband.

The opposite of love is hate

Perhaps the first yet most significant example of someone’s love contrasted with hate was Jacob’s dispassion for Leah. His hatred for her wasn’t so nasty that he couldn’t fulfill his ‘espousal dues’ (1Co 7:6).

Gen 29:29  And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
Gen 29:30  And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Gen 29:31  And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

Jacob’s love for Rachel and the rivalry with Leah typically embody the positive and negative aspects of lovers’ interactions, evoking potent emotions in both the cast and the audience and creating a volatile atmosphere of romanticism. Since the Bible is about two men, the Old Man and the New Man, paradoxically reconfigured as a Bride, it is one of the most multi-faceted, dramatically romanticised plots ever devised — the Bible’s many tales having inspired playwrights, musicians and poets endlessly for six thousand years.

In continuation of the realities of the contemporary term of the influence of ‘romanticism’ on carnal marriages, and next week, we will continue to review ‘How Romanticism Escalates the Idolisation of Women’, and, essentially, one’s wife.

The Female Idol – Fastened with a Nail

Study 10

Part 1

[Study Aired April 11, 2026]

Deu 4:15  Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Deu 4:16  Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

For anyone other than the Elect of God, to read thus far, in these preliminary reviews of the origins of the Bride of Christ, they all depict an unflattering portrayal of no better description and moral price she pays than that of a whore. Only she understands her God-given worth, recognising that she has relinquished every aspect of herself to acquire that field of buried treasure, the priceless pearl of her Husband’s righteousness to be His Wife. Indeed, it is He who has sacrificed the greatest price of all in redeeming her from among equally flawed humanity, to reflect the sinless path her Lord and Husband has travelled for her to likewise mirror and save her billions of brothers and sisters since Eden.

This study reviews the origin of idol worship, which strangely originated in Eden, due to Adam’s lust for every sensual detail of Eve, representing mankind’s self-proclaimed god-status. So, what is the definition and reason for men’s idolisation of women?

The creation of an idol to worship is generally driven by a deep human need to make the invisible, transcendent, or abstract aspects of life tangible, controllable, and emotionally comforting. It is an act driven by both psychological and emotional motivations, often arising when individuals feel overwhelmed, fearful, or seek a tangible source of meaning, security, and love.

But first, our God’s commands on the veneration of anything substituting Him.

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

And for this study’s purpose:

Deu 4:15  Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude [1. form, image, likeness, representation, semblance] on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Deu 4:16  Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 

As we examine the following five main reasons people adopt an idol, consistently compare them to Adam’s worship of Eve, and highlight how men, especially husbands, invariably worship women and especially wives.

The irony is that wives, and indeed all women, experience a love/hate relationship in wanting to be worshipped, which comes with a sexual price to symbolically pay later in marriage for their youthful paraded appeal (Isa 3). The depiction of sexuality being overly eroticised and saturated in Babylon causes a woman seeking a stable relationship with one man to lose her ‘imprinting’ sexual joy amid numerous hookup experiences. She becomes “old in adulteries”, whereby her “secret parts” are not just discovered by her Lord, but also her husband, who laments the ‘stink’ of a tardy, sexually unresponsive mind, bruised and scarred from old adulteries (Eze 23:43). In a marital match made in an idiomatic hell, she becomes desolate of the desire to minister intimately with her husband. Of course, her image comes with the caveat that she mirrors her husband’s spiritually worse condition, he having facilitated her idolisation to be scripturally ascribed the now considered derogatory term, “whore”.

Isa 3:24  And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
Isa 3:25  Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
Isa 3:26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

In the following primary ways, individuals, characterised by women’s unwavering conviction in the reality of their sensations through sensual experience, consider this to be of greater significance than the long-term outcomes of rational logic, even if they are subsequently ‘deceived.’  I look forward to the post-study discussion, where Body members are inspired by the holy spirit to explore more intriguing realities in the flesh, represented spiritually, than are presented here.

The key emotional motivations for creating and worshipping idols include:

1 The Need for Security and Control (Fear Reduction)

Since leaving Eden, when faced with uncertainty, danger, or the “invisible” nature of a transcendent God, human beings often turn to tangible idols to create a sense of safety. Relief is created from:

Anxiety and Fear: Fear of the unknown or of disasters (such as sickness, famine, or war) can cause people to cling to visible objects or figures that seem stronger than they are, such as idols, wealth, or power. In Adam’s case, the fear of not pleasing Eve and losing his sexual access, and Eve’s patent fear of Adam’s unreliability as her head. Now, creating an inscrutable, chaotic mindset, she feels psychologically stimulated by possessing sensual power over him. However, internally resentfully, she recognises that to have a strong leader guiding her, she needs to satisfy his sensual cravings.

The Illusion of Control: An idol is something a person can see, touch, and move, creating the illusion that they can manage their own fate or manipulate the spirit world into granting blessings, whereas a sovereign, unseen God requires trust and surrender. What a classic description of what Eve’s easy deception concluded, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” – Gen 3:6.

Anxious Attachment: Characterised by women, individuals with a high need for reassurance often turn to idols to feel protected and secure.

2 The Desire for Tangible Connection (Relational Needs)

Human psychology often finds it difficult to relate to a purely abstract or distant deity. Idols provide a “relational presence” that feels closer and more responsive to emotional needs.

Need for Comfort and Soothing: Idols (both ancient and modern) act as intermediaries that make God feel near, personal, and reassuring. Notice that all of these highly emotive feelings originate in the very beautiful Eve that Adam is besotted with, thus injuring him in his privy and stones to which he, too would much rather submit to what is tangible by what he can see, and touch in Eve, that she and he can unmistakably observe in his ravishments—indeed for Eve a fascination, comfort and soothing reassurance later weaponised by the sisterhood for the elevation of her “image”. Rachel’s act of safeguarding her father’s “teraphim,” a household idol, by sitting upon it, close to her privy—especially during her menstrual period—underscores numerous traits associated with idol worship commonly observed among women. Ironically, Rachel’s menstrual blood next to the idol was a double witness against the ritual of her impurity (Gen 31:30-35).

Friendship and Belonging: Modern celebrity or fan worship serves as an emotional escape, offering a sense of companionship and community to combat loneliness.

3 The Need for Meaning, Identity, and Significance

Idols are often created to satisfy the deepest hunger for a purposeful life, value, and meaning.

Self-Exaltation and Value: People may elevate items like success, money, or beauty to the status of an idol, looking to them to feel significant, validated, and worthy.

Filling Voids: Idol worship can be a compensatory mechanism for deficiencies in a person’s life, such as lack of parental love, low self-esteem, or a lack of personal purpose—of course, engendered in Eve by the self-emasculated Adam.

4 Desire for “Easy” Worship or No Constraints

Unlike worshipping a transcendent Creator, who requires moral changes and surrender, idols are often created to fit personal and more easily experienced preferences—typifying an emasculated ‘another Jesus’.

Comfortable Deities: Idols are “silent” and do not impose rules or demands, allowing the worshipper to feel they are in charge of their own lives while still having a “god” on their own terms. There is nothing like a god who doesn’t answer back to condemn one’s actions—and neither does Adam, to Eve, and thereafter in the bedroom do husbands to their wives rulership.

Psa 115:4  Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Psa 115:5  They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
Psa 115:6  They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
Psa 115:7  They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

Avoidance of Disappointment: Real-world relationships and people can be disappointing, leading individuals to project their hopes onto a “perfect” idol that will never reject them.

5 Cultural and Social Conformity

The emotional need to belong can drive people to adopt idols to fit into a group, like 40,000-plus  (physically) mostly Jewish worshipping Christian denominations (Rom 2:28-29).

Imitation: People often adopt the idols of their surrounding culture—such as success, material comfort, or entertainment figures—because it is comforting to follow the crowd, as did Solomon’s harem of 1,000 wives, united in methodologies of marital ministrations, while each, and typical of the polygamous times, cunningly vying for the prestige of being the most loved wife (Gen 29-30, 1 Sam 1, Gen 16, 21).

These highlighted elements definitively indicate the character of idol worship, specifically highlighting men’s veneration of women and wives to their female counterparts’ boudoir’s instrumental advantage.

It is one of God’s most revealing truths that the Orthodox Christian world cannot deeply meditate on the idea that women represent churches. They will passively hear or read it, even have the simplicity explained to them, but they lack the spirit to grasp the topic passionately. And multiple churches, beyond a single church, one faith, and one God, clearly reflect polygamy authorised by Moses because of Israel’s hardened hearts—without the holy spirit fighting against unrestrained lust to possess many wives, satisfying Solomon-like desires for the mind, body, and spirit of different wives or harlots—leading to chaos and endless discontent. Without the authority of a righteous husband to uphold God’s word, and with a wife who honours and respects his God-given authority, unresolved discontent will inevitably arise, tearing apart the unity of mind and spirit, as symbolised by unified sexual union. If such union occurs amidst this disunity of spirit, it is, in essence, lustful and unwholesome.

Mat 19:7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
Mat 19:8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Mat 19:9  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.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Eve, regarded as the mother of all living, was initially captivated by Satan, the originator of questioning the veracity of God’s word. Once the contrary thought is conceived and validated through personal wisdom, represented as gold and silver, an idol of the heart is thereby moulded, beginning within the woman who symbolises the church, thus perpetuating and substantiating Eve’s desire to be wiser than her husband, spawning endless emblematic harlot churches—sustained by all men and husbands as did Adam with Eve standing idylly by since, and initially in Eden, he couldn’t stand the thought of Eve dying, relegating him again to being alone without a helpmeet.

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

Isa 31:7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. 

Accordingly, idols always represent false doctrines, the merchandise of the Great Whore Adam, who effectively ‘pimped’ his wife to the Serpent’s spiritual insemination to be as gods.

But for Christ’s strength alone, his Elect are well conversant with their powerlessness in being able to put to flight the unassailable authority of the Beast, they are. We also know the meaning of the seven heads and ten horns. Consequently, for this study, we will focus on how easily compliant men idolise women, and thus destroy virtuous marital relations; and, yet again, knowing that she represents the Great Whore, the world’s religiosity guides and rules mankind’s governing ideologies, and all because he was the signified first whore.

A Beast that can be ridden and guided along the path its rider skillfully directs is a ‘broken-in’ and subdued animal, doing all its owner’s commands. Paradoxically, the Woman in Rev 13:4 is highly skilled at seducing and taming him to be ridden; notwithstanding, the Beast’s ultimate turning upon her and burning her with fire has parallels with Adam reversing his curse, as does Christ with the Bride.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 17:7  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 

1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

The practice of ‘breaking in horses’ has, in recent years, been replaced by a far better method called “Horse Whispering”, which is much less violent both psychologically and physically to the animal and achieves calm compliance much more quickly. Its principles and methodology, described below, are startlingly parallel to a Whore’s cajoling incitements of a man’s intrinsic lusts and total submission. Many of these methodologies, the everyday Babylonian Christian wife, unaware of their harlot correlations, controls her husband just as skilfully as seen in Eccl 7:23-29. However, when reading the ‘Beast Whispering’ principles below, please remember to juxtapose them with how men and women idolise women.

Key Principles of Horse Whispering Synonymous of Christ’s Spiritual Whispers

Before getting into the attributes of ‘Beast Whispering’, it is worth reviewing a cut and paste from a previous study on “Breasts”, and that of “whispering”.

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and [The incipient Bride was…] were by nature the children of wrath, even as others [remaining in Babylon]. 

H5175 Serpent – 1. Serpent, snake. From 5172 – 1. To practice divination, divine, observe signs, learn by experience, diligently observe, practice fortunetelling, take as an omen a. (Piel) 1. To practice divination 2. To observe the signs or omens. Strong’s: A primitive root; properly to hiss, that is, whisper a (magic) spell [in one’s mind]; generally to prognosticate [Prophesy].

1Sa 10:6  And the spirit of the LORD [H7307 – 1. Wind, breath, mind, spirit a. breath] will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man [first negatively, the father of lies, following, positively, the mind of Christ all whispered in our hearts and minds spiritually].

1Ki 19:11  And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
1Ki 19:12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still [H1827] small voice. 

Still H1851 – 1. whisper, calm, silence. From H1826 – 1. to be silent, be still, wait, be dumb, grow dumb. From H1724 –  1. to astonish, astound.

Small H1851 – 1. thin, small, fine, gaunt. From H1854 –  1. to crush, pulverise, thresh.

From those meanings, we can identify some ways the holy spirit is heard. Like a horse trainer whispering, Christ’s word—just as the Serpent’s was to Eve—is symbolically ‘whispered’ into our ears, into our mind’s hearing, also by sensory, nuanced expressions. Although it is spiritually conceptualised, heard in our mind, it, and like the horse whisperer to the horse, is incredibly powerful in motivation to want to obey the supreme’ horse whisperer’s’ voice, even ‘crushing’ all opposition to change.

Key Principles of Horse Whispering Synonymous with Christ’s Still Small Voice

Non-Verbal Communication:

It heavily relies on body language, tone of voice (often low and hushed), and consistent, subtle cues rather than loud commands or physical force. It is highly denotive, spiritually, that Eve heard the Serpent, the prince of the power of the air, by the terminology scripture used, saying that he “subtly said” the deception to her.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said [H559 –1. to say, speak, utter a. (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one’s heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend] unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Well, how about that? {Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black [Indicative of the Shulamite compared to Solomon’s 1,000 wives] and dark night: Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:} That loudness mostly isn’t verbal, it, and like the allurement of the Babylonian churches, is in what she does in her beguiling walk, highlighted by her attire—if done righteously, we shall see, is a particularly engaging ravishment by the Bride for Christ.

Understanding Horses’, the Beast of Mankind’s Behaviour:

Practitioners study and apply knowledge of horse instincts, their herd mentality, and how they communicate through their senses and body language to better understand and respond to their horses’ needs.

Paraphrased: Women intrinsically study and apply knowledge of Beast-like men’s instincts (including other women’s female instincts, always indicative of churches’ artifices), their herd mentality, and how they communicate through their senses and body language to better understand and respond to their lustful needs.

Building Trust and Respect:

The primary aim is to create a strong bond with the horse, making the horse feel safe and comfortable with the human. In Babylon, her primary aim is to create a strong sensual bond with the man, making him feel safe and comfortable with her machinations.

Calm Confidence:

The human must project a calm, assertive, and confident presence, which horses recognise as effective leadership, avoiding harsh or frightening tactics. How else could the Great Whore gain control of mankind but to insidiously gain control over thousands of years? Consequently, a woman and wife, having learnt subtlety from the Serpent, presents a calm, assertive, and confident demeanour, which paradoxically men and husbands recognise as effective leadership. This approach involves refraining from harsh or intimidating tactics, veiling the humiliation of their sexual prowess.

Positive Reinforcement:

Good behaviour is rewarded, often with gentle touches (like an ear massage), verbal praise, or a tasty treat, thereby strengthening the connection—indicative of carefully managed intimacies by a wife for her restraining advantage.

Pressure and Release:

This technique involves applying gentle, specific pressure to guide the horse, then releasing it as soon as the horse responds, showing the horse that yielding to the pressure results in relief and cooperation.

[This technique involves applying gentle, specific romantic pressure to guide the husband, and then releasing the pressure as soon as he responds consistently, showing him that yielding to the pressure results in relief and cooperation. A parallel to the manipulative adage, “Happy wife, happy life”.

Observation and Listening:

Just as women are innately attuned to nuanced social feelings, a skilled horse whisperer takes the time to observe the horse’s responses, listen to their “vibrations,” and carefully note their physical and emotional cues to understand what the horse needs. It mirrors a woman’s heart like snares and nets for her target man-beast’s sensual need sufficient to subdue him and safely ride.

Goal of Horse Whispering:

The ultimate goal is to achieve willing cooperation and a strong, trusting relationship with the horse, making training easier and helping the horse overcome past negative experiences or trauma.

Of course, while those correlations have startling parallels, they drolly resonate with the substitution of Babylon’s way of a maid with a man. (Pro 30:19)

Fittingly, in keeping with men worshipping women, the ultimate defilement of a man by a woman is his wholesale and richly sensual submission to her, the veritable Queen of Heaven’s Beast-Whispering prowess, riding the gelded docile husband.

Jer 44:17  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 [Bread, food, grain – the brawling female, the church, fights to sustain], and were well [… deceived not sick], and saw no evil. 

A secondary and potent extension to burning incense to the Queen of Heaven, and in offerings of bread, grain and wine, the riches of her sensualities (doctrines), according to the idols of their hearts (Exe 14:1-9), representing Babylonian Christianity’s idolisation of “days, months, times and years” directly represents the idolisation of women. Men are already easily and drearily ensnared by women, but what is of greater importance to her is the endorsement of her standing among other women.

Jer 44:15  Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods [The Queen of Heaven] and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 44:16  As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.

While it isn’t biblically recorded that Israel worshipped the Mesopotamian and Canaanite goddess Inanna, the Queen of Heaven, the Babylonians did so while in the Promised Land. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that the Israelites classically adopted the customs of their Babylonian captors and worshipped her. In fact, the Semitic goddess Astarte is one of many variations of the goddess Inanna.

Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 
Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
Jer 10:4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

No one in Babylon considers the natural heterosexual coital act degrading of their beautifully designed privies. Women who deeply revere their bodies and are energised by the admiration of other women—much more than by any praise from men—share this perspective. For women, it is a man’s privy, the core of his desires, compelling him to validate their intense emotional needs that go beyond physical intimacy. It is her most valued possession (in a negative sense), which she cunningly guards by controlling intimacy in her private space, always close to him but paradoxically distant. For the nominal first five years of marriage, he never wearies himself, hoping to attain her nirvanic pleasure in unity with his—with her hands like bands, a riddle she delays forever, dissociating the inevitability of his discovery of her innate artifices. The Adams of the world, in being fearful of further insulting Eve’s intelligence for her intrinsic schemes, neutered, afraid of naming the condition to be called misogynistic (a hate of women), fix her, nail her in place, her rulership over him, and an idol is born. It is that idol the Shulamite Bride of Christ tears down, and instead, virtuously never wearies herself in searching to understand her Husband, for what ravishes Him!

Rev 14:4  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. 

Isa 40:28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding [Note: Nobody searches, nor can know Christ bar those he chooses; giving power to his Bride to reverse her curse, and worship Him through his kisses unrivalled spiritual arousals]
Isa 40:29  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isa 40:30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 

Men’s indifference to their runaway passion for the female form insidiously destroys their God-given headship over women, and distinctly their wives. Most hormone-driven young men focus their lives on female sensuality, exemplified by Samson, who was a Judge of Israel, symbolising how every husband’s status of headship and authority is invariably weakened by their submission to women’s influence. Whereas the young women today, equally alert in their seemingly perpetual ‘season’ when they choose, yet mostly rationally in control of their arousals, detach themselves more easily and pursue worldly education over passion—at least during the week. Typified by Old Israel for her Lord, and signified by every woman and would-be wife against her husband’s ardour.

Pro 20:29  The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

We are reviewing the meaning of ‘Idol Worship’ and how the day and night worship of women has succeeded every other form of worship by men and women, effectively identifying them both as self-worshipers—worshipers of the flesh, and thus fastening their ‘mark of his name’, the number of the beast by the number 6 (Rev 13:18).

Deu 17:3  And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded.

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

As is the term whore, the term “idol” is not mentioned in scriptures until much later; remembering that just because a thing isn’t mentioned scripturally doesn’t mean it isn’t evident in Adam and Eve’s or our carnal minds since Eden. It is first seen in 1 Kin 15:13, and to the discerning Elect, is manifestly evident in Eden of Adam’s worship of Eve!

1Ki 15:13  And also Maachah his [Jeroboam’s] mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol [H4656] in a grove [Astarte – ‘the Canaanite goddess of fortune and happiness’ – yes, classically seeking her emotional fulfilment]; and Asa [‘healer’, indicative of Christ and Solomon] destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

Idol – H4656 1. horrid thing, horrible thing [doesn’t describe what an idol represents, or does to cause horror] – H6426 – 1. (Hithpael) to shudder, tremble. A terror.

All husbands, soon after marriage, dolefully see that before marriage, they overemphasised their ‘love’, which they didn’t see, or didn’t care, as lust for their wives, a validation that she gratefully pocketed to her advantage. Accordingly, his lust and idolisation of her became a ‘horrid thing’ realised too late for them both! Now, he is ‘terrorised’ by never being sufficient for her sentimental needs—the principle overworked, I know, but, with her ‘hands like bands’ (Ecc 7:26), is the nature of being locked-in to idol worship.

The following scriptures provide a more graphic representation of an “idol”, particularly in reference to worshipping and amplifying in subservience the female phylactery (Mat 23:5).

2Ch 33:7  And he set a carved [graven] image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God…

2Ch 33:15  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD…

Isa 66:3  He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

Zec 11:17  Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

Act 7:41  And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 

1Co 8:4  As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 

1Co 10:19  What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? 
1Co 10:20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 
1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
1Co 10:22  Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

From those verses, we conclude that an “idol” is anything in our hearts that replaces God, thus provoking him to jealousy that we should think that our glorifying and reliance on things are stronger than Him—termed “a horrid thing; abominable”. It first happened in Eden, when Adam effectively bowed before Eve, consciously surrendering to Eve’s ‘well-favoured’ beauty over God’s, signifying her strength over his, and engendering idolised worship. As typified by Adam with Eve in Eden, the harsh reality is that men must be obedient and submissive to female-gifted dominance—accepting her unconditionally, never questioning her fashion choices, supporting her regardless of his authority, and not challenging moral boundaries—undermines his authority and ultimately makes him unattractive, despised, and vastly diminishes his sex and leadership appeal. From that point on, Satan has tricked men and mankind for 7,000 years into loving a flawed human being instead of God.

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. 
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. 
Eze 16:15  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.
Eze 16:16  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.

Deu 7:25  The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
Deu 7:26  Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing. 

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh [For this cause, the worship of women] his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 

Upon Adam’s exile from Eden, having abandoned God as their head, mankind did whatever they thought was right in their minds, emotionally driven by their hearts. Eve, representative of all women, we will see, is the most potent ‘sleeper cell’ like idol embedded in their husbands’ hearts. Because the world outside of Eden was dreadfully dangerous, full of wild predatory animals, poisonous snakes, insects and unseen diseases, not to mention famine, life was tenuous. Women, the weaker vessel, couldn’t escape the reality that to merely survive, they had to have males, and specifically a husband, rule over them (Gen 3:16). To counter that troublesome reality, her most effective tool for maintaining her power was her incredible sensuality, which husbands readily idolise.

As we know, some tribes, through logical reasoning and sensory experience, worshipped the sun because they believed it, not God, was the source of physical life and energy. Whatever various tribes deemed the source of survival and richness, they identified it as their god to appease, be it the sun, fire, volcanoes, fish, dogs, cats, crocodiles, or even other men. If that god wasn’t indulged, it could become displeased and angry, and withhold its ministration—appallingly resemblant of wives in carnal marriages, representing mankind’s petulance towards Christ. Ultimately, clandestinely, it is a power struggle to which all Christ-forsaking self-emasculated men submit to their wives, their temple’s greater authority to be quieted with sensual gifts—as always, representing the Great Whore.

Eze 16:30  How weak is thine heart, [Submitting to one’s wife] saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; 
Eze 16:31  In that thou buildest thine eminent place [Your temple in your wife—a church] 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;
Eze 16:32  But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!
Eze 16:33  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. 

Husbands are always seeking a sensory experience from their wives. Whenever a husband bows to his wife’s imagined authority, he is gifting his authority to her, his idol.

Eze 16:34  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 [to God’s word].

Ezekiel 22:1-31  We Must Know Our Sins

[Study Aired July 1, 2024]

Introduction

Today’s study is about our lives in the churches of this world before Christ came to us to bring us out as He judges us. We must understand that the revelation of the Lord shows us our past, present and future. Our past shows us our lives in Babylon or the churches of this world. A good understanding of our unfaithfulness when we were in the churches of this world is essential to understand what the Lord is currently doing in our lives (judgment) to guide our walk with Him to guarantee our future reward. That is why when the Lord revealed Himself to us through Apostle John on the island of Patmos, He started by letting him know about the depraved condition of the seven churches, which represent the complete church system of this world which we were part of until the Lord came to deliver us. 

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Today’s study principally shows us our sins during our time in Babylon and the imminent judgment of the Lord. The Book of Revelation begins with our sins in the churches of this world before we go through the Lord’s judgment to become saviors of the world. 

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

We Must be Shown Our Sins

Eze 22:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 22:2  Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. 
Eze 22:3  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. 
Eze 22:4  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. 
Eze 22:5  Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. 

Here in verse 2, the Lord is asking Ezekiel a rhetorical question about whether he will judge the people of Israel. Of course, the answer is, “Yes.” Ezekiel represents the Lord’s elect who are going to judge the world. 

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

As we indicated in the previous study, as a prerequisite to being judged, we are required to know our sins. Thus, in verse 3, Ezekiel was required to show the inhabitants of Jerusalem their abominations. This Jerusalem refers to the physical churches of this world or Babylon, of which we were part of during a certain stage of our walk with Christ until the Lord came to deliver us and bring us to the New Jerusalem.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Our sins are what the Lord is seeking as an occasion to come into our lives to judge us.  

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

In verses 3 to 4, the Lord was showing us our sins which are symbolized by the sins of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Our sins specified here involve shedding blood and defiling ourselves with our idols. The verses below show us how we have shed blood and therefore are equally responsible for the death of Christ and His saints. 

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51  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.

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

We may not have physically killed anybody, but shedding blood means hating our brothers and sisters who were sent by the Lord. It also means putting to spiritual death the Lord’s people through false doctrines.

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

Another sin that we were guilty of is defiling ourselves with idols. This involves serving another Jesus which we did while we were in Babylon.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Apart from serving another Jesus, we defile ourselves with idols when we cherish our false doctrines in our heavens more than the truth of the word of the Lord. In this case, our false doctrines become idols of our hearts which prevent us from hearing from the Lord.

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

In verse 4, we are told that our sins have caused our days and years to draw near. That is another way of saying that our sins have given the Lord the opportunity to come and judge us. Again, in verse 4, the Lord is showing us that He has made us a reproach and mocking among the heathens and the countries of the world. As a result, everyone is mocking us, and therefore we are filled with confusion. Indeed, the churches of this world or Babylon of which we were part of have become a reproach and mocking among the nations of this world as a result of their abominations. It is only when Christ comes to us and teaches us to walk in the fear of the Lord that this reproach goes away. 

Neh 5:9  Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?

Eze 22:6  Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone were in thee to their power to shed blood. 
Eze 22:7  In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. 
Eze 22:8  Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
Eze 22:9  In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. 
Eze 22:10  In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. 
Eze 22:11  And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. 

The princes of Israel mentioned in verse 6 refer to us as the Lord’s elect who were guilty of shedding blood during our time in Babylon or Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children. A simplified version of verses 7 to 11 makes the sins we have committed in Babylon clearer:

Eze 22:7  Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 
Eze 22:8  You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 
Eze 22:9  There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 
Eze 22:10  In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 
Eze 22:11  One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. (ESV)

These verses catalog the sins we were guilty of in Babylon as a way of showing us our abominations with the objective of giving the Lord the occasion to intervene in our circumstances through judgment. In verse 7, we are told that we treated our father and mother with contempt. Our father is our Lord Jesus Christ whom we disobeyed by not adhering to the simplicity that is in Christ. Our mother is the church of the firstborns, but we refused to be part of it in favor of the harlot woman. As a result, we became widows and orphans, giving the opportunity for us to be oppressed by the devil through his agents, the false apostles. As shown in verse 8, we end up despising the truth of the words of the Lord (holy things) and do not enter into the Lord’s rest.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

In verse 9, we are told that in Babylon, we slandered to shed blood and we worshiped idols on every mountain. We therefore became sexually immoral. The slander refers to our false doctrines which cause us to hate the Lord’s elect as we regard them as enemies rather than helpers of our walk with Christ. As we are aware, hating our brothers and sisters means murdering them or shedding blood.

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 

Our worship of another Jesus during our time in Babylon is the same as worshiping idols on every mountain. Being sexually immoral means that we had been seduced by the harlot woman or Babylon. Discovering our father’s nakedness in verse 9 means sleeping with our father’s wife which signifies being in bed with the harlot woman. Sleeping with a woman in her menstrual cycle in verse 9 spiritually means to be an accomplice of the death of the Lord’s elect through the harlot woman or the churches of this world which are in bondage to sin. 

Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 
Pro 7:13  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 

Pro 7:18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 
Pro 7:19  For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 

In verse 11, one of our sins is that we committed sexual sins with our neighbor’s wife, our father’s daughter and daughter-in-law. As Jesus Christ made us aware, our neighbor signifies anyone who has received the mercy of the Lord; in other words, our brothers and sisters who have started their walk with Christ.

Luk 10:36  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 
Luk 10:37  And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Committing sexual sins with our neighbors wife or our father’s daughter or our daughter in law are spiritually the same. A father’s daughter is one whom the Lord has shown mercy to and a daughter-in-law is one who belongs to the family of Christ through marriage to Christ. Spiritually, committing sexual sins with any of them amounts to defiling them through false doctrines. As we are aware, it was through the evil words (false doctrines) spoken by Jonadab to Amnon, David’s son that gave him the courage to rape David’s daughter, Tamar. In our time in Babylon, we were like Amnon who defiled our father’s daughter. 

2Sa 13:1  Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her.
2Sa 13:2  And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. 
2Sa 13:3  But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man. 
2Sa 13:4  And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” 
2Sa 13:5  Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” 
2Sa 13:6  So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” 
2Sa 13:11  But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” 
2Sa 13:12  She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. 
2Sa 13:13  As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 
2Sa 13:14  But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.  (ESV)

Eze 22:12  In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. 
Eze 22:13  Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
Eze 22:14  Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. 
Eze 22:15  And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. 
Eze 22:16  And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

Verses 12 to 16 continue with the sins we had committed when we were in Babylon. As stated in verse 12, we took gifts to murder the Lord’s people. Murdering the Lord’s people means making them spiritually dead. This comes about in this case through false teachings which cause us to focus on the things of this world such as the love of money and therefore err from the faith.

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 
1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  

As if that is not enough, we made excessive profits through extortion, and as a result, we forgot about our Lord Jesus. 

2Pe 2:3  And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 

In verses 13 to 15, the Lord is saying that He judges us because of our dishonest gains, which refers to the gains we have made because of our love for money. In verse 14, the Lord is asking us whether our old man will remain strong after His judgment. He answers in the next verse (15) that the Lord’s judgment of our old man shall bring an end to our uncleanness, that is, our old man shall be destroyed. As part of the Lord’s judgment of our old man, we are told in verse 16 that we shall be dishonored in the eyes of the nations (heathen). As we are aware, nobody wants to hear that the Lord has special chosen people. In the eyes of this world, we are dishonored or disregarded as the Lord’s elect. Paul says that we are a fragrance of death to the people of the world or the heathen. This is all part of the judgment of our old man so that we shall not embrace the world. However, to those who know Christ, we are a fragrance of life!

2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 
2Co 2:16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

The House of Israel has Become Dross

Eze 22:17  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 22:18  Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. 
Eze 22:19  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 
Eze 22:20  As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. 
Eze 22:21  Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 
Eze 22:22  As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.  

Verse 18 shows us that the house of Israel has become dross which means refuse according to Strong’s Dictionary. The BDB definition says that dross means moving back or away. What this implies that the house of Israel has moved back or away from the Lord. This house of Israel represents the churches of this world or Babylon of which we were part of until the Lord came to us with His brightness. This is how the Prophet Isaiah was given to describe our situation during our time in the house of Israel:

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken anymore? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

Here in the verses under consideration, our lives are compared to metals which have to be refined to remove the dross or the earthen materials attached to the metals. Refining metals is done through the furnace where the fire of the furnace melts the metal and in the process separates the dirt from the metal. In the liquid state, the melted metal can then be shaped into the required specification of the processor. These verses therefore show us the need to be judged which is represented by the furnace of fire. Just as the furnace of fire destroys the earthen material attached to a metal, the Lord’s judgment or the fire of His wrath or His fury destroys the flesh so that the Lord can make us into another vessel fit for His purpose. 

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Eze 22:23  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 22:24  Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 
Eze 22:25  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

Verse 24 tells us that before we are judged, that is, before the day of the Lord’s indignation, we were like land that is not cleansed or watered. What this implies is that being given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is dependent on being judged. This is consistent with what the Lord told us regarding the fire of the word. Once we are given to know about Christ, we have to face the fire of the word, which is the tribulations and persecutions we go through because of the word we have received. 

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Being like a land that is not cleansed means that although we receive the word of the Lord with joy, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and therefore we become unfruitful. Cleansing of our land is the same as the destruction of our old man which is achieved through the Lord’s judgment. That is when we become fruitful.

Mat 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

In verse 25, we are told that the prophets in the midst of the Lord’s people are like roaring lions devouring their prey, which is the people of the Lord. They devour their prey by taking away the treasure and precious things of the Lord and making them widows. The leaders in the physical churches of this world are like roaring lions devouring the church members. They do so by means of their false doctrines which result in the taking away of the treasure and precious things, which is the truth of the word of the Lord. When you have a wife who does not care about what her husband wants but does whatever she wants because of the false doctrines she has heard, then the husband is technically dead and the wife is a widow. That is what happened to us during our time in Babylon. We were swayed away from the truth of the word of the Lord and therefore ended up becoming disobedient to our husband, Christ. Spiritually, we were like widows as we became worse off through the false teachings we had received. What happened to us is the same as taking the gold and silver or the truth of the word of the Lord that we have received to make images of men with them.

Eze 16:17  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, 

Eze 22:26  Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 
Eze 22:27  Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 
Eze 22:28  And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

As priests of the Lord, we violate the Lord’s teachings because we do not teach the difference between what is holy and unholy, that is, between what is clean and unclean. In other words, the teaching of false doctrines deprives us of the truth, and therefore we see both truth and falsehood alike. As a result, we desecrate the name of the Lord in our midst. These false doctrines prevent us from resting in the Lord as they teach us that we have our own free will and therefore we are responsible for our own actions.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.  

In verse 27, we are likened to wolves hungry for the prey. Apostle Paul warned us that if we do not pay heed to the counsel of the Lord, then we are like wolves who do not spare the flock as we destroy the souls of many who have come to take refuge in Christ for dishonest gains. 

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

In verse 28, we cover our sins by seeing false visions and prophesying lies. Our lifestyle in the churches of this world was characterized by lies as we are deceived by the Lord.  

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

Eze 22:29  The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
Eze 22:30  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 
Eze 22:31  Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

In summary, we were given over to the spirit of oppression during our time in Babylon, and as a result, we were robbed of our crowns as princes of the Lord. All throughout history, the Lord is seeking for those who can stand in the gap to deliver His people from destruction. As shown in verse 30, it is impossible to find such a one in the churches of this world or Babylon. That means that we were found wanting during our time in Babylon, and since we are called and chosen, the Lord has to come to us with His judgment (His indignation or the fire of His wrath) to deliver us to be able to stand in the gap in the fullness of time to deliver all humanity during the lake of fire age. 

Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Amen!!

The Book of Hosea – Part 10, Hosea 10:1-15

[Study Aired June 15, 2024]

This series in Hosea and its foundational theme of all the ‘Minor Prophets’, indeed the entire Bible, indelibly reminds us of our decreasing courtesan ways in this age.

When presenting a study teaching the word of God based on sound doctrine (2Ti 4:1-5), and the primary topic from Genesis to Revelations is principally about marriage and infidelity and the path to devoted faithfulness, our job is to examine the nuances of spiritual unfaithfulness carefully. To me, idiomatically speaking, its overwhelming dominance and sub-themes are ‘quite a meal’ of whoredoms, particularly from the minor prophets designed for us to choke upon its spiritual filth. Look what happened to Israel upon leaving Egypt and then growing weary of manna, which spiritually represents the milk of their Lord’s word that they found nauseating:

Num 11:4  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh [for us, spiritual food/meat] to eat? 
Num 11:5  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 
Num 11:6  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. 
Num 11:7  And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. 
Num 11:8  And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil [… from the manna, they did everything imaginable to rehash and make interesting by the works of their confectionery skills more agreeable “dainties” i.e, meat. Gen 49:20, Psa 141:4, Pro 23:3]. 

Pro 23:1  When thou sittest to eat with a ruler [for this cause, Christ serving up endless whoredoms to digest], consider diligently what is before thee:
Pro 23:2  And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. 
Pro 23:3  Be not desirous of [the Adversary’s] his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

Num 11:9  And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. 
Num 11:10  Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. 
Num 11:11  And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
Num 11:12  Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? 
Num 11:13  Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. 
Num 11:14  I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 
Num 11:15  And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
Num 11:16  And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.
Num 11:17  And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. 
Num 11:18  And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat [… and for us, lots of whoredoms until they run out of our Babylonish noses].
Num 11:19  Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; 
Num 11:20  But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it [whoredoms] be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? 

Throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Covenant, we are warned about our immense tendency to give in to unrighteous lust, almost always to the point of excess, whereupon it becomes unrighteous. As imitators of Christ, it’s important for us to rest on His strength so we can easily cut off our unhealthy desire for sinful things before they become humiliatingly repulsive. 

Yet, we know that our stains of harlotry will not be remembered or mentioned in the increasing Kingdom of God within, which is already at work in Christ’s Christs on earth today.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
1Pe 4:3  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: 

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isa 1:19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 
Isa 1:20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 
2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

In this age, we need to work at not resisting the Holy Spirit’s work within us so that we don’t need to be devoured too frequently by the fiery sword of His word. Should we be designed to resist Christ’s goodness and immerse ourselves in spiritual impurity, then all glory to God for giving us the most perplexing desire our sisters in Babylon would recoil, and that is to receive the Lord’s fiery chastisements for our whoredoms joyfully.

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Isa 30:12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: 
Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. 
Isa 30:14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter’s vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

Let’s continue with Hosea’s “meal of whoredoms” to have Christ’s word hammer our self-righteousnesses to pieces without submitting to our former dull, harlot-like dispassion, to continue to acknowledge her elaborate harlot schemings spiritually within and figuratively tend our wounds with the pot shards of our sweat in remembrance of Job’s mirrored self-righteousness.

Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he [You and I are…] is in thine hand; but save his life. 
Job 2:7  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job [the Body of Christ] with sore boils [and whoredoms] from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 
Job 2:8  And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down [dwelt] among the ashes [When we tend our sore trials, we generally have a lot of time musing them, hopefully not excusing ourselves or accusing others as Job and we are prone to do, but honestly for a righteous and speedy recovery while we dwell among the ashes reflecting upon our prideful lusts]. 
Job 2:9  Then said his wife [Old Jerusalem devoid of spiritual understanding] unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. 
Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips [… but for us, we have to be tuned spiritually to catch our sin!].

In tying in the introduction pertinent to our God-designed intrinsic whoredoms:

Psa 119:165  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Paraphrased for this study’s purpose:  ‘Great peace has the Elect of God ravished by His law, whereby formally being identified as a harlot does not in the least offend them.’ (Why? Subsequently, because of even more intense spiritual ravishing… Son 4:9  Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck). 

The Significations

Hos 10:1  Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. 

In reference to the theme of ‘eternal’ harlotry, no greater ‘emptiness’ is portrayed than a harlot’s understandably avoidance of pregnancy. She, as is Israel and formally us spiritually, is an empty vine with no spiritual fruit of our womb for our Husband’s glory. As Israel graphically sketches conversely, she increases the filth from her womb in doctrinal idols that speak smooth things to her (and our) ears.

Just as whoredoms are endlessly represented in scripture, so, too, are oft-repeated traditionally and falsely understood scriptures. Those 200,000,000 scriptural lies swell the belly of Old Jerusalem’s ‘high walls’ whereby the birthing of her ‘bastard’ children break forth suddenly in her day of reckoning.

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: 
Isa 30:9  [We must think about almost every scripture pointing to us, as individuals spiritually!] That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Isa 30:12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: 
Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

The Canaanite worship of Baal and particularly Asherah, whom Israel eagerly lusted, are gods of fertility that are designed by God to depict Israel’s lewd sensualities vividly; and as always for us, spiritually.

Here are a couple of many negative and positive expressions of our former harlot ways for the creation of the Bride:

Son 8:10  I am a wall, and my breasts like towers [embedded in the walls of Jerusalem, Old and New]: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. 

Rev 21:12  [Regarding the Heavenly Jerusalem] And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 
1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord [God dragging you as he did with Saul, who became Paul] so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a [for this purpose, the harlot woman…] woman with child; and they shall not escape. 
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Following is an interesting and highly reasonable secular deduction if one wishes to look up using AI search for its origins regarding Israel’s carnal view of the Promised Land:

“When the Israelites entered Canaan, they found a land of farmers, not shepherds, as they had been in the wilderness. The land was fertile beyond anything the Hebrew nomads had ever seen. The Canaanites attributed this fertility to their god Baal, and that is where the Israelites problems began. Could the God who had led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness also provide fertile farms in the Promised Land? Or would the fertility god of Canaan have to be honored? Maybe, to be safe, they should worship both Yahweh and Baal.” [end] And they did!

Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 
Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them [Positvely dismayed as the signs of phenomenal physical riches in the Promised Land soundly portraying Canaanite gods as powerful]. 
Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 
Jer 10:4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 
Jer 10:5  They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Jer 10:6  Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

Hos 10:2  Their heart is divided [between worshiping gods of fertility and physical riches and Jehovah]; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. 

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 
Joh 6:64  But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 

Of course, Israel is designed by God to be first to betray him for the equally God-given spiritual observance of our betrayal of Him.

Mar 14:48  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? 
Mar 14:49  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.
Mar 14:50  And they all forsook him, and fled.

Hos 10:3  For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us? 

Historically, it is unwise yet easy to demonise old Israel by shaking our heads at her blindness to remembering their King’s (God’s) infinitely superior power over the Egyptians all the way to the Promised Land and beyond. Yet they still want a wretched physical king to highlight the pride of their power as plainly as the Cannanites have, just as the world today jostles for ruling superiority over her neighbors. 

In Hosea 10:3, Israel is still grizzling sullenly that they don’t have a king since Jehovah destroyed their (Israel’s false) gods and incredibly, and colloquially speaking, “What the heck can you do, Jehovah, more than what our eyes plainly see in the richness of Cannan by them following their gods!?”

Hos 10:4  They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. 

Any farmer looking eagerly for the glorious sight of hundreds of thousands of perfectly formed rows of emerging wheat is severely dispirited and angered when he recognises his arch-enemy weed arrogantly flourishing shoulder to shoulder with his crop. So, too, is Christ if we are fearfully ‘inclusive’ and ‘loving’ to the spiritual tares inevitable challenge to sound doctrine.

Hair is pictured just like the billions of new wheat growth shimmering golden green in the sunlight. Babylon within, formally sees it as loving and inclusive and oblivious to doctrinal lies that automatically deny Christ.

Mat 10:30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
Mat 10:31  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 
Mat 10:32  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Hos 10:5  The inhabitants of Samaria [Directly synonymous of the Northern tribes of Israel] shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven [H205 – idols]: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. 

Classically, Israel always looks back to the physical riches lost. She mourns not having a physical king and wants to be ‘inclusive’ with the inhabitants of Cannan and love them rather than offend them. That is precisely what Babylonian Christianity is doing today in submitting to every whoredom of immorality the powerful Satan-led leaders of the World force enslavement. How? They have even lost the half-light of the Moon pictured as her churches full of blind priests and become equally blind as her modern-day Canaanite slave masters.

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings – and every detail for us, spiritually.

1Sa 8:10  And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
1Sa 8:11  And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
1Sa 8:12  And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

Just look at the multiple millions of men and women conscripted or deceitfully coerced by their governmental slave masters, sending them to ‘endless’ (34 since the Boer War 1899-1902) meat-grinding wars ~ and where is the peace?! Currently, in Ukraine, even 17-year-old girls are being drafted into the military. Absurdly, wars are never designed for peace; rather, more extensive economic slavery through taxes advances the ruling oligarchy’s iron grip ~ for us spiritually, it means ruling over the laity with the distorted meaning of scripture.

1Sa 8:13  And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 
1Sa 8:14  And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 
1Sa 8:15  And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 
1Sa 8:16  And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 
1Sa 8:17  He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 
1Sa 8:18  And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 
1Sa 8:19  Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

If we desire a ruler other than Christ, we always end up with the wrong leader! However, even when they govern unrighteously, we accept their authority, understanding that it is all for our spiritual growth, even in difficult circumstances. The result for them, they will see in the Lake of Fire, is that we submitted to their authority in dreadfully trying circumstances, as long as it didn’t conflict with Christ’s word, and now it is their time to fill up the afflictions of Christ as we did.

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 
Heb 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Heb 13:7  Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 

1Co 7:21  Art thou called being a servant? [Effectively a slave] care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. 

Paradoxically, slavery to Christ IS freedom! There is no ‘freedom of speech’ or other so-called ‘freedoms’ of ‘diversity’ today in God’s kingdom, and that forced realisation in the one-thousand year reign of the rod of iron will no doubt smoulder discontent to be violently activated upon Satan’s short release.

1Co 7:22  For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. 
1Co 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 
1Co 7:24  Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God [… in freedom of unity of spirit never previously experienced]

Hos 10:6  It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. 

Israel being ashamed of his own counsel is exactly what our Lord does to us when we insist on having our pet ‘god’. He will make us vomit for our indulgences and be utterly humiliated if we fail to judge ourselves (1 Co 11:28-34).

Jer 25:26  And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 
Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 
Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. 

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 
1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 
1Co 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 
1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Hos 10:7  As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.

Foam forms mostly from impurities in the water that separate and float with kindred particles. So, too, are party-spirited heretics garnering support for their uncounselled ideologies cut off and wandering from the purity of the Body. They float and congregate like dross on the edges of the Body (figuratively water).

Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying [contradiction; rebellion] of Core [Korah = baldness. Spiritually, not covered by Christ’s word]. 
Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 
Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Hos 10:8  The high places also of Aven [Vanity], the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

‘The mountains covering them’ is directly synonymous with the initially dreadful turmoil in the Lake of Fire, when everyone not in the First Resurrection will, for the first time, ironically want the Christs, the “mountains” and “rocks,” to fall and kill them. Of course, that will be the beginning of their spiritual death while they exist as embryonic spirits.

Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? 

Hos 10:9  O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah [a hill, the embryonic ‘mountain of the Lord directly symbolising a place of war]: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. 
Hos 10:10  It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. 
Hos 10:11  And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. 

For the Elect of God, His chastisement is learned to be a glorious occasion that to her sisters in Babylon is absurd since they believe that they are already saved simply by muttering the iconic ten-second sinner’s prayer. Her preachers directly mean the Priests of God who are more treacherous than Ephraim since they supposedly know their Lord’s truth, plough their spiritual land full of the seeds of tares, thorns and briars, yet, and in the future that is since the cross, Jacob, the Elect of God shall refine her land within; breaking her clods daily in a well-prepared field to produce a bountiful harvest of truth for her, alone.

Therefore, the “two furrows” are self-explained, being Ephraim in the north and Judah in the south. Ephraim, in today’s churches, loves to tread out the corn of her doctrines because she can feed herself with ear-tickling, smooth doctrines that are easy to digest.

Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 
Hos 10:13  Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. 
Hos 10:14  Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people [A great and clamorous noise of Babylonish confusion in Christianity, today], and all thy fortresses [40,000 + Christian denominations and 200,000,000 associated lies Rev 9:16] shall be spoiled, as Shalman [= fire worshipper. King of Assyria] spoiled Betharbel [puzzlingly for Babylon = ‘house of God’s ambush’] in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.

What a climactic ending! Our first father, Satan, and his wife, formally our “mother”, are destroyed along with her children first in the wilderness and ultimately in the Lake of Fire, and…

Hos 10:15  So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.

Therein lies our joy of chastisement spoken earlier; the Bride of Christ is elated to have “Bethel”, the house of God in unity with Christ, destroy her wickedness as He, the Sun/Son of righteousness, rises in the east of Her glorious morning for the new day of God’s eternal kingdom.

[Study Aired June 3, 2024]

Introduction

Today’s study is directed specifically to the Lord’s elect which is symbolized in this chapter as princes of Israel. It focuses on how we all started our walk with Christ basking in the Lord’s provision for our growth. However, we became marred in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ as our old man is attracted to the pull of worldliness signified by Egypt and that of serving the created things instead of our creator. As a result, we became entrapped in worldly pursuit and the worshiping of another Jesus and therefore ended up in Babylon. The study also shows us another scenario where we are likened to vines planted by the waters for our growth. However, we were plucked up by the Lord in His fury and became like a vine planted in the wilderness which is Babylon. As shown in the Book of Jeremiah, we must first be marred in the hands of our maker before we are made into vessels fit for the Lord’s purpose.

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

This chapter therefore shows us our deplorable state in Babylon or the churches of this world after we have been given all that is necessary for our growth in Christ. It shows us how the Lord has shown us mercy in spite of our failures. We must therefore learn to also show mercy in this life to qualify us to be merciful to all humanity in an age to come.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

What is Lamentation?

Eze 19:1  Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

A lamentation is a prayer expressing sorrow, pain or confusion and is a request for God’s mercy. In other words, it is a prayer begging the Lord not to ignore the pain or abandon His people. In verse 1, this prayer is specifically for the princes of Israel. The princes of Israel represent the Lord’s elect during the time of their sojourn in Babylon when we were going through pain or sorrow as a result of our sins and needed the Lord’s intervention. The Book of Psalms and that of Job are filled with a lot of laments by the Lord’s people. The whole Book of Lamentations expressed the suffering and confusion the Lord’s elect went through after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. This is what Habakkuk has to say about the pain that he had gone through and his confidence in the fact that the Lord is merciful and will surely show up in his circumstance. 

Lam 3:19  Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 
Lam 3:20  My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 
Lam 3:21  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 
Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 
Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 
Lam 3:24  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 

Whatever pain we are going through, let’s not lose hope but trust in the Lord’s mercy which never fails. Since this lamentation was given to Ezekiel by the Lord, it expresses the pain the Lord goes through in this life when we do not measure up to His standard. The good news is that the Lord will show mercy to us His elect, the princes of Israel as He intervenes in our circumstances at the right time. 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Our Mother’s Provision for Our Growth

Eze 19:2  And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
Eze 19:3  And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.

In these verses, the Lord is showing us His providential care for His elect through our mother, who represents the church. The church is therefore the lioness who is surrounded by many young lions as she takes care of our formative years in the Lord. The young lions represent evil men (sons of men) influenced by the devil as shown in the following:

Psa 57:4  My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

Jer 2:14  Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? 
Jer 2:15  The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.

The Lord Himself told us that we are like sheep among wolves. Just like our mother taking care of us among young lions, who represent evil men, the wolves also signify evil men under the influence of the devil.

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

Our formative years in the Lord were spent in the churches of this world, which is Babylon. As we can see, our mother raised many whelps. However, if we are called and chosen, then we are the whelps that became a young lion and were taught how to catch the prey as we devoured men. Catching the prey means being given eyes to begin to appreciate the truth of the word of the Lord which would result in the devouring of men, which represents our old man.

The Attraction of the World

Eze 19:4  The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

We need to understand what the nations represent if we are to understand verse 4. Remember that the Lord told Rebekah that two nations were within her, representing two different lifestyles. The older nation is our flesh which initially dominates us until the new man, after the image of Christ, comes on the scene when the Lord comes to us with His brightness.

Gen 25:23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. 

The nations in verse 4 therefore refer to our flesh. In the Bible, the flesh is likened to a bottomless pit. Being taken in their pit in verse 4 therefore means being overcome by the pulls of the flesh. The land of Egypt signifies the world or worldliness. The fact that we are brought in chains to the land of Egypt after we are taken in their pit suggests that being dominated by the flesh is bondage to worldliness or the lust that is in the world. 

1Jn 2:15  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. 
1Jn 2:16  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. 
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. 

These verses also apply to Joseph who was reared among his brothers who hated him. In this case the nations refer to Joseph’s brothers. He was literally taken from a pit in which His brothers put him and was sold in chains to the Midianites who brought him to Egypt as a slave.

Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Gen 37:18  And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 
Gen 37:19  And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 
Gen 37:20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Psa 105:17  He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18  Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 
Psa 105:19  Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.

The good news is that it is out of Egypt the Lord calls us. The mercy of the Lord never fails in spite of our depravity.  Our Lord Jesus Christ was also sent to Egypt because of the threat of the nations, which in this case was King Herod and his cohorts. However, in the fullness of time, he was brought out of Egypt.

Mat 2:13  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 
Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 
Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

As we are aware, the world hates us and does not take kindly to our claim that we are the sons of God.

Psa 2:1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Psa 2:4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

The Rearing of Another Whelp

Eze 19:5  Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. 
Eze 19:6  And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. 
Eze 19:7  And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. 

This second whelp, which was nourished to become a young lion, also represents the Lord’s elect. As indicated earlier, it is Christ through the church (our mother or the lioness) that we are taken care of in the midst of lions, which represent the sons of men who hate us, just like the brothers of Joseph who hated him.

Psa 57:4  My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 

As we are aware, the nation of Israel found itself surrounded by many nations which hated her. Israel was surrounded by the Philistines, Canaanites, Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, etc. These nations represent lions in verse 6. It is in the midst of these lions that the Lord was taking care of the people of Israel to become a strong nation that destroyed its neighbors.  All these nations represent our old man, or the flesh, and we the Lord’s elect are signified by the people of Israel. Learning to catch the prey and devouring men all refers to the gradual destruction of the flesh which comes as a result of the fire of the word of the Lord that we have received. In verse 7, the laying waste of the cities and the desolation of the land all signify the continued destruction of our old man or the flesh within us. 

Verse 7 also shows us how the old man or the flesh is destroyed. It is through the noise of our roaring. This noise of our roaring is the word of the Lord that is likened to fire that destroys the old man or makes the cities and land within us desolate.

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 

Being Brought to Babylon

Eze 19:8  Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. 
Eze 19:9  And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

Physically, the nations that were set against the people of Israel on every side from the provinces were the Canaanites, Ammonites, Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, etc. Spiritually, these nations represent our old man which fights against our spiritual growth in Christ. In verse 8, it is stated that these nations spread their net over the people of Israel. All these nations are characterized by the worship of idols or another Jesus, which is very attractive to our flesh. It is attractive to our flesh because their worship is centered on seeing before believing, which is not based on faith. In other words, the worship of idols or another Jesus relates to man’s wisdom and traditions which do not require walking by faith which is very attractive to the flesh. That is why we put a premium on signs and wonders during our time in Babylon. However, if we are to please the Lord, then we must pay heed to what the Lord told Thomas when He appeared to Him after His resurrection. 

Joh 20:28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 
Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

In verse 8, the spreading of the net of these nations over us, the Lord’s elect, resulting in us being taken in their pit means we end up embracing another Jesus. In other words, the spreading of the net over us is the serpent beguiling us through his subtlety. As a result, our minds become corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

When we read the Bible, one theme that runs through the Old Testament is Israel’s attraction to idolatry. Idolatry is not solely about worshiping statues made of wood, stone or gold. At its core, idolatry is about misplaced worship or devotion. It is about depending on or putting our trust in created things rather than the Creator. We all at a certain point of our lives had been entrapped in a pit of idolatry. First, it starts as an attraction, and then we become involved in idolatry or serving another Jesus. Then we move on to become entrenched in our idolatry or serving another Jesus. At this point, we have exchanged the fair jewels the Lord has given us for the traditions and wisdom of men. 

Eze 16:17  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, 
Eze 16:18  And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. 

Becoming entrenched in serving another Jesus is what is described in verse 9 as being put in chains and brought to the king of Babylon. Putting us in holds such that our voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel in verse 9 means that our stay in Babylon which is symbolized in verse 9 as mountains of Israel is likened to being put into prison where we are blinded and made deaf such that we cannot see or hear or appreciate the truth of the word of the Lord. This is what it means to be captured and brought to the rivers of Babylon or the physical churches of this world where we wept when we remembered Zion or our sweet fellowship with the Lord.

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and cried as we remembered Zion. 
Psa 137:2  We hung our lyres on willow trees. 
Psa 137:3  It was there that those who had captured us demanded that we sing. Those who guarded us wanted us to entertain them. They said, “Sing a song from Zion for us!” 
Psa 137:4  How could we sing the LORD’S song in a foreign land? (GW)

Not being able to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land means that we are not able to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit during our time in Babylon, the strange land.

In summary, verses 5-9 show us how we end up in Babylon after we start our walk with the Lord. Paul, through the Holy Spirit, also gave us a synopsis of our journey to Babylon after we have started with Christ as follows:

Rom 1:18  God’s anger is revealed from heaven against every ungodly and immoral thing people do as they try to suppress the truth by their immoral living. 
Rom 1:19  What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them. 
Rom 1:20  From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. 
Rom 1:21  They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were pointless, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness. 
Rom 1:22  While claiming to be wise, they became fools. 
Rom 1:23  They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for statues that looked like mortal humans, birds, animals, and snakes. 
Rom 1:24  For this reason God allowed their lusts to control them. As a result, they dishonor their bodies by sexual perversion with each other.
Rom 1:25  These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen! (GW)

The Church as a Vine

Eze 19:10  Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. 

Our mother, the church, is likened to a grapevine planted near water, which is the word of the Lord. As a result of the availability of the truth of the word of the Lord, the church is able to bear fruit and produce many children (full of branches). Verse 10 is therefore a rendition of Psalm 1.

Psa 1:1  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 
Psa 1:2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 
Psa 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The church being planted by the waters means that every joint of the body of Christ speaks the truth of the word of the Lord in love which makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Eze 19:11  And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches. 

Because its branches were strong, they were used to make scepters for kings. As we can remember, our Lord Jesus stated that He is the vine, and we are the branches. As long as we are planted by the rivers of water, we grow as branches in the strength of the Lord as we are given the keys of the kingdom of Heaven which prepares us for rulership as kings with Christ. 

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. 

Growing tall with many branches and becoming visible to everyone means that as we continue to grow in Christ, we become like light shining in darkness with our good works becoming visible to men who give glory to our Father in heaven.

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 

Eze 19:12  But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
Eze 19:13  And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. 
Eze 19:14  And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. 

In spite of our growth in Christ, we are plucked up in fury and cast down to the earth. These verses do not give an indication of who plucked us up in fury. However, we know from the Lord’s words that it is the Lord who sends an east wind, and therefore it is the Lord who plucked us up.

Psa 78:26  He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. 

Jer 18:17  I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

Psa 48:7  Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

These verses therefore show us that we were marred in the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ and as a result, He makes us into another vessel fit for His purpose. 

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Our marred state reflects our lives in Babylon or the churches of this world where we were planted in the wilderness (verse 13), in a dry and thirsty environment where we experienced famine of the word of the Lord. As a result, we did not bear fruit. In other words, we could not produce the fruits of the spirit.  Our lives also did not reflect our role as future rulers of the world, and therefore we were not the light of this world. 

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. 
Amo 8:13  In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 

As we said in the beginning of this study, lamentation is a prayer begging the Lord not to ignore our pain or abandon us. In His mercy, the Lord heard our prayer of desperation and came to our aid. Although we were marred in His hands, He has made us again into another vessel fit for His purpose. Amen!!  

1Ki 12:1-33  “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart” – (Pro 3:3)

[Study Aired March 31, 2022]

1Ki 12:1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 
1Ki 12:2  And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) 
1Ki 12:3  That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 
1Ki 12:4  Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 
1Ki 12:5  And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. 
1Ki 12:6  And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
1Ki 12:7  And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 
1Ki 12:8  But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: 
1Ki 12:9  And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? 
1Ki 12:10  And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. 
1Ki 12:11  And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 
1Ki 12:12  So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 
1Ki 12:13  And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; 
1Ki 12:14  And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 
1Ki 12:15  Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 
1Ki 12:16  So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 
1Ki 12:17  But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 
1Ki 12:18  Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 
1Ki 12:19  So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 
1Ki 12:20  And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. 
1Ki 12:21  And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 
1Ki 12:22  But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 
1Ki 12:23  Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 
1Ki 12:24  Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD. 
1Ki 12:25  Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 
1Ki 12:26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 
1Ki 12:27  If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 
1Ki 12:28  Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 
1Ki 12:29  And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 
1Ki 12:30  And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 
1Ki 12:31  And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 
1Ki 12:32  And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 
1Ki 12:33  So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

In our last study the groundwork was laid to show why God was going to tear the nation of Israel apart, as was prophesied by Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the next two chapters the specifics of how this will happen are going to unfold. Rehoboam’s inability to hear the people, “Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD” was caused by the Lord just as Jeroboam’s actions were “devised of his own heart” (1Ki 12:33), whose heart as all men’s hearts are in the Lord’s hand to accomplish His purpose for humanity (Pro 21:1, Eph 1:11).

Pro 21:1  The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. 

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

1Ki 12:1-33  “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: Both Jeroboam and Rehoboam are being used by the Lord to bring about this division of the nation of Israel as the sins of their fathers, Solomon in this case. As a father of the nation of Israel, the sins were visited on the generations that would follow him (Num 14:18, Exo 20:5-6).

Num 14:18  The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 
Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

Jeroboam demonstrates the same spirit as Rehoboam, and Rehoboam shows the same spirit as Jeroboam, telling us that both these carnal kings are all about the power grab and are manipulating the masses to that end as demonstrated in these verses (1Ki 12:31, 13).

Speaking of Jeroboam:

1Ki 12:31  And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi:

Speaking of Rehoboam:

1Ki 12:13  And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him;

The lesson has to be taken inwardly if it is going to be of any value to us today. What we can learn from these two kings is that when Christ is not on the throne of our hearts ruling and reigning as typified by king David (1Ki 11:4), then the body will be divided and brought into captivity (2Ki 17:23, Zec 14:2). When we are blessed to be abased and take the lower seat through Christ, God will be glorified in our life (Mat 23:12, Luk 14:10).

1Ki 11:4  For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 

2Ki 17:23  Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. 

Zec 14:2  For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 

Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Luk 14:10  But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

All of this destruction and manipulation in both kings’ lives represent the powers and principalities we war against in our heavens and fail to overcome until we are chastened and scourged of the Lord and brought back to him with a spirit of obedience (Heb 12:6, Tit 2:11-12). It is only a small little flock on this earth today who understand this concept of God’s grace and how all these stories we are reading about are written for the elect’s sake to demonstrate how we all lose our first love, separating Christ from his body as typified by Judah and Israel being divided and brought into captivity. Our goal then as the body of Christ is to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” Who is not divided (Php 3:14, 1Co 1:13) and has called us to go through a process of overcoming so our hearts can be changed through that process to ultimately bring us to the point where we continue in this life to “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee” as we continue to “bind them about thy neck” and  “write them upon the table of thine heart” (Rev 1:3).

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

1Ki 12:1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 
1Ki 12:2  And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) 
1Ki 12:3  That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 
1Ki 12:4  Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 
1Ki 12:5  And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. 
1Ki 12:6  And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
1Ki 12:7  And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 

What God requires of us is stated this way in Micah 6:8 in order to be kings and priests: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”. This essentially is the counsel that was given to Rehoboam of the “old men” when they spoke these words: “If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever” (Gal 6:2, Mat 23:12, Joh 13:34-35). When we obey the commandments found in Micah 6:8, we can then mortify the deeds of the flesh through our service toward all men, especially unto the household of faith (Gal 6:10), and in so doing overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life so we can then recognize God’s will and fulfill it and abide forever (1Jn 2:16-17).

1Jn 2:16  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. 
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

God calls all men to come and learn to bind about our necks mercy and truth expressed in being doers of the word and not just hearers. Then “shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man” (Pro 3:4). Rehoboam did not humbly receive the instructions of those who were old (1Ki 12:13) who represent the safety that is found in the multitude of counselors (Pro 11:14, Pro 20:18).

1Ki 12:13  And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; 

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

Pro 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war. 

Rehoboam went to a place called Shechem which means ‘shoulder’ or ‘ridge’, and all Israel came to Shechem to make him king. Rehoboam, at this point, expected smooth sailing and that nothing could prevent him from becoming king, but God had other plans by way of Jeroboam who, when he heard of this coronation that was going to take place, presented some terms and conditions stated this way: “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.“

This ‘ridge’ would turn out to be more of a ‘cold shoulder’ that was given to Rehoboam than a warm acceptance, and this all transpired as a result of God having Jeroboam ask the right questions at the right time. The intention of how Rehoboam was going to treat the nation did not manifest immediately. “And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed“, showing that negative process of judgment in play in this wicked king’s heart who was going to make the yoke many times heavier than Solomon. This verse: “And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?” reminds us of Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 where the foolish king does not recognize how this wisdom that was with these elders was the way to preserve the kingdom.

H7927 
she kem
shek-em’

The same as H7926; ridge; Shekem, a place in Palestine: – Shechem.

H7926
shekem
shek-em’

From H7925; the neck (between the shoulders) as the place of burdens; figuratively the spur of a hill: – back, X consent, portion, shoulder.

Ecc 9:13  This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: 
Ecc 9:14  There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: 
Ecc 9:15  Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. 
Ecc 9:16  Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 
Ecc 9:17  The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. 
Ecc 9:18  Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good. 

1Ki 12:8  But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: 
1Ki 12:9  And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? 
1Ki 12:10  And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. 
1Ki 12:11  And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

Rehoboam was going to go where he could get the answer his flesh wanted to hear and “forsook the counsel of the old men.” In type and shadow what was being asked was that the law for the lawless, demonstrated by Solomon’s rule the “heavy yoke“, could be lightened to reflect the joyful burden that we have in the yoke Christ gives us (Mat 11:28-30).

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

There was a big draw in Rehoboam’s heart to go to “the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him” seeing they would readily agree with him and no doubt be profited by this unholy alliance. What was promised was that Rehoboam would chastise the nation of Israel with scorpions which symbolizes false doctrines that would be coming from the false prophets who are likened unto scorpions in God’s word (Isa 9:14-15). Inwardly these scorpions and the rule that Rehoboam has over us at an appointed time is all of the Lord and for the destruction of our old man, as was being typified with these events with the nation of Israel.

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. 
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

Eze 2:6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 

Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 
Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.  

Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 

His friends, which were really a group of foolish companions, were soon going to be destroyed (Pro 13:20) and did exactly what was expected of them: “The young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.” ‘Loins’ in the positive represent where God blesses us to “Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.” So we are being told that the possibility of Rehoboam speaking “good words to them” (1Ki 12:7) which would make for a fruitful nation that was going to multiply was not going to happen. That was because he was leaning unto his own understanding and not honoring “the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase” (Pro 3:9).

1Ki 12:12  So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 
1Ki 12:13  And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; 
1Ki 12:14  And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 

Rehoboam is now emboldened, and the three days that have passed have given him time to establish his perverted judgment he is going to pronounce over the nation of Israel. He “answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him“, and he made it very clear he was going to rule without mercy and truth bound about his neck (Pro 3:3-4). Rehoboam was trusting in his own flesh and this example teaches us that when we lean to our own understanding we will always reap what we sow. That is all we ever can do unless the Lord builds the house within us through much affliction, persecution and tribulation in this life through which He sees us every time, and that makes us stronger in his service (Pro 3:5-8, 2Co 12:8-10).

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 
Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 
Pro 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 

2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 

1Ki 12:15  Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 
1Ki 12:16  So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 
1Ki 12:17  But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 

The prophesied end of the matter was that the king would not hearken to the people “for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat“. All Israel saw that the “king hearkened not unto them” and their concern was expressed this way: “The people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse.” This inheritance, which typifies our inheritance in the saints (Eph 1:18), was extremely important to the nation of Israel, and God put that level of importance in their hearts for our sake. The only viable solution to this wicked king with his unreasonable edicts was to say, “To your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.” That is just another way of saying what is written in Judges 21:25, at least for the time being, until Jeroboam would come along and fill this vacuum as the new king of the northern tribes of Israel which would break off from “the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.” We can also say that both Rehoboam ruling over these cities of Judah and Jeroboam soon to be ruling over the nations of Israel was caused by the Lord “for the cause was from the LORD“, and happened for our sakes as types of our losing our first love and being divided both in our head and in our body, represented by Judah and Israel (Isa 1:3-6).

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 

Jdg 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 

Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 

1Ki 12:18  Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 
1Ki 12:19  So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 
1Ki 12:20  And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. 

Solomon taxed the people of his time (1Ki 10:14-15) and after Rehoboam’s less than inspiring speech to the nation of Israel regarding how much harder he was going to be on everyone, he then sends for Adoram who is “over the tribute“, He then sees Adoram walk into this ugly mob who will stone him and cause Rehoboam to flee to Jerusalem. This was not a one-time rebellion, but as it says: “Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day“, telling us how our flesh is always against the spirit of God and the spirit against the flesh that only Christ in us can rule over (Gal 5:17).

The tribute seems unfair to our old man, and in fact at this stage in our walk, it is a great burden we don’t yet know how to deal with, as God chastens us for our infidelity via Rehoboam who represents those seven worse spirits that possess our temple after Solomon dies (Mat 12:45). Only Christ, who is the strong man, can come and bind these powers and principalities and liberate us with His spirit (Mar 3:27), which happens only after we experience His wrath poured out upon our old man, symbolized by these events that are going to unfold in the nation of Israel which all typify the Israel of God, the church today that is being judged (1Pe 4:17).

1Ki 12:21  And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 
1Ki 12:22  But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 
1Ki 12:23  Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 
1Ki 12:24  Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD. 

Throughout the passages we are reading, we are being reminded that all that was unfolding was “according to the word of the LORD” and that “this thing is from me.” The question for God’s elect is what is this thing God is doing, because we know for certain that it is for our sake (2Co 4:15). God has created this alliance now with the northern ten tribes of Israel that represent our flesh, and the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin that represent our religious man of sin, and these  are against each other. So we read of this prophecy (Rev 17:16) which reveals this same point: “And the ten horns [Israel] which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore [Judah and Benjamin which represent the harlot], and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Thinking spiritually and not physically, Israel is going to try to kill the worship in Judah by establishing false idols: “two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt“. This action of Jeroboam is typical of the beast hating the whore!

Regardless of what was in the heart of Rehoboam who wanted to “fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon“, the word of the Lord, the counsel of God, was going to stand which said, “Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.“

1Ki 12:25  Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 
1Ki 12:26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 
1Ki 12:27  If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 
1Ki 12:28  Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 

On one side we have Rehoboam who, like Peter, wants to take up a sword and take the kingdom through violence (Mat 11:12, Mat 26:52), and on the other side we have the defiled flesh of man, represented by Israel, that just wants to go back to any kind of false worship as long as it can attract the masses to its gates and rule over the laity (Rev 2:14-16).

Mat 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Mat 26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 
Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

A tree is known by its fruit, and the actions of Jeroboam are not going to bless the nation, but in time will put Israel further into an idolatrous state that will eventually lead to their being taken into captivity. God is showing us through these two kings how we operate in our flesh before we are dragged out of Babylon and come to understand that God is sovereign over all the affairs of mankind. There is nothing we can do to change the plans He has determined will unfold for each one of us, not picking up a sword as Rehoboam wanted to do, and not by any other measure, including the false worship that initially trips up all flesh. Our former conversation in this world (Eph 2:1-3) is the same as the king taking counsel that leads to our idolatrous ways being exposed: “Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.“

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

1Ki 12:29  And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 
1Ki 12:30  And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 
1Ki 12:31  And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 

Jeroboam set up these two calves which were witnesses to his idolatrous heart, and one was put in Bethel^H1008 and the other in Dan^H1835 , whose names when put together mean ‘striving against the house of God’. It “became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan“. It was already a sin for Jeroboam to set up these idols, and these evil actions represent the leaven that was going to leaven the whole nation (1Co 15:33, Gal 5:9).

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 

Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 

H1835
dân
dawn

From H1777; judge; Dan, one of the sons of Jacob; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory; likewise a place in Palestine colonized by them: – Dan.

H1777
dı̂yn    dûn
deen, doon

A primitive root (compare H113); to rule; by implication to judge (as umpire); also to strive (as at law): – contend, execute (judgment), judge, minister judgment, plead (the cause), at strife, strive.

H1008
bêyth-‘êl
bayth-ale’

From H1004 and H410; house of God; Beth-El, a place in Palestine: – Beth-el.

Contending with the house of God is all we can do at first until He burns these idols out of our lives. Both kings were self-righteously going about their ways that were bringing the nations further and further away from God. There was nothing but a spirit of wanting to control and rule over the people no matter what the human toll or corrupt means by which this would be obtained, and so we read “he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi“.

1Ki 12:32  And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 
1Ki 12:33  So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

Here is the full-blown counterfeit ways of mankind on display that are “like unto the feast that is in Judah“, or like “another Jesus” (2Co 11:4) accompanied with offerings and sacrifices that he had made, and priests who were placed in the high places that he had made. All idolatrous works “in the month which he had devised of his own heart” demonstrated the disobedient spirit that had Jeroboam in the same bondage we read of king Saul being in 1 Samuel 15:22.

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

It was Jeroboam who “ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense” and although he may have seen these acts as merciful and benevolent in their nature, they were nothing of the sort to God. They bear witness to the truth that neither Jeroboam or Rehoboam, nor any of us in our appointed time, can properly serve God at an altar that glorifies Him, until Christ makes a way for this to happen. The way we can truly  be obedient and pleasing to God is only through our Lord who gives us the power to “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee” as He gives us the strength to “bind them about thy neck” and  “write them upon the table of thine heart” so that we can “find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man”. Christ must judge these wayward kings in our hearts if we are His elect bride, and through that judgment make Judah and Israel one which is the ultimate goal for all of His creation (Eph 2:14, Mar 10:8). Not letting mercy and truth forsake us and having them written upon the table of our heart is what is happening to those who are bound to the altar through the hands of a fit man, Jesus Christ (Psa 118:27, Lev 16:21).

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Mar 10:8  And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 
Mar 10:9  What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: