Good Morning.

Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice. (Exodus 34:15)

There are very important biblical concepts to consider in this verse. First of all, notice that God uses the phrase “play the harlot” to describe His people going after other gods. This underscores the notion that He sees His people as a bride, and as such, they are to be faithful to Him exclusively. To embrace other ideologies and religious practices is akin to infidelity on the part of His wife and, essentially, amounts to mingling His Seed (His Word) with that of their other lovers. In other words, to mingle the philosophies of this world with the truth of His Word is “playing the harlot.”

The woman who rides the Beast (Revelation 17) is described as being a “harlot” and, at the same time, it is inferred, by use of the Greek gune (“woman”), that she is wed to someone. That she is presumably married to one while committing fornication with “the kings of the earth” is to say that she has mingled the seed of her husband with that of her other lovers, thus the moniker “harlot.” Furthermore, the wine of her fornication — the fruit of her infidelity — has negatively influenced the nations of the world.

In short, the reason God warned His people about consorting with the inhabitants of the land was that He knew what would happen if they did — they would abandon Him for their gods. In other words, it wasn’t about race, language or culture per se but about the destructive nature their beliefs. It was true then and it remains true now; as followers of Messiah, we are not to entertain the philosophies of this world as being helpful to our life. To the contrary, they are quite destructive and should be avoided.

We are to receive His Seed (His Word) as the only and final authority on what is right and what is wrong. In this way, we are preparing ourselves to be joined to our Bridegroom. So then, let us pursue the purity and righteousness found in His Word and may we always produce an abundance of good fruit.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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