EXAMINE YOUR MARITAL STATUS. Part.1
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one LORD. (Deuteronomy 6:4)
Jesus said to her, Go call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that sadist thou truly. (John 4:16-18)
Marriage was instituted in heaven. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone. He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and then took a side of his ribs to form Eve. They were to multiply and be fruitful but according to GOD’s divine plan. Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God. The serpent came and beguiles Eve. As a result of the fall the strong bond Adam and Eve had with God was destroyed and Cain and Abel were born. Abel whose father was Adam who was a son of God had the divine revelation and offered Yahweh the right sacrifice in worship. But his brother Cain lacked the revelation though he also tried to worship God.
God. He felt jealous because God did not accept his offering and killed his Brother Abel.
“And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. (Gen.4:25, 26)
The revelation of the one true God did continue in the generations of the Sethites. But when they started to intermarry with the Cainites the world became polluted and the revelation and true worship of Yahweh was compromised. The world was in complete darkness spiritually except for one man Noah who was perfect in his generation. God told him to build an ark and sent a flood to destroy the world which only eight souls were saved. Shem, Ham and Japheth from whom the world overspread had the serpentine nature and a bad relationship with Yahweh without a clear revelation of Him. But God would visit the family of Terah an idol worshipper and a descendant of Shem to call his son Abram in order to restore the revelation and to make a family for Himself and changed his name to Abraham. God called Abraham His friend but had a plan for the grand children of Abraham through Israel for a marriage relationship.
Marital status is any of several distinct options that describe a person’s relationship with a significant other. Married, single, divorced, and widowed are examples of civil status (Wikipedia) The word Separated is also added in some definitions. One can simply say the term marital status is the condition of being married or unmarried.
What is your marital status? We all fall in either one of the above categories naturally. However, we are going to be talking on it on spiritual terms. Marriage is the relationship that exists between a husband and a wife. The physical biblical principle of marriage applies to people of opposite sex and polygamy was started by Lamech (Genesis 4:19) But it was not so in the beginning. People have different concepts about marriage. There are people who believe the couple is married in the eyes of God when the physical union is consummated through sexual intercourse. There are others who believe the couple is married in the eyes of God when the couple has a legal document and others believe the couple is married in the eyes of God after they have participated in a formal religious wedding ceremony. All these are important prerequisite for a good Marriage. As physical marriage is consummated through sexual intercourse, so too is our marriage with God consummated in Word and Spirit.
While marriage is thought by some people to be mainly a legal contract or agreement to unite people together, spiritual marriage goes beyond that. The problem with marriage today, and the reason for so many separations and divorces, is the absence of a spiritual marriage with the Lord before even the physical union. Many times people are caught up in romantic affairs and without a proper understanding of the person and without prayer they jump in to marriage. When the time comes to blend their life styles as they start to live together, there is an expression of doubts among themselves and sometimes sorrow and anger begins to arise.
Marriage today is most often based on conditional love. If something happens to affect that condition the relationship is affected. We know many of those vanities that turn to affect relationships. However, if the couple first had a spiritual marriage with Christ before having their physical marriage, such a marriage will stand the test of times. The couple will always be revived in the fountain of Christ’s love. Spiritual marriage is based on unconditional love. I choose to love, cherish and honor you no matter what until death do us part is not just a routine phrase but binding for true believers. How a man can choose a woman in this whole wide world, marry her and she became his wife, is a reflection of how Christ has chosen a bride and having a marriage with her.
The Call of Abraham:
The call of Abraham was the beginning of a family who will be called the children of God. Abraham dwelt in Mesopotamia in Ur of the Chaldeans before he moved to Haran and finally to the land of Canaan. God appeared to him in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran.
“Brethren and father listen, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran and said to him ‘get out of your country and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you” (Acts7:2-3)
Abraham had the vision in Mesopotamia and will have to obey the call. It must not have been easy for him considering the false religion of astrology which began at babel and was practiced all over Mesopotamia. In fact, his own father Terah, worshipped pagan gods. “And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods” (Joshua 24)
Mr. Terah took his son Abram, Lot his grandson, and Sarai his son Abram’s wife from the land of the Chaldeans to settle in Haran. It is not explained about his motivation, although some speculate it could be as a result of his son’s call to go to the land of Canaan – but they came to Haran and dwelt there. Abram will leave Haran at the age of 75 to obey the voice he had heard. He departed as the Lord had spoken to him and he took his wife Sarai, Lot his brother’s son and all their possessions, and they journeyed to the land of Canaan. There, Abram separated from his uncle Lot after strife between their herdsmen.
“The Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give thee” (Genesis 13:14-17)
The world was in complete darkness again spiritually after the flood. God was about to bring in light by revealing Himself through one man – Abram. God will later change his name to Abraham. And from his seed will be born children of light and the nations will be blessed. With a father who worshiped idols and moving from city to city dedicated to pagan gods, Abraham was not raised in the best of environments spiritually. But God revealed Himself to Abraham many times and the one true God was known and a true worship was established. It was when Abraham left Haran for Canaan to fulfill God’s plan, his life became meaningful and his contact with God regular. The life of Abraham takes a good portion of the book of Genesis – Genesis 11-28. The name also appears in other books and as a hero among others in the faith hall of fame in Hebrews chapter 11. However, little is known about his early life. We don’t know how old he was when God first appeared to him but we meet him again when he was already 75 years old leaving Haran for Canaan. He has heard the voices of the false gods of Ur and Haran but he did not confuse them with the voice of God. It must have listened carefully and attentively, and the difference was clear. There are certainly many voices today and many hear the voice of mystery Babylon and others hear the voices of other gods. But the seed of Abraham will hear the voice of God to come out from manmade traditions to the living word.
In Genesis 3:15, God made a promise that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. The calling of Abraham was God’s plan to fulfil that promise. It was the beginning of the plan of redemption. The Apostle Paul tells us that the gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham when God told him, all nations will be blessed through you:
“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Galatians 3:8)
Abraham had a faith relationship with God. He was not given the law. It can be said that Grace existed before the Law. But the covenant of circumcision was introduced by God. However, this covenant which involve the shedding of blood was a prefiguration of the blood of Jesus Christ which will be shed for the remission of sins. It was pointing to blood of Jesus Christ not to the Law.
Abraham did not need the Law. He was already justified by faith. But his descendants won’t have that kind of faith in God. They will become so rebellious. It was hard for many of them to reverence God and, to know how do the right unless it was written down.
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (Gal. 3:24-25)
Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. (Gen. 17: 9-11)
Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. He was called the friend of God. Abraham was one hundred years old and his wife ninety when he gave them a son – Isaac. Abraham now has an heir and the revelation of true worship was passed on to him. He grew up in the fellowship of Yahweh and God appeared to him as he appeared to his father Abraham.
“And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake” (Gen 26:24)
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife. They had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob and his Brother Jacob became the heir of salvation. God changed his name from Jacob to Israel.
“And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land” (Genesis 35:9-2)
Exodus:
Jacob had twelve sons. But the number of his descendants had multiplied to seventy when they travel to Egypt according to the promise and blessing to him– be fruitful and multiply. His son Joseph was already in Egypt.
“These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them” (Exodus 1:1-7)
The Lord God was multiplying His family. They will not be a people without a good knowledge of Yahweh like their surrounding pagan nations who lived in complete darkness spiritually. However, even in a house of full light, all corners may not be lit equally. Joseph saw dreams and was envied by his Brothers. The sons of Jacob became Jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to the Ishmaelites and lied to their father, Jacob that an animal may have killed him.
Joseph was taken to Egypt and was bought by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh the King of Egypt. But, the Lord was with Joseph. He was accused falsely, locked up in prison but the King got him out to interpret his dreams. And when Joseph interpreted the dreams, the King made him ruler of all the land of Egypt, and the man next to Pharaoh. The time came and Pharaoh’s dreams were fulfilled. (cf. Gen. 41: 1-36)
There was famine in the lands except for Egypt and Joseph Brothers came to buy corn to take to Canaan. They will all be surprise, shocked and afraid when Joseph reveals himself to them that he was the Governor of the land of Egypt. However, he told them not to be afraid but to go and tell their father the good news that he is still alive. They family of Joseph will all move to Egypt were there was plenty of food and the King gave them the land of Goshen to dwell in.
The children of Israel had lived in Egypt for over 400 years and there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. They lived and multiply but are placed in bondage by the Egyptians, and Pharaoh sought to destroy the sons born to the Hebrew women. Moses is born at this time to Levite parents. To save the infant Moses, his mother made a little vessel of papyrus waterproofed with asphalt and pitch. She placed Moses in the vessel, floating among the reeds on the bank of river Nile. The child was found and adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh. But first, the child will be handed back to her mother by God’s providence to be taught by her in his earliest years to grow up founded in the faith of his fathers. He was then brought up in the royal court as prince of the Egyptians.
“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22)
It came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens and spied and Egyptian smiting a Hebrew and when he looked around and saw nobody, killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He went out again the next day but this time he saw two Hebrew men fighting. He tried advice the one who was wrong, not to smite his Brother. But the one said to him, “who has made you a prince and a judge over us?” He asked him if he wanted to kill him too as he killed the Egyptian. Moses was afraid and said; “surely what he did must have spread.” When Pharaoh heard about it he wanted to kill Moses but he fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian.
The Lord appeared to Moses at the burning bush and called him to deliver Israel from bondage. The Lord identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses and his Brother Aaron went to meet Pharaoh to ask him to set the children free so that they can go and worship the Lord. But Pharaoh was adamant and responded, “who is the Lord?” He instead went and placed greater burdens upon the children of Israel. The Lord God reacted by multiplying signs and wonders in Egypt. Aaron’s rod became a serpent.
So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. (Exodus. 7:10-13)
Let us for a moment try to examine Pharaoh’s temple. It is clear that the Egyptians had many gods. It was a pagan nation with all kind of mystics. They made human sacrifices and made offerings to the dead. It is said that domestic servants were buried alive with their masters. The system was demonic to the core. The Egyptians believed their pharaoh to be the mediator between the gods and the world of men.
The Egyptians believed the gods lived in the temples. Only the priest was allowed to enter the sacred area of the temple and approach the statue representing the god or goddess. The people could pray at the gate or in the court to the Pharaoh who acted as a go-between the people and the gods. [History Link 101]
But there is one think that is for sure. Although these temples had statues as gods the places were not devoid of spirits. There were demonic powers in these places. You can be overwhelmed by all the magic that may have been performed in Egypt. The magicians, soothsayers, wise men, philosophers all had a common respect and worship for their gods. They believe they also had something to boast about. When Moses threw his down his rode and it turned into a snake, and the men at Pharaoh’s court also threw theirs and did the same thing. Where do you think that power is coming from? Of course from the devil the worship in their temples. The deities represented natural forces and Phenomena, and the Egyptians supported and appeased them through offerings and rituals so that these forces would continue to function according to divine order. They claimed. But how much power did they have? Of course they were demonic spirits they worshipped in their temples. The devil has power. But a true believer has power over him through Christ. Satan has a way of deceiving people. He can convince people to worship a dead tree by possessing it with his evil presence for people to believe it is alive. The Egyptian Pyramids were constructed as tombs for pharaohs and monarchs and are thus a symbol of power and luxury. There was some amount of super natural powers the Egyptians must have seen as well as the Israelites in Egypt. But God had to send plagues to the nations to declare that He created the heavens and the earth; to send a Message to His chosen people. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one LORD.
The Lord turned the river in to blood as Pharaoh continues to resist to set the children of Israel free. The Lord Sends plagues of frogs, lice, flies upon the land of Egypt but Pharaoh still hardens his heart. The Lord destroys the cattle of the Egyptians, but not of the Israelites. He sends Boils to afflict the Egyptians, hail and fire upon the people of Pharaoh, but not upon the people of Israel. The Lord sends a plague of locusts and followed by darkness in the land of Egypt for three days. And the darkness was followed by death. The Lord went in the land of Egypt at midnight and killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians both man and beasts. There was cry all over Egypt and deliverance came for Israel:
“And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone, and bless me also” (Exodus 12:30-32)
Pharaoh asked for a blessing but he was not sincere. After the Israelites departed from Egypt, he went with his armies to pursue them to bring them back to Egypt. The children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold the Egyptians marched after them. In front of them was the red sea and behind them was Pharaoh, his horses and chariots, his horsemen and his army and they were sore afraid.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea” (Exodus: 14:1516)
Why cry? Speak. We may not have with us Moses and Aaron leading and holding the rod. But we have Jesus. Yes, we have someone greater. Even we Christians cry a lot in front of adversities but it is instead better to speak to Jesus. He will deliver you from the raging storms and you will walk on dry land. The Israelites walked on dry land in the midst of the sea; and waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. The Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and horsemen. The waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after the Israelites.
“Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore” (Exodus 14:30)
This was the first Exodus. God sent a prophet to take a people out from Egypt to Canaan. Exodus means going out or departure, usually, of a large number of people. In the second Exodus, He sent His son, Jesus Christ, God-Prophet. The gospel of salvation is preached believers receive the Holy Spirit and are raise up to sit in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus. The third Exodus will come in the rapture to take us right back into the Eternal Land of the Millennium and the Eternal Age. God has also sent a prophet with a message to prepare the people for the third Exodus. The first Exodus was natural but the second and third will be spiritual.
God’s Covenant at Mount Sinai:
If the descendants of Jacob that went to Egypt were seventy and they lived in Egypt for 420 years, then you can imagine the population that left Egypt after they were set free from bondage. It is also make clear from scriptures that even during the times the Egyptians subjected them to hard labor for them to die to reduce their number, they instead multiply. Some Bible teachers estimate the population of the Israelites who left Egypt to be as much as two million. However, we cannot confirm this number from scriptures but the word of God is certain about the multiplication of Abraham seed. I am here talking of his natural seed and not yet the Spiritual seed. The mighty hand of the Lord that brought the people of Israel out of Egypt was revered by the Israelites. They sang a song of triumph and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went after her with timbrels and with dances. It was a moment of rejoicing for what Yahweh has done. The people witnessed signs and wonders, countless of miracles performed by the authority of Yahweh to bring them out of Egypt.
“In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day they entered into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount”. (Exodus 19:1-2)
And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel (Exodus 19:3-6)
The Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel at mount Sinai which they promised to keep. However, they trembled when God was speaking to them and told Moses to speak to them on God’s behalf and they will listen. The Lord ratifies the covenant and told Moses to come to the mount and gave him the two tables of stone in which He has written the commandments for Moses to teach the children of Israel – to keep the law. This was followed by a code of secular laws and a description of the Tent House (Sanctuary) and the Ark of the Covenant – God’s dwelling place among His people. The Lord also gave laws of service and worship of special importance to the Tribe of Levi – the tribe ordained for priests. The seriousness of sin in God’s sight, the necessity for atonement, the holiness of God, and the indispensability of a mediator between God and man is brought into focus to the children. All a foreshadow to the New Testament church.
The Book of Numbers tells us only the men that were twenty years and above, before leaving Mount Sinai numbered to, six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty (Numbers 1:45-46) The population of the children of Israel kept increasing according to God’s promise to Abraham. There were God’s chosen people. A people whom God has spoken to, Written to and appeared to in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. They have truly seen His omnipotence. And the finger of the Lord wrote it down: “You shall have no other gods but me” (Exodus 20:2-6). And they promised to keep the covenant the Lord made with them.
Certificate of Divorce:
But the Journey to the Egypt to Canaan was not an easy one for Moses as the leader of the children of Israel. In just above three months’ journey to Mount Sinai, the Israelites instructed Aaron to make a bull calve for them to worship because Moses delayed on the mountain of Sinai. They wanted a god to take them to the land of Canaan. When Moses came down from the mountain, he was very angry, took the golden calve and destroyed it. Moses had to deal with anger through much of his life. In anger he killed an Egyptian. In anger he broke the tablets written by the finger of God. In anger he did strike the rock God commanded him to speak to. This last display of anger made him not to enter the promise land. Israel’s idolatry and unbelief was so great that most of them perish in the wilderness. However, God allowed Caleb, Joshua and the young ones to enter the promised land of Canaan; it was truly a land flowing with milk and honey. In Joshua’s time, much of the land of Canaan was brought under the control of the Israelites. The Israelites settled on their various portion of the land allotted to them by Joshua. Joshua told the children of Israel who made it to the promise land, not to follow the footsteps of their fathers who perished in the wilderness because of unbelief but to serve the Lord.
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwelt: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:14-15)
Joshua died and also all that generations were gathered unto their fathers. There arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done in Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and serve Baalim. “And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and serve Baal and Ashtaroth.” (Judges 2:12-13) The Israelites were attracted to, and worship the gods of the people around them. The land of Canaan which they had a great portion under their control as are result of the conquests of Joshua was filled with all kinds of gods. The gods were worship for different reasons. Baal for example was the name of a supreme god worshipped in ancient Canaan. He was the god of fertility. Baal means lord and the plural is baalim. The Canaanites attributed the fertility of the land of Canaan to god Baal. This was a doctrine that was palatable to the Israelites. The children of Israel thought to play it safe; they should worship both; Yahweh and Baal.
The Lord had instructed the Israelites to pay attention, and not to forget the things they have seen. And not to disregard them for the rest of their lives. They were instructed to teach their children and grandchildren. It seems as if the fathers may not have done a good job to teach their children about Yahweh or the children were highly influenced by the tradition around them. A large portion of the Land of Canaan was under the control of the Hebrew children in the time of Joshua and the Lord God should have instead been the supreme God throughout the land, if the fathers taught the children and the children obeyed.
But Baal was the supreme god worshipped by most of the people throughout the land of Canaan and it was a battle in the minds and hearts of the Hebrew children who thought it was safer to worship both Yahweh and Baal. It seems as if there was poor evangelism among the Hebrew Children who could have taken the advantage they had when Joshua conquered the Land to spread the Message of Yahweh. Instead many of them backslid. The fertility of the land of Canaan was attributed to the gods. Yes, different regions worship Baal in different ways and emphasized one or another of his attributes and developed special denominations of Baalism. Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:3) and Baal-Berith (Judges 8:33) are two examples of the localized deities of baalim.
Under the kings, the spiritual battle of who to worship continued. By the time of Ahab and Jezebel, the fertility cults appeared to have the official sanction of the leaders of Israel. Ahab, with the support of his wife, Jezebel, built a temple to Baal at its capital – Samaria. All the while, God will send Prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremy to arise up early and warn the people of Israel but to no avail.
The children of Israel gathered wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink offerings unto other gods and when the Prophet Jeremiah confronted them about it, this is what they had to say:
“But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well” (Jeremiah 44:17)
The children of Israel had wandered upon every high hill and under every green tree playing the harlot with foreign gods. It was time for the Lord to issue a certificate of divorce. Both Israel and Judah were married to pagan gods. “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.” (Jeremiah 3:8)
Restoration:
Abraham was a friend of God. The Lord God wanted even a more intimate relationship with his seed – the children of Israel. The marriage between Israel and God did not work out as she kept on committing fornication and playing harlotry with foreign gods. God does not need an adulterous wife. It took the Assyrian destruction of Israel and the Babylonian Captivity of Judah to convince the Israelites the God to worship. But after 70 years, the Lord brought His people out of the Babylonian captivity to restore them back to their land. Nehemiah and Ezra to helped the people to build the temple and the spiritual condition of the people. Israel examines her marital status and tries to be a faithful wife to Yahweh. But she will still not be sincere. But the Lord is merciful. He kept sending prophets to warn Israel, telling her to be faithful to her vows. Examine your marital status!
