RETURN OF THE HARLOT WIVES

The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 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. (Jer 3:6-8)

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 3:12)

KEY VERSES: At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.  But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. (Jer 3:17-19)

  In the days of King Josiah, Israel was likened unto a harlot, and Judah her evil sister. God in both cases was the metaphoric “spurned husband.” Israel fornicated with foreign gods without remorse, and Judah copied her ways. Although Josiah, to some degree, took the sisters our of whoredom their love for the foreign “husbands’ still kept the House of God in turmoil.

  The wicked daughter Israel was taken away to distant lands where she played the harlot to many nations; to the extent that the Lord’s “wife” belonged to other lovers. By the time of Jeremiah, wicked “sister” Judah who had copied her older sister, and was about to suffer the same fate.  The eastern Babylonians swept down from the north, and was on the verge of carrying away the second sister as Assyria had the first. The Lord lost His first love and was about to lose His second. The Lord had given Israel a bill of divorce, and Judah was in jeopardy too as the second “wife.”

  The Lord had a failed marriage with both Israel and her “sister” Judah; they both dealt very treacherously with the Lord (Jer 5:11) and denied the Lord as their “husband” (Jer 5:12). On the other hand, the Lord is gracious; he said, “Return, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jer 3:14). There God changes his approach; He once treated the nations as wives, but in their disobedience, as rebellious children.

  The rule for reconciliation for wives who fornicate with other men was clear, but the Lord was gracious to his “wives”: “They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.” (Jer 3:1). The Lord made an exception for Israel and Judah. He would accept them back, but not as wives, but as prodigal “children.”

  Until this century, Israel was dispersed all over the world. “Sister” Judah was taken to a foreign land, but after seventy years a remnant returned. That had to take place because of the Abrahamic Covenant, but the Covenant was not with Judah but all of ISRAEL. How could that be accomplished? God took one wife back – Judah. He needed his first love to whom the Covenant was made. God was prepared and the harlot first love returned centuries later.

  The key verses are surely not about Judah’s return from cohabitating with Assyria, but the return of the first “wife” as well. Holy Matrimony is with one wife, and is forever. The Lord didn’t need or want two “wives.” Others tore asunder the nature of His “wife,” and made her have two personalities: the harlot big sister and her little sister in training.

  My wife and I tease about her two personalities. One is the good wife, and the other her naughty sister. That’s the type of wife Israel was to God – Judah the “good” wife, and Israel, her “evil sister,” but the two identities together were King David’s “wife” – the consolidated nation of Israel.

  The key verses were not to come about soon. In 1948 the two “personalities” of Israel became one, and the Lord’s healed first love returned; the two personalities of His “wife” became one. They returned but remain rebellious to this day. The Lord treats the modern nation of Israel as he would a prodigal child.

  In 1948, Jews from mostly Europe, the eastern block, and Russia returned home. It is likely that many of the lost northern tribes are included among those returning. Israel and Judah have become one “wife” but still as rebellious children.

  Well, in the last days, the haughty children will become much like the meek prodigal son. Israel, the haughty daughter, will be welcomed home with open arms just as the father welcomed home his prodigal son! “Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me,” as the last key verse indicates. God will not have his wives returned, but His family will be, but as repentant children! That time has not yet arrived, but will before the end:

And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 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. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.  (Rev 14:3-5).

  Note that from Revelation 7:4 that it is not 144,000 from some of the tribes of Israel, but from ALL the tribes of Israel. They will sing a new song before God’s Throne. From the key verse of Jeremiah, we read that “At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord.” You see, Jeremiah had a vision of the harlot belonging to Babylon born again as the virgin Israel where the Lord would be reconciled with his “wife.” It will be a different relationship in that his rebellious wives will become as the little children, as is written, “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.” His Throne will be in the City of God called New Jerusalem, and it will return to its foundation at Jerusalem (Rev 21)!

  And now you know how Peyton Place in Israel will become a Recovery House for crippled children who are made to walk again in the Way of the Lord:

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. (Jer 6:16)