If you clicked on this article in response to a title that some might even find 'offensive', you already have part of the answer.
But only the first part. And only the tip of the iceberg. And that leads to the 'Rest of the Story.'
The rest of that story leads to more questions. Questions that some reading this far may already know the answers to, but also questions that you are simply NOT supposed to ask! Which at least is more of an answer to the 'headline question.'
So let's start there. And note, in the process, that how this plays out depends entirely on whether you know what Scripture actually SAYS about polygyny*, that form of marriage in which a man may have more than one wife, or not. And if you are not already familiar with that easily provable fact, that, too, is another clue.
The point of this article is not to prove the, at least in hindsight, obvious. It is to examine the CONSEQUENCES, and thus even the motives, for the Deception. Because that directly impacts how we walk, from this point forward.
For many who have begun to study what the Bible really says about marriage, perhaps the most shocking discovery, at least initially, is that a man having more than one wife is NEVER, anywhere, prohibited in Scripture. (And claims to the contrary are, at best, bad translation; at worst, they make the point in the title.) In fact, there are places (at least three that this author can demonstrate) where it may be required.
But the story hasn't yet even come to a middle. Perhaps an even more telling argument from Scripture is, 'if polygyny is a 'sin' in the Bible, then, why, oh, why, would God Himself EVER even use a metaphor like that to DESCRIBE Himself?' Not just once, if fact, but through at least two prophetic witnesses?
Many readers here will already know that answer, too: YHVH self-describes as the husband of two wives, variously described as "Ahola and Aholabah," Israel, the northern kingdom and Judah the southern, after the split following the ,reign of King Solomon, Samaria and Jerusalem, and even by repeated references to the lines of their respective kings, Ephraim and Judah/David. The stories appear in Jeremiah chapter 3, and Ezekiel chapter 23, but the references literally permeate all of Scripture.
And that, too, is a BIG part of the answer. And also the offense. Because He called BOTH of those two kingdoms unfaithful, adulterous/idolatrous, and yes, harlots, or, in the modern vernacular, "whores." And the reasons He outlines are downright graphic. But they certainly make the point.
For those reasons, both 'whoring wives' were sent into exile, or "put away" -- exactly as first prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy -- and then scattered, where we still remain, "throughout the nations." Both history and the Bible make clear that the descendants of that northern kingdom, often referred to as the "ten lost tribes," later become what is often also known as the 'gentile church,' which sometimes claimed various titles that imply "universal," and even ONLY (which, again, points to the answer to That Question) while the southern kingdom clearly evolved into what now is generally thought of as 'rabbinic Judaism.' In both cases, the reader will no doubt be able to cite other 'common descriptors' as well...but more on that shortly.
What has been described is also commonly referred to by those who understand the Biblical history as "the two houses." (There are, not surprisingly, other metaphors as well; Ezekiel in chapter 37 also gave us the 'two sticks' prophecy, but, more importantly, what WILL happen - eventually. And that, too, is a big part of the 'rest of the story.' As is, why it hasn't happened YET.)
Which takes us full-circle, at least for now.
An honest reading of the stories of the Two Whoring Wives, Ephraim and Judah, or, yes - the Whore Church, and the Whore Synagogue - leads directly to the conclusion that Scripture shows is undeniable: BOTH are guilty of idolatry (equivalent to spiritual adultery) and BOTH remain in exile, 'for cause.' (The northern branch, the Whore Church, was even given a 'certificate of divorce,' but that is another, even deeper, study. And, yes, part of another set of questions...)
And it's the "why" behind THOSE questions that inevitably follow which lead to the Bigger Answer to that Title Question.
If the 'Whore Church' is still in exile, and not worthy of being the "One True Bride of Christ," where does that lead? To a whole lot of other questions that answer the rest of that question, "WHY?"
And THOSE are the questions that must not be asked! Because they begin to explain why Ezekiel's Two Sticks are not yet "echad," or unified, in His Hand!
The prophet Jeremiah put it this way, in another set of questions that so many who are beginning to "return to Me," as He implored the Whore Church repeatedly in chapter 3, are now asking: Will we continue to "make gods" for ourselves that "are not gods?"
If we begin to question the lies we have been told about marriage, and the lie that 'there can be only one,' but it turns out NOT to be YHVH, the Author of Scripture, then what else have we been lied to about?
It turns out that there are SO many other lies, things that have divided those 'two houses,' literally for centuries, that will demand answers, and lead to still other unthinkable questions, that it's no wonder the "Whore Church" doesn't want them asked.**
"O YHVH, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles ['goyim,' others, nations, lost tribes] shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." - Jeremiah 16:19
And they'll start asking questions, too!
-----------------------------------
* Not to be confused with 'polygymy', a misnomer. Because that too-general term also includes forms of marriage explicitly forbidden by Scripture, notable 'polyandry,' under the same broad, thus confusing umbrella. The Bible makes clear that a woman must have a single husband, or the result is called 'adultery' instead.
** There's another simple, but disparate, answer to the question, 'Why does the Whore Church fear polygyny' that merits mention, here, too -- but it's the subject of another article: POWER. After the Roman Church realized that a great way to nip threats to its 'church-state empire' in the bud was to prohibit the biggest threat to that power - the priests themselves, and family dynasties they might produce - from marriage at all, the next obvious step, less than a century later, was to prohibit the form of family dynasty that produced the wealth and power of the Twelve Tribes of Jacob/Israel themselves: polygyny.
But that answer, too, points us back to the same Bigger Story, and questions that Must Not Be Asked.
This article appeared first in the "Come out of her, My people," Ministry website, at www.markniwot.com
But only the first part. And only the tip of the iceberg. And that leads to the 'Rest of the Story.'
The rest of that story leads to more questions. Questions that some reading this far may already know the answers to, but also questions that you are simply NOT supposed to ask! Which at least is more of an answer to the 'headline question.'
So let's start there. And note, in the process, that how this plays out depends entirely on whether you know what Scripture actually SAYS about polygyny*, that form of marriage in which a man may have more than one wife, or not. And if you are not already familiar with that easily provable fact, that, too, is another clue.
The point of this article is not to prove the, at least in hindsight, obvious. It is to examine the CONSEQUENCES, and thus even the motives, for the Deception. Because that directly impacts how we walk, from this point forward.
For many who have begun to study what the Bible really says about marriage, perhaps the most shocking discovery, at least initially, is that a man having more than one wife is NEVER, anywhere, prohibited in Scripture. (And claims to the contrary are, at best, bad translation; at worst, they make the point in the title.) In fact, there are places (at least three that this author can demonstrate) where it may be required.
But the story hasn't yet even come to a middle. Perhaps an even more telling argument from Scripture is, 'if polygyny is a 'sin' in the Bible, then, why, oh, why, would God Himself EVER even use a metaphor like that to DESCRIBE Himself?' Not just once, if fact, but through at least two prophetic witnesses?
Many readers here will already know that answer, too: YHVH self-describes as the husband of two wives, variously described as "Ahola and Aholabah," Israel, the northern kingdom and Judah the southern, after the split following the ,reign of King Solomon, Samaria and Jerusalem, and even by repeated references to the lines of their respective kings, Ephraim and Judah/David. The stories appear in Jeremiah chapter 3, and Ezekiel chapter 23, but the references literally permeate all of Scripture.
And that, too, is a BIG part of the answer. And also the offense. Because He called BOTH of those two kingdoms unfaithful, adulterous/idolatrous, and yes, harlots, or, in the modern vernacular, "whores." And the reasons He outlines are downright graphic. But they certainly make the point.
For those reasons, both 'whoring wives' were sent into exile, or "put away" -- exactly as first prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy -- and then scattered, where we still remain, "throughout the nations." Both history and the Bible make clear that the descendants of that northern kingdom, often referred to as the "ten lost tribes," later become what is often also known as the 'gentile church,' which sometimes claimed various titles that imply "universal," and even ONLY (which, again, points to the answer to That Question) while the southern kingdom clearly evolved into what now is generally thought of as 'rabbinic Judaism.' In both cases, the reader will no doubt be able to cite other 'common descriptors' as well...but more on that shortly.
What has been described is also commonly referred to by those who understand the Biblical history as "the two houses." (There are, not surprisingly, other metaphors as well; Ezekiel in chapter 37 also gave us the 'two sticks' prophecy, but, more importantly, what WILL happen - eventually. And that, too, is a big part of the 'rest of the story.' As is, why it hasn't happened YET.)
Which takes us full-circle, at least for now.
An honest reading of the stories of the Two Whoring Wives, Ephraim and Judah, or, yes - the Whore Church, and the Whore Synagogue - leads directly to the conclusion that Scripture shows is undeniable: BOTH are guilty of idolatry (equivalent to spiritual adultery) and BOTH remain in exile, 'for cause.' (The northern branch, the Whore Church, was even given a 'certificate of divorce,' but that is another, even deeper, study. And, yes, part of another set of questions...)
And it's the "why" behind THOSE questions that inevitably follow which lead to the Bigger Answer to that Title Question.
If the 'Whore Church' is still in exile, and not worthy of being the "One True Bride of Christ," where does that lead? To a whole lot of other questions that answer the rest of that question, "WHY?"
And THOSE are the questions that must not be asked! Because they begin to explain why Ezekiel's Two Sticks are not yet "echad," or unified, in His Hand!
The prophet Jeremiah put it this way, in another set of questions that so many who are beginning to "return to Me," as He implored the Whore Church repeatedly in chapter 3, are now asking: Will we continue to "make gods" for ourselves that "are not gods?"
If we begin to question the lies we have been told about marriage, and the lie that 'there can be only one,' but it turns out NOT to be YHVH, the Author of Scripture, then what else have we been lied to about?
It turns out that there are SO many other lies, things that have divided those 'two houses,' literally for centuries, that will demand answers, and lead to still other unthinkable questions, that it's no wonder the "Whore Church" doesn't want them asked.**
"O YHVH, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles ['goyim,' others, nations, lost tribes] shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." - Jeremiah 16:19
And they'll start asking questions, too!
-----------------------------------
* Not to be confused with 'polygymy', a misnomer. Because that too-general term also includes forms of marriage explicitly forbidden by Scripture, notable 'polyandry,' under the same broad, thus confusing umbrella. The Bible makes clear that a woman must have a single husband, or the result is called 'adultery' instead.
** There's another simple, but disparate, answer to the question, 'Why does the Whore Church fear polygyny' that merits mention, here, too -- but it's the subject of another article: POWER. After the Roman Church realized that a great way to nip threats to its 'church-state empire' in the bud was to prohibit the biggest threat to that power - the priests themselves, and family dynasties they might produce - from marriage at all, the next obvious step, less than a century later, was to prohibit the form of family dynasty that produced the wealth and power of the Twelve Tribes of Jacob/Israel themselves: polygyny.
But that answer, too, points us back to the same Bigger Story, and questions that Must Not Be Asked.
This article appeared first in the "Come out of her, My people," Ministry website, at www.markniwot.com
