The Harlot or the Bride?
by
Bob Hall
Since the time of Sarah and Hagar, two women have been in God’s house. The temptation is to create children after the flesh instead by the Spirit, a temptation unfortunately Abraham fell into. To this day the problem still has not been resolved over that mistake. The fighting in Israel today dates back to Ishmael and Isaac. Eventually, Abraham separated the two women and the child of the flesh from the child of promise. The two women and their sons are always eventually separated after hard lessons have been learned.
When Jesus came the first time, once again two streams or women were in God’s house. Some were hungry hearts who gladly accepted Him and His message, and others were those who eventually cried out, “Crucify him!” The Lord separated his bride from those spiritual adulterers before returning to Heaven. He took away the authority of those Sadducees and Pharisees and gave it to a rag-tag group of nobodies. He bypassed the religious system of His day and created the New Testament church.
The Pharisees and Sadducees had their doctrines wrapped so tight concerning the coming of the Messiah there was no room for adjusting mistakes. They decided to kill Him rather than to change their traditions and cherished false doctrines. Do you think possibly the end-time church could miss it in a similar way? Or do you think there could be no human error in the end-time doctrines of the church, and therefore the Lord MUST return according to our understanding of Scriptures? What if He doesn’t? Will the religious system try to kill Him again?
Because Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the end is always similar to the beginning. Once again the church leaders all have their doctrines worked out about how He is going to return. Although the many camps do not agree with each other, they are all convinced they are the ones who are right. The fact that already things are not going according to their end-time doctrines does not seem to faze them. For, once a doctrine is established on the end-times and embraced by a people, usually God Himself is not even free to change it, at least in their minds. So when God begins to implement His end-time plan, many will miss it again, just like they did the first time He came. That statement alone is against many people’s end-time doctrine, for they are convinced there is no way they could miss it. When the established harlot church system begins to persecute God’s called-out bride because she is jealous and ignorant, the harlot will think she is doing God a favor. Likewise Saul (later Paul) and the Pharisees thought they were doing God a favor by persecuting the New Testament church.
Once again two women are in God’s house, the harlot and the bride. God has already begun the separating – calling out to his true bride, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). The harlot is too blind and drunk (on false doctrines and the pleasures of the world) to see she is a harlot, dreaming the bridegroom is still coming back for her. Just in case she has any doubts about it, she has her end-time doctrines and false prophets and pastors to prove she is right. Or she can go to a bookstore and pick up a book written by a Babylonian prophet to comfort her.
Many churches have come out of Egypt. Historically, all of the Israelites made it out of Egypt. But not many Israelites ever made it out of Babylon. They were too comfortable there. Many churches and people today will never make it out of Babylon either. The spirit of Babylon is the spirit of the world with all of its lures and pleasures. Since the church has been doing things according to the ways of the world for so long, it has now “sanctified” and incorporated those ways. The last thing she could ever see is that she is really the harlot of Babylon. She could never imagine that she would be bypassed like the first century Pharisee system. Many Christian leaders and authors have made money from the American Gospel Enterprise. They would have much to lose if we ever got back to New Testament Christianity. They have too much vested interest in the Babylonian system, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
Another type we can examine to explain what the Lord is doing in this hour is Saul and David. The traditional church system is like Saul doing things his way instead of the Lord’s way. Scripture tells us Saul was a head taller than anyone else (1 Sam..9:2). Like many Christian leaders today, his head or headship was preeminent, not the Lord’s. He didn’t inquire of the Lord before acting like David did. The prophetic word came forth that the kingdom was being taken from Saul and given to David. However, Saul did not give up his throne, even after the word from the Lord. He jealously fought to stay in power and continually threw spears at David either literally or by his words. Eventually, his flesh ran out of self-power, and the Philistines conquered him in battle. They cut off Saul’s big head and Israel lost their man-head. But God had already poured his holy anointing oil on a another not-so-prominent head, who only wanted the Lord as his head. He would lead Israel as a shepherd king, inquiring of the Lord every step of the way, and implement God’s government God’s way. He was not his own head. He was the Lord’s under-shepherd, the man after God’s heart, not men’s.
I believe the allotted time for doing things man’s ways is running out for the church. Hosea 6:2 says, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence.” Since a day is a thousand years to the Lord, we have entered into that third day of which Hosea speaks. God is going to begin to restore the fallen tabernacle of David. Now the Spirit is calling those out of the false Babylonian system to start rebuilding the ancient ruins. However, as the David company begins to leave, the Saul system will become very jealous that it is losing control over the sheep, even though they have never truly shepherded them and have been fleecing them the whole time. The Saul system will accuse the David company of usurping his throne, when in fact his time is up and he is usurping David’s. Saul will begin to throw spears at the David company. Wherever possible, it will make use of the worldly government to persecute them. In other words, the harlot will ride the back of the beast to try to harm the called-out bride. The beast is the worldly governments whose methods she has incorporated to do church. This is the same thing the harlot Pharisee religious system did in the first century. She got Rome to crucify the Lord and then to persecute the bride of the Lamb. History has a way of repeating itself. Once again the harlot is going to ride the beast to accomplish her unrighteous goals; but as did Rome, the end-time government will also turn on the harlot and kill her. This will be her reward for receiving favors from the beast for all her harlotries – death.
Ezekiel goes on to say that God will place over them David as their shepherd and the Lord will be their God. Most people hold this David to be the Lord. Others believe it will be a man in the end-time whom God will raise up. Regardless of who it will be, Jeremiah makes clear God will raise up many shepherds after His heart who will shepherd the flock as He would, and not for financial gain. “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In those days, when the numbers have increased greatly in the land, declares the Lord, men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord. And all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord” (Jer. 3:15-17). Obviously, this is in an end-time setting. A time is coming when God will replace most of the current shepherds. God has already prepared many “Davids” after his heart. Most of them were run out of the institutional church by spear point a long time ago. God has had to prepare them while they bore reproach “outside the camp” like their Lord. The new shepherds will replace the old ones and prepare God’s true end-time bride, without selfish motives.
In the book of Esther, Vashti, the former bride, was replaced by a bride more humble, more beautiful, and more pleasing to the king. Vahsti was too busy and significant in the courts of Babylon to do such menial things as come into the king’s presence. In contrast to Vashti’s attitude, Esther was willing to risk her life to come into the king’s presence. “If I perish, I perish,” she said. Mordecai was God’s David of the time. Mordecai had prepared Esther outside the palace of pomp and prestige of Babylon. Her beauty was not just external; it was inner beauty and character. The king could not resist her. She didn’t need to take a bunch of religious baggage into the king’s presence; she brought herself. “When the turn came for Esther (the girl Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested” (Es. 2:15). Her goal was to please the king with herself, not with things the other women took into his presence.
The current harlot church system has become as obsolete and defiled in our day as the Catholic church had become in Martin Luther’s day. It has become an old wineskin. Many pastors are going to be dismayed, wondering why people are leaving their churches in the next couple of years. They will think to themselves, I did everything I knew to do. Being part of the old wineskin, God is not able to pour His new end-time wine into them or their church system. They would not be able to receive it. Although some of the old guard will be willing to be changed and be used, most are too stiff-necked. Rheumatism has set in. Their wineskin would explode and the new wine would be wasted. The old system is too rigid with man-made structure, doctrines, and traditions to be flexible enough for the new wine. Rigor mortis has set in. Therefore, the Lord is pouring the new wine into the structure and leadership of an entirely new wineskin. The new wineskin can expand with the true doctrines of the end time and other revelations and graces the bridegroom wants to pour into it. He saved the best, most powerful wine for the end. If it is currently available in the church system, it is not His best. That’s the cheap stuff (Jn. 2:10).
About 4000 years ago, two women were in Abraham’s house that had to be separated before Abraham and his child could go on. Paul tells us those two women represent the true Zion and the Jerusalem of the flesh (see Gal. 4). Then, 2000 years later, again two women were in God’s house. Jesus separated his bride from a false Pharisaical system. Now, another 2000 years later, again two women are in the same house. One is riding the beast; the other will be persecuted by it. Once again a separation is beginning. God is calling his true bride out of another false Babylonian system. One woman will go to the marriage feast of the Lamb. The other will go to her destruction. One woman loves the things and pleasures of this world; the other “Did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Rev. 12:11b). Which group will you be a part of, the harlot or the bride?
by
Bob Hall
Since the time of Sarah and Hagar, two women have been in God’s house. The temptation is to create children after the flesh instead by the Spirit, a temptation unfortunately Abraham fell into. To this day the problem still has not been resolved over that mistake. The fighting in Israel today dates back to Ishmael and Isaac. Eventually, Abraham separated the two women and the child of the flesh from the child of promise. The two women and their sons are always eventually separated after hard lessons have been learned.
When Jesus came the first time, once again two streams or women were in God’s house. Some were hungry hearts who gladly accepted Him and His message, and others were those who eventually cried out, “Crucify him!” The Lord separated his bride from those spiritual adulterers before returning to Heaven. He took away the authority of those Sadducees and Pharisees and gave it to a rag-tag group of nobodies. He bypassed the religious system of His day and created the New Testament church.
The Pharisees and Sadducees had their doctrines wrapped so tight concerning the coming of the Messiah there was no room for adjusting mistakes. They decided to kill Him rather than to change their traditions and cherished false doctrines. Do you think possibly the end-time church could miss it in a similar way? Or do you think there could be no human error in the end-time doctrines of the church, and therefore the Lord MUST return according to our understanding of Scriptures? What if He doesn’t? Will the religious system try to kill Him again?
Because Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the end is always similar to the beginning. Once again the church leaders all have their doctrines worked out about how He is going to return. Although the many camps do not agree with each other, they are all convinced they are the ones who are right. The fact that already things are not going according to their end-time doctrines does not seem to faze them. For, once a doctrine is established on the end-times and embraced by a people, usually God Himself is not even free to change it, at least in their minds. So when God begins to implement His end-time plan, many will miss it again, just like they did the first time He came. That statement alone is against many people’s end-time doctrine, for they are convinced there is no way they could miss it. When the established harlot church system begins to persecute God’s called-out bride because she is jealous and ignorant, the harlot will think she is doing God a favor. Likewise Saul (later Paul) and the Pharisees thought they were doing God a favor by persecuting the New Testament church.
Once again two women are in God’s house, the harlot and the bride. God has already begun the separating – calling out to his true bride, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). The harlot is too blind and drunk (on false doctrines and the pleasures of the world) to see she is a harlot, dreaming the bridegroom is still coming back for her. Just in case she has any doubts about it, she has her end-time doctrines and false prophets and pastors to prove she is right. Or she can go to a bookstore and pick up a book written by a Babylonian prophet to comfort her.
Many churches have come out of Egypt. Historically, all of the Israelites made it out of Egypt. But not many Israelites ever made it out of Babylon. They were too comfortable there. Many churches and people today will never make it out of Babylon either. The spirit of Babylon is the spirit of the world with all of its lures and pleasures. Since the church has been doing things according to the ways of the world for so long, it has now “sanctified” and incorporated those ways. The last thing she could ever see is that she is really the harlot of Babylon. She could never imagine that she would be bypassed like the first century Pharisee system. Many Christian leaders and authors have made money from the American Gospel Enterprise. They would have much to lose if we ever got back to New Testament Christianity. They have too much vested interest in the Babylonian system, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
Another type we can examine to explain what the Lord is doing in this hour is Saul and David. The traditional church system is like Saul doing things his way instead of the Lord’s way. Scripture tells us Saul was a head taller than anyone else (1 Sam..9:2). Like many Christian leaders today, his head or headship was preeminent, not the Lord’s. He didn’t inquire of the Lord before acting like David did. The prophetic word came forth that the kingdom was being taken from Saul and given to David. However, Saul did not give up his throne, even after the word from the Lord. He jealously fought to stay in power and continually threw spears at David either literally or by his words. Eventually, his flesh ran out of self-power, and the Philistines conquered him in battle. They cut off Saul’s big head and Israel lost their man-head. But God had already poured his holy anointing oil on a another not-so-prominent head, who only wanted the Lord as his head. He would lead Israel as a shepherd king, inquiring of the Lord every step of the way, and implement God’s government God’s way. He was not his own head. He was the Lord’s under-shepherd, the man after God’s heart, not men’s.
I believe the allotted time for doing things man’s ways is running out for the church. Hosea 6:2 says, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence.” Since a day is a thousand years to the Lord, we have entered into that third day of which Hosea speaks. God is going to begin to restore the fallen tabernacle of David. Now the Spirit is calling those out of the false Babylonian system to start rebuilding the ancient ruins. However, as the David company begins to leave, the Saul system will become very jealous that it is losing control over the sheep, even though they have never truly shepherded them and have been fleecing them the whole time. The Saul system will accuse the David company of usurping his throne, when in fact his time is up and he is usurping David’s. Saul will begin to throw spears at the David company. Wherever possible, it will make use of the worldly government to persecute them. In other words, the harlot will ride the back of the beast to try to harm the called-out bride. The beast is the worldly governments whose methods she has incorporated to do church. This is the same thing the harlot Pharisee religious system did in the first century. She got Rome to crucify the Lord and then to persecute the bride of the Lamb. History has a way of repeating itself. Once again the harlot is going to ride the beast to accomplish her unrighteous goals; but as did Rome, the end-time government will also turn on the harlot and kill her. This will be her reward for receiving favors from the beast for all her harlotries – death.
Ezekiel goes on to say that God will place over them David as their shepherd and the Lord will be their God. Most people hold this David to be the Lord. Others believe it will be a man in the end-time whom God will raise up. Regardless of who it will be, Jeremiah makes clear God will raise up many shepherds after His heart who will shepherd the flock as He would, and not for financial gain. “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In those days, when the numbers have increased greatly in the land, declares the Lord, men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord. And all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord” (Jer. 3:15-17). Obviously, this is in an end-time setting. A time is coming when God will replace most of the current shepherds. God has already prepared many “Davids” after his heart. Most of them were run out of the institutional church by spear point a long time ago. God has had to prepare them while they bore reproach “outside the camp” like their Lord. The new shepherds will replace the old ones and prepare God’s true end-time bride, without selfish motives.
In the book of Esther, Vashti, the former bride, was replaced by a bride more humble, more beautiful, and more pleasing to the king. Vahsti was too busy and significant in the courts of Babylon to do such menial things as come into the king’s presence. In contrast to Vashti’s attitude, Esther was willing to risk her life to come into the king’s presence. “If I perish, I perish,” she said. Mordecai was God’s David of the time. Mordecai had prepared Esther outside the palace of pomp and prestige of Babylon. Her beauty was not just external; it was inner beauty and character. The king could not resist her. She didn’t need to take a bunch of religious baggage into the king’s presence; she brought herself. “When the turn came for Esther (the girl Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested” (Es. 2:15). Her goal was to please the king with herself, not with things the other women took into his presence.
The current harlot church system has become as obsolete and defiled in our day as the Catholic church had become in Martin Luther’s day. It has become an old wineskin. Many pastors are going to be dismayed, wondering why people are leaving their churches in the next couple of years. They will think to themselves, I did everything I knew to do. Being part of the old wineskin, God is not able to pour His new end-time wine into them or their church system. They would not be able to receive it. Although some of the old guard will be willing to be changed and be used, most are too stiff-necked. Rheumatism has set in. Their wineskin would explode and the new wine would be wasted. The old system is too rigid with man-made structure, doctrines, and traditions to be flexible enough for the new wine. Rigor mortis has set in. Therefore, the Lord is pouring the new wine into the structure and leadership of an entirely new wineskin. The new wineskin can expand with the true doctrines of the end time and other revelations and graces the bridegroom wants to pour into it. He saved the best, most powerful wine for the end. If it is currently available in the church system, it is not His best. That’s the cheap stuff (Jn. 2:10).
About 4000 years ago, two women were in Abraham’s house that had to be separated before Abraham and his child could go on. Paul tells us those two women represent the true Zion and the Jerusalem of the flesh (see Gal. 4). Then, 2000 years later, again two women were in God’s house. Jesus separated his bride from a false Pharisaical system. Now, another 2000 years later, again two women are in the same house. One is riding the beast; the other will be persecuted by it. Once again a separation is beginning. God is calling his true bride out of another false Babylonian system. One woman will go to the marriage feast of the Lamb. The other will go to her destruction. One woman loves the things and pleasures of this world; the other “Did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Rev. 12:11b). Which group will you be a part of, the harlot or the bride?
RSS Feed
