August 2021

Harlotry Condemned

harlotry

“Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. You also played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied.

“How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord God, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.

“You erected your shrine at the head of every road, and built your high place in every street. Yet you were not like a harlot, because you scorned payment. You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband. Men make payment to all harlots, but you made your payments to all your lovers, and [c]hired them to come to you from all around for your harlotry. You are the opposite of other women in your harlotry, because no one solicited you to be a harlot. In that you gave payment but no payment was given you, therefore you are the opposite.” — Ezekiel 16:27-34

Men, shrines and “high places” of worship had been erected to various false deities all over Jerusalem. The Lord has called Israel “harlot” and testifies against them. Israel has taken on the deities of the Egyptians, Philistines, Assyrians, and even pursued as far as the Chaldeans, and was still unsatisfied.

The Lord goes on further, saying, Israel was not like other harlots. Other harlots expected something for their services. Israel has given herself away and paid handsomely to be taken advantage of. They will be handed over in part, to the Philistines, who were disturbed at how lewd Israel had become.

Time, and time again, God had delivered Israel from the hand of the neighboring nations that the current generation of this time had simply given herself over to. Israel’s ancestors fought to keep herself pure from these false religions, but now, they chase other gods.

America once fought a world empire for religious freedom, to worship the 1 true God without interference from the state. Today, any religion is accepted except worship of the Lord God. In our appetite for distractions, comforts, tolerance and our piece of the pie, America has forsaken God except for a token of appreciation on Sunday by a remnant.

We too are harlots. We were given a land, and we’ve handed it over to China for cheap gadgets, the Arabs for cheap oil, and Hollywood for our insatiable request for unGodliness. We have given away personal freedom to other nations and lay as harlots on a bed of debt. Convenience and ease has become our god, and the trap has been sprung.

Move forward, men. America has committed sins, and is being called to repentance. What will you do? Who will rescue us from ourselves but the Lord our God through repentance and personal responsibility.

Vance Durrance

Harlotry

harlotry

“Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter, that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire? And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.”

“Then it was so, after all your wickedness —‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God — “that you also built for yourself a shrine, and made a high place for yourself in every street. You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry. You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger.” — Ezekiel 16:20-26.

Men, Israel has played the harlot with deities of neighboring lands. Worse, Israel has sacrificed her sons and daughters, who should have been raised in the ways of the Lord God, by having them “pass through the fire.” In other words, Israel has taken their children and killed them by burning them in ritual worship to false deities. Israel has built shrines on every street and even played the harlot with Egypt. Not so many generations before, God had delivered Israel from the Egyptians, and made them His people, now they’ve turned back voluntarily to pursue Egypt’s gods.

We would like to think that horrors and indiscretions as these could never happen in our time. We may not consider it worship, but millions of aborted babies “pass through the fire” of incinerators without a thought or care. We may not call it worship, but very real false deities are still getting their sacrifices. Convenience seems to be the image the Lord is conveying as He references shrines on every street. We might say we’re doing well since we have a church on every street. Perhaps so, but we carry access to the shrines of our hearts in our pockets. If we begin to define worship and harlotry as the Lord does, we may find ourselves convicted by what we place emphasis upon, or apply time and energy to.

Yes, we’ve made harlotry more convenient than ever. We can search, copy and paste, send links, and share/ like our harlotry with multitudes a few clicks. We can even upload pictures, reviews and mark the locations of our harlotry with GPS coordinates. Whatever offenses we have committed, the Lord God welcomes us back through repentance.

Many may consider God harsh to judge with such a heavy hand. We may do well to consider how much horror from humanities hand it takes to compel God’s hand to move in judgment.

Move forward men, repenting on behalf of our nation. What have we made convenient in our lives? Would God consider you and me a harlot by the actions He sees us engaged in?

Vance Durrance

False Prophets

“Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace — and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar — say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’ ”

Therefore thus says the Lord God: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it. So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

“Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ ” says the Lord God. — Ezekiel 13:10-16.

Men, the Lord has turned His attention to the false prophets of Israel, who prophesy from their own hearts what God has not spoken. The Lord likens these false prophets to builders who construct walls without reinforcement materials. Some translations use the term “untempered mortar”, others use “plaster” or “white-wash”.

Many structures in this time were built with stone or mud brick and then covered with this plaster compound to smooth the surface. A wall built from plaster alone would have an appearance of soundness, but lack structural integrity. God says He is sending a storm against the false prophets facade. The unfortified walls of false prophecy would come crashing down, offering no shelter from the Lord’s storm of judgment.

Furthermore, these false prophets would be called to account by the people (v12). These false prophets were offering the people false assurance, deceiving them into believing all was well when in fact, their condition had become sinful and dire. It should be noted here, the people were not given a pass on their sin. They were not excused because they’d received fraudulent counsel, but those who had led others astray would be judged for their role.

Many would like to think blame-shifting equals forgiveness. The ways of God, the atoning blood of God’s only begotten Son, applied over one’s heart is the only hope for forgiveness of sin. Today in our time, Jesus is often taught to be a profitable addition to our lives. With Jesus we receive Holy Spirit, which offers blessings, comforts, protections and sustaining. All of this is true, but accepting Jesus for the party gifts is no foundation for a secure eternity. In effect, pastors who preach prosperity gospel, diluted truth, or condone blatant sin to go excused are building unfortified walls that will offer people in our time no protections from God’s judgment in eternity.

Move forward men, with Christ as the living cornerstone of a secure foundation of eternal security.

Vance Durrance