The Virtuous Woman and the Harlot

This is a very important concept and it needs to be understood so that the chance for further deception can be reduced among believers. The Virtuous Woman and the Harlot are contrasted in many places, but we are going to concentrate on a few major places so that you can get the idea, and then recognize it for yourself.

The Virtuous Woman is seen as Torah observant Israel, to whom the Lord gave the Scriptures, beginning with Gen 3.15; Proverbs 8.1-36; Prov 31.10-31 and also in Rev 12.1. She is seen as the antithesis of the Harlot, found in Proverbs chapters 1 through 7 and Rev 17.1 who is against the truth found in the Scriptures. Let’s discuss the Virtuous Woman.

In Gen 3.15 we see a prophecy about the “seed of the woman” coming to crush the head of the serpent. This imagery is seen throughout the Scriptures, such as Psa 74.13-14; Hab 3.13; Isa 27.1; Job 26.12-13 and Rev 13.1 with Rev 19.20 to name a few. In Prov 31.10-31 we have what is called the “Virtuous Woman” or “Woman of Valor.” This portion contains 22 verses, with each verse beginning with the next, successive Hebrew letter from Aleph to Tav. In other words, verse 10 begins with the “aleph” and verse 11 begins with “beit” and verse 12 with “gimel” and so on.

The “Aleph-Tav” is symbolic for God and the Messiah and indicates God’s blessing in total perfection. Look up the meaning for each letter for insight into that particular verse. In contrast to the harlot, God’s ways are wise. The Hebrew word for “wisdom” is “chachmah” and wisdom is described as a woman in Prov 8. These verses in Prov 8.1-36 and Prov 31.10-31 are to be contrasted with the harlot of Proverbs chapters 1 through 7. There are three ways to understand this concept of the virtuous woman and the harlot.

First, it is literal, in that there are virtuous women out there and harlots. Second, it is a contrast between the righteous and the unrighteous. Third, it is a contrast between true religion as defined by the Torah and false religion which is against the Torah, or as the Bible calls them, “lawless” which means “torah-less.” It is the third illustration that we want to look at.

We live with the Harlot all around us. We see her everywhere and we see many having “spiritual relations” with her (Rev 17.1-2). Spiritual knowledge (da’at), insight (sakal), discernment (binah) and wisdom (chachmah) come into play because the harlot (replacement, apostate Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism in particular) has presented herself as the virtuous woman because spiritual concepts have been redefined and is perceived by those without knowledge, insight, discernment and wisdom as the virtuous woman. It is seduction and you must be able to discern what is of the virtuous woman and what is of the harlot.

Sometimes the difference is very subtle. For instance, the Hebrew word for marriage, or set apart, is “kiddushin” and it is related to the word kedusha, kaddish, kodesh and kiddish meaning wedded or holy. On the other hand, the word for harlot is “kedeshah” and it means a woman set aside for harlotry.

Spiritually, how can you tell the difference? Listen to what she is telling you. First, if she says the “law has been done away with” and teaches you that God has replaced the “old covenant” with the “new covenant”, then she is the harlot. Second, have you been taught that God has replaced Israel with the “church” and cast Israel into the world, and now his will is seen through the Gentile “church?” Third, have you been taught that the animal sacrificial system was replaced by the death of Yeshua? Fourth, have you been taught that the Tanach (“old testament”) was replaced by the “new” testament” and that it should be your primary guide for teaching? Fifth, do you believe that Christian ministers and Jewish Rabbi’s have replaced the prophets of Israel? Sixth, have been taught that the church fathers or Jewish sages have authority to replace the commandments of God and redefine spiritual concepts, for example, changing the seventh day Sabbath to Sunday? Seventh, have you been taught that the grace of God replaced the Law of God? A “yes” to any of the above means that you have been seduced by the harlot and have entered into her deceptions.

To “come out” of this deception you must get out of any organization that teaches any of the above (1-7) first of all. We must realize that this “replacement theology” will be the religion of the false messiah. He is called the “man of lawlessness” and that means he is a man “without the Torah” or “anomos” in Greek. Let’s look at the above (1-7) from the viewpoint of the virtuous woman.

First, what you need to do is go back to the Scriptures and use the terms they used, understand them in the same way they understood them. Yeshua did not speak Greek, he spoke Hebrew, and so we need to understand the Scriptures in the way they were understood when they were written, not through the biased lens of western, Gentile Christianity or Rabbinic Judaism. Christianity does not come from a Hebraic background, but is Hellenistic. The apostles were not moving away from being Torah observant. Paul kept the Torah, offered animal sacrifices 30 years after Yeshua, kept a Nazarite Vow (Acts 18.18) and taught the Torah to others.

For more information on this concept, see “Paul Taught Torah” on this site. The writers of the Gospels and Epistles were Torah observant Jews and remained that way. The Harlot will tell you different. Second, God has not replaced Israel with the church. That is impossible. Romans chapters 9 through 11 prove this point. In addition, Jer 31.35-37 says that if the fixed order of the universe departs from before God, then Israel will cease. Not only that, if the universe can be measured, then he will cast off Israel from before him. These verses are a part of the New Covenant found in verses 31-34 just above these verses.

Third, the death of Yeshua did not do away with the animal sacrifices in the temple. They were pictures of what was going to happen for the instruction of the people. Heb 10.4-11 says that animal sacrifices could never take away sin, so Yeshua’s death had nothing to do with that. If they could take away sin, there would have been no reason to send Yeshua. Paul offered animal sacrifices as he came out of a Nazarite vow in Acts 21.17-26. Animal sacrifices will be offered again when Yeshua returns and the world worships in Ezekiel’s temple in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 46.

Fourth, the “new” testament did not replace the “old” testament, at least not according to Paul in 2 Tim 3.15-17. The “scriptures” he is talking about is the Tanach (old testament) because the Gospels and the Epistles had not even been written yet. Paul not only offered his own animal sacrifices for coming out of a Nazarite vow (Acts 21.26), but he paid for the animals for four other people coming out of a Nazarite vow (Acts 21.23) to show that the rumors about him not teaching the Torah were not true, and that he walked orderly, keeping the Torah (idiom for Torah observant-Acts 21.24).

Fifth, Christian ministers and Jewish Rabbis have not replaced the prophets. In fact, if what they teach does not line up with the prophets, they are not from God (Isa 8.19-20). Sixth, the church fathers or anyone else cannot change a commandment of God. The Catholic Church admits they were the one’s who changed the seventh day Sabbath to Sunday. Protestant churches follow much of what the Catholics do because they are the offspring of the Harlot. Man cannot nullify a commandment of God-Deut 4.1-2; Rev 22.18-19. Even Yeshua said that he did not come to do away or nullify the Torah or the prophets-Matt 5.17-19.

Seventh, the grace of God did not replace the Torah. Grace is an attribute of God and part of his nature. The Torah was an act of grace to mankind. Law and grace go hand in hand, they do not oppose each other. This concept of “law then grace” is part of an erroneous teaching called “Dispensationalism” and it is completely off the track. In order to escape the false teachings of the harlot, you must see the Scriptures for what they are and for what they were meant to say and teach. You must understand the times, phrases, idioms and concepts of the Jewish people at the time the books were written. In other words, you must let the Holy Spirit totally transform your mind on how to read and study the Scriptures. It takes a lot of hard work, but don’t worry, there’s a lot of help out there.

Posted in Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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