God views the sin of idolatry in sexual terms. He treats His people as His bride and expects them to be faithful. When a wife or husband becomes unfaithful by turning to a partner outside the marriage, it is called adultery. When a nation becomes unfaithful to God, and turns to other nations and worships their gods, it is called “spiritual adultery;” and they are said to “play the harlot” with the gods of the other nations. God speaks in sexual terms because the intimacy in sexual relations in marriage is a picture of His love for His people. God loves Israel; God loves the Church. His love is of the highest order of intimacy.
Throughout the Scriptures, God is continually chastising His people for praying the harlot. They do this out of unbelief. Sometimes God’s chastisement reaches a degree of punishment, which has eternal consequences. Many in our country have played the harlot over and over, and the God of the Scriptures has been very patient with us.
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