Playing the Harlot

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.

The Veiled Face

The glory of God is revealed in the face of believers. After Moses had been with God for 40 days, his face shown with the glory of God. When he came down from the mountain, he covered his face before unbelieving Israel. He did not allow them to see the glory of God in his face.

Paul relates to the veiled face of Moses to explain the inadequacy of the Old Covenant to bring men to salvation and the blindness of the Jews of his day, 2 Corinthians 5:7-18. Even for today’s Jews, the veil remains on the face of Moses, whose laws they attempt to follow.

How can we relate to the veiled face? We received Christ, the Jewish Messiah, by faith, and His Holy Spirit has come to live within us. Our faces are always unveiled before Christ, and we shine with His glory. But to the unbelieving world, our faces are veiled. Scripture says, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” And when people see your good works and give glory to God, they see God’s glory in your face. But if they choose not to glorify God, your face becomes veiled to them. The key to seeing the glory of God is believing in the true God.