They have acted foolishly in Israel. They have been promiscuous, and
have spoken my Word falsely.(Jeremiah 29 : 23 )
They were promiscuousbecause they had abandoned Jehovah. (Hosea
4 : 10 )
I will cut off the soul that looks off in the direction of sorcerers and
soothsayers to be promiscuous with them.(Leviticus 20 : 6 )
They are not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land; this is
to prevent them from being promiscuous withother gods.(Exodus 34 : 15 )
Because Babylon contaminates and falsifies the Word more than the
rest do, it is called the great whore,and the following things are said of it
in the Book of Revelation:
Babylon has made all the nations drink the wine of the wrath of her
promiscuity. (Revelation 14 : 8 )
The angel said, “I will show you the judgment of the great whore with
whom the kings of the earth were promiscuous.” (Revelation 17 : 1 , 2 )
He judged the great whore who had corrupted the earth with her
promiscuity. (Revelation 19 : 2 )
Because the Jewish nation had falsified the Word, the Lord called it
“an adulterous generation” (Matthew 12 : 39 ; 16 : 4 ; Mark 8 : 38 ) and “the
seed of an adulterer” (Isaiah 57 : 3 ). There are also many other passages
where adultery and promiscuity mean contamination and falsification of
the Word; for example, Jeremiah 3 : 6 , 8 ; 13 : 27 ; Ezekiel 16 : 15 , 16 , 26 , 28 , 29 ,
32 , 33 ; 23 : 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 , 11 , 14 , 16 , 17 ; Hosea 5 : 3 ; 6 : 10 ; Nahum 3 : 1 , 3 , 4.
In the heavenly meaning,“committing adultery” refers to denying the 315
Word’s holiness and desecrating the Word. This meaning follows from
the spiritual meaning, which is contaminating the good things in the
Word and falsifying its truths. People who in their heart laugh at every-
thing having to do with the church and religion are people who deny the
Word’s holiness and desecrate the Word—in the Christian world every
aspect of the church and religion comes from the Word.
People can seem chaste not only to others but even to themselves and 316
yet be completely unchaste. There are various causes that produce this
effect. People do not know that a sexual craving in their will is a deed,
and it cannot be removed except by the Lord after they have practiced
repentance. Abstaining from doing something does not make us chaste.
§316 the ten commandments 377