1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

FM474EZEKIEL 23TWO APOSTATE CHURCH SYSTEMSEzekiel 23:1, 2.The Word of the Lord came again unto me,saying, Son of man, there were two women,the daughters of one mother.— Chapter 23describes the church-state unions of the RomanCatholic church, pictured as an unchaste woman,Aholah, and of the Protestant church, herunchaste sister, Aholibah, and the destruction ofboth in the Time of Trouble by the nations withwhich they have made unions.— Jer. 3:6-10.Ezekiel 23:3.And they committed whoredoms in Egypt;they committed whoredoms in their youth:there were their breasts pressed, and therethey bruised the teats of their virginity.—Both of these churches have always catered toworldly ideas and people, and even in their youthwere guilty of unions of church with state.Ezekiel 23:4.And the names of them were Aholah theelder, and Aholibah her sister: and they wereMine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thuswere their names; Samaria is Aholah, andJerusalem Aholibah.— Their names aresignificant. Aholah means "her own tent." God isnot in Romanist ecclesiasticism at all; it has itsown tabernacle, called (Acts 7:43) "thetabernacle of Moloch." Satan himself dwells inand actuates the Papal system. Aholibah means"My tent is in her." God's Tabernacle, the trueChurch, has been among the Protestants chiefly.In this picture, an unchase Protestantecclesiasticism is designated "Jerusalem." Theyboth have sons— prominent ones— anddaughters— sectarian churches.Ezekiel 23:5.And Aholah played the harlot when she wasMine; and she doted on her lovers, on the