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COMMENT: Religious churches appear to know absolutely nothing about the-
se inevitable consequences. There is no indication that the returnees from
Babylon at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah were indulging in idolatry (they did
not get a chance with their tough leaders) and these returnees were not slain
when they had taken foreign wives. But they had to divorce their wives and
children. Neither was Aaron slain, even if he made the golden calves under
pressure from the mixed multitude.

4. Read the entire chapter of Numbers 31.

COMMENT: Moses let the Israelites keep the Midianite women alive provided
they were virginal. Moses was unhappy about this, and the, “keep them alive
for yourselves” that he said, does not insist they were taken as wives to pro-
duce seed that would consider them to be Israelites. The Midianite males
were all slain. But why is it virgin women only? Again this seems to be an area
of mystery that is not defined. We have to consider whether there is an un-
known physical “something” that happens with the sex act, or whether it is
psychological or something else.

5. Is this same theme about idolatry found throughout the New Testament
pages? I Corinthians 10:6-14.

COMMENT: The sin is idolatry! The Israelite sexual contact with the wom-
en of Moab led to the idolatry. We have to take note that this is a New Tes-
tament admonishment, and any modern church idea of, “That’s Old Testa-
ment stuff”, is not rational. We can also note here that these “Gentiles” were
Israelites! In the words, “not lust after evil things” the word “things” is
(Strong’s #1938 epithumi), a word that means, “to lust for a lover”. The word
“evil” here is “kakos” that means “intrinsically and fundamentally evil”.

The same temptation to take a lover from foreign women is one that could be
in the mind of every Israelite man. The fact of being tempted is not a sin.

6. What does the God of Israel say about this? I Corinthians 10:13.

COMMENT: His people are able to withstand this temptation and to have the
means to escape this snare. But if they do not know it is a snare, they are the
more likely to fall into that snare. More than that, if they are encouraged by
their church leaders by wrong doctrine, Israelite men will be even more likely
not to take heed to the “lest he fall” of verse twelve above.

7. As is today, what did the Messiah say of the teachers in his day? Luke
11:52.

8. Of church leaders, what do we read? Jeremiah 2:8.

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