Jerusalem - The Woman Caught In Adultery
Jesus was the Judge "in those days," Deuteronomy 17:8; writing the words of his Father in the sand that were written by his Father's hand on the Babylonian Victory Wall, "Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin"
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How I use Scripture: unless quoted directly with quotation marks (““) the chapter and verse references are where you can find the verses in the Bible. I encourage you to read them, how else will you know if I’m quoting correctly? My job is to bring alive the treasures of scripture, from the new and the old, to help you study and seek God for yourself.
This is the duty of the Scribe (writer) / Teacher (explainer) Matthew 13:52
I have added parentheses to the KJV verses to emphasize the points being made, and unless otherwise noted, all scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV) which exists in the Public Domain.
There is some amount of repetition in this article because we are dealing with prophecy to parable to real life events.
Not Poetry - But Parable:
How To Understand God’s Rebuke Of The Landscape And His Use of Prophets As Warning Signs Of The Times
What Was Jesus Writing?
God said Jesus would be a man born among them from the Tribe of Judah and he would come speaking the words of his Father in Heaven, Deut. 18:18. Those words were previously documented by the Old Testament Prophets. The church has long wondered what Jesus was writing in the sand that terrified the priests, John 8:1-11, but Daniel provided the interpretation of the tongues God the Father etched into the Babylonian Victory Wall.
Jesus did nothing publicly that was not already prophesied.
24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him (the hand of God which appeared to them visibly when it wrote on the Babylonian Victory wall;) 25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing (because it was a message written in tongues): MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting, 28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians (effectively, the Levitical priests are scattered because the true High Priest and King has come and the Gospel will be sent to the Gentiles, Acts 9:15 and Acts 18:6), Daniel 5:24-28.
What God said to Belshazzer, He said to Jerusalem and her priests because Jacob had prophesied in Genesis 49:10,
“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah (the Levite priests who served in the Temple lived in the hill country of Judah), nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (No longer shall they be subject to the priests and Levitical Sacrificial System of the Law.)”
The unfaithful Jewish priesthood would no longer be in control over God’s people. But like Saul who refused to abdicate to David when told twice by Samuel, they continued their false religious practices and continued to hide the word of God from the people, Luke 11:52.
The Style of God’s Rebukes
Throughout scripture God condemns and rebukes the nations, the land and the cities, not usually people, in order that the people may decide to turn and repent even though disaster looms for their nations and cities. Jerusalem is named the “Daughter of Zion,” because the city sat at the foot of the now razed Mount Zion. Mount Zion, the actual hill, was razed to the bedrock in the time of the Maccabees after the Greek occupation under Antiochus IV Epiphanes 175BC - 164BC) so completely did he defile the Temple and God’s Holy things. The Jews were fearful that God would destroy Jerusalem because of the sin of the Greeks against God’s mountain. The Maccabees is a history book that was included in the catholic Apocrypha and it should be read by Christians. Antiochus IV Epiphanes is the most complete typology for the coming antichrist of the Tribulation according to the prophecies of Daniel.
Not Poetry But Parable Of Future Events
Rarely does God curse a person directly, unless the Law demands they will be cursed for specific actions. Instead he rebukes the nations, the land, and cities, using terminology from the landscape. This is why theologians talk about the Bible as poetry, however it is not poetry. It is prophecy and instruction in parable form. And we can know the old testament stories are parables for the most part, told from the real life actions of God’s people, because in Psalm 78 and many places elsewhere, God says he uses parables referring to the old testament. Only God could use the actions of free will humans to tell a story in parable form. This is some of the hidden manna in the bible that God promises to the one who overcomes. Read with new eyes. The bible is history, but not all of history, only the parts related to God’s message to man about himself and his plan to save as many who are willing to give their hearts to him alone, forsaking all other gods.
Prophets As Signs Because Jesus Christ Is The Sign
The Prophet Isaiah and his sons, the Prophet Ezekiel, and the Prophet Hosea and his prostitute wife were specifically signs in the flesh to the nation of Israel. And Jesus Christ was also a sign to them in the flesh, as prophesied by Jacob.
When Jesus came, the Jews sought after a sign, but Jesus was “That Prophet” and he was “The Sign.” In Hebrew, the word pronounced “oat,” אוֹת, the Aleph and the Tsav the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In Greek, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. From beginning to end and all the letters of the words in between, Jesus Christ is the Word of God, the very Bible itself, the Memra or Word of the Lord from the Old Testament, the Word made flesh, the Word who is God, from the Gospel of John chapter 1.
Reading Spiritually
To read spiritually, you must have the Holy Spirit Baptism, because his anointing is the teacher, 1 John 2:27. The Baptism is not just for power but for learning, giving you the capacity to understand the parables which are the dark (without light) mysteries. The relationship is built in repentance and worship and praise and in asking the Lord your personal questions about the scripture. He tells the stories in parable form throughout the bible old and new, and to unlock the meaning you have to ask for the hidden manna. Sometimes from others, sometimes from prayer, sometimes in fasting. But always as a gift given in approval of your repentance lifestyle.
Jerusalem - The Adulterous City
The leaders of Jerusalem wanted Israel to be like all the other nations. They wanted a man to be king and they desired to worship the false gods of other nations as well. This they did inside the walls of Jerusalem, as was shown to Ezekiel. They also made tiny female house idols to worship that have been discovered by archeologists, probably a form of Asherah worship that was carried out in the high places and the groves that was detestable to God.
John Chapters 8 - 10
So now let’s look at the New Testament story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) that seems to simply be a judgment on sexual sin, but the greater message is the throwing down of the Levitical priesthood who ruled Jerusalem. It’s important to note that this story comes from the Gospel of John (Jesus as God.) Jesus Christ was now made spiritual High Priest, King, and Judge. Now that the Lord of Hosts, the King of Israel had come, the Levitical priesthood was to be replaced by the Order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews chapter 7). Jacob prophesied that the Levitical Order would be removed by the one who was separated like Joseph, who would wear the crown (Gen. 49:26). Jesus is of the Tribe of Judah, not the Tribe of Levi. In John chapter 9, Jesus metes out judicial blindness on the Jews that have failed to believe. In John chapter 10 Jesus explains that he is the Good Shepherd and takes up his sceptre of rulership. In my opinion, John chapters 8, 9, and 10 should have been one chapter because they are apparently from the same day at the Temple.
Jerusalem The Unfaithful
God uses derogatory words for Jerusalem, his unfaithful wife. She is the Great Harlot, and the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth (Rev. 17:5), the idolatrous prostitute chasing foreign gods like a she-camel or she-ass in heat (Jer. 2). God divorced the northern tribes of Israel in Jeremiah 3:8, but said that the southern kingdom of Judah was just as treacherous, both idolatrous harlots. Israel the northern kingdom was given to Assyrian captivity, and Judah was sent into Babylonian captivity. Israel never returned and became Samaria. But Judah was needed to carry out the Cross according to the Prophet Ahijah’s Prophecy of The Robe (1 Kings 11). When Judah returned, she did not return to God, therefore the Shekinah Glory of God did not refill the Temple and they murdered the Prophet Zechariah for his end times prophecy about Jerusalem (Matthew 23:35), the same as they murdered the Prophet Isaiah for his hidden prophecy about Messiah, read Isaiah chapters 8 and 10.
God’s purpose for the Levitical Priesthood was protection of the Scripture and to slay his Lamb, the sacrifice for mankind. Christ needed to be slain as he was sinless and could not die a natural death. No wages of sin. Levi the murderer was chosen for the purpose.
Jerusalem the great whore because she refused her betrothed who was Christ and will accept the Antichrist instead
“I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive, John 5:43.”
2 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven (witches, mediums, satanists, spiritists, star, horoscopes, and crystal worshippers, all occult practitioners of any kind, or of things created which are accursed objects) which I have not commanded, Deuteronomy 17:2-3.
All these things did Jerusalem worship.
Kabbalah and the Star of Remphan (Acts 7:43) on Israel’s flag are the continuing testimony of the abominations and their transgressions of the Covenant, even today.
God took Ezekiel (chapter 8) to see Jerusalem’s spiritual adultery and abominations within the Temple and in secret rooms carved inside the walls of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is judged as the adulterous woman, because her leaders refused their Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and will accept the false Jesus of Islam, The Mahdi, as their messiah, the final fornication with false gods. It is the Antichrist who will be named Jesus (another Jesus, John 5:43) and will be elected by voters (not rising by his own power, Daniel 8:24) and will confirm a covenant of peace for three and a half years, then turn and attack, Daniel 9:27.
Jesus Christ - The Judge In Those Days
Jesus came to forgive the sins of the world, not to judge; the world is already entirely judged by the Law of God itself (John 3:17, Galatians 4:4-5, Romans 8:2, 10:4.) When Christians spend their time judging, they are doing what God has already done, which is to conclude all people born, condemned under the Law and its death penalty. No one can do or keep the Law, therefore all are condemned without a Savior. Christians are to minister life by helping God to save the lost. And those who will be saved are those whom the Father has drawn to Christ. Jesus says four times in the Gospel of John that no man can come unto him unless the Father draws him. God the Father chooses who will be given an opportunity for salvation through repentance, not the preacher. God is not in the business of saving those who don’t want anything to do with him. Jesus passed by many towns.
Jesus said, judge not lest you be judged; not to judge you, but to point out that the judging has already been done, and if your righteousness doesn’t go beyond the knowledge of the Pharisees, which was only the aspects of the judgment of the Law and it's death penalties, you won’t make it to heaven because you won’t be saved.
“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 5:20.
The Law cannot save, the letter kills. Only the Spirit gives life in Christ Jesus. And only the saved Christians who are called by his name are eligible to receive the Spirit Baptism.
“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life,” 2 Corinthians 3:6.
Will the idolaters of the earth cease their idolatry to obtain eternal life? Usually not. They are captives of Satan and fight hard to remain captives.
But some, like Abraham, will believe their gods are not God but made like craft projects with their own hands, and will turn and repent and believe. These are the lost sheep Jesus is looking save. Those who realize the breath in their lungs is the Spirit of the Living God, like Job understood (Job 27:3-4, 33:4.)
The Woman Caught In Adultery As A Sign
Now, let’s consider the woman caught in adultery. Yes, we are to repent and cease all sexual sin, but this story is a parable of Jerusalem, and it is the moment in which Jesus took the authority of the priests away from them. God had weighed them in the balances and found them wanting, particularly when they began to hide the Torah and institute their own religion of the Talmud. When they began to hide the Torah, Jesus, The Word made flesh was sent to earth at the exact moment the process of time for the written Law had run its course. The woman brought to Jesus for judgment, was given mercy and called to repent. The heart of the Law is mercy, Hosea 6:6.
When the Law is kept in full, Love is possible. Man cannot keep the Law, but faith in the Law Keeper, Jesus Christ, provides salvation through repentance.
The Scene: The Feast Of Tabernacles
Jesus Christ figuratively denounced the priests’ authority during the Feast of the Lord, the Feast of Tabernacles. The days he was teaching them in the Temple.
Deuteronomy chapters 17 and 19 were used by Jesus, “the Judge in those days,” to adjudicate the woman caught in adultery and to scatter the priests who had accused her of their own sins. The priests were fornicating with false gods and false ways, causing Jerusalem to be a harlot before God.
How Jesus Judged
Let’s look at how he wove the concepts to arrive at the correct judgment. His judgment was that the time of the Levitical Priesthood was now ended: he wrote in the sand the same thing his Father wrote on the Babylonian victory wall:, “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the …”. As the priests scattered, there was only one witness left, Jesus. And under The Law, there must be two or three witnesses to establish a thing. Therefore, the one witness, God, was able to forgive her. All repentance is before one witness, Jesus. When you are repenting in prayer, you are confessing to the one witness of your sin and there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:1.
Daniel 5:24-28 (applies to judge Jerusalem and the ruling tribe of Levi)
Deuteronomy 17:5-11 (applies to judge and forgive the woman)
Deuteronomy 19:17-21 (applies to scatter the accusers in the fear of the Judge, the Lord Jesus who had come.)
Under God’s Law, two or three witnesses are necessary to establish a crime. And under God’s Law, the one witness who is always there is God. Repentance is about you coming to God as the witness of your sin and you taking personal responsibility for it and asking Jesus to be cleansed and changed.
The priests were only accusers, they failed to operate as ministers who helped the people to recognize their sin and to repent of it. In Lamentations, God lamented that the Prophets failed to show them their sin and therefore no repentance and no forgiveness.
What Jesus Wrote In The Sand - “Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin”
Moses said “that Prophet” who would be like him would come speaking the words of His Father in Heaven which are found in the OT Law, Prophets and Psalms. By the finger of God writing in the sand, as he wrote the same words that his father’s hand wrote on the Babylonian victory wall. Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin, which is said to have been a message in tongues that Daniel the Prophet interpreted. Jesus, in writing this in the sand, declared that God had numbered Jerusalem and the priest’s rule and finished it, because He had weighed them in the balances and found them wanting. The priests were focused on the death penalty of the Law, and made no room for the Grace and Graciousness of God. The Law cannot save and they did not become servants to the people, but Slayers during the 400 silent years when God allowed Levi to revert back to his original murderous nature, to ensure the Cross was carried out.
“And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee (Jesus Christ was God’s goodness to man), and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy,” Exodus 33:19.
This is the verse King David found in the Law that told him he was still able to cry to God for mercy even though he had committed a sin worthy of the death penalty in the Law.
Babylon was the Gentile world’s ruling royal city, technically ruled by Daniel the Prophet, the same as Joseph was the technical ruler of the world from Egypt, and now Jesus was made King over all the world, making us free from the Law by sacrificing himself. No longer does man have to be condemned by the Law. But the Jews continue to fail to accept Christ.
Jesus did nothing publicly that was not already prophesied.
24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him (the hand of God which appeared to them visibly when it wrote on the Babylonian Victory wall;) 25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing (because it was a message written in tongues): MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting, 28 PERES (UPHARSIN); Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians (effectively, the priests are scattered because the true High Priest and King has come and the Gospel will be sent to the Gentiles to build the church, Acts 9:15 and Acts 18:6), Daniel 5:24-28.
Jerusalem’s Only Purpose
Jerusalem’s only purpose was to bring about the sacrifice of the Son of God, to literally kill God, so that Satan could think he had ascended to God’s throne, Ezekiel 28:2.
“That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover (The Lamb of God promised to Abraham in Genesis 22:13), who (refers to a person) passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he (a male) smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped (because he is God),” Exodus 12:27. Yes. Jesus Christ is God.
BUT SATAN FORGOT
But Satan forgot that God prophesied that while Satan may bite his heel, The Lord would stomp his head in Genesis 3:15.
The Prophecy as a Word Picture
It’s a picture of God seated on his heavenly throne with his feet on the footstool of the earth, Isaiah 66:1. Jesus’ feet literally walked the earth, John 3:13. The Serpent then pops up to bite one of God’s heels on the footstool of the earth, then irritated, God using his bitten foot (Jesus) to stomp on the head of the serpent who bit him.
Jesus Smiles In Victory
And the Victorious Jesus is smiling in Jacob’s prophecy of Judah found in Genesis 49:12
“His eyes shall be red with wine (should have been translated “sparkling like wine”), and his teeth white with milk,” Genesis 49:12. When are your eyes sparkling and your teeth are showing, you are smiling.
The Temple was built because David wanted to build it, despite God saying he didn’t need a Temple built for him, that he was perfectly comfortable to live in the tent Moses had built for him (which would be the body made for him according to Hebrews 10:5).
“5…Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?” 2 Samuel 7:5-7.
(God preferred the tent of his body, the traveling Tabernacle, to a house of wood or stone, and we see this in Jesus. His body, was full of the power of God, and his tent was meant for sacrifice.
Jesus referred to his body as the Temple of God, Matthew 26:61. Then Paul said we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who is God, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
God didn’t need a stone Temple that they would idolize. But David and Solomon wanted it so God relented, knowing he would destroy it later to end their religion.
Jesus used the Temple to teach and to carry out the judicial blinding of the Jewish leaders foretold by Isaiah, and he also portrayed the sanctification of believers when he cleansed the Temple with a whip, driving out the money changers and the merchandise, restoring it to a house of prayer, as believers are to become as Christians after they cleanse themselves of the lusts of this world. Jesus cleansing the temple with a whip is the picture of how he cleanses the temples of unrepentant Christians that still need to be cleansed. Life becomes more difficult when you refuse to leave the worldly lusts. He is also a stern father to his wayward children.
Gomer
Jerusalem is the woman caught in adultery the same as Gomer the prostitute from the book of Hosea. Hosea is the book in which God stores up his seven vials of wrath against Satan’s kingdom, Jerusalem is its capital. The Wrath will pour out on Satan’s kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital.
ADJUDICATION
Deuteronomy 17:5-13
5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you. 8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose (Jerusalem); 9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days (Jesus Christ), and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment (Jesus showed them what he wrote in the sand): 10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: 11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee (The sentence God wrote on the wall in Babylon, Jesus wrote in the sand.), and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. (Note, this is the third repetition they would be shown the judgment and told to do what it said, they ran in fear, they knew the sentence God wrote on the wall in Babylon.) 12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die (they ran, they’d seen Jesus do miracles and knew God was with him): and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously, Deuteronomy 17:5-13.
The Scribes and Pharisees brought the woman caught in adulteryto the Judge “who shall be in those days,” the Lord Jesus Christ who happened to be in his Temple that day, after suddenly appearing the day before (required by Deuteronomy 17:9 as part of the operation of the Death Penalty Court.)
The Scribes and Levites brought this woman to Jesus as a way to test him so they could arrest him and put him to death. This harlot was a type of Jerusalem the divorced wife, Gomer from the Book of Hosea. Jesus had proclaimed his purpose in the Temple the day before, who he was; the Messiah, the Prophet from Deut. 18:18; The Rock, The Christ. Now the next day they are bringing a matter of judgment to him to decide to see if he knew the Law. They would find out it was they who did not know the Law. (John 8:4-6.)
The woman had committed a sin worthy of the death penalty and they believed the right judgment against her was to stone her to death. And in their unrighteous judgment, the Law was their judge. But Jesus was calmly writing in the sand, not looking at them, pretending not to hear their accusations.
With the accusers scattered, Jesus was the single witness of Deuteronomy 17:6 that allowed the woman all to go free from the death penalty. Interesting to note verse 17:8 says for anything too difficult for man to judge he is to lay the issue before God. The Lord Jesus exercised the right which he has reserved unto himself for all eternity – the right to extend grace/graciousness on whosoever he will, Exodus 33:19/Romans 9:15. The men judged her worthy of death, therefore they were judged worthy of death also, but the Lord showed mercy because he came to forgive. (John 8:6-11.)
Then Jesus confirmed his judgment (8:12) in this case by saying “I am the Light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. It is said he stood in front of the Lampstand.
Jesus Defends His Judgment of the Woman to All in the Temple
1. Jesus defends his self-witness in the case against the woman (8:13-20)
2. Jesus tells them he does his Father’s will and they will die in their sins. (8:21-30)
3. Jesus tells the believers that the truth will make them free and end their slavery to sin. (8:31-36)
4. Jesus answers their accusations with a contrast between the true seed of Abraham and the seed of Satan, and in return they tell him his mother committed fornication (8:31-47.) The Jews loved to accuse and argue and debate. Their arguments were basically the same as the day before. The Sin Nature was in control because they had left the Word of God and established their own laws.
5. In response, Jesus answered them from the day before in John 7:20, when they said he had a demon: Jesus elaborately schools them on how they have dishonored him, the giver of Eternal Life, and then he told them that he is the “I Am” that was before Abraham. (8:48-58)
6. They picked up rocks to stone him (8:59.) They had started out wanting to the stone the woman, then they found out that they too were guilty and should be stoned, but then they wanted to stone Jesus because he was God. They were truly the adversaries of God (Hebrews 10:26-31.)
7. They had come to test God, and ended up being sentenced to judgment themselves. “Grudge not, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.” (James 5:9.)