I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
The likening pictures the Jewish nation as God's own people under the figure of a beautiful, lovely and pure woman. In prophecy a woman stands for a church, a company called out and united for a spiritual purpose whether good or evil. As a pure, comely and delicate woman she is the true church in faithful relationship with God, looking to the Lord as her husband alone for help, love and honor. When she turns from God to the nations and leans on earthly civil power she becomes an unfaithful woman and a harlot, pictured as Babylon, and that union of church and state is spiritual harlotry. The wholly apostate church is distinct from her and is called the daughter of Babylon, of the Chaldeans, or of Egypt, though the terms daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem can denote the true church even when not wholly pure yet not wholly corrupt.
Words and Historical Setting
Jeremiah 6:2 stands within chapters 2 to 11, the prophecies written down by Baruch after Jehoiakim burned the first roll. These chapters are filled with striking symbols and signs and figures of speech, of which this likening is one. In it the daughter of Zion is a name for the Jewish nation. That nation is identified as God's people, His church.
In prophecy a woman stands for a church. She denotes a company of people called out and united for a spiritual purpose, whether good or evil. Zion compared to a woman therefore supports this symbolic use. The woman seated on the beast, by the same rule, is a corrupt church united with civil power.
To liken Zion to a comely and delicate woman pictures her as beautiful and delicate. She is set forth as lovely and pure. The comely and delicate woman is a figure for God's people, establishing that a good, pure woman represents the true church. As such the true church is pure, holding up the gospel and inviting souls to come to Christ.
The True Church Pictured
In prophecy a woman stands for a church, a company of people called out and united for a spiritual purpose whether good or evil. A comely and delicate woman, beautiful and lovely and pure, is the figure for the daughter of Zion, God's people, and establishes that a good, pure woman represents the true church, the body of God's people. The daughter of Zion is God's called-out church likened to such a woman, and is also called Jerusalem and the daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord is her husband, and she is to look to him alone for help and love and honor. As pure she holds up the gospel and invites souls to come to Christ. The figure presents God's church as she ought to be in faithful relationship with God, pure and chaste, so that the apostate church does not fit the image.
She becomes surpassingly lovely with the beauty of her God when she answers his regular gospel call to repent and believe, when he thoroughly washes her from all iniquity and uncleanness, clothes her with garments of salvation, covers her with the robe of righteousness, decks her with the ornament of grace, and puts bracelets upon her hands and a chain upon her neck and a resplendent crown upon her head. The terms daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem denote the true church, though not always a pure church, yet one not wholly corrupt or wholly apostate. That true church is distinct from the wholly apostate church called the daughter of Babylon, the Chaldeans, or Egypt.
Apostasy and Prophetic Connections
The comely and delicate woman is God's true church, also called the daughter of Zion, Jerusalem, and the daughter of Jerusalem, with the Lord as her husband to whom alone she is to look for help, love, and honor. When the daughter of Zion turns from God to the nations of the world and their earthly power, she becomes an unfaithful woman, pictured as Babylon. She apostatizes from the gospel and becomes unfaithful to Christ by relying on civil power and joining herself to worldly rulers after departing from truth.
That union of church and state is spiritual harlotry. It is linked to the church's rejection of divine light and to the spiritual darkness of the Dark Ages. A pure, comely and delicate woman stands for the true church, the body of God's people, called the daughter of Zion. The terms daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem denote the true church, though not always a pure church, yet one not wholly corrupt or wholly apostate.
The wholly apostate church is distinct from the daughter of Zion and is called the daughter of Babylon, the Chaldeans, or Egypt. It is exemplified by the corrupt woman seated on the beast as a corrupt church united with civil power. The daughter of Zion is a name for the Jewish nation, which explains why the woman carried to Babylon represents that nation in captivity. In the related vision the woman represents the apostolic church, and the woman in Revelation 12 is the church whose condition and duty in the last days are revealed in Revelation 12 and onward.
The likening pictures the Jewish nation as God's own people under the figure of a beautiful, lovely and pure woman. In prophecy a woman stands for a church, a company called out and united for a spiritual purpose whether good or evil. As a pure, comely and delicate woman she is the true church in faithful relationship with God, looking to the Lord as her husband alone for help, love and honor. When she turns from God to the nations and leans on earthly civil power she becomes an unfaithful woman and a harlot, pictured as Babylon, and that union of church and state is spiritual harlotry. The wholly apostate church is distinct from her and is called the daughter of Babylon, of the Chaldeans, or of Egypt, though the terms daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem can denote the true church even when not wholly pure yet not wholly corrupt.
Words and Historical Setting
Jeremiah 6:2 stands within chapters 2 to 11, the prophecies written down by Baruch after Jehoiakim burned the first roll. These chapters are filled with striking symbols and signs and figures of speech, of which this likening is one. In it the daughter of Zion is a name for the Jewish nation. That nation is identified as God's people, His church.
In prophecy a woman stands for a church. She denotes a company of people called out and united for a spiritual purpose, whether good or evil. Zion compared to a woman therefore supports this symbolic use. The woman seated on the beast, by the same rule, is a corrupt church united with civil power.
To liken Zion to a comely and delicate woman pictures her as beautiful and delicate. She is set forth as lovely and pure. The comely and delicate woman is a figure for God's people, establishing that a good, pure woman represents the true church. As such the true church is pure, holding up the gospel and inviting souls to come to Christ.
The True Church Pictured
In prophecy a woman stands for a church, a company of people called out and united for a spiritual purpose whether good or evil. A comely and delicate woman, beautiful and lovely and pure, is the figure for the daughter of Zion, God's people, and establishes that a good, pure woman represents the true church, the body of God's people. The daughter of Zion is God's called-out church likened to such a woman, and is also called Jerusalem and the daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord is her husband, and she is to look to him alone for help and love and honor. As pure she holds up the gospel and invites souls to come to Christ. The figure presents God's church as she ought to be in faithful relationship with God, pure and chaste, so that the apostate church does not fit the image.
She becomes surpassingly lovely with the beauty of her God when she answers his regular gospel call to repent and believe, when he thoroughly washes her from all iniquity and uncleanness, clothes her with garments of salvation, covers her with the robe of righteousness, decks her with the ornament of grace, and puts bracelets upon her hands and a chain upon her neck and a resplendent crown upon her head. The terms daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem denote the true church, though not always a pure church, yet one not wholly corrupt or wholly apostate. That true church is distinct from the wholly apostate church called the daughter of Babylon, the Chaldeans, or Egypt.
Apostasy and Prophetic Connections
The comely and delicate woman is God's true church, also called the daughter of Zion, Jerusalem, and the daughter of Jerusalem, with the Lord as her husband to whom alone she is to look for help, love, and honor. When the daughter of Zion turns from God to the nations of the world and their earthly power, she becomes an unfaithful woman, pictured as Babylon. She apostatizes from the gospel and becomes unfaithful to Christ by relying on civil power and joining herself to worldly rulers after departing from truth.
That union of church and state is spiritual harlotry. It is linked to the church's rejection of divine light and to the spiritual darkness of the Dark Ages. A pure, comely and delicate woman stands for the true church, the body of God's people, called the daughter of Zion. The terms daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem denote the true church, though not always a pure church, yet one not wholly corrupt or wholly apostate.
The wholly apostate church is distinct from the daughter of Zion and is called the daughter of Babylon, the Chaldeans, or Egypt. It is exemplified by the corrupt woman seated on the beast as a corrupt church united with civil power. The daughter of Zion is a name for the Jewish nation, which explains why the woman carried to Babylon represents that nation in captivity. In the related vision the woman represents the apostolic church, and the woman in Revelation 12 is the church whose condition and duty in the last days are revealed in Revelation 12 and onward.