Chapter Two

THE CASE OF THE STRANGE WOMAN

    In order to understand how these concepts of The Strange Woman and Evil Spirit developed it is necessary to give a little background.  It was not until the Holy Spirit opened this subject to a few individuals that they became aware of this spirit's existence.  Without prompting from the Holy Spirit no one could ever imagine such a concept and interpretation.  The ideas and concepts of Evil Spirit came only from the Holy Spirit.  The revelation of this idea is the most direct evidence and support of divine origin beyond man's thoughts and intents.  Add to revelation the supernatural events connected with God giving this information, which will be detailed as we progress through this study, and it becomes impossible to legitimately refute the heavenly origin of these concepts.

    We know that multiple meanings abound in Scripture, especially in prophecies given to people of ancient times which also had meaning for later ages, and still apply today.

    Thus when considering the case of Solomon's  Strange Woman in Proverbs, one meaning can be applied in the literal sense to associating and keeping company with harlots and prostitutes.  Ellen White makes mention of this meaning in the Adventist Home pp. 58-9.

           When one commandment of the Decalogue is broken the downward steps are almost certain.  When once the barriers of female modesty are removed, the basest licentiousness does not appear exceeding sinful.  Alas, what terrible results of a woman's influence for evil may be witnessed in the world today!  Through the allurements of "strange women" thousands are incarcerated in prison cells, many take their own lives, and many cut short the lives of others.  How true the words of inspiration, "her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."

    In this quotation, it will be noticed that Ellen uses the term in the plural as did Solomon at times.  This does not specifically refer to "the strange woman," for it is plural and not singular.  In Biblical parallelism the spiritual parallel of "WOMAN" singular, as told by Solomon, identifies the spirit of evil or "strange woman."

    Thus it can be seen, as with many other scriptures, there is a much deeper spiritual meaning that applies.  Harlots, prostitutes, or virtuous women describe spiritual conditions within churches.  So a spiritual application of Strange Woman should not surprise anyone.  Especially is this so when one considers the close tie made by Solomon between Wisdom and Strange Woman.

THE FIRST REVELATION

    These truths were first revealed when a father, whom we will call Jim, a deep student of Scripture, was studying Proverbs 5 and thoughts began to come to him about this Strange Woman mentioned by Solomon.  He was impressed there was much more to Solomon's writing than was apparent on the surface.  He asked the Lord for understanding.

    His daughter, whom we will call Christi, a very spiritually inclined 14-year-old, has been given the heavenly gift of seeing spiritual things.  That is, her spiritual eyes have been opened.  On this particular occasion she was taken by an angel and shown some scenes related to the father's study.  Revelations to her and her father laid the groundwork for understanding the much deeper meaning of Strange Woman.

    Since that time in 1984 the Lord has been constantly adding understanding piece by piece to help unravel this divine mystery.  An understanding about Evil Spirit is most important because she is the one to be contended with on the Christian Pathway which we will consider in the next monograph.  

    Since that first revelation, several individuals have seen Strange Woman, have often heard her speak in a clear and sometimes loud voice.  Sometimes she will also speak in a sweet voice, as described by Solomon.  Believers have been released from her clutches through the power of the Holy Spirit.  What will be shared with you has been experienced.  It is not something which has been dreamed up or imagined.

THE SEDUCTRESS OF THE RED SEA SCROLLS 

    The fact that Strange Woman is found in the Red Sea Scrolls is indeed most interesting, for this is the only place outside of Proverbs where she is mentioned.  The description given is very much like Solomon's with the exception that her name is not mentioned.

    This long, relatively well preserved Wisdom poem from cave 4 (4Q184) was translated into English by G. Vermes and is published by Pelican Press in paper back.  According to Vermes this poem depicts, by means of the metaphor of the harlot, the dangers and attraction of false doctrine.  Palaeographically, the text is dated to the first century B.C., but the work may be much older, possibly antedating the Qumran sect.  This scroll has some words that were not translatable perhaps due to its physical condition, but enough of it is intact to understand clearly the train of thought.  Emphasis is added.

           ...speaks vanity and... errors.  She is ever prompt to oil her words, and she flatters with irony, deriding with iniquitous [lips].  Her heart is set up as a snare, and her kidneys as a fowler's nets.  Her eyes are defiled with iniquity, her hands have seized hold of the Pit.  Her legs go down to work wickedness, and to walk in wrong-doings.  Her...are foundations of darkness, and a multitude of sins is in her skirts.  Her...are darkness of night, and her garments...Her clothes are shades of twilight, and her ornaments plagues of corruption.  Her couches are beds of corruption, and her...depths of the pit.  Her inns are couches of darkness, and her dominions in the midst of the night.  She pitches her dwelling on the foundations of darkness, she abides in the tents of silence.  Amid everlasting fire is her inheritance, not among those who shine brightly.  She is the beginning of all the ways of iniquity.  Woe (and) disaster to all who possess her!  And desolation to all who hold her!  For her ways are ways of death, and her paths are roads of sin, and her tracks are pathways to iniquity, and her by-ways are rebellious wrong-doings.  Her gates are gates of death, and from the entrance of the house she sets out toward the underworld.  None of those who enter there will ever return, and all who possess her will descend to the Pit.  She lies in wait in secret places.  In the city's squares she veils herself, and she stands at the gates of towns.  She will never re[st] from wh[orin]g, her eyes glance hither and thither.  She lifts her eyelids naughtily to stare at a virtuous one and join him, and an important one to trip him up, at upright men to pervert their way, and the righteous elect to keep them from the commandment, at the firmly established to bring them down wantonly, and those who walk in uprightness to alter the statute.  To cause the humble to rebel against God, and turn their steps away from the ways of justice, to bring insolence to their heart, so that they march no more in the paths of uprightness; to lead men astray to the ways of the Pit, and seduce with flatteries every son of man.

    This text sounds very much like the Strange Woman of Proverbs, but enough different to not be a copy.  The capitalized words show the meaning of this text is not referring to a physical relationship between a man and woman.  The translator Vermes recognized and identified this as a metaphor of a spiritual harlot espousing and seducing the righteous with dangerous but attractive false doctrine. 

    The phrase "those who shine brightly" can refer to none other than the "righteous elect" mentioned further down in the poem.  These are those elect Ellen White saw going forth with their faces lighted up with the glory of God. Those elect in the "city's" (churches) filled with the latter rain of the Holy Spirit.  This Evil Spirit truly is staring at the "virtuous one" to "join him, and an important one to trip him up, at upright men to pervert their way, and the righteous elect to keep them from" obeying "the commandment" of God.  Her only goal is to unseat or keep the Holy Spirit from dwelling or setting up residence within the righteous and upright elect.  Truly her ways are the ways of death.

 SOLOMON AND THE STRANGE WOMAN

    The similarities between the seductress of the (4Q184) poem and the woman in Proverbs are too much alike to be just coincidence.  The only difference between the descriptions is that Solomon gave her a name whereas the poem just calls this spirit "her."

    An inspired Solomon wrote about this spirit cloaked in symbolic language. He called her "The Strange Woman."     You will notice we have been using "Strange Woman," the "Spirit of Evil," "Evil Spirit," and the "Knowledge of Evil" interchangeably.  They are in fact one and the same spirit.  Having come this far in our study we will now distinguish the personal attributes and characteristics of this spirit as given in Scripture and as applied by Solomon to "The Strange Woman."

    The first concrete clue to her identity is found by looking in a concordance under both "strange" and "woman."  The first interesting thing we notice is the literal meaning of the word "strange" in the original Hebrew.  It means "Woman" or "Thing."  When "strange woman" is used in Scripture it means "woman-woman" or "thing-woman."  The doubling of this word is thought to point to the reality of this being as a true or real spiritual female.  The word "Thing" is a term that is sometimes used to define a spirit being, such as in Proverbs 4:7, where Wisdom is defined as the "principle thing."  One meaning of the word "principle" also means "THING."  Beyond this, angels have been heard using this word to define an evil angel or demonic spirit.  Using their example as a precedent, we can define "Strange Woman" as a "spirit woman" or "female spirit." 

    This spirit is called female because she is able to reproduce her evil in every being and yet not be a literal sexual spirit.  The same analogy would also apply to Wisdom and the church, and their ability to bring forth or propagate other Christians.

    The word "strange" in Scripture appears to be associated always with the worshipping of other gods.  Female gods are always associated with reproduction and fertility rites.  But the woman, either good or bad, is also the symbol of a church in Scripture.  Why is a woman used rather than a man?  Is there symbolism here that has not been understood? 

    When Strange Woman was released from her dwelling place, she set up residence within Lucifer.  He then became her ambassador or representative.  Through him she would seek to expand her operation and begin to take over the universe, just like a virus does in a host body. 

    After one-third of the angels fell to her wiles through Lucifer, the next step was for her to come to earth and try and tempt this newly created couple, Adam and Eve.  She may have thought if she could get them to take her bait, through Satan as her sponsor, she might then have a chance to take control of planet earth and its inhabitants.

    After establishing earth as a base of operation, she could then concentrate on the other inhabited planets in the universe.  Having accomplished their fall she could then, through Satan, truly ascend unto the Most High and possibly claim the universe as hers.  She and Satan would usurp God's authority and kingdom just as they took earth from Adam.

    Going back to Eden, what was woman's role in God's original plan?  Was she not the seed bearer, the one chosen to bear children?  Was she not told to be fruitful and multiply and populate the earth?  In the spiritual sense, are we not also to bear spiritual fruit?  It was God's original intent that the human race was to have the power of procreation.  That ability to create life was a gift given when the Holy Spirit was breathed into man and He became a living soul.  Part of the intent of God was for man to populate the earth with SPIRITUAL beings who would be the perfect reflection of His character.

    But when woman (Eve) fell to deception and appetite, Evil Spirit became one with her spirit.  Eve became the progenitor of the Spirit of Evil that came into the world through lust.  Just as Lucifer fell to the wiles of Strange Woman in Heaven, so Eve fell on earth.  Thus every human being save Jesus inherited this curiosity about carnal knowledge, lust, and an appetite for evil, passed on continuously from generation to generation.  In each succeeding generation man has, because of sin, become more debilitated and degenerate. Such is the legacy of Strange Woman handed down to us from our first parents.

THE TWIN SISTERS

    As we proceed in this study you will notice that Solomon refers not only to the Spirit of Evil but also the Spirit of Wisdom as a woman.  He even calls them sisters.  (Proverbs 7:4)  As mentioned, Spirit of Evil is an angel and so is Wisdom.  They both have recently been seen as angels whose mantle or robe covers the earth.  This was, no doubt, at least in part symbolism, even though they are both true spirits.  This was more likely a visual representation of their sphere of influence and their availability to earth's inhabitants than a description of their physical appearance, for angels don't live inside a person.

    Solomon calls them sisters and angels refer to them as twins, in that both have existed from eternity, both are female spirits, and both are spirits of knowledge and understanding encompassing the earth.  The purpose of both is to inhabit man's spirit, and both work in the same way.  There is at least one other similarity which will be discussed later on, having to do with character.

    But even though they are twins, there are vast differences between them. "Wisdom" represents that heavenly knowledge of good and light and is seen on the test tree as "the Knowledge of Good,"  while "Strange Woman" or the Spirit of Evil represents that carnal, fleshly self-knowledge, evil, and darkness, represented on the tree as "the Knowledge of Evil."  Today she is most visible in the world's highly touted intellectualism or worldly wisdom.

    Because the carnal mind (worldly wisdom) of human logic, deductive and inductive reasoning, and psychological evaluations is, through inheritance from Adam and Eve, highly influenced by the "Knowledge of Evil," we do well to recognize the mind's limitations when dealing with spiritual truths.

            God would draw minds from the  conviction of logic to a conviction deeper, higher, purer, and more glorious.  Often human logic has nearly quenched the light that God would have shine forth in clear rays to convince men that the Lord of nature is worthy of all praise and glory, because He is the Creator.  GW 156, 157

            The perception and appreciation of truth...depends less upon the mind than upon the heart, Truth must be received into the soul;  DA 455

            God can teach you more in a moment by His Holy Spirit than you could learn from the great men of the earth.  TM 119 

EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS

    Emotion is another area in which these two spirits are different but yet alike.  Scripture is very clear that God has emotional responses just like we do.  He loves, hates, becomes angry, and is a jealous God.  When Strange Woman was released by Lucifer, she also displayed the same emotions as God.  But with her they are colored with evil, as demonstrated in Satan, his angels, demons and humans.  Her emotions are the same as God's emotions but are tainted and influenced by evil and sin.

    It has recently been observed that Strange Woman is intensely jealous of her twin sister Wisdom.  They are always in rivalry as to whom is the better. This rivalry is much more intense than can be imagined.  For example, it has been experienced that when a person establishes a love relationship with the Holy Spirit, Evil Spirit resents it greatly and harasses and oppresses the believer, for the Holy Spirit comes on Evil Spirit's ground (man's spirit) and begins to woo Evil Spirit's lifelong love away from her.  Evil Spirit becomes jealous because she is losing the love of her life.  This is much the same as a human triangle love relationship.

    It was Evil Spirit's brand of jealousy that was first imparted to Lucifer. He became jealous of Michael and wanted to take His place.  Jealousy was preceded by curiosity about unknowns, such as what was this spirit like? What kind of wisdom did she have?  What was evil?  Then when Lucifer began to unlock Evil Spirit from her home, she implanted in him pride of his beauty, excellent wisdom, and ability.

    She obtained the right to plant pride in him when he took the first step, when "curiosity was on the stretch" to know that which God had hidden.  Evil Spirit at the time was not evil, but rather had the potential for evil, as explained before.  Sin did not exist at that time.  But when Strange Woman once was given permission to enter Satan's spirit through the door of curiosity, she brought with her a hord of incomprehensible wickedness that Lucifer learned to love.  But even curiosity isn't a sin unless it is indulged.  Satan CHOSE to know evil, to experiment with the forbidden.  This is how evil originated with Lucifer and how evil was loosed into the universe.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO SPIRITS

    Wisdom and Strange Woman are as far removed from each other as darkness is from light.  They represent opposite ends of the light spectrum, one evil, the other good.  Throughout the Bible and history the rivalry between these two spirits can be seen as the great controversy is played out in the hearts and lives of people.  Starting with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil the two sides of this dichotomy are clearly seen.  Throughout history this dichotomy has been witnessed in the lives of individuals and recorded as various antonyms which describe character traits, feelings or emotions, or a state of being.  The following are some examples:

CHRIST VERSUS  LUCIFER                      ABEL  VERSUS  CAIN 

SHEM  VERSUS  HAM & JAPHETH             SETH  VERSUS  NIMROD

NOAH  VERSUS  WORLD                         ISAAC  VERSUS  ISHMAEL

ABRAHAM VERSUS  PHAROAH                  JACOB  VERSUS  ESAU 

JOSEPH  VERSUS  BROTHERS                 CALEB  VERSUS  10 SPIES

MOSES  VERSUS  ISRAEL                       JOSHUA  VERSUS  ISRAEL

THE PROPHETS  VERSUS  ISRAEL AND JUDAH        SAMUEL  VERSUS  ELI'S SONS

JESUS  VERSUS  HIS CHURCH                  DISCIPLES  VERSUS  JUDAS

APOSTLES  VERSUS  SIMON MAGNUS       CHRISTIANS  VERSUS  JUDAISM

PROTESTANTS  VERSUS  CATHOLICS        SDA's  VERSUS  PROTESTANTS

REMNANT  VERSUS  SDA ADVENTISM        144,000  VERSUS  WORLD

GOOD  VERSUS  EVIL                               SHEEP  VERSUS  GOATS

RIGHT HAND  VERSUS  LEFTHAND             LIGHT  VERSUS  DARKNESS

WISDOM  VERSUS  STRANGE WOMAN      RIGHTEOUSNESS  VERSUS  UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

LOVE  VERSUS  HATE                            HEAVENLY ANGELS  VERSUS  EVIL ANGELS

END OF CHAPTER TWO