. . . nor is it meant to be.
Aholah (meaning "her tent" or "her temple") was the northern kingdom of Israel. Her 'harlotry' consisted of consorting with the wealthy kingdoms of Assyria and Egypt. Her leaders consequently led her into 'fornications', which merely means serving the gods of those other countries. At or near 722 B.C., Assyria deported her, scattering her people among the many tribes and countries in the area. They never regained their homeland. I.E. the ten 'Lost Tribes' of Israel.
Oholibah (meaning "
my tent/temple is in her") was the southern kingdom, called Judah. It's seat was Jerusalem, which held Solomon's Temple. It also had several wicked kings (even Solomon was led into idol worship by his foreign wives. The book of Exodus had warned him of that very thing.), probably the worst of which was Manassah. Even though the two 'sisters' had the same mother (refers to Israel as a whole), Aholibah didn't learn from the mistakes of Aholah. Consequently, she was taken captive by Babylonia around a hundred years later. You can read about these events in several books of the Bible, but particularly Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Isaiah lived during the northern deportation - the other three during the southern. Isaiah prophesied (predicted) the deportation of Judah about a hundred years before it happened. Jeremiah predicted how long that deportation would last (seventy years - one year for each of the 'rest' years, 1 in 7, that Israel didn't adhere to during the preceeding 490 years). It seems when God tells you to rest - you'd better rest! Daniel lived in Babylon during the entire 70-year captivity.
I'm glad you brought it up as it's a very interesting story.
