Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "adultery"
Christian Sophistry – Part 1
Thus says the Lord, “Where is the certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away [Isaiah 50:1].
Divorce is such a common thing nowadays, even in the church, that no one wants to listen to it denounced by the Word of God. We want to be Christians, you see, but we don’t want the Lord to be our Lord. We want to be our own Lord.
The result is that we use the word Bible profusely, but we don’t read it. We read other men’s words about the Bible and think that suffices for being a child of God and being spiritually astute. So we pick and choose from the Bible what we will eat—usually milk, with a little filler from other books tossed in to add worldly flavor—and we pretend the rest doesn’t exist.
Should anyone be so impertinent as to point out the other parts when we violate them, why, we become defensive and put up our barriers to keep them out. Whereas divorce dominates the American landscape today, both in and outside the church, it is one such solid meat teaching of the Lord that we cannot stomach.
I’ve even been challenged by thin-skinned Christians who are divorced, with a reference to the verse with which we kicked off this study. Their understanding of the verse is that the Lord divorced Israel, so divorce can’t be wrong.
What they fail to realize is two things:
1. we must keep the verse in context
2. the entire verse must be read, not a phrase out of context
Let’s diagnose the issue. The Lord divorced Israel, yes, but He did so for one reason only. He wasn’t fickle about it and walked out on Israel for every little thing! The Lord is perfect, so He makes no mistakes. If He divorced Israel, it was for a right reason. And guess what? This right reason He accepts from us mere mortals as well.
“So, then, what is this legit reason?” you ask. Listen and learn:
It was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery [Matthew 5:31-32].
Those words were spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He noted how the Israelites quoted the Law of Moses to justify divorcing their wives for any reason they felt like. Suchlike fellows claimed the Lord commanded them to divorce their wives by giving their wives a certificate of divorce.
On the surface this argument appears plausible. But even the devil quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness, in order to tempt Him to sin! Of course the devil took Scripture out of context each time. In reality this is a type of argumentation known as sophistry.
Oh, but we’re out of time again! Tomorrow we will hear Jesus’ rebuttal of the sophistry. For now let’s come apart with Him and allow Him to speak softly to us. We cannot help but be blessed abundantly when we do.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Divorce is such a common thing nowadays, even in the church, that no one wants to listen to it denounced by the Word of God. We want to be Christians, you see, but we don’t want the Lord to be our Lord. We want to be our own Lord.
The result is that we use the word Bible profusely, but we don’t read it. We read other men’s words about the Bible and think that suffices for being a child of God and being spiritually astute. So we pick and choose from the Bible what we will eat—usually milk, with a little filler from other books tossed in to add worldly flavor—and we pretend the rest doesn’t exist.
Should anyone be so impertinent as to point out the other parts when we violate them, why, we become defensive and put up our barriers to keep them out. Whereas divorce dominates the American landscape today, both in and outside the church, it is one such solid meat teaching of the Lord that we cannot stomach.
I’ve even been challenged by thin-skinned Christians who are divorced, with a reference to the verse with which we kicked off this study. Their understanding of the verse is that the Lord divorced Israel, so divorce can’t be wrong.
What they fail to realize is two things:
1. we must keep the verse in context
2. the entire verse must be read, not a phrase out of context
Let’s diagnose the issue. The Lord divorced Israel, yes, but He did so for one reason only. He wasn’t fickle about it and walked out on Israel for every little thing! The Lord is perfect, so He makes no mistakes. If He divorced Israel, it was for a right reason. And guess what? This right reason He accepts from us mere mortals as well.
“So, then, what is this legit reason?” you ask. Listen and learn:
It was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery [Matthew 5:31-32].
Those words were spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He noted how the Israelites quoted the Law of Moses to justify divorcing their wives for any reason they felt like. Suchlike fellows claimed the Lord commanded them to divorce their wives by giving their wives a certificate of divorce.
On the surface this argument appears plausible. But even the devil quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness, in order to tempt Him to sin! Of course the devil took Scripture out of context each time. In reality this is a type of argumentation known as sophistry.
Oh, but we’re out of time again! Tomorrow we will hear Jesus’ rebuttal of the sophistry. For now let’s come apart with Him and allow Him to speak softly to us. We cannot help but be blessed abundantly when we do.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Christian Sophistry – Part 2
Thus says the Lord, “Where is the certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away [Isaiah 50:1].
Jesus charged head on at the religious sophistry of His day, whereby divorce was justified with an allusion to how the Lord divorced Israel. Yesterday we stopped there. Today we will begin there.
Jesus’ rebuttal was to emphasize that the Lord NEVER commanded anyone to get a divorce. Rather, He recognized its frequent practice and regulated it for the benefit of the women of that time. The Lord didn’t tell the Israelites, “Get a divorce!”
Contrary to such a preposterous notion, Jesus noted that, from the beginning of man’s creation, the Lord made humans male and female, and that when a man and a woman married they became one. Then He added, “What God has conjoined, let no man separate. The words “no man” apply to women too. Jesus was referring to divorce as the means by which spouses were separated.
So much for the context. Now let’s get to the second point, viz., reading the entire verse. Jesus’ exception to this law against divorce is specified by the words except for the reason of unchastity. The word unchastity in this context means “adultery”. And that is the same thing Isaiah emphasized to the Israelites in Isaiah 50:1. The Lord sent His wife Israel away (i.e., divorced her) because of her “iniquities” and “transgressions” (i.e., her adultery).
Israel was unfaithful to the Lord by bringing idols into her religious practices. This was spiritual adultery. Physical human adultery always follows the practice of idolatry, dear friends. Consequently, adultery was rampant in the backslidden Israel of Isaiah’s day. But the Isaiah referred to Israel’s idolatry against the Lord as the reason for the Lord divorcing Israel. Israel was sleeping around with all the idols in town!
So Isaiah identified spiritual adultery as the Lord’s justifiable reason for divorcing His wife, Israel. Jesus identified physical adultery as man’s justifiable reason for divorcing his wife (or vice versa). Let it be added, though, that the Lord bore with Israel’s unfaithfulness for next to forever! He didn’t run out and divorce Israel the first or second or seven hundredth time Israel was unfaithful. He bore with Israel for centuries, attempting to work out the issue of her adultery within the context of His relationship with her.
So, too, should we spouses who face infidelity from our mates try to resolve the matter within the context of our marriage, rather than immediately terminate the marriage with a divorce. If a cheating spouse refuses to repent and snarls at his mate when she attempts a resolution; if he refuses to stop and continues being promiscuous—in that case divorce is absolutely justifiable.
If the cheating spouse repents, but then falls into the sin again—well, I cannot set a specific limit on the number of times to forgive such a one. Each person will have to decide for himself. Pray about it and have a heart to glorify the Lord by your decision.
But please, let’s get this issue right in the church. Divorce is sin! God hates divorce! Practically speaking, an adulterous spouse has already divorced his/her mate. A legal divorce in such a case is simply the acknowledgment of this reality, rather than creating the reality.
Let’s be in prayer about this issue. Pray for the people of God to stop living for self and start living for the Lord. If we return to the Bible in spirit and in truth, divorce will disappear of itself. May the name of the Lord Jesus be praised!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jesus charged head on at the religious sophistry of His day, whereby divorce was justified with an allusion to how the Lord divorced Israel. Yesterday we stopped there. Today we will begin there.
Jesus’ rebuttal was to emphasize that the Lord NEVER commanded anyone to get a divorce. Rather, He recognized its frequent practice and regulated it for the benefit of the women of that time. The Lord didn’t tell the Israelites, “Get a divorce!”
Contrary to such a preposterous notion, Jesus noted that, from the beginning of man’s creation, the Lord made humans male and female, and that when a man and a woman married they became one. Then He added, “What God has conjoined, let no man separate. The words “no man” apply to women too. Jesus was referring to divorce as the means by which spouses were separated.
So much for the context. Now let’s get to the second point, viz., reading the entire verse. Jesus’ exception to this law against divorce is specified by the words except for the reason of unchastity. The word unchastity in this context means “adultery”. And that is the same thing Isaiah emphasized to the Israelites in Isaiah 50:1. The Lord sent His wife Israel away (i.e., divorced her) because of her “iniquities” and “transgressions” (i.e., her adultery).
Israel was unfaithful to the Lord by bringing idols into her religious practices. This was spiritual adultery. Physical human adultery always follows the practice of idolatry, dear friends. Consequently, adultery was rampant in the backslidden Israel of Isaiah’s day. But the Isaiah referred to Israel’s idolatry against the Lord as the reason for the Lord divorcing Israel. Israel was sleeping around with all the idols in town!
So Isaiah identified spiritual adultery as the Lord’s justifiable reason for divorcing His wife, Israel. Jesus identified physical adultery as man’s justifiable reason for divorcing his wife (or vice versa). Let it be added, though, that the Lord bore with Israel’s unfaithfulness for next to forever! He didn’t run out and divorce Israel the first or second or seven hundredth time Israel was unfaithful. He bore with Israel for centuries, attempting to work out the issue of her adultery within the context of His relationship with her.
So, too, should we spouses who face infidelity from our mates try to resolve the matter within the context of our marriage, rather than immediately terminate the marriage with a divorce. If a cheating spouse refuses to repent and snarls at his mate when she attempts a resolution; if he refuses to stop and continues being promiscuous—in that case divorce is absolutely justifiable.
If the cheating spouse repents, but then falls into the sin again—well, I cannot set a specific limit on the number of times to forgive such a one. Each person will have to decide for himself. Pray about it and have a heart to glorify the Lord by your decision.
But please, let’s get this issue right in the church. Divorce is sin! God hates divorce! Practically speaking, an adulterous spouse has already divorced his/her mate. A legal divorce in such a case is simply the acknowledgment of this reality, rather than creating the reality.
Let’s be in prayer about this issue. Pray for the people of God to stop living for self and start living for the Lord. If we return to the Bible in spirit and in truth, divorce will disappear of itself. May the name of the Lord Jesus be praised!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Christian Sophistry – Part 1
Thus says the Lord, “Where is the certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away [Isaiah 50:1].
Divorce is such a common thing nowadays, even in the church, that no one wants to listen to it denounced by the Word of God. We want to be Christians, you see, but we don’t want the Lord to be our Lord. We want to be our own Lord.
The result is that we use the word Bible profusely, but we don’t read it. We read other men’s words about the Bible and think that suffices for being a child of God and being spiritually astute. So we pick and choose from the Bible what we will eat—usually milk, with a little filler from other books tossed in to add worldly flavor—and we pretend the rest doesn’t exist.
Should anyone be so impertinent as to point out the other parts when we violate them, why, we become defensive and put up our barriers to keep them out. Whereas divorce dominates the American landscape today, both in and outside the church, it is one such solid meat teaching of the Lord that we cannot stomach.
I’ve even been challenged by thin-skinned Christians who are divorced, with a reference to the verse with which we kicked off this study. Their understanding of the verse is that the Lord divorced Israel, so divorce can’t be wrong.
What they fail to realize is two things:
1. we must keep the verse in context
2. the entire verse must be read, not a phrase out of context
Let’s diagnose the issue. The Lord divorced Israel, yes, but He did so for one reason only. He wasn’t fickle about it and walked out on Israel for every little thing! The Lord is perfect, so He makes no mistakes. If He divorced Israel, it was for a right reason. And guess what? This right reason He accepts from us mere mortals as well.
“So, then, what is this legit reason?” you ask. Listen and learn:
It was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery [Matthew 5:31-32].
Those words were spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He noted how the Israelites quoted the Law of Moses to justify divorcing their wives for any reason they felt like. Suchlike fellows claimed the Lord commanded them to divorce their wives by giving their wives a certificate of divorce.
On the surface this argument appears plausible. But even the devil quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness, in order to tempt Him to sin! Of course the devil took Scripture out of context each time. In reality this is a type of argumentation known as sophistry.
Oh, but we’re out of time again! Tomorrow we will hear Jesus’ rebuttal of the sophistry. For now let’s come apart with Him and allow Him to speak softly to us. We cannot help but be blessed abundantly when we do.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Divorce is such a common thing nowadays, even in the church, that no one wants to listen to it denounced by the Word of God. We want to be Christians, you see, but we don’t want the Lord to be our Lord. We want to be our own Lord.
The result is that we use the word Bible profusely, but we don’t read it. We read other men’s words about the Bible and think that suffices for being a child of God and being spiritually astute. So we pick and choose from the Bible what we will eat—usually milk, with a little filler from other books tossed in to add worldly flavor—and we pretend the rest doesn’t exist.
Should anyone be so impertinent as to point out the other parts when we violate them, why, we become defensive and put up our barriers to keep them out. Whereas divorce dominates the American landscape today, both in and outside the church, it is one such solid meat teaching of the Lord that we cannot stomach.
I’ve even been challenged by thin-skinned Christians who are divorced, with a reference to the verse with which we kicked off this study. Their understanding of the verse is that the Lord divorced Israel, so divorce can’t be wrong.
What they fail to realize is two things:
1. we must keep the verse in context
2. the entire verse must be read, not a phrase out of context
Let’s diagnose the issue. The Lord divorced Israel, yes, but He did so for one reason only. He wasn’t fickle about it and walked out on Israel for every little thing! The Lord is perfect, so He makes no mistakes. If He divorced Israel, it was for a right reason. And guess what? This right reason He accepts from us mere mortals as well.
“So, then, what is this legit reason?” you ask. Listen and learn:
It was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery [Matthew 5:31-32].
Those words were spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He noted how the Israelites quoted the Law of Moses to justify divorcing their wives for any reason they felt like. Suchlike fellows claimed the Lord commanded them to divorce their wives by giving their wives a certificate of divorce.
On the surface this argument appears plausible. But even the devil quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness, in order to tempt Him to sin! Of course the devil took Scripture out of context each time. In reality this is a type of argumentation known as sophistry.
Oh, but we’re out of time again! Tomorrow we will hear Jesus’ rebuttal of the sophistry. For now let’s come apart with Him and allow Him to speak softly to us. We cannot help but be blessed abundantly when we do.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Christian Sophistry – Part 2
Thus says the Lord, “Where is the certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away [Isaiah 50:1].
Jesus charged head on at the religious sophistry of His day, whereby divorce was justified with an allusion to how the Lord divorced Israel. Yesterday we stopped there. Today we will begin there.
Jesus’ rebuttal was to emphasize that the Lord NEVER commanded anyone to get a divorce. Rather, He recognized its frequent practice and regulated it for the benefit of the women of that time. The Lord didn’t tell the Israelites, “Get a divorce!”
Contrary to such a preposterous notion, Jesus noted that, from the beginning of man’s creation, the Lord made humans male and female, and that when a man and a woman married they became one. Then He added, “What God has conjoined, let no man separate. The words “no man” apply to women too. Jesus was referring to divorce as the means by which spouses were separated.
So much for the context. Now let’s get to the second point, viz., reading the entire verse. Jesus’ exception to this law against divorce is specified by the words except for the reason of unchastity. The word unchastity in this context means “adultery”. And that is the same thing Isaiah emphasized to the Israelites in Isaiah 50:1. The Lord sent His wife Israel away (i.e., divorced her) because of her “iniquities” and “transgressions” (i.e., her adultery).
Israel was unfaithful to the Lord by bringing idols into her religious practices. This was spiritual adultery. Physical human adultery always follows the practice of idolatry, dear friends. Consequently, adultery was rampant in the backslidden Israel of Isaiah’s day. But the Isaiah referred to Israel’s idolatry against the Lord as the reason for the Lord divorcing Israel. Israel was sleeping around with all the idols in town!
So Isaiah identified spiritual adultery as the Lord’s justifiable reason for divorcing His wife, Israel. Jesus identified physical adultery as man’s justifiable reason for divorcing his wife (or vice versa). Let it be added, though, that the Lord bore with Israel’s unfaithfulness for next to forever! He didn’t run out and divorce Israel the first or second or seven hundredth time Israel was unfaithful. He bore with Israel for centuries, attempting to work out the issue of her adultery within the context of His relationship with her.
So, too, should we spouses who face infidelity from our mates try to resolve the matter within the context of our marriage, rather than immediately terminate the marriage with a divorce. If a cheating spouse refuses to repent and snarls at his mate when she attempts a resolution; if he refuses to stop and continues being promiscuous—in that case divorce is absolutely justifiable.
If the cheating spouse repents, but then falls into the sin again—well, I cannot set a specific limit on the number of times to forgive such a one. Each person will have to decide for himself. Pray about it and have a heart to glorify the Lord by your decision.
But please, let’s get this issue right in the church. Divorce is sin! God hates divorce! Practically speaking, an adulterous spouse has already divorced his/her mate. A legal divorce in such a case is simply the acknowledgment of this reality, rather than creating the reality.
Let’s be in prayer about this issue. Pray for the people of God to stop living for self and start living for the Lord. If we return to the Bible in spirit and in truth, divorce will disappear of itself. May the name of the Lord Jesus be praised!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Jesus charged head on at the religious sophistry of His day, whereby divorce was justified with an allusion to how the Lord divorced Israel. Yesterday we stopped there. Today we will begin there.
Jesus’ rebuttal was to emphasize that the Lord NEVER commanded anyone to get a divorce. Rather, He recognized its frequent practice and regulated it for the benefit of the women of that time. The Lord didn’t tell the Israelites, “Get a divorce!”
Contrary to such a preposterous notion, Jesus noted that, from the beginning of man’s creation, the Lord made humans male and female, and that when a man and a woman married they became one. Then He added, “What God has conjoined, let no man separate. The words “no man” apply to women too. Jesus was referring to divorce as the means by which spouses were separated.
So much for the context. Now let’s get to the second point, viz., reading the entire verse. Jesus’ exception to this law against divorce is specified by the words except for the reason of unchastity. The word unchastity in this context means “adultery”. And that is the same thing Isaiah emphasized to the Israelites in Isaiah 50:1. The Lord sent His wife Israel away (i.e., divorced her) because of her “iniquities” and “transgressions” (i.e., her adultery).
Israel was unfaithful to the Lord by bringing idols into her religious practices. This was spiritual adultery. Physical human adultery always follows the practice of idolatry, dear friends. Consequently, adultery was rampant in the backslidden Israel of Isaiah’s day. But the Isaiah referred to Israel’s idolatry against the Lord as the reason for the Lord divorcing Israel. Israel was sleeping around with all the idols in town!
So Isaiah identified spiritual adultery as the Lord’s justifiable reason for divorcing His wife, Israel. Jesus identified physical adultery as man’s justifiable reason for divorcing his wife (or vice versa). Let it be added, though, that the Lord bore with Israel’s unfaithfulness for next to forever! He didn’t run out and divorce Israel the first or second or seven hundredth time Israel was unfaithful. He bore with Israel for centuries, attempting to work out the issue of her adultery within the context of His relationship with her.
So, too, should we spouses who face infidelity from our mates try to resolve the matter within the context of our marriage, rather than immediately terminate the marriage with a divorce. If a cheating spouse refuses to repent and snarls at his mate when she attempts a resolution; if he refuses to stop and continues being promiscuous—in that case divorce is absolutely justifiable.
If the cheating spouse repents, but then falls into the sin again—well, I cannot set a specific limit on the number of times to forgive such a one. Each person will have to decide for himself. Pray about it and have a heart to glorify the Lord by your decision.
But please, let’s get this issue right in the church. Divorce is sin! God hates divorce! Practically speaking, an adulterous spouse has already divorced his/her mate. A legal divorce in such a case is simply the acknowledgment of this reality, rather than creating the reality.
Let’s be in prayer about this issue. Pray for the people of God to stop living for self and start living for the Lord. If we return to the Bible in spirit and in truth, divorce will disappear of itself. May the name of the Lord Jesus be praised!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Christian Sophistry – Part 1
Thus says the Lord, “Where is the certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away [Isaiah 50:1].
Divorce is such a common thing nowadays, even in the church, that no one wants to listen to it denounced by the Word of God. We want to be Christians, you see, but we don’t want the Lord to be our Lord. We want to be our own Lord.
The result is that we use the word Bible profusely, but we don’t read it. We read other men’s words about the Bible and think that suffices for being a child of God and being spiritually astute. So we pick and choose from the Bible what we will eat—usually milk, with a little filler from other books tossed in to add worldly flavor—and we pretend the rest doesn’t exist.
Should anyone be so impertinent as to point out the other parts when we violate them, why, we become defensive and put our barriers up to keep them out. Whereas divorce dominates the American landscape today, both inside and outside the church, it is one such solid-meat teaching of the Lord that we cannot stomach.
I’ve even been challenged by thin-skinned Christians who are divorced, with a reference to the verse with which we kicked off this study. Their understanding of the verse is that the Lord divorced Israel, so divorce can’t be wrong.
What they fail to realize is two things:
1. we must keep the verse in context
2. the entire verse must be read, not a phrase out of context
Let’s diagnose the issue. The Lord divorced Israel, yes, but He did so for one reason only. He wasn’t fickle about it and simply walked out on Israel for every little thing! The Lord is perfect, so He makes no mistakes. If He divorced Israel, it was for a right reason. And guess what? This right reason He accepts from us mere mortals as well.
“So, then, what is this legit reason?” you ask. Listen and learn:
It was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery [Matthew 5:31-32].
Those words were spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He noted how the Israelites quoted the Law of Moses to justify divorcing their wives for any reason they felt like. Suchlike fellows claimed the Lord commanded them to divorce their wives by giving their wives a certificate of divorce.
On the surface this argument appears plausible. But even the devil quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness, in order to tempt Him to sin! Of course the devil took Scripture out of context each time. In reality this is a type of argumentation known as sophistry.
Oh, but we’re out of time again! Tomorrow we will hear Jesus’ rebuttal of the sophistry. For now let’s come apart with Him and allow Him to speak softly to us. We cannot help but be blessed abundantly when we do.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Divorce is such a common thing nowadays, even in the church, that no one wants to listen to it denounced by the Word of God. We want to be Christians, you see, but we don’t want the Lord to be our Lord. We want to be our own Lord.
The result is that we use the word Bible profusely, but we don’t read it. We read other men’s words about the Bible and think that suffices for being a child of God and being spiritually astute. So we pick and choose from the Bible what we will eat—usually milk, with a little filler from other books tossed in to add worldly flavor—and we pretend the rest doesn’t exist.
Should anyone be so impertinent as to point out the other parts when we violate them, why, we become defensive and put our barriers up to keep them out. Whereas divorce dominates the American landscape today, both inside and outside the church, it is one such solid-meat teaching of the Lord that we cannot stomach.
I’ve even been challenged by thin-skinned Christians who are divorced, with a reference to the verse with which we kicked off this study. Their understanding of the verse is that the Lord divorced Israel, so divorce can’t be wrong.
What they fail to realize is two things:
1. we must keep the verse in context
2. the entire verse must be read, not a phrase out of context
Let’s diagnose the issue. The Lord divorced Israel, yes, but He did so for one reason only. He wasn’t fickle about it and simply walked out on Israel for every little thing! The Lord is perfect, so He makes no mistakes. If He divorced Israel, it was for a right reason. And guess what? This right reason He accepts from us mere mortals as well.
“So, then, what is this legit reason?” you ask. Listen and learn:
It was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery [Matthew 5:31-32].
Those words were spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He noted how the Israelites quoted the Law of Moses to justify divorcing their wives for any reason they felt like. Suchlike fellows claimed the Lord commanded them to divorce their wives by giving their wives a certificate of divorce.
On the surface this argument appears plausible. But even the devil quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness, in order to tempt Him to sin! Of course the devil took Scripture out of context each time. In reality this is a type of argumentation known as sophistry.
Oh, but we’re out of time again! Tomorrow we will hear Jesus’ rebuttal of the sophistry. For now let’s come apart with Him and allow Him to speak softly to us. We cannot help but be blessed abundantly when we do.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Christian Sophistry – Part 2
Thus says the Lord, “Where is the certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away [Isaiah 50:1].
Jesus charged head on at the religious sophistry of His day, whereby divorce was justified with an allusion to how the Lord divorced Israel. Yesterday we stopped there. Today we will begin there.
Jesus’ rebuttal was to emphasize that the Lord NEVER commanded anyone to get a divorce. Rather, He recognized its frequent practice and regulated it for the benefit of the women of that time. The Lord didn’t tell the Israelites, “Get a divorce!”
Contrary to such a preposterous notion, Jesus noted that, from the beginning of man’s creation, the Lord made humans male and female, and that when a man and a woman married they became one. Then He added, “What God has conjoined, let no man separate. The words “no man” apply to women too. Jesus was referring to divorce as the means by which spouses were separated.
So much for the context. Now let’s get to the second point, viz., reading the entire verse. Jesus’ exception to this law against divorce is specified by the words except for the reason of unchastity. The word unchastity in this context means “adultery”. And that is the same thing Isaiah emphasized to the Israelites in Isaiah 50:1. The Lord sent His wife Israel away (i.e., divorced her) because of her “iniquities” and “transgressions” (i.e., her adultery).
Israel was unfaithful to the Lord by bringing idols into her religious practices. This was spiritual adultery. Physical human adultery always follows the practice of idolatry, dear friends. Consequently, adultery was rampant in the backslidden Israel of Isaiah’s day. But Isaiah referred to Israel’s idolatry against the Lord as the reason for the Lord divorcing Israel. Israel was sleeping around with all the idols in town!
So Isaiah identified spiritual adultery as the Lord’s justifiable reason for divorcing His wife, Israel. Jesus identified physical adultery as man’s justifiable reason for divorcing his wife (or vice versa). Let it be added, though, that the Lord bore with Israel’s unfaithfulness for next to forever! He didn’t run out and divorce Israel the first or second or seven hundredth time Israel was unfaithful. He bore with Israel for centuries, attempting to work out the issue of her adultery within the context of His relationship with her.
So, too, should we spouses who face infidelity from our mates try to resolve the matter within the context of our marriage, rather than immediately terminate the marriage with a divorce. If a cheating spouse refuses to repent and snarls at his mate when she attempts a resolution; if he refuses to stop and continues being promiscuous—in that case divorce is absolutely justifiable.
If the cheating spouse repents, but then falls into the sin again—well, I cannot set a specific limit on the number of times to forgive such a one. Each person will have to decide for himself. Pray about it and have a heart to glorify the Lord by your decision.
But please, let’s get this issue right in the church. Divorce is sin! God hates divorce! Practically speaking, an adulterous spouse has already divorced his/her mate. A legal divorce in such a case is simply the acknowledgment of this reality, rather than creating the reality.
Let’s be in prayer about this issue. Pray for the people of God to stop living for self and start living for the Lord. If we return to the Bible in spirit and in truth, divorce will disappear of itself. May the name of the Lord Jesus be praised!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Jesus charged head on at the religious sophistry of His day, whereby divorce was justified with an allusion to how the Lord divorced Israel. Yesterday we stopped there. Today we will begin there.
Jesus’ rebuttal was to emphasize that the Lord NEVER commanded anyone to get a divorce. Rather, He recognized its frequent practice and regulated it for the benefit of the women of that time. The Lord didn’t tell the Israelites, “Get a divorce!”
Contrary to such a preposterous notion, Jesus noted that, from the beginning of man’s creation, the Lord made humans male and female, and that when a man and a woman married they became one. Then He added, “What God has conjoined, let no man separate. The words “no man” apply to women too. Jesus was referring to divorce as the means by which spouses were separated.
So much for the context. Now let’s get to the second point, viz., reading the entire verse. Jesus’ exception to this law against divorce is specified by the words except for the reason of unchastity. The word unchastity in this context means “adultery”. And that is the same thing Isaiah emphasized to the Israelites in Isaiah 50:1. The Lord sent His wife Israel away (i.e., divorced her) because of her “iniquities” and “transgressions” (i.e., her adultery).
Israel was unfaithful to the Lord by bringing idols into her religious practices. This was spiritual adultery. Physical human adultery always follows the practice of idolatry, dear friends. Consequently, adultery was rampant in the backslidden Israel of Isaiah’s day. But Isaiah referred to Israel’s idolatry against the Lord as the reason for the Lord divorcing Israel. Israel was sleeping around with all the idols in town!
So Isaiah identified spiritual adultery as the Lord’s justifiable reason for divorcing His wife, Israel. Jesus identified physical adultery as man’s justifiable reason for divorcing his wife (or vice versa). Let it be added, though, that the Lord bore with Israel’s unfaithfulness for next to forever! He didn’t run out and divorce Israel the first or second or seven hundredth time Israel was unfaithful. He bore with Israel for centuries, attempting to work out the issue of her adultery within the context of His relationship with her.
So, too, should we spouses who face infidelity from our mates try to resolve the matter within the context of our marriage, rather than immediately terminate the marriage with a divorce. If a cheating spouse refuses to repent and snarls at his mate when she attempts a resolution; if he refuses to stop and continues being promiscuous—in that case divorce is absolutely justifiable.
If the cheating spouse repents, but then falls into the sin again—well, I cannot set a specific limit on the number of times to forgive such a one. Each person will have to decide for himself. Pray about it and have a heart to glorify the Lord by your decision.
But please, let’s get this issue right in the church. Divorce is sin! God hates divorce! Practically speaking, an adulterous spouse has already divorced his/her mate. A legal divorce in such a case is simply the acknowledgment of this reality, rather than creating the reality.
Let’s be in prayer about this issue. Pray for the people of God to stop living for self and start living for the Lord. If we return to the Bible in spirit and in truth, divorce will disappear of itself. May the name of the Lord Jesus be praised!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
