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This discussion will be largely a look at the various texts regarding divorce. The emphasis will be on biblical Law, the words of Christ, and the teachings of Paul. The dispensational approach is very low keyed because it is through dispensational boxology that modern Christians avoid dealing with the truth about divorce. The order will be from a reasonable as well as chronological approach. "Come, let us reason together saith the Lord..." Isaiah 1:18.
A word of concern: I have a number of friends who will find this study disconcerting. They have been divorced and re-married, and they were told by their pastor that they were doing good in the process. Some of you who read this are my personal friends and loved ones. I assure you that I knew that as I wrote this, and I have tried to avoid aiming at you or any reader personally. But, I have no choice but to deliver what I have received from the Lord through His Word. The fact that your pastor avoided this subject and glossed over the literal words of Jesus simply means that your pastor is the WIMP. Sorry about that.
So, please read this sermon and examine it by the Word of God. If you examine the sermon and me by your presuppositions or what John Mac Arthur taught, etc, you may soon arrive in the Glory to learn that you have lived out your days in abject adultery and defeat.
God's holy Standard is Changeless
Please note how marriage began in the Old Testament, and how God wanted it to stay, from the beginning....
Genesis
2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall
a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they
shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife,
and were not ashamed.
And, ending the Old Testament....
Malachi 2:16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
Notes to the above text:
"putting away"-- The common expression for divorce in the King James Bible. Beware of trying to drag "loosed" and "departed" etc. into the discussion. This is done by two-penny scholars to excuse or justify divorce and remarriage after divorce. More on this later...
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Malachi 2:17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
Notes to the above text:
Today, divorce is quickly excused. Christians seldom discuss a pending divorce in terms of the evil of divorce. They excuse it and find reasons why divorce is the only option. How often have you heard, "Well, divorce is out of the question in all circumstances, so how can we help so and so to save their marriage"? Not often, eh?
I personally believe that many Christian women have had their biblical consciousness replaced by a soap opera Harlequin paperback mind. They love the suspense of an evolving divorce and re-marriage.
The truth is clear in Malachi-- GOD HATES DIVORCE! Do you? The answer goes like this, "Oh, yes, we hate divorce, BUT........" What follows the "BUT" is a bold justification of sin-- nothing less.
Churches today offer counseling in how to have a biblical divorce. After the divorce, they welcome the rebels into the "singles class" and help them hustle a new mate. Only precaution-- Make sure both parties don't end up in the same church.
Example: Jim R. was being divorced by his wife. Jim was a pastor, and well liked in his area. A church he visited, while the divorce was pending, took him right to the singles class! There was no effort to restore the marriage. The church knew that the divorce was not yet final, but they introduced Jim around to ladies in waiting- Gospel trashettes who were willing to play the church house whore. Such women are worse than whores-- They don't even have the dignity to ask for payment. Jim had to flee to a small country church and find an old fashioned pastor who had a high standard-- who worked hard to restore Jim's marriage.
Malachi ends the Old Testament canon to the nation of Israel. It is interesting that divorce was a major sign of backsliding at end of the Old Testament era-- as it is in the Laodicean era today.
Justification of Divorce
So... we are not interested in ANY of the modern writers on divorce. Chances are, they are all weak on the subject, or had a divorce themselves. It is also the end of our age, and standards are NOT getting narrower! We will stick to the King James Bible.
Deuteronomy
24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she
find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then
let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her
out of his house.
2 And when she is departed out of his house, she
may go and be another man's wife.
3 And if the latter husband hate
her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth
her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to
be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD:
and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for
an inheritance.
Discussion of the above text follows:
Deuteronomy 24:1- This is the law of Moses- Note: The reasons for divorce-
a. No favor
b. Uncleanness
These are the same reasons for divorce today.
a. and b. above expanded:
a. Listen to the honky-tonk "no favor" according to Nashville:
"Please release me let me go,
For I don't love you any more,
To live a lie would be a shame,
Release me, and let me love again."In the world, this is almost noble.
b. The Christian model is based on the "uncleanness" alibi.
Here is how the "uncleanness" version of the above story evolves:
Mrs. Spiritual says, "Pastor, I am sure Harry is involved with another woman. I have three witnesses who have seen Harry go into a bar with Mary Lou Mc Nasty."
Pastor Accommodation answers, "Well, that certainly would permit you to divorce him. Tell me, Mrs. Spiritual, do you love Harry?"
Mrs. Spiritual exclaims through her tears, "Pastor, I just don't know how to love Harry anymore." Wimpy pastors always melt before a weeping woman.
Pastor Accommodation consoles, "Dear lady, I am sure God understands. He will help you through this, and we will pray for you."
In the Old Testament days of Moses' law, the Levites would investigate the accusation of Mrs. Spiritual. If true, they would stone Harry. Then Mrs. Spiritual would be "loosed" by death of her spouse, not by divorce ( ! ! ! !,) to go and marry again. "Uncleanness" in the Law of Moses DID NOT include adultery as today! The modern alibi for divorce NEVER existed, I.E. Adultery. It is an alien notion derived by corrupting the Old and New Testament.
Deuteronomy 24:2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
We will see that this permission was later forbidden by Christ in the Gospels. The Apostles later maintained the standard of Christ in the Church, which is NOT Moses' standard. Our age has a TOUGHER standard.
Deuteronomy
24:3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement,
and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter
husband die, which took her to be his wife;
4 Her former husband, which sent
her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for
that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin,
which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
This was never changed. It is easy to see why. A divorced and re- married woman is defiled to her original husband, then and now. There are some sins which cannot be "fixed up" later. This is one of them. Can she re-marry her first husband in the New Testament era? I see no reason why not-- IF she has abandoned re-marriage and confessed her adultery before the local church. According to due process, when a law is revoked or replaced, all of its attachments are also revoked.
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Deuteronomy
22:23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find
her in the city, and lie with her;
24 Then ye shall bring them both
out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they
die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because
he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
Notes to the above text:
As seen in the text above, fornication after engagement, but before the consummation of the marriage, was worthy of death.
More will be said later in the text on Mary and Joseph. According Moses' law, we should stone adulterers, not help them get a divorce. So divorce cannot be condoned for adultery.
The Only Divorce God Wants
Ezra
10:2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said
unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of
the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives,
and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those
that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the
law.
4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee:
be of good courage, and do it.
So, "put away" here is divorce, and here is the modern application:
Question: What is the only biblical reason for this divorce?
Answer: Polygamy with pagans.
Question: When can we use this?
Answer: When Mormons get saved. Or, in the foreign missionfield where polygamy is rampant in primitive cultures.
In Pioneering for Christ in the Sudan by Johanna Veenstra, p. 219-221, the author, said that all of the mission boards In Africa at the turn of the century required new converts to Christ to put away all but their first wife. The rest were considered adulterous. The standard is still the same, as is required to this day in southern Ethiopia by the Sudan Interior Mission, a Neo-evangelical mission, and ALL Fundamental missions.
So if you have recently been saved, and if you married an old women's nursing home, as did Joseph Smith, you must "put away" all but the first wife. This is the only time "putting away" is biblical. The standard remains unchanged from Ezra to the present!
Proverbs
5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at
all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
There is a caveat though. The man must take responsibility for the wives put away. He must not live anywhere near them, but he must willingly support them and the children. If doing right could cause severe human suffering, your doing right does not release you of responsibility, AND you are a slob if you wait on the worldly court system to force you to do right.
More than one wife was not allowed to Adam. Jesus and the Apostles agreed. We will find Christ very specific on this later.
Here is the rest of the account of the divorce of pagan wives...
Ezra
10:1:5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel,
to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.
6
Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan
the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink
water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried
away.
7
And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children
of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;
8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to
the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited,
and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.
9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together
unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day
of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God,
trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.
10 And Ezra
the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken
strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.
11 Now therefore
make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate
yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.
12
Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said,
so must we do.
13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much
rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day
or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.
14 Let
now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken
strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders
of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this
matter be turned from us.
15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah
the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai
the Levite helped them.
16 And the children of the captivity did so.
And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their
fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first
day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
17 And they made an end
with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.
18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken
strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren;
Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.
Notes on the above text:
After giving the names of all who took strange wives and who divorced them, the following comment was made as the very last statement in the book of Ezra.
Ezra 10:44 All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
This, along with verse 3, lays to rest the question of whether children, by a second marriage, should alter our acting upon God's revealed truth and His demands for holiness. Many a pastor has been attacked with this heart rending ploy:
"But pastor, we will be causing the children horrible disruption if we send them and their mother away." Right, and all of you need to understand that God did not get himself into a marriage mess, YOU did. Deal with it.
Now, here is the same kind of thing in Nehemiah's day...
Nehemiah
13:1 On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people;
and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come
into the congregation of God for ever;
2 Because they met not the children
of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should
curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3 Now
it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel
all the mixed multitude.
Here next is the action Nehemiah took with Old Testament saints. Some modern Christian rebels can just thank the Lord that their pastor is not open to use the methods of Nehemiah! There would be black eyes on half of the deacons next Sunday!
Nehemiah
13:23 In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon,
and of Moab:
24 And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod,
and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each
people.
25 And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain
of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall
not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons,
or for yourselves.
26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?
yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his
God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish
women cause to sin.
27 Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great
evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?
28
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in
law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.
29 Remember
them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of
the priesthood, and of the Levites.
30 Thus cleansed I them from all
strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in
his business;
Notes to the above text:
The most grievous sin in Ezra's and Nehemiah's day was to marry a stranger. Christ's prohibition of divorce for any reason but fornication makes this even more serious for us. Marriage to a "stranger" is now for life! So, if there is unconfessed fornication, or if the person is not born again, find it out during courtship and the engagement. Later, after the marriage, when you find out the boy was faking spiritual zeal, and when he heads off for the bar, it is too late to get a divorce.
It is interesting that polygamy was terminated long before this in the case of Abraham who had to cast out (put away) the bondwoman to get right with God.
When you go to your pastor and ask him his opinion on divorce, consider this. Your pastor is under appointment of God himself to be a teacher and to feed the sheep of Christ. As with Nehemiah who was appointed by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, your pastor is to answer to God for EVERY word he speaks as a pastor. He is to have no private opinion in line with the Word of God, and yet speak other words to soften the impact of the truth on you. He is to be convinced of all things before he speaks. He is to rightly divide the Word. So, you are a wicked and depraved brat if you expect your pastor to speak soft words to you about something God HATES. In fact, it is these sort of tricks that shorten the life of many of God's servants.
Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
A woman who is not chastised by God, when she plays tricks and perverts the Truth, might be thought of as a spiritual slut.
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Galatians
4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son:
for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free.
Notes to the above text:
You will recall that when Hagar was in the desert and Ishmael was at the point of death, Christ, The Angel of The Lord, came to Hagar and gave her promises for the Arabs in Ishmael. These promises are now being fulfilled, and they will continue into the Kingdom of Messiah (Isaiah 60). Then God provided water to sustain the first Arab. Neither Isaac nor Ishmael could have any promises with the adultery of Abraham in place. It had to be terminated! (Genesis 16)
To those who cry, "What will happen to the children of the second marriage if it is taken apart?" Take a look at the Arabs today. God has taken pretty good care of them through four millennia, in spite of their patriarch Abraham throwing them out in the desert!
Christ Teaches on Divorce
Matthew
19:1 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed
from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;
2 And
great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.
3 The Pharisees
also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man
to put away his wife for every cause?
4 And he answered and said unto
them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male
and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and
mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then
command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He
saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to
put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say
unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and
shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put
away doth commit adultery.
10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the
man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
11 But he said unto them,
All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
12 For
there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there
are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which
have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able
to receive it, let him receive it.
Notes to the above text:
Vs. 3- It's Question and Answer time:
Question: What about those who insist on drawing the Lord into their divorce proceedings by hailing His Grace and mercy? (I John 1:9)
Answer: They are tempting Christ! That's serious.
They also tempt the preacher. Today, divorced and re-married folks tell the preacher, "We are in love and we are happy." or, "We do not have any guilt." So what? Neither does Lucifer.
Vs. 4- Here is a thought in passing-- God did not create us female and female, or male and male! This answers all the folly of the fools in Christendom who justify sodomy in the Lord's Church.
Vs. 5-6- "One flesh" is the physical. Any chance of restoring this is nearly always destroyed in remarriage after divorce.
Marriage unites body, soul, and spirit. Impotency is NO grounds for divorce. If the physical is wanting, God is not bored with the marriage. After all, in heaven "They neither give nor take in marriage" yet the Godhead is "one." God is interested in preserving, "what God hath joined together."
Question / Answer...
Question: Is "one flesh" the basis for marriage? The Roman Catholic Church thinks so-- as do some Fundamentalists who are desperate to cover for their sins!
Answer: Vs. 6 end- "What God hath put together..." This means marriage is spiritual. Marriage, contrary to some backsliding Fundamentalists, is NOT put together by the Goodyear rubber company. This is true even with the unsaved (Later text discussed).
Vs. 7- The "put away" of the Old Testament is the same as in New Testament. This was NEVER revised by Christ-- ONLY the reasons for the "putting away" were revised.
Vs. 8- It's hard-hearted to justify divorce by twisting Christ's words and the Greek New Testament. Divorce was never the divine ideal. Do we believe that?
Vs. 9- "Fornication" (PORNEIA) is NOT after consummation or the ceremony! If adultery is interchangeable here, why would Jesus distinguish adultery- (MOICHEIA) at the end of the verse where it is obviously after marriage? Come on boys, you didn't fall into bed by accident, unless you were a drunk like Lot.
These are two completely distinct Greek words, and we may assume that The Lord Jesus Christ knew Greek somewhat better than the most highly crowned scholar from your favorite seminary!
Question: When is fornication committed in the context above?
Answer: "Fornication" two ways-
a. During betrothal, it is discovered from before the betrothal.
b. Fornication happens during the betrothal. Christ is NOT talking about one party discovering, after the wedding ceremony is over, that fornication was committed by the other party before the wedding. After the wedding, it is too late. Some of you idiots do not know the meaning of due diligence.
Vs. 9- Here is where the remarriage prohibition is given. There is no time limit on this. It is adultery as long as the second marriage lasts. I didn't make this up-- Jesus said it, and you must agree with Him or answer to HIM. Don't flame me for pointing you to the Holiness of God. Cuss God to His face or shut your mouth please.
One Fundamentalist ends a long discussion of this, in which he justifies remarriage after divorce, with a plea for sympathy for a man having to be celibate for may years. His question pleads for the annihilation of God's holy standard for the sake of the man's libido gratification. The man's words exactly, "Does a man have to go without for the rest of his life?" The logic is that we must disobey the clear teaching of Christ so that we can satisfy our libido. Bah!
Vs. 10-12- This is very narrow teaching by Jesus. The disciples even found it discouraging. If you can't accept it, don't get married! Be a eunuch. Is this cruel? See I Cor. 7:6-8- Singleness is an option. If you can't take "till death do us part" vows, don't take any at all.
Psalms 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
If you made wedding vows as a saint before God, you MUST keep them before Him even before you keep them before your spouse. Your spouse may have run off or divorced you, but God still considers you married by VOW!!!!! What if God took the same light view of His vow to keep us in Christ Jesus that modern saints take of their wedding vows? We would all be damned.
Jesus Advances the Revelation
Jesus makes it clear below that He has raised the standard. The Laodicean church age has brought back Moses' standard, or worse, they have taken wives from Moab. They then raise kids who have a very loose view of marriage, and they pastor churches where saints treat marriage like Baskin Robbins 31 flavors.
Matthew
5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for
it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into hell.
31 It hath been said, Whosoever
shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32
But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause
of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her
that is divorced committeth adultery.
Notes on the above text:
Vs. 30- The Old Testament standard is NEVER lowered by Christ. It is strengthened. For example, according to Christ's standard, looking with longing at any woman other than one's wife becomes adultery.
Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Vs. 31- A modern legal paper of divorcement and a second marriage certificate are NOT honorable. They are filthy rags to God. Generous divorce terms are dignified rebellion! Pleasant relations after the divorce are blasphemy against the inventor of marriage, Jehovah.
Saul thought he could justify his rebellion by sacrificing the animals gained by disobedience. Samuel said it was the same as witchcraft (I Sam. 15:23), and rebellion still is witchcraft today.
Vs. 32- "Put away" is divorce. Not separation. We hear age old emotional whining from the broad way, "But, what if the bum is stepping around? He may infect his wife. What if he sexually abuses the kids? What if he gets AIDS? What if... What if..." Answer: Call the police for abusers. Separation is needed where the wife is in real danger of sexually transmitted disease. But, such precaution is NOT a prelude to divorce and re-marriage!
Question: How can we be sure "fornication" is only before marriage?
Answer: Jesus knew Greek.
Was He under inspiration? Stupid question, eh? Therefore; the "adultery" at the end of vs. 32 is ONLY after marriage. Therefore; fornication applies ONLY to the betrothal.
CONCLUSION: Adultery is NOT grounds for divorce.
Don't complain to me. Go argue with Jesus.
THE ONLY JUSTIFICATION FOR DIVORCE IN BIBLE--
Fornication (PORNEIA) is only sex before betrothal or sex during the betrothal / engagement. For this fornication, the betrothal, or engagement, can be terminated-- NOT the marriage later. Here, divorced and remarried folks flee to "cultural setting."
I agree. Culture is important.
One reason Jesus came to the culture He did, WHEN He did, was to get the standard right. He did NOT want our Americanized, Laodicean, "scholarship only," NIV / NASB, dung gate cultural perspective. He wanted the Old Testament cultural setting in which to establish holiness for all the ages to come.
Read that last paragraph again please.
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Matthew
1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing
to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared
unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto
thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall
save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall
call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph
being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife:
Vs. 18-19- Joseph was not about to marry a woman who had been in fornication before the betrothal. Also, note that during the betrothal she was already considered to be his wife in vs. 24.
This account is here for a secondary reason. It makes it very clear what Jesus meant by "fornication" in his discourses on divorce and re-marriage. If you cannot see it, it is YOU that is willfully a rebel. God has given you all the light you need to get it right.
Question / Answer time again...
Question: Why then didn't Joseph take Mary to the priests to be stoned? Is this not something outside of Moses' law?
Answer: Stoning was not done in Jesus' day. In the account of the woman found in adultery in John 8:1-12, the men were resorting back to Moses' law to embarrass Jesus. Would Jesus call for stoning, which was out of fashion? If so, they would make Him look like a brutal man. If not, He would condone ignoring Moses law.
[You wimpy high browed Bible mutilators who take this text out of the canon have lost a very important doctrinal passage.]
"Putting away" WAS done. Virginity was expected BEFORE and during the betrothal, and that was what Joseph expected of Mary! Mary was a wife from betrothal onward. So, sex does NOT make a marriage, at least not in the mind of a godly man like "saint" Joseph!
APPLICATION TODAY from Joseph and Mary's experience, and from Jesus' teachings we learn:
There shall be no sex between the engaged couple. If so, they must "break it off".
You may ask if this disqualifies the fornicator and their betrothed from ever getting married.
Answer: Yes, even if it is between the ones betrothed to each other, UNLESS the sin of fornication is confessed before the local church assembled. Still, the offenders should avoid each other during a time of church discipline. (Romans 12:17; 1 Corinthians 14:32-33; 1 Timothy 5:19-20)
Question:
Did God, in the Old Testament, justify divorce and remarriage when He
put away Israel and turned to the Church and the Gentiles?
Answer: Jehovah was never married to Israel, only betrothed. Notice please...
Jeremiah 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
If this proves that God was married to Israel, then He will violate the law of Moses when He returns to Israel in the Messianic Kingdom, for Moses forbid a man to return and marry a wife he had divorced.. That is not possible. So, what is the point?
Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
So, Israel began their fast at Calvary. BUT, get this right-- It is a fast only. Fasting ends in feasting, not death, as Reformed theology would have it. Israel will be restored to betrothal and finally the wedding. Note:
Hosea
2:10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none
shall deliver her out of mine hand.
11 I will also cause all her mirth
to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn
feasts.
12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath
said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them
a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 And I will
visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she
decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers,
and forgat me, saith the LORD.
14
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak
comfortably unto her.
15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence,
and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the
days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call
me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
17 For I will take away the
names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their
name.
18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts
of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the
ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth,
and will make them to lie down safely.
19
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in
judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20 I will even betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
Verse 16 shows that Israel will call Messiah Ishi (Husband) for the first time in the coming Kingdom.
Verse 19 shows that the betrothal will be restored. There was never a marriage at all. The marriage of Israel to Messiah comes in the Kingdom Age. There has been NO marriage of anyone to Christ yet, neither Israel nor the Church.
Note John the Baptist's comment on the presence of Messiah in person in Israel:
John 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Israel will not be formally married until the Kingdom. Then, Christ will never divorce her.
Isaiah
62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be
termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for
the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
5 For as
a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
The Church is in exactly the same relationship with Christ. The Church in betrothal waits for the Bridegroom to take her to the marriage feast of the Lamb.
2
Corinthians 11:1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and
indeed bear with me.
2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin
to Christ.
So, we see that the Church now is still not married to Messiah. In fact, the Bride of Christ will eventually consist of both the Church and Israel. Spiritually, there is only one Bride in the end. So, we see that Messiah's actions with both Israel and the Church are not an apologetic for divorce and remarriage.
Revelation
21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and
he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be
with them, and be their God.
Revelation 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife
I had to include the above discussion because some wimpy Fundamentalists have twisted this teaching to justify divorce.
Remarriage
after Divorce
This is the part that is almost always left out of any discussion of divorce. Why?
Answer: It is very hard to handle. But, it is always charitable to teach it because it is the Truth. You make the application in the Lord. (Gal. 4:16) Note the final authority:
Luke
16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of
God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
17 And it is easier
for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Notes to the above text:
Since when did cultural or emotional considerations change the perfect Word of God? Word Perfect seems to only be reserved for Microsoft by some soft worn preachers. Christ's teaching on divorce and re-marriage is a mighty big "tittle" to trash in order to keep the big givers from fleeing to the broad way. Get right, preacher.
Mark
10:11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another,
committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her
husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
13 And
they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples
rebuked those that brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much
displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Notes to the above text:
Any way you cut it-- Remarriage of the one divorced, or-- Remarriage by one who caused divorce-- is what?
Answer: Adultery. "It takes two to tango." Both parties are in adultery until the alleged remarriage is terminated.
Question: Does the Bible say re-marriage after divorce ever stops being adultery?
Answer: Nowhere! So, why do we terminate the sin?
One divorce and remarriage junkie mercilessly blasts the apologists he attacks for not having any Scripture to prove their case. Well, HE cannot prove from one text of Scripture that at some magic moment in the future the sins of divorce and re-marriage evolve into some lesser venial sin.
Example: Here is a man who gets saved, or is already saved. He goes on a drunk. Later, he confesses his sin to the local church, and the church forgives him. What if he goes back to the bar?
Do we say, "Well, he has confessed it before the church, so now his boozing is not sin"? Of course not. It is sin until it is abandoned. He is a drunk sinner before and after he gets saved, and before and after he confesses it before the church, IF he goes and gets drunk again. It never stops being sin-- NEVER!
Vs. 13-14- Why does the passage on Christ's tenderness with children come next? Isn't it obvious? What "blessing" is it when a child loses his Mommy or Daddy because they give way to sin? A kid can understand death after a while, but divorce CANNOT be explained to a child-- it's totally un-natural, as well as ungodly.
The tolerance of divorce in the Church worldwide stinks. They fight abortion. Yet, they tear out the hearts of the children who are born to them to be a blessing. Shame, shame, shame, and curses on you stinking Balaam ($) marriage counselors who condone divorce and remarriage in the name of the Carpenter of Nazareth!
2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness ($ $ $ $ $ $ $ - £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £) shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
Can a divorced person Re-marry?
Is there a text which makes this very clear-- An impartial text?
ANSWER: YES.
Romans
7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the
law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 For the woman which
hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if
the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3 So
then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so
that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4 Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we
should bring forth fruit unto God.
5 For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth
fruit unto death.
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being
dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not
in the oldness of the letter.
Notes to the above text
Vs. 1- The law here shows how God thinks about marriage. It is nonsense to claim the age of Grace lowers the standard. As we saw already, Jesus raised the standard for marriage and divorce. Furthermore; the Old Testament is brought forward, right in this text, to illustrate Grace. Larkin has to get out of the way in this case.
Vs. 2- "loosed" is NOT a word for divorce anywhere in the New Testament (exception once in I Cor 7, but not here). What did Jesus allow? Divorce for fornication during betrothal (engagement).
Otherwise, this law is for life- That is, from Adam and Eve onward (Gen. 2:21-25), till death do us part.
Vs. 3- "If the plain sense makes good sense, don't look for any other sense." Implied here-- If a divorced person's only spouse dies, remarriage is OK. A Levite cannot marry her. Nor can a New Testament bishop or elder / pastor, otherwise she can re-marry. One "saintly scholar" at Talbot Cemetery said, "If you want to divorce your wife, you would be better off with some churches to shoot her." This simply shows the rebellion in the heart of some Balaams. I say, "You would do better to call Balaam's ass as your pastor than a graduate of these schools like Dallas and Talbot that warp the Truth and the students' minds."
Cross Reference-
I Timothy 3:2- "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife..."
This does not mean "one at a time." It is in the same sense as the Old Testament Levite. The elder in the Church is a model of Christ's fidelity to the Church. One wife for life-- no more and no less, and not a divorced woman. There is not a soul in the Word of God, whom God used, who was either a sodomite or divorced, before or after salvation, nor before or after Calvary. Kindly read that again.
Vs. 7- Is the standard of the law defective? Answer: NO. It is holy and invented by God (Romans 15:4). Is this standard reasonable? God says, "Come, let us reason together..."
Try, "The three shall be one flesh?" Unthinkable! Why? My dear whimpering friend, I gently remind you that the physical hardware is a one on one arrangement. Some folks think that by living with only their remarried spouse, they are not in sin. If one is in Texas and the other in Maine, is that somehow different? God was not impressed with Solomon's effort at "oneness" when he gathered his harem (I Kings 11:3-4). What about a harem of two? Or
Mohammed-- The 13 shall be one flesh?
Joseph Smith- The 156 shall be one flesh?
Abdul bin Hassin- The 1233 shall be one flesh?
Romans 7 updates the law's authority over divorce and remarriage NOW-- in the Church Age for its whole duration. Once the marriage is finalized, nothing can convince God He must take it apart-- Nothing but death, stoning for adultery, or the rapture of the Church. Do we agree with Him?
Does verse 6 above release us to divorce and re-marry? Of course not. We showed before that Jesus Himself raised the level of holiness. Don't give us this pious babble of "liberty" to cover your rebellion against Christ. Run that reasoning out the dung gate along with its champion, Chuck (Upchuck) Swindol.
I Corinthians 7 on Divorce & Re-marriage
Is I Cor. 7:1-16 saying it is permitted to divorce and remarry?
1
Corinthians 7:1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good
for a man not to touch a woman.
2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let
every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
3 Let
the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto
the husband.
4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and
likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may
give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt
you not for your incontinency.
6
But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.
7 For I would that
all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one
after this manner, and another after that.
8 I say therefore to the unmarried
and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
9 But if they cannot
contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
10 And unto
the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her
husband:
11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled
to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
12 But to the rest
speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she
be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
13 And the woman which
hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let
her not leave him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife,
and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children
unclean; but now are they holy.
15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him
depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath
called us to peace.
16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save
thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?
Notes on the above text
Vs. 1- 2- One husband for every wife and visa versa, and note please that fornication remains a pre-marriage term, as Jesus used it.
Vs. 3-4- How can one man have power over two bodies sexually????
Vs. 8- 9- Widows and the unmarried are on the same ground. Why? Answer: Romans 7 has released the widows to marry again. This proves the Old Testament law is assumed here by Paul. This text undergirds the interpretation we used above in Romans 7.
Vs. 10-11- "Depart" is not divorce, as accommodation scholars claim. It is "depart," that's all. It is abandonment or separation. It is never used in the Bible for divorce except by those who seek to justify divorce and remarriage of the divorced. Examples of its true meaning- Romans 8:35; Hebrews 7:26 LOOK IT UP-- Separation!!!
Vs. 11-End- Divorce is not allowed as a conclusion to any problem!
Vs. 12- An unsaved wife must be kept. Corinth was rampant with divorce. Saints cannot consider it for rebellious spouses.
Vs. 13- This even rules out separation from a rebel spouse.
Vs. 14- This proves we are talking about a rebel unsaved spouse--that's all. NOT adultery OR fornication or anything else. Note: You cannot expect victorious non-fornicating kids from divorced parents.
Vs. 15- "Depart" is separation only. NOT divorce. "not in bondage" does not justify divorce and remarriage. It simply allows the victim of persecution to stay in Corinth if the spouse leaves town, but the saint cannot re-marry. What did vs. 11 say? Divorce is not in this text.
Vs. 16- Again, divorce is NOT justified in this passage.
_____________________________________________
1
Corinthians 7:17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called
every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
18 Is any
man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called
in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
19 Circumcision is nothing,
and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
20
Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
Notes to the above text:
Vs. 17-20- Implied: If you are called being married to an adulterous rebellious sinner, stay as you are-- married. The only possible exception is separation, "depart." Then, stay separated-- Period.
In the Old Testament era, if you had more than one wife, and one was Jewish, divorce the pagan (Ezra). That is for Mormons and polygamous Africans, but has nothing to do with I Corinthians 7.
_____________________________________________
1
Corinthians 7:27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed
from a wife? seek not a wife.
28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not
sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have
trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
Notes to the above text:
Vs. 27-28- Is this a contradiction? No! These are two different thoughts. "loosed" in this verse IS divorce. This is the single exception in the whole English Bible. It is from the Greek root, LUO which is the word used in Matthew where Christ used it for "put away." So does Romans 7 allow remarriage after being "loosed?" NO!!! "loosed" in Romans 7 is KATARGEO-- Abolished, dead and gone.
The "loosed" in Roman 7 and I Cor 7 are mutually exclusive words. Not the same meaning. Confounding them is heresy.
Most Fundamental Bible teachers claim these are the same word. One Fundamental brother dared me to check these texts in the Greek, as though he was right. Vi, vini, vici. I checked. It was the old shell game-- the old guli-guli man from Cairo, Egypt. I was supposed to watch his other hand. I caught him. Could his lapse of honest Bible exegesis be because he is twice divorced and re-married?
Rom. 7 = Loosed by death. ___________ KATARGEO
I Cor. 7 = Loosed by divorce.__________ LUO
Romans 7 says marry again after death. I Cor. 7:27 says DO NOT REMARRY AFTER DIVORCE. Read it!
This proof text, alleged for remarriage after divorce, is perhaps the most powerful against it. It supports Christ's teaching in Matthew 19 in the King James English and in the Greek.
Now, does vs. 28 contradict 27? No! The subject changes back to marriage in general. The leaders are addressed first, then the virgins. Read to the end of chapter. There is nothing about departing, loosing, or "putting away." All the rest of the chapter is about marriage in general. I Cor. 7:27-28 WILL NOT justify divorce. You will get more theology out of a junk yard dog than justification of divorce out of 1 Corinthians 7.
Conclusion
Remember- Adulterers were stoned in the Old Testament. They didn't get a chance to remarry, let alone be divorced.
Remember- The only time "divorce" was approved in the Bible? When Jews "put away" multiple pagan wives.
Remember- This is done today in the missionfield. Why? Answer: Polygamy is forbidden based on the doctrine of Adam and Eve and the Old Testament law, which Jesus quoted directly from Adam. No other "putting away" is valid to God.
Remember- Adam had only one wife. Levites had only one wife. New Testament church elders had only one wife. Same standard!!!
Remember- What is NOT in the Bible:
God never used a man who was divorced. Check it out.
God never used a man who was remarried after divorce.
God never used a sodomite-- they share something devilish.
No prophets, kings, or Apostles were divorced or remarried.
Remember- You are continuing in adultery as long as you re-married after divorce. A confession of your sin to God is your next step to restore fellowship with the Lord (I John 1:9). Then you must confess your sin before the church (James 5:16), you should openly confess to the one you helped into this adultery, and you should name the rebels who encouraged you to re-marry (I Timothy 5:19-20).
NOTE, you must rebuke OPENLY any elders, pastors, or marriage counselors who twisted the Word of God to justify your rebellion and sin.
Last, you must TOTALLY abandon your present adulterous union which you have pretended is a marriage. Ask the Lord's Church to assist you in doing the right thing regarding any children by this adulterous affair. If you doubt God's mercy on the children of this affair, read about Jephtha in Judges 11-12, 1 Samuel 12:11, and Hebrews 11:32. The sin of adultery which resulted in any illegitimate children is not held over the children. However; you must never again be seen in the immediate company of the one with whom you were in adultery, NOT EVEN IN THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SAINTS ! ! !
Remember- Marriage is still "put together" in God's "book"-- even a sinners' marriage! John the Baptist rebuked pagan Herod for his marriage arrangements (Mark 6:16-19). Why? Because God expected that sinner to marry correctly. Think about that when someone asks, "Does this all apply to what happened before we were saved?" Sin remains sin until it is confessed and abandoned, including divorce and re-marriage of unsaved people.
Remember- It is not this writer who said it-- it is GOD who said, 1 Peter 1:16, "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." There is NO second best-- NO "permissive will of God." That is blasphemy.
One last Question is raised by a Fundamental Baptist divorced and re-married preacher:
Is there any specific Scripture to prove that a divorced and re-married preacher cannot preach again?
Answer: No.
But it is implied as clear as the nose on your face, UNLESS-- You want a pastor who is divorced, re-married, in open rebuke as Paul instructed Timothy, and under church discipline until he gets rid of the adulteress he is living with.
This is in the context of ALL of the above Scripture-- KJV 1611, the Hebrew of the Masoretes, and the Textus Receptus of the Greek.
A bishop (pastor) is to be the husband of one wife, NOT one wife and one more wife.
People get from God what they ask for, as Israel got King Saul. What do YOU want anyway?
We end with The Word of God
Eph. 4:28, Applies to all of our sin. "Let him that stole steal no more..."
Or, let him that divorced and re-married adulterate no more!
Proverbs 24:8, "He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person."
ALL divorce / re-marriage hucksters included.
Ecclesiastes 5:6, "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?"
Matthew 12:33, "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit."
Divorce / re-marriage is marked by defensive and self-righteous blabber.
Job 14:4, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one."
Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." 16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
Until a divorced and re-married person gets out of the shack, and out of the wrong bed, that person is in adultery and should be held in perpetual shame by the Lord's Church.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Selah!
_____________________________________________
If you want to debate the subject, or justify your marriage mill, call your nearest Mormon bishop who will no doubt give you aid and comfort in your rebellion. They've got more wives than Carter's got little pills. You pastors who feel this message has moved you to deal with this matter-- consider the cost. You will have rebellion in the pew for sure, and some of your friends will step back from you. I speak from experience. But, if you clear yourself in the teaching of the truth on Divorce and Re-marriage, your Lord will approve of you, and that is worth the risk. I now enjoy a clear conscience after putting it off for about 10 years, which was far too long-- I admit it.
© Copyrighted 1995 by Steve Van Nattan You may copy this IF you do not change it or charge money for it.
UPDATE 2001
Recently, I have had to do some hard thinking on this discussion. I have not changed my conviction on this subject, so everything above still stands. What I have been considering is this-- In all the Bible teaching, from Adam to Paul and John, there is one wife for a man in God's perfect will.
Now, why did God not rebuke his men who served him yet had more than one wife? I don't entirely understand that, but it seems that a true marriage of a second (or more) wife was never called adultery. Nor was it ever defined as a sin. Solomon was faulted by God for all his wives, but mainly because they were pagans and not devout Jews, converted in the model of the account of Ruth.
What I find amazing is that the Church today, almost throughout all of Christendom, will approve of divorce and remarriage, which Jesus and Paul condemned, yet these same people are very sure polygamy is wicked. There is something upside down in this thinking. I now am rather well convinced that if a man were to marry a second wife, and if he were to consider the first wife as his wife also, he would be in less trouble with God than the modern plan of divorce, walk away, confess the sin of divorce, and remarry. The thing is, with polygamy, the man must maintain the first wife, as well as the second, and he must be totally impartial to both wives in all things. Solomon told a man to be always satisfied with the wife of his youth, and ravished only by her breasts.
This model would still be rather provoking to the average believer, and the world would think this was silly. If someone told me he got under conviction of sin, and he went back to his first wife, while maintaining the second (and her children), I would have to tell him he was reverting to an ancient model of the Old Testament. But, I would tell him he was no longer in adultery. I would also tell him that his math is messed up because two, not three or four, become one flesh according to Christ. I would also expect that he would show no partiality in caring for both women as to needs and financial blessings. He would also have to be the father to the kids of both wives. Lots of luck.
This would not be the "support" principle of the world, which follows divorce today. It would be a case where the local church would be told that the man had two wives. The man would never be a leader in the local church as Paul taught in 1 Timothy 3.
I am not suggesting some reader do this. It would only be, in my opinion, an old dispensation solution to the adultery principle declared to be the result of divorce and remarriage, as taught by the Lord Jesus. While the Bible clearly forbids divorce in the New Testament, nowhere in the Bible is polygamy directly forbidden.
I will probably get a good pounding for this discussion, right? :-)
UPDATE 2004
Recently, I was visiting with pastor friend of mine. He has been studying the divorce and remarriage issue, and he agrees that it is not dealt with very well in most churches. Either there is a rough tough spirit of condemnation, which is set on a foundation of literal use of the King James Bible, or there is a weak use of the Word of God, including games played with the alleged "original Greek," in order to avoid dealing with the sin involved.
I asked my pastor friend what we do with an existing divorce and remarriage. Ray Blanton of South Carolina calls for breaking up the second adulterous marriage. This meets the need of Christ's teaching legally, but when there are kids involved, this option is very destructive. Nor did Christ actually call for the break up of the remarriage directly in the passages involved. Are those kids required to suffer living in a broken home? They did not sin. Is another divorce, as the world sees it, going to claim the high ground in Christ? We concluded that it is hard to believe in that.
My friend believes that in such a situation, where the remarried parties are repentant, they must confess the sin publicly, and the church can forgive them. They must then live with what we concluded is a memorial to their disobedience, and they will spend the rest of their married life as adulterers. This does not imply that the church approves of adultery. They made the thing, and they have to live with the consequences.
You need to understand that just because God forgives sin does not imply that he can fix every mess you make in this life. Some things go on before you in this life long after God forgave you in his heaven.
1
Timothy 5:24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and
some men they follow after.
25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest
beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.
Another example of the lifelong memorial effect is the woman who has a child out of wedlock. She can confess the sin and be forgiven, but her son is illegitimate until he dies. Does the church celebrate this fact? Of course not. Jephtha is an example of a man of God who was used to lead Israel, but the Word of God does not hide the fact that he was the son of an harlot, and that fact made problems for him socially. (Judges 11) A mature and loving church should be able to deal with the thing and help the illegitimate kid find salvation and victory in Jesus Christ. But, he remains a memorial to his mother's and father's sin.
The divorced and remarried couple must also live with their memorial. The church can restore them to fellowship and love them, but they cannot lead or be in a place of teaching the truths of the Word of God publicly. They may even be considered not qualified to lead in singing or prayer in a gathering. Some church fellowships would conclude that they must not be invited to the Lord's Table. That is a call I don't care to make here, but whatever a local church decides in this matter, I support them.
I note also that divorced and remarried pastors, who build Bible Institute ministries, are making a monument to their adultery as they give preachers in training an apologetic for divorce/remarriage adultery. No wonder so many Fundamental churches are tolerant or sexual sin. In 2021 I am adding the identity of this example to make it clear to the graduates of this Bible institute where they stand if they teach tolerance for divorce and remarriage..... It is Dr. Peter S. Ruckman and Pensacola Bible Institute.
I have gotten some real help from my pastor friend's conclusions on this. God must be holy, and we dare not call a thing holy which he calls adultery.
Someone will ask if the couple have no children, can they separate? I would say they could, as polygamist nationals in Africa separated from all but the first wife. But, they cannot remarry, and the husband must care for the wife. In this way, the sexual sin of adultery is put away, but Jesus said the marriage itself was adultery, not just the sexual union. So, they still have to live with the memorial of adultery.
I don't claim to have the last word on this, nor does my pastor friend, but I believe this perspective is based on biblical reality and the teaching of Christ and Paul. Our problem today comes from a rather light view of the consequences of sin. God forgives, but some memorials are permanent until the rapture of the Church or "death do us part."
UPDATE 2006- PUT ASUNDER
It is important to note that, once a marriage is put asunder, the original union CANNOT be put back together. This is a real problem these days as men and women who were once married, went into adultery, divorced, remarried, and, finally, had second thoughts, are coming back together. Everyone is so happy to see the original couple back together. This is an abomination to God.
Deuteronomy
24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she
find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then
let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her
out of his house.
2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go
and be another man's wife.
3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write
her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his
house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
4 Her
former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after
that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not
cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Why is it an abomination and a defilement for this couple to remarry? I believe that the thing God hates is that a covenant was broken and made void. God does not break his covenants, and so there is NO place for a second hand covenant to God. The Promised Land was given to Israel by covenant, and God did not break it. Even now, the covenant is held in abeyance to be reinstated in the Kingdom reign of Messiah Jesus Christ. Also, the reunion of two adulterers is not holy. It is based only in lust. They are forced by God to abandon one another forever. I believe God is saying, "Count the cost. You do not get to go back if you don't like the second program."
The principle of putting asunder:
Matthew
19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more
twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put
asunder.
Mark
10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his
wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain,
but one flesh.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put
asunder.
The couple who are married do NOT put the marriage asunder as they get a divorce. The putting asunder is done by a man, or woman, from outside the marriage union. A man who calls a woman to leave her marriage, divorce her husband, and come to marry him-- HE is the one putting asunder. The woman is helping him put asunder. The pastor of the local church may help put asunder. One pastor in Dayton, Ohio helped a man in his church put asunder his marriage, even took an offering to pay his legal expenses, so the man could marry a "good godly widow" in the assembly. This whole church helped put asunder that marriage.
The self-righteious slobs stand around and blame the married people for putting themselves asunder. LIE! Those outside who did not FIGHT to save the marriage are equally guilty of destroying the marriage and home. The above preacher loved to yell, as he jumped up on a chair, "YOU'RE WICKED." Only, in this case, he should yell at himself.
Death, and ONLY death, is the lawful will of God for putting asunder. Or, as in the vow all these rebels take, "Until death do us part...."
1
Corinthians 7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but
if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only
in the Lord.
40 But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and
I think also that I have the Spirit of God. (See
also Romans 7 on this)
Any pastor, third party hustler (like Jack Hyles), or a member of the marriage itself, who aids and abets in the putting asunder of a marriage is just as guilty as anyone else. Also, we note from Deut. 24:1-4 that if the two parties are not defiled, that is, are not now remarried or living in common law adultery, the original marriage may be reunited. Forgiveness of CONFESSED SIN is in order. But, if one party marries, they and their new partner, and their soft headed pastor who married them, have made the putting asunder final. There can be no remarriage of the original couple.
Nor does the putting asunder alter Christ's teaching that the party not guilty of putting asunder can remarry. That is NOT implied. Only death releases that offended party to remarry.
What is the lesson here? Answer: Make the standard high, not low. Start right with a lengthy courtship, and make your marriage vows final, no second thoughts.
____________________________
Deuteronomy 24:5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.
This has nothing to do with divorce. But, as we hear rumblings of more war after the coming election pastors need to set in place a war ethic of their own. Being patriotic is a passion many Fundamentalist pastors put above the King Jams Bible. It is wicked to stand by and make no effort to keep a man in his marriage bed for a year after he marries. You preachers better be ready to resist this and tell draft boards, "This is part of our religious belief system." If you will not defend a new home in this way, you are a devil. You probably are hoping you can use the new bride while the young husband is away at war. I KNOW you wicked men for what you are. If you are right with the Word, you will do what Moses commanded.
UPDATE 2009- IS FORNICATION MARRIAGE?
This issue is raised because Dr. Peter Ruckman, and other men who need desperately to justify their own sin, have taken the position that anytime a sexual union takes place, a marriage has also been made between the two parties.
Here is David Cloud on the question:
IS FORNICATION MARRIAGE?
Updated August 4, 2004
First published July 24, 1997
David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061,
866-295-4143Some have taught that the sexual union between men and women equates marriage, but this is not the case. The married man and woman become one spiritually and physically by an act of God, not by a mere act of sexual intimacy. The oneness between Adam and Eve was created when God brought them together as man and wife even before they knew one another in sexual intimacy (Gen. 2:22-23; Mat. 19:5-6).
Immoral sexual relations do produce a unity between the partners (1 Cor. 6:15-18), but the Bible nowhere says this equates marriage. When a married man and woman commit adultery, or when a single man and woman commit fornication, they are joined together in their sin, but they are not thereby married.
If fornication created marriage, the fornicators would not need to get married; they would already be married to their partners through the sexual relationship. Yet this is not the case. According to the Mosaic Law, if a man enticed an unmarried girl and had relations with her, he was obligated to marry her unless her father refused to allow that (Ex. 22:16-17). The law did not say the two were already married because of their sexual union. The fact that the girl's father could refuse to allow his daughter to become the man's wife is proof that they were not already wed on account of the sexual act.
The New Testament teaches the same thing. In 1 Cor. 5:1, for example, we see the case of the church member who committed the sin of fornication with his father's wife. The Bible says the woman was the wife of the sinner's father, but it does not say that the woman was also the sinner's wife because of the sexual relationship. In 1 Cor. 7:2, fornication is contrasted with marriage; it is not equated with marriage. Christ's dealings with the woman at the well in John chapter four also teaches that fornication is not marriage. The woman was living with a man, but the Lord Jesus Christ plainly stated that he was not her husband (John 4:18).
Fornication is a union but it is not marriage. Malachi explains that marriage is more than the sexual union; it is a covenant before God and man (Mal. 2:14), and it is this covenant that God blesses by making the two one (Mal. 2:15).
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal in this particular aspect of our ministry is not devotional but is TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. TO SUBSCRIBE to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service, send a blank email to fbis-subscribe@wayoflife.org. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send a blank email to fbis-unsubscribe@wayoflife.org. TO CHANGE ADDRESSES, simply unsubscribe the old one, then re-subscribe the new one. Or a more simple process is to go to the web site and sign up or change addresses there: http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6). Some of these articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 21st year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site:
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Editor: Steve Van Nattan-- Also, Jesus did not tell the woman found in adultery that she now had a second husband. If this standard were the case, then any sinner who, as an adult and before being saved, had been in sexual union with many women, would have to be required to find those women and bring them to the Lord's Church and marry them all. This would fly in Salt Lake City, but not in the Word of God. In fact, by these standards, Peter S. Ruckman is a polygamist. None of his divorces are approved, but, by his standards, his three marriages are all still in force. "Ain't that a flip?"
It is claimed that Jesus Christ divorced his betrothed Bride, Israel, for fornication, and that he is, nevertheless, still married to her. Wrong. Jesus Christ divorced Israel BEFORE the marriage. Read the Bible-- Israel was BETROTHED, not married. The Church is now BETROTHED to Christ. There has been no marriage as yet.
Israel will have the opportunity to receive her Messiah, during the Church Age, and in the future. Israel WILL commit fornication before the final marriage, for they will make a covenant with Antichrist, the false bride groom. What will Christ do with these who marry Antichrist? Read Zephaniah 3. They are killed-- all destroyed. Those Jews who do not bow to Antichrist will be brought back into a marriage with Messiah when Christ comes in power and great glory.
The fornicating union by Israel with Antichrist has not yet happened, but when it does, it will be followed by death of the fornicator, as Moses commanded. Some of you boys who seem to lust to justify Peter Ruckman and Charles Stanley need to start over-- from Genesis 1.
UPDATE 2011- DISQUALIFIED HEROES
Here
is a short list of the alleged model Christians
who have been divorced and remarried in the manner of Babylon:
CONTEMPORARY
CHRISTIAN MUSICIANS
Divorce among Contemporary Christian "artists"
is rampant. Just a few of the divorced or separated CCM musicians are Sandi Patty,
Deniece Williams, Sheila Walsh, John Talbot, Randy Stonehill, Larry Norman, Tom
Howard, Ralph Carmichael, Steve Archer, Amy Grant and Gary Chapman (both Amy and
Gary have gotten remarried since their 1997 divorce), Stacy Jones of the rap group
Grits, and all of the members of the now disbanded Barnabas. Melody Green, widowed
wife of Keith Green (who was killed in a plane crash in 1982), recently divorced
her second husband, Andrew Sievright.
Alleged godly men lead the way also:
Charles
Stanley, well-known Southern Baptist pastor and former president of the SBC, recently
went through a divorce. When the news was announced to the First Baptist Church
of Atlanta in May, the newly divorced pastor received a standing ovation from
the congregation. The wife of Ned Graham, son of Billy Graham, divorced him on
the basis of "infidelity, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol abuse."
Ned is head of East Gate Ministries, which distributes Bibles in China, and he
continues to be supported in that capacity by his famous father. Well-known Christian
author Hal Lindsey has been divorced at least three times. Bob Larson is divorced.
Many others could be mentioned.
Aimee
Semple McPherson, founder of the Four Square Pentecostal Churches, was a divorced
adulteress, as was famous Pentecostal evangelist Kathryn Kuhlmann. Richard Roberts,
who is in the process of taking over the ministry of his father, Oral, divorced
his first wife and married a Oral Roberts University student. Jim and Tammy Bakker
divorced and are both remarried. In July of this year, two well-known Charismatic
pastors got divorces (Ray McCauley of Johannesburg, South Africa, and Clarence
McClendon of Los Angeles). John Jacobs, founder of the Power Team, was divorced
from his wife of 16 years this summer. Robert Tilton divorced his wife and married
a former beruty queen.
Then there is Mary Baker Eddy Glover Patterson Fry !! You just THINK she had five husbands-- It is all in your mind.
Pastor Peter Ruckman of Pensacola, Florida, is twice divorced and thrice married yet remains in the pastorate and mocks anyone who believes he is disqualified.
Pastor Jack Hyles has counseled divorced men to go into the pastorate. Thousands of pastors weekly give the justification for both Peter Ruckman and Jack Hyles, and their schools cover for them. Even after Hyles died, the gospel of divorce and remarriage is preached from hundreds of Hyles churches.
That there are moral and ethical concerns with Hagee and a serious question as to his being biblically qualified as a pastor and teacher are not the main issues of this article. However, one very important factor should be noted. The Liberty Flame reported in May 1994 that during the time when Hagee was serving the Charismatic congregation at Trinity Church (1976) in San Antonio, he divorced his wife, resigned and married a young woman in the congregation, Diana Castro. Custody of Hagee's two children by his ex-wife, Martha, went to her.
"...About the time Zola Levitt was becoming more charismatic in his theology, he divorced his wife, left his Messianic Jewish congregation, and joined W.A. Criswell's neo-evangelical, psychologized First Baptist Church of Dallas (Southern Baptist Convention)."
These people are all exalted as wonders and role models for the saints. What does God say about these people?
Malachi 2:16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away (divorce): for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
Matthew
19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication,
and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is
put away doth commit adultery.
10 His disciples say unto him, If the case
of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
11 But he said unto
them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
All of the above list who married and remarried are living in adultery. Their "ministries" are profane and Satanic. They cannot have power from God. Whatever they accomplish, they are doing under the power of the flesh or Satan himself. If you follow them, you will be helped into sin and evil, and you will very likely end up divorced and remarried and living like a adulterer.
2
Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such
turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead
captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning,
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
LETTER
FROM THE UK
Dear Steve
I have a question that relates to the moral issues question and answer section of your website. I read and agreed with your explanation of why the divorced lady is not free to remarry and that to do so would be adultery. My situation is different but I wondered if the same would apply. I am young and have been a Christian for only 2 years. I have a Christian boyfriend and we hoped to marry each other. However, we have been told that since we both had illicit relationships with others (fornication) before we found Christ, this means that if we marry each other we will be committing adultery since it says in 1 Corinthians 6 v. 15 that when two people come together they become one flesh so we are both one flesh with those that we sinned with in the past. Is this true or are we free to marry since we have both repented of our past sins and been born again? This question has been troubling me for sometime now but I haven't been able to ask anyone about it.
God bless you
ANSWER:
The women found in adultery was NOT told by Jesus to marry the man she was caught with.
The woman at the well was clearly told by Jesus that the man she was living with (modern term- "shacking up") was not her husband.
Meditate on that please.
In Israel, under Moses law, you would have been stoned, and the marriage issue would never come up.
You are under Grace. Confess your sins if you have not done so, and then see if God wants you to get married ONLY because it is his will. Your past fornication has nothing to do with it.
This teaching borders on blasphemy because it contradicts the accounts above, and others, in the Bible.
God bless as you seek his will for you.
In Christ Jesus
Steve Van Nattan
HERE
IS A LETTER FROM A READER
WITH THE MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE PROBLEM
WITH
MY ANSWER FROM THE BIBLE
LINKS:
SEE JOHN MacARTHUR ON THE SUBJECT:
http://www.webzonecom.com/ccn/bible-s/divorce.txtBOB LARSON AND ONE MAN'S RESEARCH INTO ADULTERY ACCUSATIONS: http://www.cris.com/~Ranger57/decmm.htm
A FUNDAMENTALIST JUSTIFICATION OF DIVORCE:
http://www.inkweb.com/divorce/
Understand this-- Hank brought up a deadly question: which is the higher authority
in YOUR life, the Bible, or the law of America and the courts? If the USA approved
of polygamy, would you marry a second wife sir?
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