............................................................ MARRY
....................................l.....................(..................b
............................l....................................(.....................................b........................HEART..........................EYE / SHEEP......... .......HOUSE / WIFE
........................HEART ......................PROVIDENCE................ RELATIONSHIP
...........TEACH / IMPREGNATE.......... ..GOD SEES ......................... WIFE
....................DISCIPLESHIP............ WATCH LOVINGLY..................DWELL
......................CONTROL...................... COVET..............................EXILE ........SIN
What EXACTLY do the Scriptures relate on DIVORCE:
The Scriptures, beginning in the Old Testament, that relate to divorce are a depiction of Christ and His bride. As I look at these Scriptures they are written that ‘If a MAN (male) divorce his wife (female)’ - - if she has not found favor in his eyes, if she has some uncleanness, if she is in adultery, that he may write her a divorce. These Scriptures are not 'gender biased' they are 'Christ and His bride' biased. They are 'God biased'. What 'GOD has joined together', both in heaven and on earth, let not MAN separate.
This question is first addressed in Matthew 5. The chapter opens with the beatitudes (blessings), then relates that believers are 'salt and light'. Verse 16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." There is a Hebrew word 'halal llh ' which means not only to 'shine' but to 'marry': let your marriage be the light of Christ before men. Not only your 'marriage in Christ, but your marriage in the flesh also. Next we are told that Jesus came to fulfill the law, to have victory over sin and death to redeem his bride. The conversation proceeds with a more serious tone detailing : murder in the heart and adultery in the heart then stating that 'marriage is sacred and binding'. One has to ponder why we would risk our relationship in Christ, as Adam and Eve did in the garden, disobeying God's command, for a life of 'short-lived pleasures' (feels good, looks good, I want it) which brings the same result they experienced - - sin and death.
This question is first addressed in Matthew 5. The chapter opens with the beatitudes (blessings), then relates that believers are 'salt and light'. Verse 16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." There is a Hebrew word 'halal llh ' which means not only to 'shine' but to 'marry': let your marriage be the light of Christ before men. Not only your 'marriage in Christ, but your marriage in the flesh also. Next we are told that Jesus came to fulfill the law, to have victory over sin and death to redeem his bride. The conversation proceeds with a more serious tone detailing : murder in the heart and adultery in the heart then stating that 'marriage is sacred and binding'. One has to ponder why we would risk our relationship in Christ, as Adam and Eve did in the garden, disobeying God's command, for a life of 'short-lived pleasures' (feels good, looks good, I want it) which brings the same result they experienced - - sin and death.
Matthew 5
31 "Furthermore it has been said,
....'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'
32 BUT I SAY TO YOU that whoever divorces his wife for any reason
....except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery;
....and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
Matthew 19: 3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him,
.. "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason ?"
4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He
..who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,
5 and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
..and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God
..has joined together, let not man separate .
Marriage is a 'life and death' relationship. What God has joined together, in the creation of life, let not man separate. Jesus Himself makes it clear he did not intend for man to undo this relationship. Adam's wife was 'bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh' [post 24 6-27], a 'part of himself''. From the beginning, God formed Adam's wife from his OWN bone, his own flesh and brought the two together again as whole, as one. For a man to divorce his wife is to 'amputate' a body part, thus cutting off her life / or life support. Just as God joined Adam with his wife, He joins Israel with her Messiah, that is, Christ with his wife [the Holy Jerusalem post 16 6-16] in blood covenant. He joins 'man and wife'. The man is head of the wife as Christ is head of the church [Ephesians 5:23] - bound in blood covenant, a covenant to the death. HER life is from HIM. HIS DEATH or HER ADULTERY - terminates the covenant.
JESUS DEATH terminated, not the law of God, but the law of 'sin and death' that the bride of the Lamb [Jerusalem] is now free to enter a new covenant relationship in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ [Romans 8:2] 'Life' is in the 'blood' [Leviticus 17:11]. The cross of Christ is that blood covenant. It is what defines the heavenly marriage. It is what defines Christian marriage.
On HER part, she is covered by 'blood covenant' unless she herself breaks covenant in 'ADULTERY'. Jesus forgives the sin of adultery (John 8: woman brought to Jesus caught in the act adultery) with no condemnation, but with a command, 'Go and sin no more'.
Matthew 19 continues:
Matthew 19:JESUS DEATH terminated, not the law of God, but the law of 'sin and death' that the bride of the Lamb [Jerusalem] is now free to enter a new covenant relationship in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ [Romans 8:2] 'Life' is in the 'blood' [Leviticus 17:11]. The cross of Christ is that blood covenant. It is what defines the heavenly marriage. It is what defines Christian marriage.
On HER part, she is covered by 'blood covenant' unless she herself breaks covenant in 'ADULTERY'. Jesus forgives the sin of adultery (John 8: woman brought to Jesus caught in the act adultery) with no condemnation, but with a command, 'Go and sin no more'.
Matthew 19 continues:
7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give
..a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"
8 He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness Πώρωσις pōrōsis
.. of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your WIVES,
.. but from the beginning it was not so.
9 AND I SAY TO YOU, whoever divorces his WIFE, except for sexual immorality,
.. and marries another, commits adultery;
and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."
If the WIFE is in adultery, the blood relationship has become 'impure', threatening (marriage) life. [Leviticus 17] The life of the flesh is in the blood. The life of the FLESH: r#b: [ b wife / relationship...# love/grace ... r beginning] is in the blood. The man is producing sons that are of HIS NAME. An adulterous wife threatens that relationship. Note the Greek word for 'hardness' of heart is 'porosis'. Osteoporosis is when 'bone' becomes fragile from loss of tissue. The wife is 'bone' of his 'bone'.
The gospel of Mark is the next reference to divorce and there is now mention of a ‘woman divorcing her husband’:
Mark 10
2 The Pharisees came and asked Him,
.."Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.
3 And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"
4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce,
.. and to dismiss her."
5 And Jesus answered and said to them, 'because of
.. the hardness Πώρωσις pōrōsis of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation,
..God 'made them male and female.'
7 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
.. and be joined to his wife,
8 and the two shall become one flesh';
..so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
Up to this point Mark gives the same account above as Matthew, but he continues with Jesus speaking to His disciples again confirming that a MAN should not divorce his (non-adulterous) WIFE. If he does divorce her and marry another he commits ADULTERY against her. The commandments read, 'you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, and you shall not steal. It might be said in this case, that if a man kills his marriage, divorcing a non-adulterous wife, (murder in the heart) with intent to marry another (adultery in the heart), and then marries 'another man's (divorced) wife', he would then be stealing (marriage is sacred and binding). Again, Jesus does not condemn, but calls man to repentance, and to 'sin no more'. Mark continues:
10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.
11 So HE SAID TO THEM, "whoever divorces his wife and marries another
... commits adultery against her.
12 And if a woman divorces (casts off, repudiates / refuses to accept
... or be associated with) her husband and marries another,
... she commits adultery."
If the woman divorces her husband, and marries another while her husband yet lives - she is in adultery. Note it is Jesus speaking and there are serious charges being clarified. Note IT DOES NOT SAY that if the man/husband is in adultery - that SHE is free to remarry (the issue of blood covenant?). If the woman must resort to DIVORCE for the preservation of her life, from what is revealed here it does not grant the right of remarriage. What God has put together, let not man separate. Divorce is not the issue - marriage / remarriage is.
The decision is - - Christ.
This is NOT for condemnation, but for repentance.
It is not about the PAST, but the PRESENT, and our 'heavenly now' as well as 'heavenly future'.
Remember the 3 R's: Rebellion, Reach out, Repent
To be continued - part 2
Shalom!
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