The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry." 19:10
"If the case of a man be so with his wife; if they are so closely joined together in marriage; if they are, as it were, one flesh, or one body, that a man's wife is himself: that the bond between them is so inviolable, that it is not to be dissolved, but in case of adultery; that if a separation be made by a bill of divorce, in any other case, and either party marry again, they are guilty of adultery; if a man cannot part with his wife lawfully, provided she be chaste, and is faithful to his bed, let her be what she will otherwise, though ever so disagreeable in her person, and troublesome in her behaviour; though she may be passionate, and a brawler; though she may be drunken, luxurious, and extravagant, and mind not the affairs of her family, yet if she is not an adulteress, must not be put away." ~ John Gill
Take note that the same things would apply for the woman as well who considers getting a divorce. Let's be honest here, divorce is ugly and no one walks away unscathed. Friends are effected as well as family and God forbid there be any children involved. Unfortunately its an out, a means of escape from the person we are married to now. I hear a person once say that, "I believe God wants me to be happy." How could divorce make anyone happy? Neither do i believe that God waits in heaven as some celestial mother doing whatever He can to guard us from the realities of a broken world. We are broken people in a world bent away from God, how could we expect to live a life free from sorrows?
Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given." 19:11
I personally have within myself a deep longing to have intimacy and mutual love with appreciation for each other within the confines of a marriage relationship. While at the same time i often toy with the thought of singleness, but that is a desire the Lord has not given me. I do not know much about relationships, i can tell you the right things to do and say, but i have a very bad record in personal application. My weaknesses overshadow my past and leave me where i am with a trail of broken hearts following behind me. I don't have it all together, there is much work that needs to be done here and i think now is a most excelent time to pursue that growth.
Father, i look into my heart and i am aware of the many character flaws i have, times of moral weakness and times of insufficient strength to do Your will. I do not want to walk into a marriage relationship the way i stand now, Father have Your way with me. Your good and perfect way that cleanses my wounds and heals my scars, the way that is difficult and often painful but reveals life altering results. Lead me in that way. I can not thank You enough for the mercy You show me, the mercy i do not deserve. Pour Your grace out on me, and heal the wounds i have and have caused. Rear me to be the man who will honor You and take care of one of Your daughters. Until i am ready, please put me on hold. ~ Amen
Saturday, July 24, 2010
98. A Walk With Jesus (Divorce pt 1)
I`m taking this study from the more in depth version found in Matthew chapter 19.
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?" 19:3
Two primary schools of thought existed during the time of Jesus the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel. The former believed that divorce was only acceptable on the grounds of unfaithfulness to the marriage relationship. Hillel, being more liberal, believed that anything was grounds for divorce, from over cooking a meal or simply because they found another women more attractive. Whichever way Jesus may answer could have been a loss for Him. 4 options that would be considered,
(1) No divorce ever. In this case He would be disagreeing with Moses and inconsistent in His teachings.
(2) Only for unfaithfulness. He would be siding with Shammai and therefore against the House of Hillel.
(3) For which ever reason. He would be siding with Hillel and therefore against the House of Shammai. Not to mention again all the wives who might have been listening.
Option number (4), His option...
He answered, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." 19:4-6
Jesus answers their crafty question by referring back to the way God originally intended man to exist. Note that marriage is not an invention by man but an institute appointed by God. He designed it, it was His plan from the beginning. Also note that marriage in God's eyes has always been between one male and one female, and never in any other combination be it two males or two females or a male and many wives or a female with many husbands. Far beyond the realms of sexuality, the two are now considered, under the premise of their covenant agreement with each other, one flesh. Formally two individuals now they are one, and no piece of paper or judge can change what God has set in motion.
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?" He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 19:7-8
Israel was a stubborn and stiff necked people. For this reason the theologians Gill and Matthew Henry suggest that Moses permitted divorce for the sake and safety of the women. Had it not been so, then perhaps the men would have continued in the mistreatment of their less then favorable spouses and perhaps even kill their very wives out of their own lust for evil. Note the contrast between the pharisees use of the word "command" and that of Jesus' "allowed." but from the beginning it was not so, God hates divorce (malachi 2:16) but to save people from committing even great atrocities Moses permitted them to leave each other.
And I say to you: "whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." 19:9
Now, with the understanding that marriage is of God, between one male and one female for life, Jesus gives His only exception for the rule, sexual immorality. However, if for any other reason than He commits adultery for remarrying. We can brake our vows to each other, and we can have the government or a judge tell us that its okay and we are free to do whatever we want, But we are unable to withdraw ourselves from the duties that and commitments we made between and before God. In other words, even while divorced your still married, which is why any one who remarries commits adultery.
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?" 19:3
Two primary schools of thought existed during the time of Jesus the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel. The former believed that divorce was only acceptable on the grounds of unfaithfulness to the marriage relationship. Hillel, being more liberal, believed that anything was grounds for divorce, from over cooking a meal or simply because they found another women more attractive. Whichever way Jesus may answer could have been a loss for Him. 4 options that would be considered,
(1) No divorce ever. In this case He would be disagreeing with Moses and inconsistent in His teachings.
(2) Only for unfaithfulness. He would be siding with Shammai and therefore against the House of Hillel.
(3) For which ever reason. He would be siding with Hillel and therefore against the House of Shammai. Not to mention again all the wives who might have been listening.
Option number (4), His option...
He answered, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." 19:4-6
Jesus answers their crafty question by referring back to the way God originally intended man to exist. Note that marriage is not an invention by man but an institute appointed by God. He designed it, it was His plan from the beginning. Also note that marriage in God's eyes has always been between one male and one female, and never in any other combination be it two males or two females or a male and many wives or a female with many husbands. Far beyond the realms of sexuality, the two are now considered, under the premise of their covenant agreement with each other, one flesh. Formally two individuals now they are one, and no piece of paper or judge can change what God has set in motion.
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?" He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 19:7-8
Israel was a stubborn and stiff necked people. For this reason the theologians Gill and Matthew Henry suggest that Moses permitted divorce for the sake and safety of the women. Had it not been so, then perhaps the men would have continued in the mistreatment of their less then favorable spouses and perhaps even kill their very wives out of their own lust for evil. Note the contrast between the pharisees use of the word "command" and that of Jesus' "allowed." but from the beginning it was not so, God hates divorce (malachi 2:16) but to save people from committing even great atrocities Moses permitted them to leave each other.
And I say to you: "whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." 19:9
Now, with the understanding that marriage is of God, between one male and one female for life, Jesus gives His only exception for the rule, sexual immorality. However, if for any other reason than He commits adultery for remarrying. We can brake our vows to each other, and we can have the government or a judge tell us that its okay and we are free to do whatever we want, But we are unable to withdraw ourselves from the duties that and commitments we made between and before God. In other words, even while divorced your still married, which is why any one who remarries commits adultery.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
97. A Walk with Jesus (Dealing with Sin)
It has certainly been a long time since my journaling has retired, I will save you the ‘update’ pick up in the end of the chapter we left off.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42
An overwhelming large majority of people seem to have this view that God is a angry old man out to get us… this is malarkey, had it not been for His abundant love and mercy, all of us would receive the wages of our labors, and the wages of sin is death. Death of the conscience, death of relationships, death of the body and finally death of the soul. This is how God views sin and those who purposefully and willfully cause others to sin, it would be better for them to die… Had our Lord not also been full of grace and patient with our rebelliousness we would all have perished in our sin. I certainly would have long ago. But as it stands, you and I remain, for, and only because of the mercy He extends towards us. What’s more, He offers us a life of meaning and purpose now, a life defined by it’s quality and renewal, for though the wages of sin be death, eternal life is the gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'” Mark9:43-48
I do not feel qualified to speak further on this matter but what better to speak about then that which your going through. I find it necessary to give You the glory Lord. I have burnt many valuable bridges in my life and reaped the consequences of my bad choices. I see that Your way of dealing with sin is always drastic, it is perceived as fanatical and extreme but so it must be. No one understands the cost of sin better than You. As such, no one understands the necessity of radical repentance better than You. Our inability to be sinless cost You Your life and if we do not deal with our sin by extreme measures than it will cost us our lives as well.
Father, to be honest, as if to say ‘You don’t already know my heart’, I love my hands and feet and eyes. I dislike the things they make me do but they remain dear to me still. I do not like it when my feet lead me down the paths of destruction, or when my hands reach out and take hold of that which You have forbidden in Your omniscience, and I hate it when my eyes are charmed until entirely distracted from You. But I love them still for they are my own, and would rather do all that is in my power to prevent the sin without truly dealing with that which led me to it. What is the cost of integrity? Have I considered the price of a clear conscience? You are altogether good, I trust that there is no evil in You, neither be there a desire to do that which is evil. I can bank on that. I can put my life in Your hands knowing You love me with more than just a great love, it is with an unfailing love. Father help me to live this life on Your terms, to surrender the things I am reluctant to give up. Help me accept that my rights were forfeited at the cross and my life is dependent upon Your truths, not my opinions. You and I both know the areas where I am weak, but we both know that there is freedom in Your Name. Jesus, my God, I pray for freedom. Amen.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42
An overwhelming large majority of people seem to have this view that God is a angry old man out to get us… this is malarkey, had it not been for His abundant love and mercy, all of us would receive the wages of our labors, and the wages of sin is death. Death of the conscience, death of relationships, death of the body and finally death of the soul. This is how God views sin and those who purposefully and willfully cause others to sin, it would be better for them to die… Had our Lord not also been full of grace and patient with our rebelliousness we would all have perished in our sin. I certainly would have long ago. But as it stands, you and I remain, for, and only because of the mercy He extends towards us. What’s more, He offers us a life of meaning and purpose now, a life defined by it’s quality and renewal, for though the wages of sin be death, eternal life is the gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'” Mark9:43-48
I do not feel qualified to speak further on this matter but what better to speak about then that which your going through. I find it necessary to give You the glory Lord. I have burnt many valuable bridges in my life and reaped the consequences of my bad choices. I see that Your way of dealing with sin is always drastic, it is perceived as fanatical and extreme but so it must be. No one understands the cost of sin better than You. As such, no one understands the necessity of radical repentance better than You. Our inability to be sinless cost You Your life and if we do not deal with our sin by extreme measures than it will cost us our lives as well.
Father, to be honest, as if to say ‘You don’t already know my heart’, I love my hands and feet and eyes. I dislike the things they make me do but they remain dear to me still. I do not like it when my feet lead me down the paths of destruction, or when my hands reach out and take hold of that which You have forbidden in Your omniscience, and I hate it when my eyes are charmed until entirely distracted from You. But I love them still for they are my own, and would rather do all that is in my power to prevent the sin without truly dealing with that which led me to it. What is the cost of integrity? Have I considered the price of a clear conscience? You are altogether good, I trust that there is no evil in You, neither be there a desire to do that which is evil. I can bank on that. I can put my life in Your hands knowing You love me with more than just a great love, it is with an unfailing love. Father help me to live this life on Your terms, to surrender the things I am reluctant to give up. Help me accept that my rights were forfeited at the cross and my life is dependent upon Your truths, not my opinions. You and I both know the areas where I am weak, but we both know that there is freedom in Your Name. Jesus, my God, I pray for freedom. Amen.
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