------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Good evening brother John. Let me start by saying that I think I have come to know you. Not as well as I hope to know you in time, but well enough to recognize you as a true brother in Christ with a sincere desire to live a life pleasing to our Lord.. I suspect that this being true, you probably have studied this subject in depth, and probably know more concerning God's view than I do. Still, the possibility exists that either you or I, or others here have missed a point here or there, so this is an opportunity for all of us to learn from one another, hopefully without socking it to one another. The subject is marriage, divorce, and remarriage. In order to be divorced, you must first have been married, so let's start there. Gen. 2:24 A man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so He gave him a wife. The two became one. Sounds impossible, like three persons being one God, but that is what God's word says. The two become one, like putting cream in coffee. Once the two are joined, they become one and were designed to stay one. If God put them together, only God has the right to separate them. The obvious question someone will ask is, "Was this God's plan for Adam and Eve, or does this apply to all men and women?" We find the answer in the nineteenth chapter of Matthew, starting at verse three and reading to verse six. The Pharisees want to know if it is okay to divorce their wives for any reason. There are two prominent rabbis teaching at the time on this subject. Rabbi Shammai teaches that the only ground for divorce is sexual sin. Rabbi Hillel teaches that a Jewish man can divorce his wife for any reason. Now they put Jesus on the spot. Who will He agree with? "C'mon Jesus, give us an answer". Jesus says,"Don't you guys ever read God's word? It says,He who made them at the beginning made them male and female.and said for this reason a man shall leave his parents, be joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh. What God has joined together, let not men separate." So Jesus has made it clear. This is God's plan . Not just for Adam and Eve, but for all humans. He did not limit it to Jews. Adam and Eve were here before Jews existed. He did not limit it to believers, or caucasians. It applies to all people, everywhere. From Genesis two until today, that has been God's plan. He joins them together. He separates them. That is the rule, and like most rules, there is an exception, but we have to keep Laura in suspense, so we will cover that next time. The truth is, I type with two fingers, and those fingers are worn out. If you like, you or anyone on the list can give an opinion or ask a question at this point, just please confine your question/comment to only what we have covered so far. I get easily confused when we start to discuss stuff I haven't gotten to yet, and we haven't even gotten to divorce. Terry |
