Welcome to
Heaven's Point of View.
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My name is Dr. Senez Rodriguez
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and we are
discussing part of the Series,
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Love, Marriage, Sex, and Divorce
according to the New Testament.
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Our special guest
is Dr. Tom Sheperd,
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he is the Professor of
New Testament Interpretation
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at Andrews University,
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so, welcome
again, to our discussion.
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Now, we want to
learn, Dr. Sheperd,
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what the New
Testament teaches about Divorce,
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what passages
will we look at today?
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Okay, there are
two central passages
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that we'll take a look
at over several programs.
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Matthew 19 verses
3 to 12 is a passage
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where Jesus has a
discussion with Pharisees
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about the question of divorce
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and 1st
Corinthians 7 verses 10 to 16
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is a passage
where the Apostle Paul
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also discusses and
goes into the topic.
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In the next few discussions
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we will look at Matthew 19
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so, let's turn to Matthew 19
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and read that passage,
Matthew 19 verses 3 through 12,
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Matthew 19
verses 3 through 12...
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Okay, it says, like this,
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"The Pharisees also
came unto Him, tempting Him,
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and saying unto Him,
'Is it lawful for a man
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to put away his
wife for every cause?'
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And He answered
and said unto them,
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'Have you not read
that He which made them
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at the beginning made
them male and female,'
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and said, 'For this cause
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shall a man
leave father and mother
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and shall cleave to his wife:
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and they twain
shall be one flesh?'
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Wherefore, they are no
more twain, but one flesh.
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What therefore God
hath joined together,
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let no man put asunder.
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They said unto Him,
'Why did Moses then command
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to give a written a
writing of divorcement,
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and to put her away?'
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He said unto them,
'Moses, because of the hardness
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of your hearts,
suffered you to put away
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your wife but from the beginning
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it was not so.
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And I say unto you,
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whosoever shall
put away his wife,
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except it be for fornication,
and shall marry another,
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committeth adultery:
and whoso marrieth her
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which is put away
doth commit adultery.
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His disciples say unto
Him, If the case of the man
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be so with his wife,
it is not good to marry.
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But He said unto them,
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All men cannot
receive this saying,
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save they to whom it is given.
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For there are some
eunuchs, which were so born
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from their mother's womb:
and there are some eunuchs,
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which were made eunuchs
of men: and there be eunuchs,
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which have made
themselves eunuchs
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for the kingdom
of heaven's sake.
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He that is able to receive
it, let him receive it. "
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Okay, well...
it's quite a passage.
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Now, we should
place this passage
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within the broader
context of the book of Matthew
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so we understand
its... where it sits.
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In the Gospel of Matthew,
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the favorite gospel
of the church really,
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there are five
great sermons of Jesus,
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there is the Sermon on
the Mount in chapters 5 to 7,
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there is the
Mission of the Disciples,
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where Jesus describes
their mission in chapter 10,
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there is the set of parables
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that He puts
together in chapter 13,
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there's the
experience of the church life
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or the
community's life in chapter 18
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and then there is
the apocalyptic discourse
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about the end of the world,
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about the
destruction of Jerusalem
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from the end of the
world in Matthew 24 and 25
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and some might even extend
that back in to Matthew 23,
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each of these
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five great sermons,
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end with the same kinds of words
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when Jesus
finished these words, okay.
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So, our passage is right
after one of those sermons.
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Jesus, in Matthew spends
the majority of His ministry
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in Galilee, but
then, here in Matthew 19
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he begins to
move toward Jerusalem
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where he will have
His triumphal entry
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in chapter 21, and then onward
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to the passion narrative
that comes there in Jerusalem,
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so this chapter is a prelude
to Jesus arriving in Jerusalem.
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In Mark... the same story
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comes before the
triumphal entry in chapter 11,
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of the gospel of Mark,
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now, numerous
times in Gospel stories,
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Jesus is in dispute
with religious leaders.
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Sadducess, Pharisees,
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teachers of the law...
sometimes called scribes.
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At times these parables
are told in the context of the
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arguments between Him
and these religious leaders,
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so there's a kind
of a back and forth
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thrust in power, you know,
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ricochet, back and forth
between Him and these leaders.
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Within each of
these controversies
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Jesus' teaching which
becomes Christian teaching
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is set forth against the
backdrop of controversies
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with the religious
leaders of Jesus' day,
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so we should beware of
making too many assumptions
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about all the
Pharisees or all the Sadducees
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just based on the
disputes that Jesus has
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with a handful of
them in the gospel stories.
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Yes, now, Jesus obviously,
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frequently fights
with the Pharisees,
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but who are these people?
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Yeah, that's a good question,
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we should think a little
bit about their background.
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The Pharisees were a
popular religious group
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in the time of Jesus
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and though
there is some question
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of just how powerful
they were at that time,
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politically, they don't
seem to have been as connected
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as, say, the
Sadducees and the Priests,
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when Jesus gets
to Jerusalem actually
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the Pharisees disappear
in most of the gospels,
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they... not in Jerusalem...
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but when it comes to
His passion narrative,
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when He's going to be arrested,
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the Pharisees are
hardly mentioned, if at all
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in that Section, so
that's more the Elders,
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the Religious
Leaders, the Jerusalem Elites
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who bring about His trial
but the origin of the Pharisees
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is somewhat obscure,
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they seem to have arisen around
the time of the Hasmoneans
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which is about 165
years before Christ,
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during the reign
of John Hyrcanus,
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they first had
influence over him,
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likely serving as lower
officials and functionaries
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but later fell out of favor
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and were maneuvered
by a Sadduceesian rival
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the name "Pharisee"
comes from the Hebrew
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or Aramaic word, "Perisa"
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and it's an
adjective that means,
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separated or distinguished.
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The question is, "What
were they separated from?"
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This is actually not the term
that they had for themselves
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but this was others that
maybe gave them this title.
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Where they
separated from politics?
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Where they
separated from wickedness?
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Where they separated
from the common people?
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The emphasis on
purity among them
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would suggest that they
were separated from uncleanness
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so, you know, when
they argue with Jesus
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that He's not washing His hands,
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and the disciples are
eating with unclean things
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and He's
associating with sinners
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and tax collectors,
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people that they
would not have contact with
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because of the uncleanness.
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They likely believed in the
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influence of Divine
activity on human life
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both human freedom and faith,
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so you can have
both at the same time.
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Reward and
punishment in the afterlife...
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they believed in
the resurrection,
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the New Testament tells us
that, they stressed tithing,
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ritual purity,
Sabbath observance,
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without a lot of
interest in civil laws
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and regulations
of temple worship
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they almost sound like
Seventh-day Adventists...
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Yeah.
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They became the
roots of what is today,
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Rabbinic Judaism or
Rabbinic Judaism out of which
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different parts of
Judaism come today,
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so they were a
very important group.
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Now, that's very
interesting but my question is,
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what was the basis of
their dispute with Jesus,
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what was the
foundation of the dispute?
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Yeah, so they come to
ask Him in Matthew 19 verse 3
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they ask the question,
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"Is it lawful to divorce
ones wife for any cause?"
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Hmmm... hmmm...
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And there were two
different schools of thought
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or groups of Pharisees,
they were called the...
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in Jesus' day,
they were called the
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School of Shammai
and the School of Hillel.
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So we should
describe these two schools,
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these are
sub-categories of the Pharisees.
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The School of Shammai,
on the subject of divorce,
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believed that
divorce should only be
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for marital unfaithfulness.
00:10:06.20\00:10:08.14
They referenced a text
in the book of Deuteronomy
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chapter 24 verses 1 and 2,
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that which we'll
spend more time looking at
00:10:14.31\00:10:16.01
and this talked about...
there's a phrase in there
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that "nakedness of a matter,"
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that's kind of a
literal translation,
00:10:23.89\00:10:26.15
the nakedness of a matter,
and for the School of Shammai,
00:10:26.22\00:10:28.86
the emphasis was on
the word "nakedness"
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and that, to them
meant "sexual immorality,"
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somebody having
sex with somebody
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other than their spouse.
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Originally, if we go back
to the time of Deuteronomy,
00:10:37.17\00:10:40.34
if we go back to Moses'
time, the law, more likely,
00:10:40.37\00:10:43.77
was related to a
matter of personal indecency
00:10:43.81\00:10:46.51
because if you were
involved in adultery,
00:10:46.54\00:10:48.81
the Law of Moses said
that you should be stoned.
00:10:48.84\00:10:51.78
Okay, so, you wouldn't have
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that... you wouldn't
have divorce in quite the...
00:10:54.35\00:10:58.29
for those reasons
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necessarily... for adultery
00:10:59.69\00:11:01.76
but after 30 AD,
probably there was no
00:11:01.79\00:11:04.36
death penalty for
adultery in Judaism
00:11:04.39\00:11:06.90
so, this is the time when Jesus
is fighting with these people
00:11:06.93\00:11:11.03
and they're asking
Him this very question.
00:11:11.07\00:11:13.23
Now the School of
Hillel on the other hand
00:11:13.27\00:11:15.24
they believed that divorce
could be for just about anything
00:11:15.27\00:11:19.07
that was
distasteful to the husband.
00:11:19.11\00:11:20.88
They took the same
phrase, "Nakedness of a matter"
00:11:20.91\00:11:24.38
or indecency of a matter
00:11:24.41\00:11:25.75
and they focused
on the word, "matter"
00:11:25.78\00:11:28.82
so, for them if
she burned his toast,
00:11:28.85\00:11:31.65
you know, we would
say, he could divorce her,
00:11:31.69\00:11:35.29
and so for almost any
cause, he could divorce her
00:11:35.32\00:11:38.86
and one of the Rabbis even said
00:11:38.89\00:11:41.20
that if he found
somebody who was prettier,
00:11:41.26\00:11:43.06
he could divorce her for that.
00:11:43.10\00:11:44.43
So, some of these
people had come to a position
00:11:44.47\00:11:47.70
where marriage... the
commitment in marriage
00:11:47.77\00:11:51.04
was diminished
and where they were
00:11:51.07\00:11:54.44
doing divorce
for trivial reasons.
00:11:54.48\00:11:57.81
There were four
reasons among Jews of that day
00:11:57.85\00:12:01.88
for which divorce
was more commonly done,
00:12:01.92\00:12:05.09
childlessness, material neglect,
00:12:05.12\00:12:07.92
emotional neglect
or unfaithfulness.
00:12:07.96\00:12:10.53
So, these kinds of
characteristics were big dice
00:12:10.56\00:12:14.53
I know that you are a Counselor
00:12:14.56\00:12:16.77
and work here at
3abn in counseling
00:12:16.80\00:12:18.97
and have worked
with people on divorce,
00:12:19.00\00:12:21.10
what kinds of solutions
do you typically recommend?
00:12:21.14\00:12:23.91
We get kind of
practical here for a moment,
00:12:23.94\00:12:25.57
we'll look back
at the text but...
00:12:25.61\00:12:26.94
Solution for this problem?
00:12:26.98\00:12:28.91
For this problem, yeah.
00:12:28.94\00:12:30.85
Well, I have at
least four. Hmmm... hmmm...
00:12:30.88\00:12:34.42
And I would say the number
one is: spending time together.
00:12:34.45\00:12:41.89
Okay this is to
prevent divorce? To prevent.
00:12:41.92\00:12:44.59
To knock down that path,
this is what you need to do:
00:12:44.63\00:12:47.20
spend time together.
00:12:47.23\00:12:48.56
Spending time together
in order to be able to share
00:12:48.60\00:12:52.37
feelings, emotions,
what happened during the day,
00:12:52.40\00:12:56.20
sharing, because
the communication
00:12:56.24\00:12:58.87
is the basis for the
establishment of a relationship.
00:12:58.91\00:13:01.71
No communication...
no relationship.
00:13:01.74\00:13:03.85
So, it is
important and these days
00:13:03.88\00:13:05.95
when people are so busy
00:13:06.01\00:13:07.52
they tend to
separate, but also...
00:13:07.55\00:13:10.19
And my wife and I
find that... that...
00:13:10.22\00:13:12.42
meal times is a
great time for...
00:13:12.45\00:13:14.22
for sharing back and
forth, "So how did your day go?"
00:13:14.26\00:13:16.42
"So, what
happened to you today?"
00:13:16.46\00:13:17.79
Exactly... exactly...
Here's the news of the day.
00:13:17.83\00:13:19.26
Or going for a walk.
Or going for a walk...
00:13:19.29\00:13:21.00
So you do exercise and you talk
00:13:21.06\00:13:22.86
so you have two
reasons to be together.
00:13:22.90\00:13:26.47
You need to spend time together
00:13:26.50\00:13:28.70
besides time in
bed. Absolutely...
00:13:28.74\00:13:30.87
You have to have some
other time where you talk
00:13:30.91\00:13:33.04
and you think about the
day and you talk together
00:13:33.07\00:13:35.18
and have that relationship.
00:13:35.21\00:13:36.54
Exactly, another
important issue is:
00:13:36.58\00:13:38.85
focus on what is
positive in your partner
00:13:38.88\00:13:41.85
because, no one is
perfect, at least, I am not,
00:13:41.88\00:13:45.82
but because no one is perfect,
00:13:45.85\00:13:48.79
we must focus on
what is positive,
00:13:48.82\00:13:51.56
what is good in your
partner and mention that...
00:13:51.59\00:13:54.10
the person needs
to hear it. They do.
00:13:54.13\00:13:56.13
And express
appreciation for that.
00:13:56.16\00:13:58.13
So it's very
important, another one is:
00:13:58.17\00:14:00.00
accept the differences
that may be... between the two
00:14:00.04\00:14:03.87
because when you have
certain things that are
00:14:03.91\00:14:07.61
very different from mine,
00:14:07.64\00:14:08.98
then, your
differences can compensate mine.
00:14:09.01\00:14:12.08
And also, very
important: worship together,
00:14:12.11\00:14:15.18
particularly for
a Christian couple,
00:14:15.22\00:14:17.32
worship together, pray together,
00:14:17.35\00:14:19.42
read the Bible together,
00:14:19.45\00:14:21.39
I think that those
are very important.
00:14:21.42\00:14:23.46
We can make a longer list
00:14:23.49\00:14:25.33
but I think that
those are very important.
00:14:25.36\00:14:26.93
Sure, I mean, as we talk
about divorce in these passages,
00:14:26.96\00:14:30.63
many times people will
get the kind of feeling like,
00:14:30.67\00:14:33.54
"Well, there's this
reason and there's that reason,"
00:14:33.57\00:14:36.37
and they get focused
on the small details,
00:14:36.40\00:14:38.57
"Well, do I have
Biblical grounds for divorce?"
00:14:38.61\00:14:41.98
And really what
they need to focus on is
00:14:42.01\00:14:44.55
trying to preserve
and trying to reclaim
00:14:44.61\00:14:47.08
and trying to enhance
the experience that they have
00:14:47.12\00:14:50.65
together as a couple
and to avoid divorce.
00:14:50.69\00:14:52.79
Exactly.
00:14:52.82\00:14:54.16
Yeah, because God says, "I
hate divorce," yeah... okay.
00:14:54.19\00:15:01.76
Now, according to Judaism,
what was the standard pattern
00:15:01.80\00:15:09.47
of divorce in
Judaism, what was it?
00:15:09.50\00:15:11.94
We said that they had
these four different reasons
00:15:11.97\00:15:15.51
that were typical for
divorce, just to reiterate,
00:15:15.54\00:15:19.05
those were:
childlessness, material neglect,
00:15:19.08\00:15:22.22
emotional neglect
and unfaithfulness
00:15:22.25\00:15:26.25
and it's
interesting that over about...
00:15:26.29\00:15:29.32
maybe... the past
100 years before Jesus,
00:15:29.36\00:15:32.33
there had been some
shifts that were taking place
00:15:32.39\00:15:35.76
in what would be
called, "Laws of the dowry"
00:15:35.80\00:15:39.60
and these had an
effect on divorce...
00:15:39.63\00:15:43.17
on marriage and divorce
00:15:43.20\00:15:44.54
so, let me just describe a
little bit about the concept
00:15:44.57\00:15:48.11
of "dowry," in the original law
00:15:48.14\00:15:51.95
the dowry... they
sometimes call the
00:15:51.98\00:15:54.82
"bride price" was a payment
to the father of the bride
00:15:54.85\00:15:59.99
it's described here,
00:16:00.06\00:16:02.16
there are successive stages
in divorce law in Judaism,
00:16:02.22\00:16:05.36
the last two established by
00:16:05.39\00:16:07.90
somebody named
Simeon ben Shetach
00:16:07.93\00:16:11.23
in about the 1st century BC,
00:16:11.27\00:16:12.77
originally, they
had the bride price
00:16:12.83\00:16:16.24
or something called Mohar,
00:16:16.27\00:16:17.97
was paid to the
father of the bride,
00:16:18.04\00:16:20.61
it was a certain
amount for a virgin
00:16:20.64\00:16:23.14
and it was a
different amount for a widow
00:16:23.18\00:16:25.21
we kind of look at this
today and we say, "Bride price?
00:16:25.25\00:16:27.92
What in the world are you
doing with a bride price?"
00:16:27.95\00:16:30.49
Well, it was to
illustrate that you were able...
00:16:30.52\00:16:33.05
you were a capable young fellow
00:16:33.09\00:16:34.42
and you were going to be able
to take care of this young lady
00:16:34.46\00:16:36.93
and not uncommonly, then,
there would be an experience
00:16:36.96\00:16:41.56
that if you broke
up, if there was divorce,
00:16:41.60\00:16:44.60
the money would go
back to the young lady,
00:16:44.63\00:16:47.64
this law... this original law...
00:16:47.67\00:16:50.24
there was a
payment for the father...
00:16:50.27\00:16:51.61
was changed to... it
was a payment to the bride.
00:16:51.64\00:16:53.48
okay, so the
first change brought...
00:16:53.51\00:16:57.68
was the bride price
was paid to the bride
00:16:57.71\00:16:59.85
but kept on reserve
at her father's house,
00:16:59.88\00:17:01.98
in the event of a divorce
or the death of her husband.
00:17:02.02\00:17:05.29
This still meant that
it was costly to marry
00:17:05.32\00:17:08.16
but relatively
cost-free to divorce,
00:17:08.19\00:17:11.36
because you pay it first,
00:17:11.39\00:17:13.60
people were reluctant to marry
00:17:13.63\00:17:15.86
but many were
too hasty to divorce,
00:17:15.90\00:17:18.20
so it didn't seem
to be good practice...
00:17:18.23\00:17:19.80
by this law... so
they changed it again,
00:17:19.83\00:17:22.27
and they turned it
into "payment into goods"
00:17:22.30\00:17:24.74
so in this case, the
"bride price" was turned
00:17:24.77\00:17:28.24
into goods like
metal pots or ornaments,
00:17:28.28\00:17:30.21
and the bride took them
with her to her husband's house.
00:17:30.25\00:17:34.38
She would also take them
away if she was divorced by him
00:17:34.42\00:17:38.55
or widowed, her
marriage was still costly
00:17:38.59\00:17:41.66
but divorce was also
costly to the husband personally
00:17:41.69\00:17:45.36
because he lost
the use of those goods.
00:17:45.39\00:17:48.90
Hmmm... hmmm...
00:17:48.93\00:17:50.50
Now we might tend to think
"Oh, that's so monetary for few"
00:17:50.53\00:17:53.27
but, frankly,
marriage is not just about sex
00:17:53.30\00:17:57.84
and just about relationships,
it's also about monetary things
00:17:57.87\00:18:00.84
and throughout
history people have found
00:18:00.88\00:18:02.78
that it's good to be married,
00:18:02.81\00:18:04.25
and that there are
beneficial effects both ways,
00:18:04.28\00:18:07.32
then it was
changed, differently, still.
00:18:07.35\00:18:10.19
It was changed... the
next step was to allow
00:18:10.22\00:18:12.99
the money to be
invested in the family business,
00:18:13.02\00:18:15.62
now there was no longer
any tangible set of utensils
00:18:15.66\00:18:18.23
but the woman
received a sum of money
00:18:18.26\00:18:20.83
if she was divorced,
00:18:20.86\00:18:22.20
the final change was a promise
to pay... you notice this...
00:18:22.23\00:18:27.04
in this last step, no
money needed to be exchanged
00:18:27.07\00:18:29.60
because this would become
00:18:29.64\00:18:31.04
part of the groom's
financial property anyway...
00:18:31.07\00:18:33.31
instead, there
was a promise made...
00:18:33.34\00:18:36.51
a contract called "ketubah"
00:18:36.54\00:18:38.11
"to pay the
bride a sum on divorce"
00:18:38.15\00:18:41.68
the father would also
give a dowry or a gift
00:18:41.72\00:18:44.39
to the bride which
could be small or quite large.
00:18:44.42\00:18:47.86
This remained hers and
became included in the ketubah
00:18:47.89\00:18:51.29
that the husband
had to repay on divorce,
00:18:51.33\00:18:53.43
so the last two changes
made marriage much less costly,
00:18:53.46\00:18:57.97
so it was easier to get married,
00:18:58.00\00:19:00.04
but made divorce more costly,
00:19:00.07\00:19:01.80
all right, so, these
were all changes taking place
00:19:01.84\00:19:05.27
in the marriage laws in
Judaism approximately 100 years
00:19:05.31\00:19:08.01
leading up to the time of Jesus.
00:19:08.04\00:19:10.25
Wow! so the basis of the
fight between the Pharisees
00:19:10.28\00:19:13.75
related to...
which of these schools?
00:19:13.78\00:19:16.22
Yeah, to which
school you belong in,
00:19:16.25\00:19:18.62
whether you belonged
in the School of Shammai
00:19:18.65\00:19:21.02
or whether you belong
in the School of Hillel,
00:19:21.06\00:19:23.39
the Pharisees
disagreed among themselves
00:19:23.43\00:19:25.66
over the matter of divorce
00:19:25.69\00:19:27.13
and so, they came to
ask Jesus His opinion,
00:19:27.16\00:19:30.60
so Jesus
responds in verses 4 to 6,
00:19:30.67\00:19:33.97
let's read those verses again.
00:19:34.00\00:19:37.41
Matthew 19 verses 4 to 6. Yeah.
00:19:37.44\00:19:40.88
And He answered
and said unto them,
00:19:40.91\00:19:44.28
"Have ye not read,
that He which made them
00:19:44.31\00:19:48.02
at the beginning 'made
them male and female. '
00:19:48.05\00:19:51.72
and said, 'For this cause
00:19:51.75\00:19:54.42
shall a man leave
father and mother,
00:19:54.46\00:19:57.46
and shall cleave to his wife:
00:19:57.49\00:19:59.89
and they twain
shall be one flesh?'
00:19:59.93\00:20:04.80
Wherefore they are no
more twain, but one flesh.
00:20:04.83\00:20:09.24
What therefore God
hath joined together,
00:20:09.27\00:20:12.61
let no man put asunder. "
00:20:12.64\00:20:15.91
All right... so this
is Jesus' response to them
00:20:15.94\00:20:19.78
and very interestingly
combines the Creation accounts
00:20:19.81\00:20:26.35
from Genesis 1 and Genesis
2, He puts them side by side,
00:20:26.39\00:20:31.83
see the story in Genesis 1
00:20:31.86\00:20:34.36
if you read that
beautiful Creation story
00:20:34.40\00:20:37.27
focuses attention on
God as the Almighty Creator,
00:20:37.30\00:20:42.14
God speaks and it happens
and He prepares the world
00:20:42.17\00:20:46.91
and in Genesis 1:26 to 28,
the creation of the first people
00:20:46.94\00:20:52.11
is reported, and
at the heart of this
00:20:52.15\00:20:56.25
God says, "Let us make man
00:20:56.28\00:20:59.15
in our image and
after our likeness,"
00:20:59.19\00:21:02.59
theologians have
called this the image of God
00:21:02.62\00:21:06.13
or the Latin
terminology is "Imago Dei,"
00:21:06.16\00:21:09.60
okay, to be made in God's image.
00:21:09.63\00:21:12.33
Jesus, unless He's alluding
without specific reference
00:21:12.37\00:21:17.37
focuses attention on the
00:21:17.41\00:21:19.51
maleness and
femaleness of the two people,
00:21:19.57\00:21:22.11
that is... to
suggest they are two,
00:21:22.14\00:21:25.65
He made them male
and female, two...
00:21:25.68\00:21:29.18
then, He draws
from the Genesis 2 story
00:21:29.22\00:21:32.75
and that story focuses attention
00:21:32.79\00:21:36.26
on the creation of people,
right, in Genesis 2 verse 7
00:21:36.29\00:21:40.06
and God makes the man
of the dust of the earth
00:21:40.10\00:21:42.16
breathed into it
the breathe of life
00:21:42.20\00:21:44.73
and man becomes a living soul,
00:21:44.77\00:21:46.33
very important
foundational concept
00:21:46.37\00:21:48.47
of anthropology in the Bible.
00:21:48.50\00:21:50.17
But He goes on, you
know, in that story,
00:21:50.21\00:21:53.88
to the place
where they... God says,
00:21:53.91\00:21:56.88
"It's not good for
the man to be alone"
00:21:56.91\00:21:59.81
and so... actually
the first thing He does is
00:21:59.85\00:22:04.62
He brings the
animals for him to name,
00:22:04.65\00:22:07.02
so that the man will see
that there's no one like him
00:22:07.06\00:22:10.73
and something
happens in the man's heart
00:22:10.76\00:22:13.80
he feels a sense of need
then God puts him to sleep.
00:22:13.83\00:22:17.70
God takes a rib,
God makes the woman
00:22:17.73\00:22:20.40
and brings her
to the man, now, so,
00:22:20.44\00:22:23.04
"it is not good for
the man to be alone... "
00:22:23.07\00:22:26.01
is resolved when the woman
is made and brought to the man.
00:22:26.04\00:22:31.21
It's interesting that
Jesus combines the two stories
00:22:31.25\00:22:36.45
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2
when He's talking about marriage
00:22:36.48\00:22:41.62
He does not seem
to emphasize so much
00:22:41.66\00:22:44.59
the idea of the "Imogo
Dei" or the image of God
00:22:44.63\00:22:48.16
though that is a key concept
of Biblical anthropology,
00:22:48.20\00:22:51.67
but rather, He
seems to focus attention
00:22:51.70\00:22:54.67
on this process
of two becoming one.
00:22:54.70\00:22:57.67
Now, that's in
Genesis 2 by itself
00:22:57.71\00:23:00.71
but Jesus seems
to super emphasize it
00:23:00.74\00:23:03.75
by saying that when
God originally made them,
00:23:03.78\00:23:05.71
He made them male
and female and then
00:23:05.78\00:23:07.92
a man leaves his
father and mother
00:23:07.95\00:23:10.09
and the two become one.
00:23:10.12\00:23:11.55
It's important to
notice here that Jesus...
00:23:11.59\00:23:14.46
in putting together
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2
00:23:14.49\00:23:17.33
has focused attention
00:23:17.36\00:23:18.73
on the maleness and the
femaleness of the two people
00:23:18.76\00:23:21.46
that are involved in
marriage, they become one flesh.
00:23:21.50\00:23:25.43
This highly implies that
Jesus sees the male-female union
00:23:25.47\00:23:29.37
as the standard
ruling out same-sex marriage,
00:23:29.40\00:23:33.91
so this passage is
not commonly looked at
00:23:33.98\00:23:37.61
or drawn from on
the whole question of
00:23:37.65\00:23:40.98
homosexuality
and same-sex marriage
00:23:41.05\00:23:43.62
but here Jesus
puts the two together
00:23:43.65\00:23:46.15
and emphasizing that
maleness and femaleness
00:23:46.19\00:23:48.62
implies this idea that
it's the two becoming one.
00:23:48.66\00:23:53.80
Now, Jesus makes His
conclusion in verse 6
00:23:53.83\00:23:57.73
so, want to see verse
6 again and He says there
00:23:57.77\00:24:01.64
so they are no
longer two but one flesh.
00:24:01.67\00:24:05.51
What, therefore,
God has joined together,
00:24:05.57\00:24:09.34
let not man separate.
00:24:09.41\00:24:11.11
The logic Jesus followed
in joining Genesis 1 and 2
00:24:11.15\00:24:15.78
is displayed in His conclusion
that the man and the woman
00:24:15.82\00:24:20.49
are no longer two, they are one
00:24:20.52\00:24:23.79
and He goes
further than this even,
00:24:23.83\00:24:27.03
He indicates that what
this really means is that God...
00:24:27.06\00:24:30.97
that God has acted in
marriage, the verb is...
00:24:31.00\00:24:36.24
means to yoke
together, to put...
00:24:36.30\00:24:40.28
you have two
oxen and you put a...
00:24:40.31\00:24:43.88
you put... a yoke over them,
00:24:43.91\00:24:46.65
the yoke helps
them work together,
00:24:46.68\00:24:48.15
so that they don't go
in opposite directions
00:24:48.18\00:24:51.05
what God has
yoked together, okay...
00:24:51.09\00:24:54.06
The term would be
used of this, you know,
00:24:54.09\00:24:56.76
oxen that they
could work together.
00:24:56.79\00:24:59.16
In marriage, according to Jesus,
00:24:59.19\00:25:01.66
God has yoked
together the man and the woman.
00:25:01.70\00:25:03.80
His conclusion is that
"what God has joined together,
00:25:03.83\00:25:07.44
or yoked together,
00:25:07.47\00:25:08.80
man should not
separate or divide,"
00:25:08.84\00:25:10.64
don't take the yoke off, which,
of course, would be divorce.
00:25:10.67\00:25:15.24
Jesus' basic stance
is to stress the sanctity
00:25:15.28\00:25:20.72
and enduring nature of marriage.
00:25:20.75\00:25:22.32
You see, the
Pharisees were coming to Him
00:25:22.38\00:25:24.35
with the wrong question
or the wrong perspective,
00:25:24.39\00:25:28.02
they were arguing like,
00:25:28.06\00:25:29.39
"Look, is it okay
to divorce for this?"
00:25:29.42\00:25:32.13
"Is it okay to
divorce for that?"
00:25:32.16\00:25:33.50
He says, "No...
no... no... no... no... no
00:25:33.53\00:25:35.86
you need to think
back to the beginning
00:25:35.90\00:25:38.23
that God's original plan
00:25:38.27\00:25:40.07
was for a man and
woman to be together
00:25:40.10\00:25:42.50
and what God has joined together
that should stay together. "
00:25:42.54\00:25:45.97
So, Jesus' basic stance
00:25:46.01\00:25:49.61
is to stress the sanctity
and enduring nature of marriage
00:25:49.64\00:25:53.01
and this is consistent
with Malachi chapter 2,
00:25:53.05\00:25:56.45
"Marriage is not something
to be entered into trivially,
00:25:56.48\00:26:01.96
flippantly or frivolously,
00:26:02.02\00:26:04.19
it is a serious
business where God is at work. "
00:26:04.23\00:26:06.46
Why don't you read for us,
00:26:06.49\00:26:07.83
we'll just close out with
Malachi 2 verses 13 to 16,
00:26:07.86\00:26:11.47
13 and...
00:26:11.50\00:26:13.17
13 through 16...
Malachi 2 verses 13 through 16,
00:26:13.23\00:26:17.61
Okay, "And this
have ye done again,
00:26:17.64\00:26:20.61
covering the altar
of the Lord with tears,
00:26:20.64\00:26:24.81
with weeping,
and with crying out
00:26:24.85\00:26:28.12
insomuch that He regarded
not the offering anymore,
00:26:28.15\00:26:33.05
or receiveth it with
good will at your hand.
00:26:33.09\00:26:37.89
Yet you say, Wherefore?
00:26:37.96\00:26:40.13
Because the Lord
hath been witness
00:26:40.20\00:26:44.57
between thee and
the wife of thy youth,
00:26:44.60\00:26:48.50
against whom thou
hast dealt treacherously:
00:26:48.54\00:26:52.37
yet is she thy companion,
and the wife of thy covenant.
00:26:52.41\00:26:59.18
And did not he make one?
00:26:59.21\00:27:03.62
Yet had he the
residue of the spirit.
00:27:03.65\00:27:08.32
And wherefore one? That
he might seek a godly seed.
00:27:08.36\00:27:14.83
Therefore, take
heed to your spirit,
00:27:14.86\00:27:17.83
and let none deal treacherously
against the wife of his youth.
00:27:17.87\00:27:24.34
For the Lord, the God of Israel,
00:27:24.37\00:27:28.21
saith that He
hateth putting away:
00:27:28.24\00:27:31.98
for one covereth
violence with his garment,
00:27:32.01\00:27:36.18
saith the Lord of hosts:
00:27:36.22\00:27:38.12
therefore take
heed to your spirit,
00:27:38.15\00:27:40.42
that ye deal
not treacherously. "
00:27:40.46\00:27:42.62
All right, so, this basically
is a... God is against divorce
00:27:42.66\00:27:48.90
is what this passage tells
us and we've run out of time
00:27:48.93\00:27:52.47
but I'll just say that
we'll talk again next time,
00:27:52.50\00:27:56.00
we're glad that
you could join us
00:27:56.04\00:27:57.37
and we hope that you'll continue
with us in these studies
00:27:57.41\00:28:00.58
about love,
marriage, sex, and divorce.
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May God bless you this day.
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