(uplifting theme music)
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(music ends)
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>>Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We're glad that you
could join us again this week
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as we are continuing our
study of the book of Ephesians.
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This week we are
on lesson number 10,
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"Husbands and Wives:
Together at the Cross."
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A very interesting
subject that we're going to
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be looking at this week,
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and we're glad that you could
journey through it with us.
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Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, we thank
You for being with us
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along our study of
the book of Ephesians.
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And as we are looking at a
very interesting subject today,
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we ask that You'll bless us
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with a greater and
deeper understanding of it
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and an understanding of You
and Your plan for our lives.
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We ask that You'll bless
our time together this week.
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We thank You, in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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We're grateful to
be back again this week
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with the author of
the Sabbath school lesson,
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Dr. John McVay.
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He's the president of
Walla Walla University.
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John, welcome back.
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>>Delighted to be with you Eric.
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>>So this has been
a bit of a journey,
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and it's almost-- >>Yes, it has.
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>>...almost over, not over yet.
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>>Not over yet.
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>>But we're getting closer,
lesson number 10, and this one
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is "Husbands and
Wives: Together at the Cross."
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So Paul is gonna get
into some interesting things
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here this week. Some
things that are misunderstood,
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and we're going to try
to un-misunderstand them,
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(Dr. McVay laughs) as it were.
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>>Sure. >>But,
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but what is Paul
talking about here this week
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in Ephesians, chapter 5?
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There's this
section, verses 21-33,
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that Paul delves into something,
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some interesting subjects here.
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What's this
about? >>Yes, he does.
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Chapter 5, verses
21-33 is Paul's counsel
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to Christian wives first,
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and then he spills
most of his ink on counsel,
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Eric, to Christian
husbands, all right?
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So he's talking about
wives and then husbands.
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This is part of a
bit broader passage
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that we'll study
the two additional sets
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of relationships next week,
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but the first set of
relationships that he deals
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with, in what we could
call "rules for the Christian
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household," wives, husbands,
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then he moves to
children, parents,
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and then finally he moves--
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and this is the most challenging
one of all, isn't it?--
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he moves to
slaves and slave masters.
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And that's where we really get
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a kind of catch in
our throat here to realize
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that if you and I were sitting
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in a Christian house church
some place in greater Ephesus,
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and we were
looking around the circle,
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and we understood the customs
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and morals of the time, we
would be able to look around
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and, based upon how
people were dressed,
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we'd be able to say,
"She's a slave," "He's a slave,"
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"Oh, that's the
slave master," and so on.
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And it's a little
daunting, isn't it?
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To think about
sitting in that circle
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and looking out
and participating
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in a Christian
worship service and realizing
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that there in that
circle of wonderful people
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at that house church are
both slaves and slave masters.
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>>So with that context in mind,
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help us understand
this household code--
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>>Sure. >>...that Paul is,
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he's introducing
us to it. >>Right.
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>>It would've been a
little more familiar back then
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to his readers,
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but we're very much strangers
to what's going on here.
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Help us understand that.
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>>It's actually Martin
Luther that put the German term
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to this--"houstafel," or
household code, house code--
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and so it's rules for
the Christian household
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or, a little more
technically, a household code.
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And it harks back,
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clear back to the
fourth century before Christ
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to a guy that you'll have met
before: (chuckles) Aristotle.
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And Aristotle argues that
three sets of relationships
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are at the very
foundation of human society.
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And guess what
those relationships are?
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>>Probably the
ones-- >>Marriage--
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>>...that Paul's
talking about here.
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>>...marriage, parents-children,
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and slave master-slaves,
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and this kind of
caught on as a way
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of talking about households.
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And we also have to
think about the first century
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and what "household" meant,
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because you and I,
when we think "household,"
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we think Western nuclear family,
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mom and dad and 2.3 kids, right?
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I mean, that's what we think of.
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But in the
first century context,
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"household" was
broader than that.
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It included the
master and his wife
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and his children, but
it also included slaves,
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and it included
clients and patrons
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and even customers.
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So it's a broader understanding
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of what household
meant in the first century
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rather than the, necessarily,
our nuclear family today.
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And so Paul is trying to reflect
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with those early believers
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on the relationships,
as they were structured,
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in the Greco-Roman
society of the first century.
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And he's trying to fill
those husks of relationships--
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thinking
particularly of slavery--
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fill those husks with the
values of the gospel somehow
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and to see a
transformation happening
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because they're modeling
their behavior on Jesus.
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>>And if Paul is talking
about this household code,
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if he's bringing it up,
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if he's spending this
much room in his letter talking
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about the household code,
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it would stand
to reason that there
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were some differing
views of what a household code
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would look like
back in those days.
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How is his view very
different from others?
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>>Well, it's a really
good question. We can turn--
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there's lots of ancient
authors deal with this topic
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of household relationships.
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And so, with a
little bit of work,
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we can set Paul's counsel here
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and then set alongside it
some of these other documents.
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And we tend to
read Paul's counsel
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as kind of archaic
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and out of step with our times,
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and it feels
really old fashioned.
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Does it feel the same when
you set it alongside counsel
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from back then, is a good
and active question, isn't it?
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There's one document that
I like to go to because it,
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the difference is pretty stark.
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It's actually a Jewish
document called "Sirach."
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And "Sirach" dates to
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about the early
second century before Christ.
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So here's a sample of
the kind of counsel that was
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more or less common in
the time of Paul still.
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This document and
others were well known,
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and other writers
contemporary with Paul
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were treating this in
similar ways. They're basically,
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the others who write on
this, are basically interested
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in one thing, and that
is the husband, father,
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slave masters'
honor and reputation.
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And he needs to
structure his relationships
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so that his ego gets stroked,
his reputation is built;
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that's what the
other advice is about.
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So let me give you a sample here
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from "Sirach"
about wives and husbands:
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"Do you have a wife who
pleases you? Do not divorce her;
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"but do not trust yourself
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to one whom you detest."
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That's cheerful
marriage counsel, right?
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>>That's probably not
what you're gonna hear
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in many
counseling sessions today.
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>>I hope not. It advises
fathers concerning the treatment
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of a son this way:
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"He who loves his son
will whip him often....
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"Pamper a child, and
he will terrorize you;
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"play with him, and
he will grieve you....
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"Discipline your son
and make his yoke heavy,
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so that you may not be
offended by his shamelessness."
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>>That's, again--
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>>"Spare the rod and
spoil the child" to an extreme.
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>>Yeah, but this is on steroids.
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>>(laughing)
This is on steroids.
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And what about that
slavery relationship?:
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"Fodder and a stick
and burdens for a donkey;
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"bread and discipline
and work for a slave....
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"Yoke and thong will
bow the neck [of an ox],
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"and for a wicked slave
there are racks and tortures."
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So now set that kind of counsel,
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which is more or
less characteristic
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of the time, against Paul's,
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and Paul's starts to
sing and shine, doesn't it?
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For one thing,
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they never address
the subjugated partner,
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and yet Paul
addresses that individual first,
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the wife first, the
children first, the slave first.
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Isn't that interesting?
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>>So it's almost
turning things on its head or--
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>>And if you
watch what he does here,
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just as we saw in his
counsel to wives and husbands,
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he's spilling most of his
ink and most of his attention
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on limiting the power
of the husband, the father,
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and the slave master
by asking that person
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to model his behavior
on the behavior of Christ.
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>>All right, so we've got
a very different viewpoint
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than the rest of the world.
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What is a common view
of some of these passages
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that we're looking at
right now, compared to
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maybe what we're
seeing in it? >>Sure.
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>>It's perhaps a
little different than
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what you'll typically
hear Christian commentators
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or others saying
about these passages.
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>>Well, sometimes, particularly
in an academic context,
00:09:56.69\00:10:00.63
this passage,
speaking of chapter 5:21-33,
00:10:00.63\00:10:04.40
but also the
household code as a whole
00:10:04.40\00:10:07.40
gets dismissed as
a child of its time,
00:10:07.40\00:10:10.61
as holding no real value
00:10:10.61\00:10:15.08
or truth for us
to think about today
00:10:15.08\00:10:18.18
because it's simply Paul
00:10:18.18\00:10:22.25
trying to conform Christian
behavior to what is expected
00:10:22.25\00:10:26.05
in the wider world.
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Now, there's others,
though, who take the perspective
00:10:27.89\00:10:31.06
I'm advocating
here that, in fact,
00:10:31.06\00:10:33.50
if you study this
passage carefully,
00:10:33.50\00:10:35.40
the household code carefully,
00:10:35.40\00:10:37.37
Paul is actually
going out of his way
00:10:37.37\00:10:40.00
to critique the patterns
of patriarchal authority
00:10:40.00\00:10:43.97
and behavior that
were expected in the time,
00:10:43.97\00:10:46.81
and he's bounding
them and constraining them
00:10:46.81\00:10:50.65
by the example of Jesus.
00:10:50.65\00:10:52.58
>>Oh, very
interesting, very interesting.
00:10:52.58\00:10:55.08
Now, this metaphor,
00:10:55.08\00:10:58.19
Paul develops a marriage
metaphor for the relationship
00:10:59.59\00:11:02.16
between Christ and His church.
00:11:02.16\00:11:03.93
What are some of the
elements of this metaphor?
00:11:03.93\00:11:05.96
We see that in his
writings, and we see it,
00:11:05.96\00:11:08.00
some of it happening here.
00:11:08.00\00:11:09.36
>>You know, get ready.
00:11:09.36\00:11:10.80
This is for me just
really, really beautiful.
00:11:10.80\00:11:13.64
So, he, verses 22-24,
00:11:13.64\00:11:17.61
he has a short section
advising Christian wives
00:11:17.61\00:11:21.38
about their relationships
with their husbands.
00:11:21.38\00:11:24.11
And then he has
this much longer section,
00:11:24.11\00:11:27.38
verses 25-33,
00:11:27.38\00:11:31.15
where he advises
Christian husbands.
00:11:31.15\00:11:33.69
What's interesting here
is he gets a little caught up
00:11:33.69\00:11:36.22
in his sermon illustration.
00:11:36.22\00:11:37.59
Have you ever
preached a sermon and you just,
00:11:37.59\00:11:39.59
you wanted to find a place
for that really good story?
00:11:39.59\00:11:43.37
And sometimes the story can
sort of take over the sermon.
00:11:43.37\00:11:47.27
It has a little
bit of that sense here.
00:11:47.27\00:11:50.07
Paul wants to use the
relationship between Christ
00:11:50.07\00:11:54.11
and His church as an
example for Christian husbands.
00:11:54.11\00:11:58.65
But in verses 25-27 and 29,
00:11:58.65\00:12:02.68
he focuses on
that to such an extent
00:12:02.68\00:12:05.49
that it kind of threatens
to take over the passage, Eric,
00:12:05.49\00:12:08.89
to become the whole thing.
00:12:08.89\00:12:11.86
But in the midst of this
00:12:11.86\00:12:13.76
is really a fascinating way
00:12:13.76\00:12:17.43
that he goes about
unpacking this metaphor.
00:12:17.43\00:12:20.34
So, here's the short story,
00:12:20.34\00:12:22.60
and then let's watch him do it.
00:12:22.60\00:12:24.91
He's gonna take all
of the roles and customs
00:12:24.91\00:12:28.11
that were part of the
ancient wedding and marriage,
00:12:28.11\00:12:31.91
and he's going to
apply those things to Jesus.
00:12:31.91\00:12:35.18
So look at what he does
here in verse 25 and following:
00:12:36.55\00:12:40.19
Jesus becomes the bride price.
00:12:40.19\00:12:43.39
We're operating here in a time
00:12:43.39\00:12:44.93
in which the groom had to pay,
00:12:44.93\00:12:48.06
and pay rather
handsomely, for the bride.
00:12:48.06\00:12:51.43
This is a time when the
village economies were based
00:12:51.43\00:12:55.47
on the exchanges
of gifts that happened
00:12:55.47\00:12:57.71
at the time of weddings.
00:12:57.71\00:13:00.14
And so Jesus Christ
gives himself up for her,
00:13:00.14\00:13:04.98
which I take to be
Paul's way of saying
00:13:04.98\00:13:07.82
Jesus is
Himself the bride price.
00:13:07.82\00:13:10.92
>>That's a huge price.
>>That is a huge price.
00:13:12.02\00:13:14.22
>>That is a huge price.
>>He gives Himself up for her.
00:13:14.22\00:13:17.39
And as you continue on here,
00:13:17.39\00:13:20.63
you will see that
there are many other elements
00:13:20.63\00:13:23.16
of this ancient
wedding that Paul highlights
00:13:23.16\00:13:27.44
and brings into
focus thinking about Jesus.
00:13:27.44\00:13:31.77
So the next element of
the ancient wedding ceremony
00:13:31.77\00:13:35.61
that he comes to here
00:13:35.61\00:13:37.15
is that Christ
bathes His bride, verse 26.
00:13:37.15\00:13:41.55
So in
preparation for the wedding,
00:13:41.55\00:13:43.89
Christ prepares
her and bathes her.
00:13:43.89\00:13:46.52
Now, that's great theology,
00:13:46.52\00:13:48.69
but that's really
rotten marriage etiquette
00:13:48.69\00:13:52.66
in either ancient
times or modern times.
00:13:52.66\00:13:56.10
But Paul is,
00:13:56.10\00:13:57.83
Paul is producing great
theology by taking every aspect
00:13:57.83\00:14:02.37
of the wedding ceremony
and wedding customs of the time
00:14:02.37\00:14:06.17
and applying it to Jesus.
00:14:06.17\00:14:07.94
Look at the third
thing that He does.
00:14:07.94\00:14:10.71
Christ speaks--again, verse 26--
00:14:10.71\00:14:13.38
the word of promise.
00:14:13.38\00:14:15.28
So Christ is the one who
speaks the word of promise,
00:14:15.28\00:14:19.42
probably in the
betrothal ceremony,
00:14:19.42\00:14:21.42
which was part of
the ancient wedding,
00:14:21.42\00:14:23.32
and He commits
himself to the bride.
00:14:23.32\00:14:26.86
Number four, Christ
presents the bride to Himself,
00:14:26.86\00:14:30.57
verse 27, presents
the bride to Himself.
00:14:30.57\00:14:34.54
I'll come back to that because--
00:14:34.54\00:14:36.87
well, let's go ahead
and talk about it right now,
00:14:36.87\00:14:39.14
because in that
presentation, really,
00:14:39.14\00:14:41.91
is embedded a beautiful picture
00:14:41.91\00:14:44.81
of the second coming of Jesus.
00:14:44.81\00:14:47.02
So at the Second Coming, He
presents the bride to Himself.
00:14:47.02\00:14:50.92
Now again, poor,
poor wedding planning--
00:14:50.92\00:14:54.56
in ancient times, not
so different from today,
00:14:54.56\00:14:57.79
the bride would've been
given away by a best man,
00:14:57.79\00:15:00.96
best men, or her father, right?
00:15:00.96\00:15:03.63
Those would probably work quite
nicely in our context today.
00:15:03.63\00:15:07.30
But the groom would never
present the bride to Himself.
00:15:07.30\00:15:10.81
>>I haven't seen a wedding
00:15:10.81\00:15:12.01
where that happens
yet. >>Haven't seen that.
00:15:12.01\00:15:13.54
This is a strange, strange
wedding in some respects.
00:15:13.54\00:15:18.05
So, and finally, Christ
dresses and adorns His bride,
00:15:18.05\00:15:22.35
verse 27, prepares
her for the wedding,
00:15:22.35\00:15:25.65
prepares her for that
grand wedding at His return.
00:15:25.65\00:15:29.39
So all of this
together yields a powerful,
00:15:29.39\00:15:32.93
emotion-laden, inspiring theme
00:15:32.93\00:15:36.93
as we watch Paul concentrate
the elements and roles
00:15:36.93\00:15:40.04
of the ancient wedding in
Christ. And it's simply is this:
00:15:40.04\00:15:43.30
Jesus is
everything to His church.
00:15:43.30\00:15:47.74
>>Very powerful.
>>Jesus is everything to her.
00:15:47.74\00:15:50.31
And that's a
wonderful idea and theme
00:15:50.31\00:15:52.45
that we watch
him very skillfully
00:15:52.45\00:15:54.22
and artistically
playing out here.
00:15:54.22\00:15:56.25
>>A beautiful picture
that Paul is giving us here
00:15:56.25\00:15:59.52
of the relationship
between Christ and His church.
00:15:59.52\00:16:03.12
And we're gonna delve
more deeply into this passage
00:16:03.12\00:16:06.06
in just a moment.
00:16:06.06\00:16:07.56
I wanna encourage you,
if you haven't done so yet,
00:16:07.56\00:16:09.80
please do pick up
the companion book
00:16:09.80\00:16:12.13
to this quarter's
Sabbath school lesson.
00:16:12.13\00:16:13.87
You will be blessed, as
there is more information,
00:16:13.87\00:16:16.81
more stories, more depth
00:16:16.81\00:16:19.61
into everything
that we are covering.
00:16:19.61\00:16:21.48
Where can you find it?
00:16:21.48\00:16:22.44
You can find it very easily
00:16:22.44\00:16:23.78
at itiswritten.shop.
00:16:23.78\00:16:25.78
Just look for the book
00:16:25.78\00:16:26.92
called "Ephesians" by John McVay
00:16:26.92\00:16:30.05
at itiswritten.shop.
00:16:30.05\00:16:32.12
In just a moment,
we're going to come back
00:16:32.12\00:16:33.59
as we continue looking
00:16:33.59\00:16:35.12
at this incredible passage
in chapter 5 of Ephesians.
00:16:35.12\00:16:38.19
We'll be right back.
00:16:38.19\00:16:39.43
(uplifting theme
music swells and ends)
00:16:39.43\00:16:42.06
>>[John Bradshaw]
It was given as a gift
00:16:43.63\00:16:45.50
by the wise men to
the newborn Christ.
00:16:45.50\00:16:48.30
Later, an entire city
named after the precious perfume
00:16:48.30\00:16:52.54
would feature prominently
in the book of Revelation.
00:16:52.54\00:16:55.44
While exiled on Patmos,
00:16:56.31\00:16:58.11
John writes to a young
church of Christian believers
00:16:58.11\00:17:01.25
in Smyrna to
encourage them as they prepare
00:17:01.25\00:17:04.42
to endure fierce
persecution at the hands
00:17:04.42\00:17:07.42
of a Roman emperor.
00:17:07.42\00:17:09.29
In a foreshadowing of
what awaits God's people
00:17:09.29\00:17:11.96
in the last days,
00:17:11.96\00:17:13.43
the apostle shares
Christ's message of hope:
00:17:13.43\00:17:16.77
"Do not fear any of those things
00:17:16.77\00:17:18.80
"which you are about to
suffer.... Be faithful until
00:17:18.80\00:17:22.64
death, and I will give
you the crown of life."
00:17:22.64\00:17:26.07
"The Seven Churches
of Revelation: Smyrna."
00:17:26.07\00:17:29.24
Discover how Jesus can
turn your trials into victories.
00:17:29.24\00:17:34.25
"The Seven Churches
of Revelation: Smyrna,"
00:17:34.25\00:17:38.22
brought to you
by It Is Written TV.
00:17:38.22\00:17:41.56
You know that at It Is Written
00:17:43.86\00:17:45.39
we are serious about
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00:17:45.39\00:17:47.76
and we encourage you
to be serious as well.
00:17:47.76\00:17:50.50
Well, here's what you
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for the It Is Written
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00:18:01.34\00:18:03.71
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(uplifting theme music)
00:18:13.66\00:18:16.16
>>[Eric Flickinger] Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:18:17.89\00:18:19.66
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:18:19.66\00:18:21.06
We're continuing our
study of lesson number 10,
00:18:21.06\00:18:24.27
looking at "Husbands and
Wives: Together at the Cross."
00:18:24.27\00:18:28.30
So, John, we've looked at
a very interesting metaphor
00:18:28.30\00:18:30.77
that Paul gives us of
a wedding and the role
00:18:30.77\00:18:34.48
that the bride and the
groom are playing together.
00:18:34.48\00:18:38.95
But as you mentioned,
00:18:38.95\00:18:41.92
Paul talks about wives
first and then husbands
00:18:41.92\00:18:46.39
in this passage that
he's sharing here with us.
00:18:46.39\00:18:50.26
In what way is Christ
supposed to be the example
00:18:51.59\00:18:54.96
for the Christian wives as well?
00:18:54.96\00:18:56.67
We see how He's
supposed to be for the husbands.
00:18:56.67\00:18:59.33
What about the wives? >>Sure.
00:18:59.33\00:19:00.50
>>What do we see there?
00:19:00.50\00:19:01.67
>>My argument
would be that Christ
00:19:01.67\00:19:03.24
is the ultimate
example for both.
00:19:03.24\00:19:05.71
And as we start the passage,
00:19:05.71\00:19:09.04
chapter 5,
verses 22-33--or 21-33--
00:19:09.04\00:19:13.52
we should note that
verse 21 is a hinge verse
00:19:13.52\00:19:17.02
between what goes before
and our passage of counsel
00:19:17.02\00:19:20.46
to wives and husbands.
00:19:20.46\00:19:22.59
We know that because
verse 22 has no verb in it.
00:19:22.59\00:19:26.53
So, "wives, submit
to your own husbands,
00:19:26.53\00:19:29.50
as to the Lord" actually borrows
00:19:29.50\00:19:31.83
from the verb in verse 21,
00:19:31.83\00:19:33.97
which talks about
members of the church
00:19:33.97\00:19:36.07
submitting to one another, 'kay?
00:19:36.07\00:19:38.84
And then Paul is going to unpack
that, giving some examples
00:19:38.84\00:19:42.54
of how he imagines
that submission occurring.
00:19:42.54\00:19:47.48
So it says,
00:19:47.48\00:19:49.02
"Wives, submit to your
own husbands, as to the Lord,"
00:19:49.02\00:19:52.35
and that little
phrase is a bit tricky for us
00:19:52.35\00:19:56.46
because we can
tend to read the verse
00:19:56.46\00:19:58.99
as though it were saying,
00:19:58.99\00:20:00.36
"Wives, submit
yourselves to your husband,
00:20:00.36\00:20:04.90
"as though he were Christ.
00:20:04.90\00:20:07.14
Put your husband in
the place of Christ."
00:20:07.14\00:20:10.74
And that somehow feels a
little challenging to us,
00:20:10.74\00:20:13.41
and it should, I think.
00:20:13.41\00:20:14.94
Fortunately, we
have a parallel passage
00:20:14.94\00:20:19.71
in Colossians,
chapter 3, verse 18.
00:20:19.71\00:20:23.72
So, turning over a
couple of books to Colossians,
00:20:25.09\00:20:28.26
Colossians also has one
of these household codes.
00:20:28.26\00:20:32.03
And, in fact, something we
haven't mentioned to this point,
00:20:32.03\00:20:36.20
Colossians and Ephesians
00:20:36.20\00:20:37.83
have a very close literary
relationship with each other.
00:20:37.83\00:20:41.57
They're covering
much the same thing,
00:20:41.57\00:20:43.20
kind of written
on the same outline.
00:20:43.20\00:20:45.54
Ephesians adds a
lot about the church,
00:20:45.54\00:20:48.21
and it's, there's an
argument about which came first,
00:20:49.61\00:20:51.75
but what's clear is
that they're closely related.
00:20:51.75\00:20:56.12
And so notice how Paul puts it
00:20:56.12\00:20:58.15
in chapter 3,
verse 18 of Colossians:
00:20:58.15\00:21:00.99
"Wives, submit to your husbands,
00:21:00.99\00:21:03.63
as is fitting in the Lord."
00:21:03.63\00:21:07.13
And so, it's worth
thinking carefully about this.
00:21:07.13\00:21:12.17
Does Paul mean that a wife
is to submit to her husband
00:21:13.54\00:21:16.24
as though he were Christ?
00:21:16.24\00:21:17.77
Or does he mean
that Christ is the truest
00:21:17.77\00:21:21.18
and highest
focus of her devotions?
00:21:21.18\00:21:24.35
And I would argue
that it's the latter,
00:21:24.35\00:21:26.82
and it coheres with a wonderful
statement that's included
00:21:26.82\00:21:31.72
in Friday's lesson from a book
called "The Adventist Home":
00:21:31.72\00:21:35.39
"There is One who
stands higher than the husband
00:21:35.39\00:21:38.83
"to the wife;
it is her Redeemer,
00:21:38.83\00:21:42.03
"and her submission to
her husband is to be rendered
00:21:42.03\00:21:45.83
"as God has directed--
00:21:45.83\00:21:48.07
'as...is fit in the Lord.'"
00:21:48.07\00:21:50.94
And so we should
probably take that phrase
00:21:50.94\00:21:53.44
as a signal that
there's an even higher,
00:21:53.44\00:21:56.38
more important
ultimate relationship
00:21:56.38\00:21:58.95
for the wife than her
relationship with the husband.
00:21:58.95\00:22:02.22
>>So, clearer
insights here by comparing,
00:22:02.22\00:22:05.32
and this is just
good Bible study,
00:22:05.32\00:22:06.99
comparing Ephesians-- >>Yes.
00:22:06.99\00:22:08.46
>>...with Colossians and not
reading too much into something
00:22:08.46\00:22:11.19
that might be,
well, misunderstood,
00:22:11.19\00:22:13.63
which unfortunately many people
seem to misunderstand there.
00:22:13.63\00:22:17.40
You know, as we're looking
here in Ephesians, chapter 5,
00:22:17.40\00:22:20.50
Paul makes a reference
00:22:20.50\00:22:22.77
to the book of Genesis.
00:22:22.77\00:22:26.47
And how does this
reference that he makes
00:22:26.47\00:22:28.91
to the book of Genesis feed into
00:22:28.91\00:22:31.45
what we're looking at this week?
00:22:31.45\00:22:33.48
>>It seems to me that
Paul is going somewhere
00:22:34.58\00:22:38.49
with his
rhetoric in this passage.
00:22:38.49\00:22:41.32
So he starts out using
submission language and so on,
00:22:41.32\00:22:44.79
but he's headed somewhere.
00:22:44.79\00:22:47.00
And where he is headed
is a quotation or a citation
00:22:47.00\00:22:52.07
of Genesis, chapter 2, verse 24.
00:22:52.07\00:22:55.80
As he gives it there in
verse 31, it reads like this:
00:22:55.80\00:23:00.68
"Therefore"--breaking into
the creation story, right?--
00:23:00.68\00:23:04.11
"Therefore a man shall
leave his father and mother"--
00:23:04.11\00:23:08.18
so who is it that
leaves? >>The man.
00:23:08.18\00:23:10.89
>>The man, interestingly enough.
00:23:10.89\00:23:12.45
"Therefore a man
shall leave his father
00:23:12.45\00:23:14.32
"and mother and
hold fast to his wife,
00:23:14.32\00:23:18.56
"and the two shall become
00:23:18.56\00:23:22.10
one flesh."
00:23:22.10\00:23:25.17
Now, what's
fascinating is that there,
00:23:25.17\00:23:27.70
if you read the creation story,
00:23:27.70\00:23:30.04
there is a verse readily at
hand that he could have used
00:23:30.04\00:23:34.11
to underline the idea of
the submission of the wife
00:23:34.11\00:23:37.01
to her husband, right?
00:23:37.01\00:23:38.58
And that's in
chapter 3, verse 16:
00:23:38.58\00:23:41.38
"Your desire shall
be for your husband,
00:23:41.38\00:23:43.42
and he shall rule over you."
00:23:43.42\00:23:45.82
Now, that statement
comes after the Fall.
00:23:45.82\00:23:49.12
It interests me
that Paul chooses
00:23:49.12\00:23:51.96
a word of marriage
advice, if you will,
00:23:51.96\00:23:56.33
echoing from
Eden before the Fall.
00:23:56.33\00:24:00.10
Do you see that?
And so he's holding up
00:24:00.10\00:24:02.54
this "one flesh"
model of marriage,
00:24:02.54\00:24:06.64
and he's working
through it. Along the way,
00:24:06.64\00:24:09.98
he's kind of
teasing husbands by saying,
00:24:09.98\00:24:12.05
"You don't beat up
on yourself, do you?"
00:24:12.05\00:24:14.45
And you're supposed
to say, "No, I don't."
00:24:14.45\00:24:16.02
>>[Eric] Right.
>>Right? (chuckles)
00:24:16.02\00:24:17.25
That would be a
strange form of sadism or ma--
00:24:17.25\00:24:20.69
>>Sure, yeah.
00:24:20.69\00:24:21.69
>>It would be a bad thing.
00:24:21.69\00:24:23.63
And he says you're not
gonna beat up on yourself,
00:24:23.63\00:24:26.76
and you're one with
your wife, so don't--
00:24:26.76\00:24:29.73
why would you
mistreat her or beat up on her?
00:24:29.73\00:24:32.20
To beat up on her is
to beat up on yourself
00:24:32.20\00:24:34.77
because you are one.
Interesting argumentation,
00:24:34.77\00:24:39.77
and so then he
comes to this culmination
00:24:39.77\00:24:42.08
of his argument in
Genesis, chapter 2, verse 24
00:24:42.08\00:24:45.21
and puts forward the
"one flesh" model of marriage.
00:24:45.21\00:24:48.32
We have a number
of models of marriage
00:24:48.32\00:24:51.12
that float around today.
00:24:51.12\00:24:52.65
But I wonder if we took this
"one flesh" model seriously,
00:24:52.65\00:24:56.32
what advice it
would have for us.
00:24:56.32\00:24:59.43
>>It would look a
whole lot different.
00:24:59.43\00:25:01.33
>>The other models
tend to pit the husband
00:25:01.33\00:25:04.70
over against the wife,
vice versa, how, you know--
00:25:04.70\00:25:07.70
but a "one flesh" model
says, who are they together?
00:25:07.70\00:25:10.77
What could they do
and accomplish together?
00:25:10.77\00:25:13.44
And I rather like the enrichment
that that "one flesh" model
00:25:13.44\00:25:17.28
that Paul puts forward brings
to the marriage relationship.
00:25:17.28\00:25:21.22
>>So, one might say,
00:25:21.22\00:25:22.98
"Well, sure, that's
all great in theory.
00:25:22.98\00:25:25.69
"In a perfect world we'd be one,
00:25:25.69\00:25:28.72
"and husbands and
wives would get along,
00:25:28.72\00:25:30.66
"and everything would be
rose petals and rainbows,
00:25:30.66\00:25:34.93
"and everything would be great.
00:25:34.93\00:25:37.20
"What about in the real
world where maybe things
00:25:37.20\00:25:40.67
are a little bit imperfect?"
00:25:40.67\00:25:42.57
>>Oh, that's a great question,
00:25:42.57\00:25:44.07
because the
passage can raise a picture
00:25:44.07\00:25:47.18
of white picket
fences and neatly mowed lawns
00:25:47.18\00:25:50.05
and 2.3 children, right?
00:25:50.05\00:25:52.08
But I think there are
many hints in our passage
00:25:52.08\00:25:54.65
that Paul understands
that Christian marriages
00:25:54.65\00:25:57.92
can be less than ideal.
00:25:57.92\00:25:59.45
He seems to be addressing
husbands who are inclined
00:25:59.45\00:26:02.32
to abuse their wives
and warning them from it.
00:26:02.32\00:26:06.46
Chapter 5, verses 3-11,
00:26:06.46\00:26:08.16
looking back a little bit,
00:26:08.16\00:26:09.60
the temptation of
immorality and sexual immorality
00:26:09.60\00:26:13.90
and disloyalty in one's marriage
from a sexual standpoint
00:26:13.90\00:26:17.14
seems close at
hand and all of that.
00:26:17.14\00:26:19.97
If we can go back still
further to a wonderful passage,
00:26:19.97\00:26:23.04
chapter 3, verse 14,
00:26:23.04\00:26:24.95
there's a little word
play that's important:
00:26:24.95\00:26:27.15
"For this reason I bow my
knees before the Father"--
00:26:27.15\00:26:29.88
"pater" in Greek--
00:26:29.88\00:26:31.55
"from whom every
family"--"patria"--
00:26:31.55\00:26:35.06
"in heaven and
on earth is named."
00:26:35.06\00:26:38.26
And so Paul in that
passage lays claim on behalf
00:26:38.26\00:26:42.13
of the Father, His Son
Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit,
00:26:42.13\00:26:45.87
lays claim to every family,
00:26:45.87\00:26:48.20
imperfect though they may be.
00:26:49.14\00:26:51.77
They are the subjects of God's
forgiveness and God's grace.
00:26:51.77\00:26:56.58
He's drawing your
family into His grand plan
00:26:56.58\00:27:01.22
to unify all things in Christ.
00:27:01.22\00:27:03.18
And He imagines
your family and mine
00:27:03.18\00:27:05.72
and every imperfect
family on our planet
00:27:05.72\00:27:07.99
as united in Christ and
part of that grand plan.
00:27:07.99\00:27:12.93
So, this is not about
perfect families with no issues
00:27:12.93\00:27:16.90
and no problems. This is
about an invasion of God's grace
00:27:16.90\00:27:20.64
into real lives
and real families.
00:27:20.64\00:27:23.20
>>And just imagine
what the Christian world,
00:27:23.20\00:27:25.84
what the whole
world could be like
00:27:25.84\00:27:27.41
if each family would
allow him to be a part of it.
00:27:27.41\00:27:30.48
Imagine what your
family could be like.
00:27:30.48\00:27:32.95
Imagine what your neighbors,
00:27:32.95\00:27:34.62
your friends'
families could be like.
00:27:34.62\00:27:36.79
Imagine what every person
could be like if Christ lived
00:27:36.79\00:27:41.76
and reigned in the heart.
00:27:41.76\00:27:43.16
Well, that's a
picture that we're seeing here
00:27:43.16\00:27:45.39
of what Paul's desire
and hope is through the grace
00:27:45.39\00:27:48.83
and power and
strength of Jesus Christ.
00:27:48.83\00:27:51.43
And we're
continuing to see more of that
00:27:51.43\00:27:54.50
as Paul leads us
through the book of Ephesians.
00:27:54.50\00:27:58.41
We're looking forward to
seeing you again next week
00:27:58.41\00:28:00.91
as we continue this
journey. Until then,
00:28:00.91\00:28:03.45
may God bless you, and
we'll see you again next time
00:28:03.45\00:28:06.05
on "Sabbath School,"
00:28:06.05\00:28:06.98
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:28:06.98\00:28:09.08
(uplifting theme music)
00:28:09.08\00:28:11.69
(music ends)
00:28:26.87\00:28:28.94