SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/2/2020 10:14 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Teaching of Jesus”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:31-32
Message of the verses: “31 “It also used
to be said that whoever divorces his wife must give her a proper certificate of
divorce. 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife except on the
ground of unfaithfulness is making her an adulterous. And whoever marries the
woman who has been divorced also commits adultery” (Philips).
We
begin with a quotation from John MacArthur:
“Some interpreters maintain that Apoluo
(‘divorces’), which has the basic meaning of let loose, or let go free, refers
only to separation, broken engagement, or desertion. A common view of this passage is that Jesus
is referring only to divorce during the betrothal period, such as that
mentioned in Matthew 1:18-19. But when
used in the context of a man and wife, the common meaning of Apoluo was always divorce—not merely
separation or the breaking of an engagement (cf. Matt. 19:3, 7-9; Mark 10:2, 4,
11-12; Luke 16:18).”
Now
we want to look at several reasons why this term cannot refer only to a broken
betrothal. First is that the background
of the passage that we have mentioned several times from Deuteronomy 24, does
not deal with a broken betrothal but speaks of a broken marriage. If we are to take the betrothal period as a limiting
factor in a passage that deals only with marriage and divorce (based on its Old
Testament roots) gives an illegitimate and also a nonhistorical restriction. Now
if Christ has in mind the betrothal period then He would be adding something to
the Old Testament standard, and would not just be commenting on and affirming
it, and this would have been out of step with His stated purpose for this
section on the Sermon on the Mount as seen in 5:17-18. “17 "Do not think that I came to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I
say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke
shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Second,
the indissoluble union in a Hebrew marriage began at betrothal, and not at the
consummation, which we see illustrated by Joseph and Mary. Joseph was Mary’s husband during the
betrothal period and the Old Testament punishment of death for adultery was the
same for both participants, as it applied whether the adultery was committed
during betrothal or after the consummation of the marriage. Let us look at Deuteronomy 22:28-29 to see
that prior to the betrothal, a man and woman who committed fornication were
only required to marry each other. “28 “If
a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies
with her and they are discovered, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to
the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife
because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days.”
Let
us move onto the third reason which is that it is clear that the Jews who heard
Jesus use the term understood Him to mean divorce and that is because there was
never any need to clarify what was meant by Him. We site Deuteronomy 24:1-4 once again to
which Jesus refers in Matthew 5:31, and this had to do strictly with marriage
and divorce, not betrothal, mere separation, or even desertion. We know that Jesus was not adding to or
modifying what Moses had said, but He was simply clarifying it.
I
want to now move to the booklet that we have been quoting from “The Battle of
the Ages,” and we will pick up where we left off in our last SD where we
introduced “III The Third Battle is the Battle of the Promised Seed.”
1.
The
first is The murder of Able the Righteous
Seed. Cain and Able furnished an
illustration of the unrighteous and the righteousness seed. John tells us, ‘Cain was that wicked one.’ The seed of the serpent was Cain. But Jesus calls Able, ‘righteous Able.’ Now the Christ was to come through the
righteous seed, and this fact the Devil recognized. It was Satan, therefore, who inspired ungodly
Cain to the murder of righteous Able.
Describing the Devil, Jesus said, ‘He was a murderer from the beginning,’
and possibly our Lord has reference to the murder of Able—the first attempt on
the part of the Hinderer to prevent the rise of the woman’s conquering seed.
I am
personally convinced, although I would not dogmatically teach it, that the original
purpose of God was that the promised seed should come through Able, the second-born
son of Adam and Eve. The proof of this
is the recognition of an elective principle in the Scriptures by which God
consistently sets aside all firsts and chooses and establishes seconds. This principle is enunciated in 1 Cor.
15:46: ‘That was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.’
The operation
of this principle is seen in the rejection of the elder and the election of the
younger. Not Abraham’s first son Ishmael
was chosen, but Isaac the second was chosen.
Not Isaac’s first son Esau was chosen, but Jacob the second was
chosen. Not Joseph’s first son Manasseh
was chosen, but Ephraim the second was chosen.
Similarly, not the first generation who came out of Egypt entered the
Promised Lane, but the second generation did.
Not Saul the first King of Israel was the man after God’s own heart, but
David the second was. Not the first
Covenant of the Law brought life, but the second Covenant of Grace did (He
taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.—Heb. 10:9.) Not the first Adam brought victory to the
race, but the second Adam did. (The
first man was of the earth earthly, the second man is the Lord from heaven.)
It is on the
authority of this ruling principle governing the choice of the second born that
I believe the original purpose of God was that the line of the coming Christ
should run through Able. But while the
purpose of God may be hindered, it cannot be frustrated, and Satan’s first
attempt to break the promise by the murder of Able was wrecked by the divine appointment
of another to stand in the place of Able as the progenitor of the Christ. And to this agree the significant words of
Eve immediately after the murder of Able when ‘she bare a son and called his
name Seth (Appointed One) for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed
instead of (in the place of) Able whom Cain slew’ (Gen. 4:25).
9/2/2020 11:00 AM
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