SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/26/2023 9:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Absurdity”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
22:24-28
Message of the verses: “24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, ‘IF A MAN
DIES, HAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE, AND
RAISE UP AN OFFSPRING TO HIS BROTHER.’ 25 "Now there were seven brothers
with us; and the first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife
to his brother; 26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 "And
last of all, the woman died. 28 “In the resurrection therefore whose wife of
the seven shall she be? For they all had her.’”
When we looked at the last group of these Jewish
leaders they did the same thing as this group of Sadducees, and that is they
are trying by addressing Jesus as Teacher to put Jesus off guard with
condescending flattery. One commentator
called “polished scoffing,” and perhaps that is a good way to describe
them. MacArthur adds “Their choice of
titles was especially duplicitous (two-faced) because it was as a Teacher that
they intended to embarrass and discredit Him.”
The
problem with these Jewish leaders is that they really don’t know who they were
dealing with, as they were dealing with the second person of the godhead who
knows everything, even their thoughts.
The same problem exists today as people who think that they are
believers, and even some who are act like Jesus is just another person.
There
is no higher appeal that could be made than to Moses, not only for the
Sadducees but for any Jew for Moses was the great lawgiver, the supreme
spokesman for God in the Old Testament.
The Sadducees were aware of Jesus’ high regard for Scripture, and they
knew that He would not contest the validity of the teaching they were about to
cite, namely, the provision for levirate marriage.
MacArthur
explains: “The term levirate is from levir, Latin
for ‘husband’s brother.’ The Mosaic
provision is found in Deuteronomy 25:5-6, a summary of which the Sadducees here
gave to Jesus. In order that tribal
names, families, and inheritance might be kept intact, If a man dies, having no
children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up an
offspring to his brother.”
This custom of levirate marriage was practiced for a
very long time and was honored by God even before He directed Moses to place in
the law. When Judah’s son Er was killed
by the Lord because of his wickedness, Judah told another son Onan, who at that
time was not married to “Go into your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as
a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” Onan resented the fact that the children would
not be considered his own and “he wasted his seed on the ground.” This act was “displeasing
in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also” (Genesis 38:8-10).
Now
because of this being the weekend I usually do not have very long Spiritual
Diaries, and the reason is that I teach Sunday school and thus need to go over
my lesson in preparation to teaching it on Sunday morning. Lord willing we will finish this section in
our next SD.
8/26/2023 9:34 AM
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