"Sermon on the Mount" teachings 5 - 6

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Sermon teaching #5 Divorce... adultery Matt 5:31-32 Jesus said to his disciples (followers)-- but in the hearing of the crowds (see 5:1-2; 7:28-29), It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife for any reason must give her a certificate of divorce (bill of divorcement/cutting off). But I tell You that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress if she re-marries, & anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. And we shall see soon that the man who divorces also commits adultery if he re-marries. Deu 24:1 refers to the certificate of divorce (a new idea), but divorce in general occurred well before that. As we saw in Sermon1 Sermon teaching #2 The spirit..., the 10 Commandments were inscribed by the Finger of GOD atop Mt. Sinai; Lev 1:1 (the entire book of Leviticus was written in that 1 year after Mt. Sinai) says, The Lord spoke to Him (Moses) from the Tent of Meeting-- which is the start of 27 chapters of regulations. Divorce is not 1x mentioned in the Bible before Lev 21:7; it's mentioned there in the context of what specifically priests should/shouldn't do: They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to Their GOD. Matt 19:7-9 'Why then', They asked, 'did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce & send her away? Jesus replied, Moses permitted You to divorce Your wives because Your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning of creation. I tell You that anyone who divorces His wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, & marries another woman commits adultery. Mark 10:4-6,9 Jesus said to the crowds, They said, 'Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce & send her away.' It was because Your hearts were hard that Moses wrote You this law, Jesus replied. But at the beginning of creation GOD 'made them male & female.' Therefore what GOD has joined together, let man not separate. When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, Anyone who divorces his wife & marries another commits adultery against her (the former wife). And if she divorces her husband & marries another man, she commits adultery. Luke 16:18 Jesus said to his disciples (followers), Anyone who divorces his wife & marries another woman commits adultery, & the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Sermon teaching #6 Vows & oaths Matt 5:33-37 Jesus said to his disciples (followers)-- but in the hearing of the crowds (see 5:1-2; 7:28-29), Again, You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break Your oath, but keep the oaths You've made to the LORD.' (Num 30:2 was not 1 of the 10 Commandments inscribed by the Finger of GOD on Mt. Sinai, nor was it 1 of the instructions the Lord gave at the Tent of Meeting we just saw-- rather it was 1 of the instructions Moses said the Lord told him to communicate some 40 years later, on the plain of Moab (Num 26:63; 28:1-3; 29:40) not long before they entered the promised land: Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: 'This is what the LORD commands [note the lack of blue highlighting hereafter, indicating Moses was paraphrasing God (as opposed to quoting him directly)]: When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself (promising) by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.' But I tell You, Do not swear at all: either by Heaven, for it is GOD'S Throne; or by the earth, for it is HIS Footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great KING. And do not swear by Your head, for You cannot even make 1 hair white or black. Simply let Your 'Yes' be 'Yes' & Your 'No' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil 1. Matt 23:21-22 Jesus said to the crowds, He who swears by the altar swears by it & everything on it. And he who swears by the Temple swears by it & the ONE who dwells in it. And he who swears by Heaven swears by GOD'S Throne & by the ONE who sits on it. BTW, perhaps some clarification is called for ref. the expression, "some 40 years later (after Sinai)": in PART I, E E.(intro.) we see there were 43 yrs. from Egypt to Canaan-- this was arrived at via many refs. given on that page: 3 yrs. from Egypt to Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, 38 yrs. of desert wanderings, & 2 yr. from Ar of southern Moab to the plains of Moab & the Jordan R. However, it should be pointed out that Exo 16:1,4,35 says they ate manna for 40 yrs, from 1.5 months from Egypt until they reached the border of Canaan. Now, Jsh 5:12 says they stopped eating manna at Gilgal (i.e., after they crossed the Jordan R.-- but before conquering Jericho). Their last meal was manna before they crossed the Jordan R.; their 1st meal in Gilgal was some of the produce of Canaan.

A permission "re-focused" In Sermon1 2 of the 10 Commandments "re-focused" we saw #6 & #7 of the 10 Commandmants, that had been inscribed in stone by the Finger of GOD, were "re-focused" by Jesus-- emphatically not to replace them, but just to "re-focus" for the sake of the world (for they were originally just to be followed by Israel, whereas now most of the world would need to radically repent). In order for them to be fulfilled, he would need to employ patience. Here we have a return: from Moses' permission (see Deu 24:1-4a), followed by the same employment by God of patience. Matt 19:9 & Mark 10:4 say that there was no divorce, or writings of certificates of divorce, in the beginning, but over time it became common practice, so that Israel was already practicing it before Egypt (or perhaps adopted it during those 400 yrs.)-- at any rate, Moses (likely by counsel or permission from God, permitted it because of hardness of heart. Jesus said divorce is allowed only if there is marital infidelity. If there was not-- here are 4 examples of divorce, each resulting in adultery only if followed by re-marriage (or marriage, as in 4. below):

  1. the divorced woman is caused (put in position) to be an adulteress-- see Matt:32a. I.e., she becomes an adulteress if-so-be she re-marries (see Roma 7:2-3; 1stCor 7:10-11);
  2. the man who initiates the divorce commits adultery if he re-marries (see Matt 19:9; Mark 10:11; Luke 16:18a);
  3. the woman who initiates the divorce commits adultery if she re-marries (see Mark 10:12);
  4. the man who marries the divorced woman commits adultery when he marries her (see Matt 5:32b; Luke 16:18b).

Another look at A permission "re-focused" Above the parameter was the ramification (the blatant sin of adultery) for divorce when there was no marital infidelity. Now we consider the ramification (sin?-- a violation of GOD's Best, that there would be no divorce period, but rather forgiveness) when there was marital infidelity. Matt 19:6 & Mark 10:9 say, What GOD has joined together, let man not separate. We see in Late Life John Later life... after baptizing... Per John that John said, For the Law was given through Moses; grace & truth came through Jesus Christ. And Acts 13:39 reads, Through HIM (seated at the Right Hand of the FATHER) everyone who believes is justified from everything You could not be justified from by the Law of Moses.

A reliance "re-focused" from reliance on oaths-to-God to reliance on the Holy-Spirit-within. Above (in A permission "re-focused") we saw there was an incomplete return to the original no certificate-of-divorce under any condition, to the writing of a certificate-of-divorce only in the case of marital infidelity-- and also that if 1 was written for that reason, the divorcer/divorcee was an adulterer/adultress only if there was re-marriage. Here we see a complete "re-focus" from making an oath-to-God (swearing to God-up-there-- see Deu 6:13; 10:20) to relying on God-in-one's-heart via the Holy Spirit. Now it's easy to see why we shouldn't swear to somebody, for that person may plan to deceive, or may change-the-motive to deception. Or why we shouldn't put our trust in a covenant with ourselves (like Job did with his eyes (Job 31:1) before he said, 'I despise myself & repent in dust & ashes (Job 42:6).' But not to the Lord? Well, we shouldn't presume that we'll never fall for temptation. It's not like driving on ice-- there, before suddenly going into a major un-expected ice-skid (like suddenly on a bridge yet iced-over), we can be fully-informed as to how to turn the steering wheel, etc., & be very practiced-up, so that we reflexively act to avoid disaster. Not that there is no value in being prayed up as a mature Christian, or being thoroughly wise about the meaning of every part of Scripture (maybe memorizing every word), or ministering in every square inch of the earth, or adept at fellowshiping with every Christian, no matter the status or handicap-- but none of these even approach the benefit of hearing/following the still small voice of the Holy Spirit as a Guide in our hearts. Because there likely will be no anticipation of the twisted schemes of the devil as he roars about as a lion, seeking whom he may devour. Therefore Holy-Spirit-guidance trumps even steadfast trust in any oath-to-God. Recall seeing in PerJohn8 D.7. that immediately upon finishing his life-long Nazirite oath, Jesus said, It is finished!