January 2, 2016 Shabbat Bible Study
©2007-16 Mark Pitrone & Fulfilling Torah Ministries
Devarim (Dt) 23.19-24.18; Yeshayahu (Is) 19.1 – 25; Tehellim (Ps) 139; Matithyahu (Mat) 5.30 – 37
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDx-UW50gTk&noredirect=1
Devarim 23.19-20 – Usury is from the Hebrew root nun, shin, khaf – nashach. To us it means exceedingly high interest on a debt. In the Hebrew language it means demanding any interest on a debt.
In the paleo-Hebrew pictographs the nun signifies a seed sprout, which has the idea of continuation. The shin represents the two front teeth biting something. The Kaph represents an open palm. In this case, I believe the word means to continually eat out a man’s substance, open hand outstretched to receive more than your due. The bend and curve of the open hand in the Kaph can also be seen as bending one’s will to another’s purpose – which is the wicked end of usury.
It was forbidden to extract usury from a fellow Hebrew, to make a profit from a brother’s need. It was OK to profit from a pagan’s need, but not a brother’s.
Today’s bankers, who are dominated world-wide by the Rothschild family and their intermarried banking partners, don’t pay any heed to Torah, exacting interest from everyone, regardless their heritage. It makes no difference if the ‘mark’ (he’s not a customer, but one to be ‘conned’) is Hebrew or heathen – all pay the usury. And it has become truly usurious in anyone’s estimation. First of all, the COBRA bill of 1987 (if my memory serves) made it so that banks and other ‘lending institutions’ get fully reimbursed by the Treasury for all loans contracted at midnight of the day the ‘mark’ signs the contract. BOA and other banks are charging interest rates on credit cards of over 32% in some cases. This means they get paid 100% profit in only 3 years of minimum payments, and the principle has barely been touched. And very often, if not always, they will advertise a low interest rate, like 12.5%, but that isn’t the actual annual ‘yield’, because they will compound the usury monthly. What that means is the 12.5% is divided by 12, or roughly 1.05% and charge that the 1st month. If you borrow $1000.00 at this rate, you will owe slightly less than 1010.50 after the 1st month.
Now watch this: if you get a ‘no payments for nx months’ the interest still accrues during those months at the monthly compounded rate. If you did a 12 month deferment of payments, by the end of the 12 month term you will owe $1,000 x 1.041667 12 times, or $1632.0947 before you make your first payment; or exactly 63.209% more than you actually borrowed BEFORE YOU MAKE THE FIRST PAYMENT! And that rate continues to accrue on that debt until you pay all the interest and principle, which at the monthly minimums will take upwards of 6 years. And. if you miss a payment or pay it late, they charge you a fee, usually $35-40, THAT gets added to the note and you pay interest on IT, as well.
It is very important that we get out of debt as soon as possible, especially usurious credit card debt. Easiest method to do this is to gather up all your credit card bills and pile them in order of amount owed, with the least on the top. Add up all the minimum payments. What you’ll do is at least double the minimum payment on the smallest balance card, while keeping up the minimums on all the others. Buy less candy bars or soda pops or (shudder) coffee, if necessary to make the double payment. Do that until that card is paid off. Then, grab the next highest balance card and add to the minimum payment for that card everything you were paying on the card you just paid off. Do that until the 2nd card is paid off, and grab the 3rd bill. Add everything you were paying on the 2nd card to the minimum for the 3rd card until it’s paid off. Keep that up until all your cards have a zero balance. Then use ONE of those cards for emergencies only, and pay for everything with cash. If you haven’t got the cash, don’t borrow it from the usurer, who in this case is our Uncle Esau. The Rothschilds are NOT racial Yehudim, but Edomites who were FORCED to convert by John Hyrcanus, nephew of Judas Maccabeus and high priest and general of the Yehudi armed forces c.115-100BCE.
Prov. 22.7, The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Q&C
Devarim 23.21-23 – When we make a vow to Yehovah, we are stupid in the extreme if we fail to honour it. Not only is it sin to us, but he’ll see to it that the vow is paid ‘to the uttermost farthing’. If a mere man will require a vow of you, what makes you think Yehovah will not?
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. (Mat.5.23-26)
Before you made the vow, you had no obligation and there was not even a chance you could sin. Essentially, if you say you’re going to do something, do it. Be known as a man or woman of your word, one who can be trusted.
Devarim 23.24-25 – (25.4 correlates to this.) When you enter a neighbor’s field, either to help with the harvest or to just pass through, you are allowed to eat as you go, but you are not allowed to harvest to carry away. To harvest and carry away is to steal from your brother, essentially the same as the usurer steals from the borrower. Remember the talmidim picking corn and eating it on the Shabbat (Mat.12.1) and the Pharisees getting huffy about it? There was no Torah command against picking enough food to eat, only against harvesting for profit on Shabbat, so the Prushim were being legalists, holding their traditions to be as legally binding as Torah. Q&C
Devarim 24.1-4 – The main point of these verses is to prohibit the original husband to remarry the divorced wife AFTER she has married another man. What if she commits adultery before she is divorced? Torah commands that she should be stoned along with her ‘co-sinner’. What if the husband merely suspects her of adultery? In B’Midbar 5 we see the law of jealousy in which the woman drinks the bitter water. Yeshua took the curse of the adulterous woman from B’Midbar 5 and died her death so that he could remarry the defiled woman upon his resurrection. He’d divorced us in Jer.3.8, drank our bitter water (vinegar, sans gall) died our death according to Torah in B’Midbar 5 and then rose a totally new man (old things are passed away, behold all things are become new 2Cor.5.17) to marry us, as in this passage and Romans 7.1-4. Eddie Chumney has a wonderful teaching on this juxtaposition of Dt.24.1-4 and Rom.7.1-4 in his Pesach PowerPoints.
Warning: Totally new (to me, anyway) concept being proffered. Be Bereans!
In Rev.20 we see the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven adorned as a Bride for her Husband. This is the Bride of Messiah, arrayed in fine linen, white and clean, signifying her virginity, even as an American woman traditionally dresses for her wedding (though fewer and fewer can genuinely wear white). But that was not our condition only a short time before. Before the resurrection, we are anything but virgins, spiritually, even if a few of us may be physically. So, as Eddie has told us, we were an adulterous wife to whom Yehovah Yeshua had given a certificate of divorce. We went off and defiled ourselves with another ‘elohim’ of our own making, permanently sealing our divorce, according to Dev.24.
But Yehovah put on the human flesh of Yeshua so that he could live a perfectly righteous life, “Fulfilling Torah” [shameless plug] in every aspect applicable to him, so that he could then vicariously suffer for us the punishment we deserved, as seen in B’Midbar 5. According to Devarim 24.1-4, the first husband could not again marry his defiled wife, and he was under this restriction until he died. But, fortunately for us (and perfectly within the plan of Yehovah), he didn’t stay dead. He arose after 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth as a completely ‘new man’.
Now look at 2Pet.3.9-12:
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of Yehovah will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and reverence, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of Yehovah, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
And then at Rev.20.11 and 21.1:
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
21.1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
When Yeshua arose, his talmidim, the people he’d lived intimately among for 3½ years did not recognize him in his resurrected body until he chose to reveal himself to them, first to Mary, then the Emmaus road guys, then to Shimon Kefa. The new heaven and earth is not identical to the old, but merely similar (no more sea, etc.). Now, if the creation was so affected by the fall of Adam that it can not be made clean enough for Yehovah to permanently dwell here, and it has to be made entirely new, must not the same be true of our physical bodies? In a similar way I think that Yeshua is a completely ‘new man’ so that he can marry his estranged wife. And she, or rather we, will have entirely new bodies, with no admixture of the old, similar in appearance, but not identical. This is in line with 2Cor.5.17:
17 Therefore if any man be in the Messiah, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
How many things are made NEW? We do not constantly see this in our lives, since we deal with an old ‘nature’, or rather an evil inclination. But in the resurrection and the new heaven and earth, there will be no evil inclination, or sin nature, to deal with. For now, we get to TASTE the glory that Yeshua will give us in our new, resurrected beings. Now, we partake by our position in Messiah, but then we will know the fullness of our salvation. We will truly be virgins in our new bodies, made righteous by the blood of Messiah, graciously provided with a perfect and sinless body suited for life in a perfect and unfallen creation. Q&C
In v.5 we see that a man was not to work for 1 year after his marriage ‘to cheer up’ his new bride. I think that has to do with staying around to start a family, with the assumption being that she would bear their first child in that time. Nothing would bring more ‘cheer’ than a new baby.
In vv.6-7, one was not to take anything as collateral that would deprive a man of his ability to provide for himself and his family. Trading in Yisraelite souls was ‘verboten’. The slaver was to be stoned to remove such sin from the gates. Remember last week’s Midrash, where we were to have a paddle on the non-business end of our swords, so we could keep the camp clean of our waste products? Here is some human waste that was to be removed from Yehovah’s sight. Remember that if we allow that which defiles in our camp Yehovah cannot walk among us and we chance losing a battle or war.
Vv.8-9 are dealing w/the same thing. We are to guard against leprosy, which typifies sin throughout scripture. It needs to be dealt with immediately. Miriam had rebelled v. Moshe and as punishment she was made totally leprous immediately, as an example. She was also forgiven and cleansed of her leprosy immediately upon her repentance, but still had to fulfill the law of the leper and live outside the camp for 7 days. The sin could not be in the camp, or Yehovah could not walk there among us.
Vv.10-13 are about taking a pledge. You are not to enter the debtor’s house to take his pledge, but let him bring it to you. Yehovah absolutely respects property rights. He expects both parties to respect each other’s rights, as he does ours. We are not to keep a brother’s pledge overnight. This, I think, is the basis for a 4th Amendment warrant to search a man’s premises for evidence to a crime.
Vv.14-15 tell us to pay the wages due and pay them on time. To not do so is sin unto us. In Israel, that meant that you paid your day laborers at the end of the day.
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.(Mat.20-8-9)
V.16 requires that we punish only those worthy of punishment, not those associated with them or related to them. The guilty bears responsibility for his own crimes.
V.17 tells us to be righteous judges in all matters and not to respect persons in judgment. Then v.18 reminds us why we are to deal equitably with all men, because we were oppressed, cheated, robbed, bullied, etc. while we were in Egypt. We didn’t like it, and so we should treat others as we wished (and wish) to be treated. Golden Rule, Torah Style. Q&C
Yeshayahu 19.1-10 – Everything in this lengthy passage deals with the punishment of Egypt in the darkness of the day of Yehovah, that is, I think, the last ½ of the time of Jacob’s trouble and the time of Messiah’s arrival to physically reclaim the Kingdom. But I don’t think this is the punishment of Yehovah, though such punishment is determined against Egypt. I think this punishment is the oppression of the Anti-Messiah (v.4) or those who serve him. When Yehovah comes into Egypt, there will be those who will follow after him, for in v.2, we’ll see Egyptians fighting amongst themselves. When Yehovah comes down on the pagans in Egypt who oppress those who follow after Yehovah, he will bring the forces of Anti-Messiah down to oppress them all. Egypt’s Moslem Brotherhood government probably will be seen as too ‘moderate’ in its treatment of B’nai Zion, which attitude can already be seen developing on the evening news almost nightly. When the NWO comes down on molly-coddling Egypt, they will come down hard, as related in vv.5-10.
In vv.11-17 we see the counselors of Paroh as fools and deceived, thus giving Paroh lousy advice. They have forgotten what Yehovah did to them and their false elohims when he brought Israel out of bondage. Noph was the Hebrew name for the city of Memphis, Zoan for the city of Tanis in the Northeastern part of the Nile delta, which is the first city an Israelite would come to upon crossing the Egyptian border with Gaza. Today’s princes of Noph and Zoan are, I think, the most radical elements of the Moslem Brotherhood in Cairo and on the Egyptian side of the Gaza frontier. They’ll advise Paroh to do what the Islamist branch of the NWO decrees, rather than what he is inclined to do. For that reason Yehovah is determined to hammer Egypt in v.17. He is shaking his fist over Egypt in v.16, but before he can bring his own wrath down, something happens.
Vv.18-25 show us that for some reason 5 cities of Egypt must repent in humility (the literal meaning of Canaan), for suddenly there is an altar to Yah in the midst of Egypt and a pillar in the border. This could be the purpose of the Great Pyramid, which is in the middle of the nation AND at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt. For some fascinating speculation about its true purpose, see the book, “The Great Pyramid Decoded”, by E. Raymond Capt. The dimensions may prophecy Messiah in BOTH of his appearances.
This passage seems to indicate that Egypt is redeemed in the Great Trib, in the midst of her oppression by the fierce king of v.4. In v.23 Yehovah heals her after he’s allowed her to be smitten by the fierce king. It also looks as if Assyria turns to Yehovah in the Great Trib, for she becomes one end of the King’s Highway, Egypt being the other end with Israel smack dab in the middle of it. Look at what Yehovah calls these nations, ‘my people’, ‘the work of mine hands’, and ‘mine inheritance’. These nations are in very enviable positions entering the Millennial Kingdom of Yeshua due to their willing service to him in the Great Trib. Speculation Warning! Perhaps they become safe havens for B’nai Zion? Q&C
Tehillim 139 – This psalm is a comfort to those of us in the exile, for it tells us that we can’t be anywhere but in Yehovah’s presence and thoughts. He knows us, our ways, our thoughts. He is there when we walk, sit, sleep. He guards us in all our troubles. When we walk, he has the point, all flanks and the rear guard. We are absolutely secure, as we trust him to protect us. He rejoices with us when we rejoice, and he comforts us when we mourn. And he will redeem us from our exile in his time, which grows shorter every minute. He’s been right with us since we were conceived; he guided our formation in our mother’s wombs. Even those of us who are not what people call ‘perfect’ are formed exactly as he would have us be, our imperfections and abnormalities bring him glory and honor, and give men a glimpse of his love and compassion for them. His thoughts toward us are awesome in their gracious mercy and in their sheer number. Remember that if he forgets us, we simply would cease to exist. Therefore, we know that he does not ‘remember’ as we do, with a possibility of losing memory of us, as we do over time. When he remembers us, he brings us a blessing, even if it doesn’t seem to be a blessing as it happens. For that very reason, our enemies stand no chance, though they oppress us and we have no physical means to resist. When we trust him, he takes up our cause. And there is noone who can withstand him or defeat his purpose. Q&C
MatithYahu 5.27-37
Matthew 5:27-30, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
The spirit of the law is as important as the letter of it. I have personally never committed adultery. But Jimmy Carter and I have at least one thing in common. Each of us has lusted after women and, therefore, committed adultery in our hearts. We are not the only people to have done so, by any means. This is sin in our lives, every bit as much as if we’d performed the act. Is there any human who hasn’t done this? So what is to be done? Are we all to be consigned to the Lake of Fire for this spiritual adultery? The fact is that Elohim would be perfectly within his rights to do just that, except for the finished work of Yeshua haMoshiach. The sin is fully paid for and has already been judged. Without the work of Yeshua, what is needed is the complete eradication of the offending organ. Better to remove the hand or eye, or in my case the brain, that offends you and enter the kingdom than be cast whole into the Lake of Fire. How can the offending organs be removed?
The remedy is given to us in Romans 6-8. In Rom.6 we find ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Elohim in Moshiach, and we therefore need not serve sin. In Rom.7 we find that although we are dead to sin and are no longer its slaves, we yet find sin alive in our members; that is, our physical bodies. We don’t have to sin, but our flesh still likes to sin. We find a constant battle being waged in our bodies, our quickened spirits wanting to live for Moshiach and our yet to be resurrected bodies wanting to live in sin. ‘Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ Then in Rom.8 we find what may be the sweetest words of Scripture, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Moshiach Yeshua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” This is followed closely by Romans 8:6-11,
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against Elohim: for it is not subject to the law of Elohim, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please Elohim. 9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Elohim dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Moshiach, he is none of his. 10And if Moshiach be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Yeshua from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Moshiach from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
If the Ruach ha Kodesh dwells in you, there is no condemnation anymore. Do you truly wish in your heart to serve Yehovah Yeshua haMoshiach, or your own lusts? The heart attitude is the telling part. Paul said in Rom.7.25 that the dilemma faced him all the time, daily. He wanted to serve Yeshua with everything in his soul and spirit, but his flesh kept getting in the way. Then he tells us in Rom.8.11 that even that problem is solved by the finished work of Yeshua and the indwelling Ruach ha Kodesh. Our bodies will be raised incorruptible and immortal and without sin. The offending members shall be completely eradicated. What a day that will be!! Q&C
Matthew 5:31-32, “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”
Webster’s 1828 defines adultery as:
“1. Violation of the marriage bed; a crime, or a civil injury, which introduces, or may introduce, into a family, a spurious offspring;” and fornication as: “1. The incontinence or lewdness of unmarried persons, male or female; also, the criminal conversation of a married man with an unmarried woman.”
The difference between the two is the difference of the marriage relationship of the woman. This sets the limits to the writing of divorcement. ‘Saving for the cause of fornication’ refers to sexual misconduct of the woman before marriage and consummation thereof; in the biblical and Hebraic perspective, during the betrothal period, which is when the marriage is legal, but has yet to be consummated. Adultery has to do with the conduct of a married woman. The sexual misconduct of a man is fornication, unless the woman is married. If the woman is married, the man is also committing adultery. Once a marriage is finalized, divorce is not a biblical option for the believer. The passage that deals with the believer and divorce is in 1Cor7.
The passages, vv.1-17, 20, 27, 39-40, deal with leaving a spouse or putting one away. The main context speaks of avoiding fornication by marrying, if the person is burning with lust. Then he goes on to say that once the marriage is entered into, one should not leave or put away his/her spouse. To do so is to cause the other party to become an adulterer/ess (Mat.5). Paul tells them that he would rather they not marry and give themselves to the service of Yehovah, but also says that if they cannot control their passions they should marry. There is no sin in marriage, but there is in fornication and adultery. Taking these two passages together, along with Rom.7, we see that there is no scriptural grounding for divorce. There is no injunction, ‘Thou shalt not divorce’, although Elohim does say, “I hate putting away.” For this reason, I think, divorce itself is not the sin, but the accompanying lust and almost inevitable carnality and adultery is sinful. As far as Yehovah is concerned the marriage is never dissolved, just as the union of Yeshua to the believer and the believer’s assembly is never broken.
Marriage is the practical picture of the relationship between Moshiach and his body. Eph.5 has much to say about the husband and wife being representative of Moshiach and the assembly and how each should relate to the other. As the assembly is to submit to Yeshua, so the wife is to submit to her husband. And as Yeshua loves his body and gave himself for her, so should the husband love his wife and give himself for her. Cf. Phil.2.3-8 for the proper attitude of married couples.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Moshiach Yeshua: 6 Who, being in the form of Elohim, thought it not robbery to be equal with Elohim: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the tree. (Philip.2.3-8)
Consider the relationship between Yeshua and the assembly from another angle. He is the only begotten Son of Elohim, while we are the adopted sons of Elohim. As the adopted child in an earthly family has the same legal rights as the natural child, so we have the same standing in heaven as Yeshua, being joint-heirs with him.
Galatians 4:7, “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of Elohim through Moshiach.”
Romans 8:17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of Elohim, and joint-heirs with Moshiach; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
And so we, the ‘wife’, are joint-heirs with Yeshua, the ‘husband’. We are on equal footing before Elohim in Yeshua. So is the wife equal to the husband in the earthly marriage. As Yeshua is the head of the body, so the husband is the head of the wife. As the body cannot function without the head and the assembly cannot function without Yeshua haMoshiach, so the family/marriage cannot properly function without the husband. The wife submits to her husband as he submits to Yeshua as he submits to the Father, not as a matter of one being better than the other, but as a matter of need for some chain of authority. The buck has to stop somewhere. And as Yeshua is the Authority (Head) over the body and is responsible for her, so the husband is the authority (head) over his wife and is responsible for her.
The kahal, or church, even takes on the name of Yehovah Yeshua – we are Christ-ians or Messiah-nics. So the wife takes the name of her husband. This signifies that she is identifying herself with her husband. She is as immersed in him as we are immersed in the Ruach ha Kodesh at our conversion, and the water at our baptism/mikvah. To rend that spiritual reality by divorce paints a truly ugly picture of a headless, Moshiach-less assembly and a Ruach ha Kodesh with no ministry.
Does this mean that a divorced person has no standing in the assembly or before Elohim? Elohim forbid! To say that just because I may have sinned, and I emphasize may have, I am no longer saved or am living in a sinful state or condition is the same as saying that I am no longer a Xian because I lied to the cop about how fast I was going. The consequences of each action is different, but in the eyes of Elohim they are the same – they fall short of the righteous standard of Elohim and are worthy of death
For the wages of sin is death; … (Rom6.23a)
Every sin ever committed is paid for, none are unredeemed
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto Elohim. (Rom.6.10)
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Yeshua Moshiach once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of Elohim; (Heb.10.10-12).
But the forgiveness needs to be claimed and received by repentance and confession. Let’s say for the sake of argument that divorce itself is a sin, no matter your spiritual condition before the divorce. If you were divorced 10 years ago and you and your spouse married previously unmarried people, and have kids by those marriages, are you both in a state of sin until you remarry each other? Are you to insist on destroying two marriages and families to make it all right? Can you deny fellowship to either family because of this? If so, what ever happened to grace? Can the person who is divorced be reconciled to Elohim? If so, why can’t he be reconciled to the body of Moshiach? And if not, why not? If your position is that you are in sin until the new marriages are dissolved and the original marriage is reinstated, how about all that stuff you stole when you were a kid, or the lust you had last week, or the time you lied to get ahead? Do you have to go back and confess to each individual you stole from or lied to or lusted after, and make reparations, so you can get right with Elohim? If that is what you think you are in bondage. There is no grace in your life, only bondage to the law.
1Cor7.39 and Rom.7.2 speak to this. Don’t get caught up in the letter without discerning the spirit of what’s here. You are bound to your spouse as long as that spouse lives. But the context of Rom.7 is the death we died in Moshiach to the LAW of sin in Rom.6.23a. We are dead, buried and resurrected with Yeshua; dead and buried to sin and raised to life in Elohim through Moshiach. Once our sin is confessed and repented of it is dead and buried, though the consequences of our actions still need to be dealt with; i.e., we bear our iniquity. We now have liberty to live in and for Yeshua. Cast off the bonds of sin and live in Moshiach Yeshua. Q&C
Matthew 5:33-37, “33Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto Yehovah thine oaths: 34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is Elohim’s throne: 35Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”
In these next few passages, Yeshua gives a few examples of what he means and then gives the principle to which the law refers. Don’t swear by something you can’t control. And just what is in your control? NOTHING! So don’t swear at all. Just be honest in your words and dealings. Be the type of person that everyone knows does what he says he’ll do. Noone can ask more of anyone than that, and noone will if you are honest in your dealings with them, unless, of course, they can’t be trusted themselves. The greek word behind ‘evil’ is poneros. There are two words translated evil in the NT, this one and kakos. Kakos means bad or disjointed, hence the word cacophany, or bad sound. Poneros has to do with essential wickedness of character. Satan is poneros, the rock band DEVO and any ‘grunge’ band is kakos. What Yeshua is saying is that anything other than being truthful is wicked, straight out of the fleshly heart of man, which is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer.17.19).
So, in summary, it seems that the divorced woman who marries another man is not committing adultery, but that man who marries her is. As we saw in the Torah today, the woman is not precluded from more than one marriage, if her husband ends the marriage with a writ of divorce even though he may not take her to wife again once she has consummated a 2nd marriage. It is interesting that Yeshua uses this passage as an illustration of his parable about cutting off your right hand if it offends you. It may be the very thing he needed to say to his talmidim before they left home to follow him. If they were married, they had no right to divorce their wives or to just leave them without providing for them. If they were not married, it would be better to remain that way IF they were going to follow him. I don’t know about the rest of you, but my wife is definitely my right hand. Nothing of any importance gets done without her. Yeshua is telling these men that only if their wives are guilty of fornication are they allowed to ‘cut them off’, otherwise the husband is CAUSING her adultery. He is guiltier than she. Another application is this; don’t pledge yourself to anything that you’re not certain you can deliver, but be a man of your word. (See also, Dt.23.21-23 & Dt.24.14-15 from today’s Torah parsha) The marriage ketubah, or betrothal contract, is every bit as serious as a vow to Yehovah. Q&C
End of Bible study.
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