Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage – Part 2

01/21/12 Video Broadcast

We examine examples of disastrous marriages in the scriptures, and an example where divorce was actually commanded.

Video Transcript

This is a direct transcript of a teaching that was presented via video. Due to the fact that we often speak differently than we write, the written text may not flow and/or sound strange in some places. There may also be grammatical errors and unintended mistakes. It is encouraged that you to watch the video to complement this written transcript.

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Second segment here of “Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage.” As always, this is one of those controversial topics. You know, this has something that can affect our life dramatically.

Our understanding of marriage, divorce, and remarriage can, actually it does, it does affect our life dramatically as far as us wanting to do what the will of Yahweh is. And there are a lot of different understandings of this topic.

Some people believe–there are two popular views–some people believe there is never to be a divorce under any circumstances. If one partner divorces the other against their will, they are not to remarry until the death of the other partner.

So, once you are married, that’s it. There is no marriage to anyone else, unless the other person dies. ‘Til death do you part.

The second view is, divorce and remarriage are permissible if one partner has committed adultery against the other.

In other views, some people just think divorce and remarriage for any reason. If she burns your toast, as it says in the Talmud. There is one view if she burns your toast, then you can divorce her.

Well, that’s basically the boyfriend/girlfriend game, isn’t it? People are practicing divorce and remarriage through having a boyfriend/girlfriend. I mean, monogamy is expected. Fidelity is expected. And yet, there is no commitment to each other. So, that is the boyfriend/girlfriend game.

Other people say, “Let’s forget marriage. Marriage is too complicated; it’s too much involved; it’s too embarrassing to go through a divorce; it’s too messy. So, let’s just live together with no marriage at all. No prenuptials. No lawyers. No alimony.”

It might look good on the surface, but then, there’s no commitment. That’s not real love.

Real love is when you are committed to the other person, no matter what. That’s love. That’s what Yahweh does for us. He is committed to us.

In fact, Yahushua gave His life for us, unless we do one thing and that is turn away completely from Him. Then He will divorce, which we’re going to get into that as the segments go on, as we continue our discussion.

Our goal is to.. as we shared last week, the important thing in determining who we will marry is the will of Yahweh. That’s the most important thing, because let’s face it, we just do not know the future.

We don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t know if our partner is going to cheat on us. We don’t know… we don’t really know what’s good for us, to be honest with you, because we just don’t know what the future is going to hold.

But we do know that Yahweh has our best interest in His mind and in His heart. As long as we are being faithful to Him, He will always have our best interest.

It says, “All things work out for the good of those who love Yahweh and are called according to His purpose.”

And so, if we love Yahweh, we are going to seek Him and He is going to direct our paths. Halleluyah! Praise Yahweh!

So, are we ready for that? Are we ready to seek Yahweh? It takes faith. A lot of young people don’t have the faith to really trust Yahweh in this area. But, Scripture says:

Proverbs 3:6 – In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:7 – Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear YAHWEH and depart from evil.

That is the foundation. If I’m not going to listen to what Yahweh says, if I’m not even going to try to find out, I’m going to just do what I think is best in my own eyes. Scripture says, “Fear Yahweh and depart from evil.”

Proverbs 3:8 – It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Why? Because of all the stress you go through and the difficult things that you encounter from being wise in your own eyes and going your own way and doing the things that you think are best. That’s dangerous. That’s very dangerous.

Now, sometimes we are just ignorant, but Yahweh works it out anyway in our ignorance. But our goal is to not be ignorant, but to be wise in Yahweh’s eyes. To seek Him. He gives wisdom.

Now, when we examine the purposes of marriage from the Scriptures, we see that Yahweh joins a man and a woman together to be one flesh so that they can bare a seed of Elohim.

Malachi 2:15 – But did He not make [them] one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

The Hebrew has “seed of Elohim.” Yahweh is looking for children that will be His children. That’s Yahweh’s goal. That’s one of His major goals in marriage.

We have our goals. We want companionship and Yahweh says it is not good for man to be alone, so He provides a woman. So, we’ve got companionship and fellowship and daily living with someone and sharing our hopes and dreams and desires and all the good things that life can bring to bare it together.

But there is a third cord we need to make a marriage.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 – Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

There are three strands in the cord of marriage. There is us, the two, but we need Yahweh, don’t we? Actually, He is the glue that keeps us together. He is going to be able to be the One to defeat any enemy that comes against us. And I’m talking spiritual enemies. Things that are of the flesh. Things that are unclean. Things that are sin.

He is able to be that third cord in that rope that will keep us together.

Now, divorce and remarriage is a very, very important question because look what Yahushua says here:

Luke 16:18 – Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from [her] husband commits adultery.

Very interesting. So, there are Scriptures here. You know, we have to find a good answer to this. We may find ourselves in what we believe is an actual marriage, but what Yahweh believes is nothing short of adultery, a violation of the seventh commandment.

I don’t know about you, but I would be horrified if I found out on the Day of Judgement that the woman that I spent my life with was actually another man’s wife and that in the eyes of Yahweh I was actually committing adultery with her.

And so, we’ve got to find clarity on this issue, because there might be some people tuning into the broadcast today that might be in a marriage that is actually not a marriage, but rather it is adultery.

Now, I didn’t make this up. Yahushua said it. What did He mean by it? It seems clear enough just by itself. Are there ever exceptions to this? We need to come to find a resolution and an understanding here.

So, what was He talking about? You know, the Word of Yahweh says what it says. We can’t change it to suit our preferences. If any part of it is not for us to consider and apply to our life, then why follow any of it? You’re either going to do it or you don’t. If you’re going to do it, do it right.

You know, no matter how deep a pit we’ve dug for ourselves, Yahweh is quite the expert for digging us out, especially when we are desiring to honor Him above our own desires.

And so, in light of this, as we shared last week, it is very important to seek Yahweh’s council when it comes to finding a person to marry.

Some of you might, by the grace of Yahweh, be in a good marriage even though you didn’t seek Yahweh’s council. And that is quite possible because Yahweh, when He knows that we are ignorant, can work things out in spite of ourselves. And He’s merciful. He’s compassionate. Especially when we don’t know any better.

But if we are believers and we’re looking for someone to marry, it would be very difficult for us to claim ignorance once we understand that Yahweh must be in the lead of our life. In every area of our life, not just in choosing whom we marry, but in every area of our life.

He has to be number one. There is to be no Elohim before Him, including yourself. We can be our own Elohim just choosing what we want, disregarding and not even considering what Yahweh may want.

We need to have an understanding, and so, we seek the will of Yahweh in every major decision of our life. There isn’t any decision that we as a believer can make that is more important and that will affect our lives more than the decision of whom we will marry.

And so, it is not to be taken lightly or inadvisably and we need to give it the weight that it deserves. No matter how pretty she is. No matter how cute he is. Because the prettiness and cuteness will fade. No matter how they make you feel.

The goal is to love and be loved. That’s our goal, isn’t it? Yahweh knows the future, knows who will love us, knows whom we can love, and His choices are best.

You know, even if Yahweh brings you into a marriage where there’s some challenges, even in those challenges Yahweh is always faithful. Even in the challenges that we face, He’s trying to mold into us some good character traits, like Messiah. But, that’s why we need to be in Yahweh’s hands throughout the process, isn’t it?

Now, in this process of marriage there’s one kind of person that you can absolutely, one hundred percent, take it to the bank, always be eliminated as being a candidate for marriage and that is an unbeliever.

2Corinthians 6:14 – Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

2Corinthians 6:15 – And what accord has Messiah with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

So, it is not Yahweh’s will for us to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, especially, especially, in marriage. So, that needs to be a given. We need to accept that immediately.

I would add, that person needs to be a proven believer, not just someone who claims to be a believer. Not some newbie that, you know, takes a mild interest in the things of Yahweh. That is a mistake that many young people today make.

We’re talking about.. you want to be married to someone who is serious about their walk and would be willing to die rather than disobey the will of Yahweh.

Let’s face it, because one day a day may come when we all, very likely I might say, will possibly have to do that.

I’ve seen many people, especially young people, get married to someone who was barely even qualified to be a believer and the person was basically a believer because they happened to like the other person. “Sure, yeah, I’ll go along with that,” you know.

And the person they marry doesn’t really even have their own faith, but was simply there to please the other partner and that’s why they believed.

There isn’t a shakier foundation that you could possibly build upon because when the trials and tests of marriage come, and they will come, that person will almost inevitably cast Yahweh behind their back and go back and live the same life they were living before.

I don’t know how many times I have come across people who married whom they thought was a believer, and then, “surprise.”

So, don’t put your soul, and the souls of your future children, in the hands of a partner who is not proven. We need to seek the council of others, especially our parents, who have lived longer than you and know a thing or two about life. After all, Yahweh is the One Who chose our parents, right? We didn’t get to choose that one.

Yahweh chose our parents and shouldn’t that count for something when it comes to seeking council for something so serious as this? Absolutely!

Now, I’m not just telling you this because I’m just telling you what I think and I just happen to think that parents are the greatest and every parent is wonderful. No, all parents have flaws, just like you. We all have flaws. But, it counts for something that Yahweh is the One Who chose your parents.

So, let’s look at some examples here in the Scriptures. Yahweh made a promise to Abraham that He would make a great nation of his children. And notice what Yahweh said about Abraham. He says:

Genesis 18:19 – For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of YAHWEH, to do righteousness and justice, that YAHWEH may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.

And so, Abraham was a strong spiritual leader in his household and the household was expected to follow his leadership. It was pretty much the culture back then and he would direct his children and his household to keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice.

So what? So that Yahweh could bring upon Abraham what He had spoken, which was that He would bring out of Abraham’s children a great nation.

So, Abraham wanted to make sure that by the time it was time for his son to get married, actually it was quite overdue, maybe it was the right time according to Yahweh, he was forty years old, but he wanted to make sure that his son would get married to a woman whom Yahweh would direct.

Genesis 24:2 – So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Please, put your hand under my thigh,

Genesis 24:3 – and I will make you swear by YAHWEH, the Elohim of heaven and the Elohim of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;

Genesis 24:4 – but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.

Genesis 24:5 – And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?

Genesis 24:6 – But Abraham said to him, Beware that you do not take my son back there.

Genesis 24:7 – YAHWEH Elohim of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, `To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

How about that? No dating. No courtship. Just seeking the will of Yahweh. And that’s all they needed. They knew if they sought the will of Yahweh, Yahweh would see to it that they were made for each other. That they would love each other and they would adore each other and that He would pour out blessings upon them.

Isn’t that what we really want anyway?

The One Who knows our hearts, the One Who knows the hearts of those whom we seek to marry, the One Who knows the future, is certainly wise enough to see the end from the beginning and He is worthy of our trust. This takes walking by faith.

And if we haven’t already been walking by faith, then this whole concept is going to sound like I just landed from another planet and I’m telling you a new thing. But it does take walking by faith. This is what our life is supposed to consist of.

All our major decisions, we seek the will of Yahweh. Whether it’s whom we’re going to get married to, where we’re going to live, how we’re going to conduct our family, and so on.

I’m not talking about blind faith because if you are not sure, it’s very important that our discernment of Yahweh’s will is confirmed by a multiplicity of witnesses. Because we are talking about the foundation of our marriage actually being a testimony of Yahweh’s grace and His leading in our life.

Now, I would encourage you if you’re going to get married to someone, seek out that testimony.

And so, Yahweh is in the lead of your life and that testimony will be solid ground. It will be solid ground. Now, if you don’t have that testimony, or anything of that nature, that’s ok. We didn’t always do the things that we were supposed to do.

But, I can tell you from my experience, my marriage to Kelly has been a testimony for me. It was an answer to prayer. And so, it has helped to keep us together and weather the storms of twenty one years of marriage, which has had its share of storms. I mean thunderstorms, tornados, hurricanes..

So, anyway, we want Yahweh to be our foundation for everything that we do. Let’s seek His will and not be afraid to step out. Listen, if Yahweh wants it to happen, He will make it very clear. If there is one decision of your entire life that He would make very clear, it would be this one.

Maybe you’re not sure where you’re supposed to live, or some other things in your life, or what job you’re supposed to work, or whatever, but there is one thing I promise you that He will make very clear, and that is whom you are going to marry. And if you seek His face, He will reveal it to you.

Now, Isaac and Rebecca kind of didn’t quite do it the same way, but they wanted Jacob to be very wise in his decision of whom he would choose to be a wife. And we see… I guess I don’t have that here. I thought I had posted Genesis 27:46, but I don’t have it. But, anyway, I am just going to read it to you.

Genesis 27:46 – And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these [who are] the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?

And you see here whom we marry doesn’t just affect us. It affects our parents, brothers, and sisters, in-laws. I mean, it affects everyone, and so, it is very selfish to go off and marry someone to the displeasure of our parents and everybody else because it affects them.

It affects others and part of loving our neighbor as ourselves would take into consideration other people’s feelings. We know that married all kinds of women who were foreign daughters, daughters of foreign gods, or whatever, I presume, and Rebecca was so, “What good is my life if Jacob marries someone from this land?”

Genesis 28:1 – Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

Genesis 28:2 – Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

Genesis 28:3 – May Elohim Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;

Genesis 28:4 – And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which Elohim gave to Abraham.

We see that he was wanting to see the blessing in his son’s life and he charged him not to choose a wife from this heathen nation that was around him, but to choose one from his own family, which it turns out, Laban wasn’t exactly the most Yahweh fearing individual. And so, it kind of took a step downward.

We see the fruits of that in Rebecca hiding the household idols, don’t we?

But there was no apparent parental involvement here. He just said, “Well, go have at it, but don’t pick one from this area. Pick one from our own household.” He figured that would be safe. But, not always.

So, anyway, he sent Jacob away and Jacob had to leave anyway because he was fleeing from his brother Esau. And he was being deceptive on how he got the blessing, but he got the blessing.

Now, in the Torah, in the Scriptures, it actually does give us a very important principle that we must follow and that is, we must be careful that we are not… boy, for some reason I can’t find these Scriptures anywhere. I’m looking, but I guess I didn’t post Deuteronomy 7 either, and I apologize for that.

But it says in Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 1… you know what, I really think I need to put this up there, so I am going to go ahead and pull it off this computer and see if I can post it into my Power Point. That way we can all read this together, because it is very, very important that we get this.

So, let me take a minute here and get this Scripture posted for us so we can read it together. Because this is a specific prohibition in Scripture and we need to examine this prohibition and what this prohibition actually means and follow that. Follow what it means.

There’s a letter of the law we could look at, but there’s also a spirit behind it, a real meaning behind it that we need to take very close attention to. Alright.

Deuteronomy 7:1 – When YAHWEH your Elohim brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,

Deuteronomy 7:2 – and when YAHWEH your Elohim delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them [and] utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

Deuteronomy 7:3 – Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

Deuteronomy 7:4 – For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of YAHWEH will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

Now, that’s a command and you will notice here, it says, “You shall not give your daughter to their son.” That is a command, not to give your daughter to.. we are going to find out here as we go on, to an unbeliever. “Nor shall you take their daughter (who is an unbeliever) for your son.”

So, Yahweh puts the responsibility in the hands of the parents as to whom you give your daughter away to. Even in today’s culture, we often refer to marrying off our daughters as giving them away. So, He says, “You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter.”

So, even in the case of a marriage for a father to investigate and to be a part of the process of seeking a daughter for his son to marry. Now, I’m not suggesting, that… and some people, I guess, got this impression last week… that I was suggesting arranged marriages. Um, no.

I don’t believe in what is called arranged marriages necessarily, unless that’s what the son wants, or daughter wants.

What I do believe is parental involvement, that the father of these children do have the right of refusal and that is in Scripture multiple times. Even in the New Testament the right of refusal is there. If you look and examine 1 Corinthians, look closely, you will notice that. A father had a right to refuse.

In fact even in the United States, before the 1960’s and 50’s, and all that, when things got a whole lot more liberal and immoral, sons would listen to their parents and would recognize that their marriage would impact their parents. So, in many cases they would listen.

In fact, I was told this morning of a young man who was going to marry a Japanese girl. And, of course, the Japanese aren’t typically believers and this is back in 50’s, 60’s, actually 60’s, and the son was told, “Well, you won’t be bringing her into my house.”

And so, he decided not to marry her and then he ended up marrying a woman who was a believer, and as a result have three, actually two sons and one daughter, who are believers to this day.

So, anyway, it is a Biblical principle to have parental involvement to the extent that a father can refuse, as a right of refusal, on a marriage. So, I think that is something that we need to consider and pay attention to.

I don’t believe in a father forcing his children, son or daughter, to marry someone against their will. That is wrong.

Even when Abraham sent his servant and found Rebecca, they ask her. They asked her what she thought, “Will you go with this man?” And she agreed to go. And so she went. So, it is still ultimately the decision of the people who are getting married.

Hollywood has reformulated the whole thing into suggesting that the old fashioned way was arranged, forced marriages. Maybe there were some in the old days, but that was never something that Yahweh commanded, sanctioned, or approved of in Scripture.

Alright, so moving back into the importance of our children and ourselves, making sure that we are getting married to someone who is a proven believer, we have in Joshua Chapter 23, it says:

Joshua 23:11 – Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love YAHWEH your Elohim.

Joshua 23:12 – Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations — these that remain among you — and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,

Joshua 23:13 – know for certain that YAHWEH your Elohim will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which YAHWEH your Elohim has given you.

Yahweh knows our tendencies and the power of influence. Never forget the power of influence. Because whom we marry obviously has a tremendous amount of influence on what our life will be during the next many decades.

So, He warned them not to get mixed up with the heathen. Not to get mixed up with the people of the land. And so, did they do it? Of course they did not. And they paid for it.

But Yahweh is very concerned that any family would allow children to intermarry with these seven particular nations. He knew the influence they would have. His plan for their marriages was to produce the Seed of Elohim and therefore a Righteous Kingdom in Israel.

If that didn’t happen, then one generation would serve Him and then the next one would just go “kaput.” And that’s exactly what happened. They went all the way down, spiraled downward. One generation would turn away from Yahweh until Yahweh judged them. They would turn back to Yahweh and come back again.

And so, it was the marriages and the covenants and the associations with these heathen nations that defiled Israel. Defiled the Holy Seed. I’m talking about spiritually. And their children would end up being children of the devil because they were getting mixed up in these things.

And the Children of Yahweh and the children of the devil are manifest.

1John 3:10 – In this the children of Elohim and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of Elohim, nor [is] he who does not love his brother.

Now, we don’t have to look very far to find examples of this kind of thing happening in Israel. In fact, one very memorable example is King Solomon.

We know that King Solomon, as wise as he was, did something very, very foolish. Here was a man who was the wisest king ever to have reigned in Israel. He did something very foolish. And that was the ruin of Israel.

1Kings 11:1 – But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, [and] Hittites —

1Kings 11:2 – from the nations of whom YAHWEH had said to the children of Israel, You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love.

So sad.

1Kings 11:3 – And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

1Kings 11:4 – For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to YAHWEH his Elohim, as [was] the heart of his father David.

1Kings 11:5 – For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

1Kings 11:6 – Solomon did evil in the sight of YAHWEH, and did not fully follow YAHWEH, as [did] his father David.

1Kings 11:7 – Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that [is] east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.

1Kings 11:8 – And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

1Kings 11:9 – So YAHWEH became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from YAHWEH Elohim of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

1Kings 11:10 – and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what YAHWEH had commanded.

1Kings 11:11 – Therefore YAHWEH said to Solomon, Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

1Kings 11:12 – Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

1Kings 11:13 – However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.

So, Israel was split into two Kingdoms. The Northern and Southern Tribes. Israel and Judah. All because of Solomon’s decision to marry wives that were not believers.

That was the aftermath. You know, he married unbelieving wives that resulted in idolatry being introduced to that generation and caused a tremendous amount of heartache and pain for the years to come.

Millions of people, of men, died at wars and different things that happened because of Solomon’s foolish decision, which actually, the whole thing started with his dad, David, having a weakness when it comes to women and marrying Bathsheba.

And Solomon was the child of that union, and so, he had a weakness with women, also. In this case he didn’t commit adultery, he just married them all. Of course, he had unending wealth, and so, he could afford all these wives. So, what happened with his son?

Solomon stumbled into idolatry. So, what happened to Solomon’s son, Rehoboam?

2Chronicles 12:1 – Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of YAHWEH, and all Israel along with him.

And so, he ended up becoming an idolater, a full blown idolater in leading Judah into idolatry.

Then in the Northern Tribes, Jeroboam was told to obey Yahweh and cleave to Him, but he didn’t. And instead directed Israel to follow after the calves, the golden calves, remember the golden calves? Brought them right back into worshipping the golden calves again. And there’s even archaeological evidence of that.

Israel’s king served idols, and that’s the Northern Tribes, and every single king of Israel that followed, chose to walk, ultimately to walk into idolatry. Not even one king of the Northern Tribes stayed faithful to Yahweh. Every single one of them fell into idolatry.

Now, Rehoboam actually did, Solomon’s son actually did repent later on. I find that interesting because we read Proverbs, you know, Solomon telling his son, probably Rehoboam, “Son, give me your heart.” “Follow after wisdom.” “Beware of the woman who is an immoral woman, beware of her.” And then, he got tested on his own advice, didn’t he?

And then his son ended up following into idolatry also.

Anyway, the Northern Tribes, every single one of them fell. And there were some kings of Judah that followed that were righteous and some kings that were not righteous. And the ones that were righteous, we’re going to find, ended up getting corrupted by the Northern Israelite kings.

Let’s look at an example here of Ahab. Ahab was a king of Israel, the Northern Tribes.

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1Kings 16:30 – Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of YAHWEH, more than all who [were] before him.

1Kings 16:31 – And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.

1Kings 16:32 – Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

So, Yahweh told him, as a result of this thing that he had done (he had married this Jezebel, who was a worshipper of Baal), Yahweh told Ahab, because of all the things Ahab had done as a result, He said:

1Kings 21:22 – `I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked [Me] to anger, and made Israel sin.’

1Kings 21:23 – And concerning Jezebel YAHWEH also spoke, saying, `The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’

That’s what happened.

1Kings 21:24 – The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.

1Kings 21:25 – But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of YAHWEH, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.

1Kings 21:26 – And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all [that] the Amorites had done, whom YAHWEH had cast out before the children of Israel.

1Kings 21:27 – So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

He believed it.

1Kings 21:28 – And the word of YAHWEH came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

1Kings 21:29 – See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.

So, we see here that, interestingly, Ahab seemed to have somewhat of a fear of Yahweh. Maybe if it wasn’t for his wife, Jezebel, he might have been a believer in Yahweh. But his wife was the influence. He was sort of a weak man and his wife sort of ran over him, just ran a roughshod over him.

His wife was an influence that was just too great to overcome and this is evident in other places. But, you know, if you continue reading about Ahab and Jezebel, it’s just amazing.

But if it wasn’t bad enough that this marriage brought down the House of Ahab and brought down the entire Kingdom of Israel, this marriage is also going to result, as we’ll see here in a minute, the fall of Jehoshaphat’s House. And Jehoshaphat is a righteous king and he was the king of Judah.

And so, they are actually both kings of the same time period. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah during the same time that Ahab was the king of Israel. And Jehoshaphat was a very faith filled man. He was a very righteous man and commanded all the people to worship Yahweh and to follow the law. But he made a foolish error.

Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah and we read about this actually in 2 Chronicles 17. It says:

2Chronicles 17:3 – Now YAHWEH was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals,

The Baals, that’s the idols.

2Chronicles 17:4 – but sought the Elohim of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel.

The Elohim of his fathers, that is Yahweh. Israel, that is the Northern Tribes.

Now, we read something very foolish that Jehoshaphat did.

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1Kings 22:3 – And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead [is] ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?

The king of Israel, that is Ahab.

1Kings 22:4 – So he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead? Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I [am] as you [are], my people as your people, my horses as your horses.

So, Jehoshaphat sought to align himself with Ahab and even said that “I’m like you are. I’m like your people. My people are your people. My horses are your horses.”

He even went so far as to join himself with the House of Ahab in marriage and this is where things get rough.

2Chronicles 18:1 – Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab.

Now, this marriage alliance resulted in Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram, marrying one of the daughter’s of Ahab and Jezebel. Now, guess what happened to Jehoshaphat’s son?

2Kings 8:16 – Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat [having been] king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as king of Judah.

2Kings 8:17 – He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

And what did he do?

2Kings 8:18 – And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of YAHWEH.

See again, we have here this marriage producing disaster and, obviously, Jezebel was a liberated woman in her own mind and felt that she could just rule the house and they had a daughter who also felt she could rule the house and that daughter got married to Jehoshaphat’s son and corrupted Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram.

This was something that Jehoshaphat did for his family. That wasn’t very nice, was it? So, it is very important that we are careful in this area.

2Kings 8:19 – Yet YAHWEH would not destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David, as He promised him to give a lamp to him [and] his sons forever.

So, that promise actually stands to this day. He has not utterly destroyed Judah. Judah has maintained their identity. The House of Israel, not so much.

But as a result of his son marrying an unbeliever, it turned the heart of his son away from Yahweh and ultimately the marriage turned Judah also away from Yahweh.

2Chronicles 21:11 – Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.

So, because he married the daughter of a foreign god, this daughter of Jezebel, he turned all of Judah astray.

2Chronicles 21:12 – And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says YAHWEH Elohim of your father David: Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

Interestingly, this seems to be after the time EliYah was taken away in the chariot.

2Chronicles 21:13 – but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot like the harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers, those of your father’s household, [who were] better than yourself,

2Chronicles 21:14 – behold, YAHWEH will strike your people with a serious affliction — your children, your wives, and all your possessions;

2Chronicles 21:15 – and you [will become] very sick with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.

2Chronicles 21:16 – Moreover YAHWEH stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians who [were] near the Ethiopians.

2Chronicles 21:17 – And they came up into Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that there was not a son left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

2Chronicles 21:18 – After all this YAHWEH struck him in his intestines with an incurable disease.

2Chronicles 21:19 – Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness; so he died in severe pain. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning for his fathers.

2Chronicles 21:20 – He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

What a disaster the marriage of Ahab and Jezebel wrought upon all of the children of Judah!

When Yahweh even used EliYah the prophet to come and try to turn the hearts of the children of Israel back to Yahweh again, back to their fathers, back to the righteous fathers that they had before, but it didn’t produce anything.

He proved to the whole Nation of Israel that Yahweh was Elohim through this contest at Mount Carmel, when the fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the stones and the sacrifice and everything and he proved Yahweh is a true Elohim and the people declared He was. But what happened?

Jezebel, you can read about the story, Jezebel came in and tried to destroy Elijah and tried to kill him.

So, King Jehoram.. the story is not over, yet, because King Jehoram and Jezebel’s daughter, they got married. They had a son and their son’s name was Ahaziah, who was, of course, wicked.

2Kings 8:26 – Ahaziah [was] twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name [was] Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel.

Get that? His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel.

2Kings 8:27 – And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of YAHWEH, like the house of Ahab, for he [was] the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

So, Athaliah was actually the name of Jezebel’s daughter who married Jehoshaphat, ok? And his mother’s name, it says, was Athaliah, right? Well, that was the person who was raised in Jezebel’s household, the daughter.

So wicked was this woman that she ultimately ended up killing all of her grandchildren and taking over the helm as queen of Judah until she was finally killed. We read about that here.

2Kings 11:1 – When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.

2Kings 11:2 – But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons [who were] being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed.

2Kings 11:3 – So he was hidden with her in the house of YAHWEH for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

And so, Jezebel’s daughter, it’s not controlling enough that she has to come into the household and rule the household, now she wants to be the queen. She wants to be like the king. She wants to be like the man and rule over the land, by force, by killing her own grandchildren.

What a huge, huge error for Jehoshaphat to get mixed up with this other family! Yahweh even rebuked Jehoshaphat for helping Ahab during this war where he went up against Ramoth Gilead. It says, “How can you love those who hate Yahweh and help the wicked?”

And so, it was these kinds of marriages that produced disaster in Israel. It produced disaster in their children and society as a whole, just as Yahweh predicted in the Torah. He told them it would. He said it would. And it did.

So, Yahweh ended up having to expel Israel from their own land that He had given them and their children were scattered to the wind.

Yahweh then, a couple of hundred years later, expelled Judah from the land for seventy years. And when Judah returned to Jerusalem, you would think, “boy, we learned our lesson.” But, nope. The people and the priests ended up having to be very strongly rebuked by Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 13:23 – In those days I also saw Jews [who] had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, [and] Moab.

Nehemiah 13:24 – And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

Nehemiah 13:25 – So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by Elohim, [saying], You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves.

Nehemiah 13:26 – Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his Elohim; and Elohim made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin.

Nehemiah 13:27 – Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our Elohim by marrying pagan women?

And so, he was obviously very upset with them because he could see the end result. That is the history of Israel. The mistake of marrying unbelievers. He walked over and started pulling their hair out and made them swear by Elohim. He must have been a big guy. I mean, of course, he was the ruler of the land.

He was very zealous for Yahweh and he was on top of it. When he found this out he was pretty upset by it.

So, He caused a great evil, it says there, “this great evil”, considered to be a terrible, awful, awful thing that had happened. We read this actually happening a second time a little bit later.

What I want us to notice here, I think it is very important for us to notice, in this particular Scripture there were certain women that were being brought into Israel that were not from the tribes that were forbidden in the Torah. That’s interesting.

Notice here in verse 24 that half their children spoke the language of Ashdod and could not speak the language of Judah. So, we’re looking here at the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites. They were not among the nations that were actually forbidden in Scripture.

Still, Nehemiah told them that was wrong. Look here, in the actual prohibition here, what are the nations that are actually forbidden? If we go to Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 1 we see: Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites.

Deuteronomy 7:1 – When YAHWEH your Elohim brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,

Deuteronomy 7:2 – and when YAHWEH your Elohim delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them [and] utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

He says those were the seven forbidden nations they were not allowed to marry into. So, in light of that, why was Nehemiah so upset and calling it a great evil to marry into these other nations if they were not even among the nations whom Yahweh had specifically said it was wrong to marry into?

Well, we have to understand the spirit of the law, don’t we, and not just what it says as far as it was physically written. We have to understand the spirit behind it also.

Let’s look at this list here.. I’m sorry, I guess I’m having a little trouble with my Power Point. I don’t know what happened to it. It’s not wanting to proceed. Hold on and I’ll see if I can fix that. Here we go.

Deuteronomy 7:3 – Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

Deuteronomy 7:4 – For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of YAHWEH will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

The reason given there in the Torah was that “they would turn your sons away from following Me.” That is the reason for the ruling. He does not want people to be getting married to other people who are going to turn away our children from following Yahweh.

So, the seven nations that are forbidden in the Torah are: 1. Hittites 2. Girgashites 3. Amorites 4. Canaanites 5. Perizzites 6. Hivites 6. Jebusites

But then these other nations mentioned in Nehemiah: 1. Ashdodites 2. Ammonites 3. Moabites – What is really going on here? What is really happening? What is happening is Nehemiah is looking at the spirit of the law, which is the same thing that Yahushua did.

It is interesting because he was upset that they married Moabites, but then we read in the book of Ruth, in chapter 2 of the book of Ruth it says that Boaz married a Moabite woman.

Ruth 2:11 – And Boaz answered and said to her, It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and [how] you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.

Ruth 2:12 – YAHWEH repay your work, and a full reward be given you by YAHWEH Elohim of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.

We see here that Ruth was a Moabitess and she came to a people whom she did not know before. This is not just some Israelite living in Moab, as some claim, but this is a true foreigner, did not know the Elohim of Israel or His People before.

She came into the land of Israel and ended up marrying Boaz and Boaz is in the lineage of King David and also in the lineage of Yahushua the Messiah. So, the issue was not physical, who the physical seed was. The issue was whom are you serving? What is the spiritual seed?

In fact, in the Torah they were permitted to marry foreign women.

Deuteronomy 21:10 – When you go out to war against your enemies, and YAHWEH your Elohim delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,

Deuteronomy 21:11 – and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife,

Deuteronomy 21:12 – then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails.

It was permissible. Now, you read later that he was able to divorce that kind of a woman. We will get more into that as the next segments of the broadcasts continue.

They were permitted to marry outside their tribe, a woman, but they had to be believers. I think that is the clear thing that we see in Scripture. We are going to see this even more clear in Ezra chapter 9.

Ezra 9:1 – When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

There were two other nations mentioned here, the Egyptians and Amorites.

Ezra 9:2 – For they have taken some of their daughters [as wives] for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of [those] lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.

So, go back to our chart here. We have in addition to the seven nations forbidden in the Torah, in Nehemiah it mentions the Ashdodites, the Ammonites, the Moabites. Then in Ezra here, it mentions the Egyptians and the Amorites were also forbidden. Now, those are never mentioned in the Torah anywhere.

In fact, when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, there was a mixed multitude that went up with them.

Exodus 12:37 – Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.

Exodus 12:38 – A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds — a great deal of livestock.

So, there were others. There were Egyptians that went up with the children of Israel and ultimately were mingled into the children of Israel and believed in Yahweh, but then we see that this is later forbidden.

Just as Ruth the Moabite went back and joined herself to Israel and decided to make Yahweh her Elohim, even though she was not of this people. It says in Scriptures, He plainly said that she went to a people she did not know before, meaning she was from a different lineage altogether.

She went and became a righteous believer and served Yahweh and they produced a family that was righteous. We see Jesse was a Yahweh fearing man and Jesse’s son David was a Yahweh fearing man. Jesse was the grandson, I believe, of Boaz and Ruth.

Anyway, getting back to Nehemiah. Ezra speaking here:

Ezra 9:3 – So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished.

There is the role of the priest, is it not? The one who intercedes and plucked out his own hair. Whereas the role of the governor, a king-like figure, plucked out other people’s hair.

Ezra 9:4 – Then everyone who trembled at the words of the Elohim of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.

Ezra 9:6 – And I said: O my Elohim, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my Elohim; for our iniquities have risen higher than [our] heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.

Ezra 9:7 – Since the days of our fathers to this day we [have been] very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, [and] our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as [it is] this day.

Now, Ezra was probably the author of First and Second Chronicles and so he knew the history.

Ezra 9:8 – And now for a little while grace has been [shown] from YAHWEH our Elohim, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our Elohim may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.

How about that? Grace in the Old Testament.

Ezra 9:9 – For we [were] slaves. Yet our Elohim did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our Elohim, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra 9:10 – And now, O our Elohim, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,

Ezra 9:11 – which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, `The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity.

Ezra 9:12 – `Now therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave [it] as an inheritance to your children forever.’

Ezra 9:13 – And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our Elohim have punished us less than our iniquities [deserve], and have given us [such] deliverance as this,

Ezra 9:14 – should we again break Your commandments, and join in marriage with the people [committing] these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had consumed [us], so that [there would be] no remnant or survivor?

Ezra 9:15 – O YAHWEH Elohim of Israel, You [are] righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as [it is] this day. Here we [are] before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!

What a powerful prayer! Wow!

Ezra 10:1 – Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of Elohim, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly.

Ezra 10:2 – And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, [one] of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, We have trespassed against our Elohim, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this.

Ezra 10:3 – Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our Elohim to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of YAHWEH and of those who tremble at the commandment of our Elohim; and let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 10:4 – Arise, for [this] matter [is] your [responsibility]. We also [are] with you. Be of good courage, and do [it].

Ezra 10:5 – Then Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear an oath that they would do according to this word. So they swore an oath.

Ezra 10:6 – Then Ezra rose up from before the house of Elohim, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and [when] he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity.

Ezra 10:7 – And they issued a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the descendants of the captivity, that they must gather at Jerusalem,

Ezra 10:8 – and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the instructions of the leaders and elders, all his property would be confiscated, and he himself would be separated from the assembly of those from the captivity.

Ezra 10:9 – So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days. It [was] the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the open square of the house of Elohim, trembling because of [this] matter and because of heavy rain.

Ezra 10:10 – Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have transgressed and have taken pagan wives, adding to the guilt of Israel.

Ezra 10:11 – Now therefore, make confession to YAHWEH Elohim of your fathers, and do His will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the pagan wives.

Here we have one case where divorce is actually commanded here.

Ezra 10:12 – Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, Yes! As you have said, so we must do.

Ezra 10:13 – But [there are] many people; [it is] the season for heavy rain, and we are not able to stand outside. Nor [is this] the work of one or two days, for [there are] many of us who have transgressed in this matter.

Ezra 10:14 – Please, let the leaders of our entire assembly stand; and let all those in our cities who have taken pagan wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of their cities, until the fierce wrath of our Elohim is turned away from us in this matter.

Ezra 10:15 – Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite gave them support.

Ezra 10:16 – Then the descendants of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, [with] certain heads of the fathers’ [households], were set apart by the fathers’ households, each of them by name; and they sat down on the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

Ezra 10:17 – By the first day of the first month they finished [questioning] all the men who had taken pagan wives.

Yahweh, my brothers and sisters, desires a seed of Elohim from a one flesh relationship. He wants us and our children to be holy as He is holy. We have been talking about holiness, haven’t we?

Such marriages result in our seed, the holy seed, which Yahweh wants to come forth from us, from being defiled and corrupted because of the pagan influence. So, their decision to divorce theses women was a major event. It took two months for it to be complete.

It needed to be handled on a case by case basis because not all foreigners were necessarily unbelievers or pagans. So, it needed to be judged. Other women would undoubtedly be from other nations that were not especially forbidden in Torah, such as Egypt (Ezra 9:1).

Yet, the women were still believers in Yahweh and the holy seed was coming forth out. We see this again in the book of Malachi, which was about the same time as Malachi was written.

Malachi 2:10 – Have we not all one Father? Has not one Elohim created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers?

Malachi 2:11 – Judah has dealt treacherously, And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned YAHWEH’S holy [institution] which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god.

This is why it profanes the covenant because Scripture says:

1Corinthians 15:33 – Do not be deceived: Evil
company corrupts good habits.

The holy institution, the holiness of Yahweh, which He loves, part of that is marriage. Yahweh is the One Who decided and created the institution of marriage. And so, when we defile it by marrying unbelievers, we are defiling the things that He has created to produce a holy seed.

Now, these kinds of marriages are considered to be an abomination. He says, “an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem.” He says it profanes Yahweh’s holiness and this holy institution which He loves, which is marriage.

He’s not just talking about Levites here. He’s talking about everyone. All of Judah. Judah has profaned Yahweh. Not Levite. Judah has profaned Yahweh’s institution of marriage.

Can we see why Yahweh would be upset by this? Again, when Yahweh created man and woman it was not His intent that they be fruitful and multiply children of the devil. When Yahweh created man and woman, His desire was to be fruitful and multiply children of Yahweh.

To multiply children of the devil is not being fruitful for Yahweh at all.

Now, once you’ve married a wife who is a Yahweh fearing wife, then the process of guiding those children and training those children in the ways of Yahweh is supposed to be followed also. If we don’t follow those principles, then our goal still will not be realized.

We see here from these different examples that we’ve given here from the Old Testament, that marriages between believers and unbelievers produce bad fruit. For this reason it is very important parents, and children especially, are very, very careful about whom the children will marry.

They have to be very sure Yahweh is the one making the decision.

I hope these things help to drive home this point in the minds of everyone watching this broadcast because in the minds of young people, sometimes they are very easy to get carried away with just the glory of having a wife, the glory of being married. That has to be tempered with wisdom.

Marriage occurs typically at a young age and that’s a time during life when a young person has the least amount of life experience to make an informed decision and the most vulnerable time to make a poor decision.

So, we see here very clearly, to marry an unbeliever is actually an abomination in the eyes of Yahweh, so don’t even take it into consideration because “evil company corrupts good habits.”

Now, if you are married and have an unbelieving spouse, I’m not telling you to run off to the divorce court and file divorce papers right now. We’ll get more into that as we continue our segments here.

For those who are married to a believing wife, it is very evident that even in the Old Testament Yahweh was not pleased with a man divorcing his believing wife because… let’s read this context here.

Let’s continue to read the book of Malachi where we left off, where they were marrying pagan wives, but to marry these pagan wives they were divorcing wives of Judah.

Malachi 2:13 – And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of YAHWEH with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive [it] with goodwill from your hands.

Malachi 2:14 – Yet you say, For what reason? Because YAHWEH has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.

Do you get that? A marriage is a marriage by covenant. It is an agreement to be married. A covenant is an agreement. Two parties involved. Yahweh being the third party. He is upset, He won’t accept their offerings because they have dealt treacherously with their wives.

Malachi 2:15 – But did He not make [them] one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

“Did He not make them one?” talking about when they were married to their Judahite women. He seeks Elohimly offspring [Heb. “Seed of Elohim”].

Malachi 2:16 – For YAHWEH Elohim of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence, Says YAHWEH of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.

He hates divorce. He hates it.

It is very apparent by reading these verses in Malachi that the men of that era were actually divorcing the wives of Judah and marrying pagan women. In Yahweh’s eyes, to divorce a wife who does believe in Yahweh is an act of treachery toward her, an act that He hates.

Yahweh is seeking a seed of Elohim for more children and He is displeased with anything that would be a barrier to that end, whether it is divorcing wives who believe in Yahweh, or marrying wives that do not.

So, before Yahushua the Messiah ever said a word, before the Apostle Paul ever said a word about divorce and remarriage, we see here in the Old Testament during the time when the law of Moshe was, in the eyes of every man of Judah, fully in force, and it is today, believe me it is,

that He considered what they were doing in divorcing their believing wives to be something He hates and then the marrying of pagan wives to be an absolute abomination.

I didn’t say it. Yahweh said it. He is the One Who said it.

You notice in verse 10 here, if we go back, “Have we not all one Father? Has not one Elohim created us?”

See, Yahweh wants all of us to have one Father, both parents and their offspring. He wants to be our Heavenly Father. He wants all of us to be His children. He is seeking a seed of Elohim.

So, we should not deal treacherously with one another through divorcing a believing wife. Nor should we profane Yahweh’s holiness, His holy institution which He loves, by marrying an unbelieving wife.

Both are HUGE stumbling blocks to our children, as we be fruitful and multiply, from multiplying the seed of Elohim that Yahweh ultimately wants from the marital union.

It is actually for the sake of our children that Yahushua still tarries. He still waits and He has not yet returned to bring judgement on the earth because there are children yet to be born who will become believers.

He is waiting for just the right moment, just like in the book of Genesis. It was only when every thought and intent of the heart was only evil continually in the inhabitants of the earth that Yahweh finally sent the flood and took them all away.

It is for the sake of those who Yahweh is waiting on now that He is not willing that any shall perish, but that all will come to everlasting life, that He is waiting. And I pray He waits for any children who have gone astray.

We need to be sure, number one, that we are in union with Yahweh’s goal of seeking a seed of Elohim to come forth from us through making sure we marry the right kind of person, a person that He would designate and appoint, by making sure that once we do get married to them, that we do follow the biblical principles of raising our children.

I have failed in some areas when it comes to that. We’ve lost it. I mean, our generation. We have to scratch and claw and find our way back to the right way and we try. We make efforts, but we make mistakes. That doesn’t mean we don’t try. We make our way back.

Whom we choose to marry and whom we choose to divorce, as we are going to get into more of these scenarios in the coming weeks, has a tremendous baring on that.

We are going to continue this segment of this study on “Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage” in the next broadcast next week, Yahweh willing.

In the meantime, may Yahweh bless you and may Yahweh have mercy on us all.