Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage – Part 4

02/04/12 Video Broadcast

What constitutes a marriage? Why divorce is never allowed between two believers. Understanding how to determine whether or not someone is a believer.

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage - Part 4 - Study
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Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage - Part 4 - Study

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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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We’re going to continue the discussion on the marriage, remarriage question this week as we try to understand what Yahweh’s true, awesome will is regarding the subject of marriage, divorce, and remarriage.

The last 3 broadcasts we have been discussing this subject at length and seeking to understand what our Father wants from us, what His will is for us, and hopefully as we examine this, we will be able to come to an understanding. HalleluYah.

There are 2 prevailing views that we are familiar with:

1. There is never to be 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. Neither of them are to remarry. They’re finished unless they reconcile.

That is the view that is held by many in the Amish and Mennonite communities. This is the view we will be addressing specifically today.

2. Divorce and remarriage are permissible if one partner has committed adultery against the other. That’s probably the most popular view from my understanding. I understand the reasons why they hold that view, and we’re going to be discussing that next week and seeing whether or not that fully makes sense.

Other views are as follows:

1.That divorce and remarriage is permissible for any reason. They would cite Deuteronomy 24 as justification for that and say that Yahushua could not add to the Torah, therefore anything different than tha twould not be right. But if you really look at that, that is basically the boyfriend/girlfriend game.

If you don’t like this one, you break up and you go find someone else.The boyfriend/girlfriend is basically that. We don’t want to do that. That’s not where we’re focused. There are some very strong statements that Yahushua makes regarding anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.

So I think He was bringing us back to the beginning. We discussed that at length last week and in previous weeks.

2. This is the world’s solution. Forget marriage, just live together without getting married at all! (no prenuptial, no lawyers, no alimony, etc.) . No responsibility, no commitment.That’s not real love, that’s just I like you. I’ll hang out with you for awhile, and if I get tired of you I’ll go somewhere else.
(NO COMMITMENT , NOT REAL LOVE)

That’s not real love, that’s like.That’s also very immoral. That’s fornication and harlotry and produces children in an unstable environment to where there’s not a real father in the household, or no father that’s committed to being there, or no mother that’s committed to being there.

We want to raise children that are stable and who know that their dad and their mom are going to be there for them tomorrow.

THE FOUNDATION

1. In Genesis, there was no divorce

Matthew 19:8 – He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

It never used to be that way, and He’s taking us back to the way it was in the very beginning. As far as I’m concerned the beginning being Genesis, that’s part of Torah also. We can’t ignore that part of Torah and that Elohim has joined two people together in a one flesh relationship. We can’t forget that.

2.Major purposes of Marriage are:

Companionship (Gen. 2:18) – it’s not good for a man to be alone.

Dominion of the earth (Gen 1:28) – He wanted them to join together and take dominion over the earth.

“…to be fruitful and multiply.” (Gen 1:28) – The goal was not just to multiply, but to multiply a seed of Elohim, children who would fear Yahweh. That was His will. That’s not the way it worked out, but…

Genesis 1:28 – Then Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

So Yahweh wants us to multiply 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.

One is referring to man and woman. Elohimly offspring in Hebrew is “seed of Elohim.” We want to have children that are raised to walk in the image of Elohim. Absolutely. And, of course, if we’re in the image of Elohim, we will keep the Sabbath, because He kept the Sabbath, right? (Side note)

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.

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.”

So we see in the Tanack or Old Testament, Yahweh hates divorce. He just hates it. But there are certain circumstances that He actually prefers it. We’ve gone over that in the last several broadcasts, particularly the last broadcast. So this is a very important issue, and just to illustrate how important it is, in case you think it’s not, look at this.

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

That’s some pretty strong statements. We could potentially, if we don’t do it right, or understand things correctly, find ourselves in a marriage that we thinks a marriage, but in Yahweh’s eyes is nothing short of adultery. So we want to have a correct understanding of our Father’s will. We don’t want to find ourselves in a marriage that Yahweh calls adultery.

This is the context of everything here:

Matthew 19:3 – The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for [just] any reason?”

Matthew 19:4 – And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made [them] at the beginning `made them male and female,’

Matthew 19:5 – “and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

Matthew 19:6 – “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what Elohim has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 19:7 – They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

Matthew 19:8 – He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

Verse 8 says permitted not commanded.

Matthew 19:9 – “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

He gives an exception here. I’m reviewing for those who haven’t seen the previous broadcasts. That word translated sexual immorality is (from Strong’s Lexicon) porneia por-ni’-ah from 4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry:–fornication.

We see that harlotry refers to physical harlotry, but also spiritual harlotry. Figuratively idolatry. We’ve been examining the figurative meaning of that word, and that brought us to I Cor. 7:10-12.

1Corinthians 7:10 – Now to the married I command, [yet] not I but the Master: A wife is not to depart from [her] husband.

1Corinthians 7:11 – But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to [her] husband. And a husband is not to divorce [his] wife.

1Corinthians 7:12 – But to the rest I, not the Master, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.

Verses 10 and 11 are very cut and dried, but then he goes on to make an exception (vs. 12) Notice he said, ” I, not the Master, I say.,” because the Master never commanded a believer and an unbeliever to stay together.

To me this is a very strong indication that when Yahushua was saying except it be for porneia, which we read earlier, He was indeed referring to figuratively, used idolatry which is the word very commoly in the New Testament and also zenuth in the Old Testament to refer to idolatry which is spiritual harlotry against Yahweh.

1Corinthians 7:13 – And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.

1Corinthians 7:14 – For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

1Corinthians 7:15 – But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such [cases]. But Elohim has called us to peace.

1Corinthians 7:16 – For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save [your] husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save [your] wife?

1Corinthians 7:17 – But as Elohim has distributed to each one, as YAHWEH has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches.

To me, there’s a distinction made here in Paul’s letters. And there’s an exception given. There’s an exception given when Yahushua speaks, and there are exceptions given in the Torah and the Tanack when Ezra had commanded the men to divorce their pagan wives.

Summary

1. The Master Yahushua commanded that there is to be no divorce between believers.

2. If a believing woman departs from her believing husband, she is not permitted to remarry. That would be adultery per Yahushua’s words.

3. The Master Yahushua did not command a believer to remain married to an unbeliever.

4. If the unbeliever departs, the believer is not in bondage in such cases. This would be in line with Yahushua’s ‘porneia’ exception if this meant the believer could remarry.

To me that makes the most sense, for a believer a wife is not to depart from her husband.

For an unbeliever, Paul says, “I, not the Master, say:…(if) willing to live with him, let him not divorce her and vice versa.

If a believer departs? “let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.”

If an unbeliever departs? “let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases.”

Looking at this, it would seem to me that there’s a connection between these instances. The first instance is referring to whether the person can be remarried. In light of that, it would make the most sense to me that in the second instance it would also be dealing with what would be permissible in regads to remarriage.

The question obviously becomes, who is a believer? What’s a beliver and what’s an unbeliever? That’s an imortant question for us to try to understand. First and foremost, a believer is one who believes that Yahushua is the Messiah.

Shabbat shalom achi

John 3:36 – “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of Elohim abides on him.”

So if we don’t believe in the Son, that’s Yahushua the Messiah, then we will not see life, but we will only receive wrath. There are many people in the world today who claim to believe in the Son. After all, anyone who believes in the Bible wants to have their sins forgiven.

Just anyone who has some sort of belief in the Bible is going to say, “Oh yeah, yeah, I believe in the Messiah.” Yet Yahushua said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, haven’t we done all these things?”’ And He says, “I never knew you.

You haven’t done the will of My Father in heaven.” There’s one thing about faith. In the Hebrew, it’s a very verbal language. It’s a very active language.

And in the Hebrew language, faith has action to it. It’s not just a concept, like the Greeks think in terms of concepts. The Hebrews think in terms of putting it into practice, realities. That’s why you see so many illustrations of actional things happening.

That’s why Yahweh gave us examples of things that were written before Him were written for our examples, for things to be instructed by. So faith in a Hebraic mindset has completely a lot of action to it. Faith is supposed to be living, not dead. Active, not inactive. For this reason in the book of James, it says the following:

James 2:14 – What [does it] profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

James 2:15 – If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

James 2:16 – and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what [does it] profit?

How can you claim to love? “Oh, be warmed and be filled.” The basic necessities are food and shelter. And of course clothing is part of shelter.

James 2:17 – Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

In other words, it’s not a living faith. It’s not real.

James 2:18 – But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James 2:19 – You believe that there is one Elohim. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble!

James 2:20 – But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

So the demons have a dead faith. They believe in His existence, but it’s not a living faith, is it?

James 2:21 – Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

James 2:22 – Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

James 2:23 – And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed Elohim, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of Elohim.

So faith is a living faith. It has works to back it up. You say it and you live it.

James 2:24 – You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

James 2:25 – Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent [them] out another way?

James 2:26 – For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

So your body is alive, but spiritually you’re dead because you have faith, but there’s no works to demonstrate that faith. The Spirit of Yahweh living in you is going to produce fruit. And if the Spirit of Yahweh is going to produce fruit, then you’re not going to be dead in the Spirit. You’re going to be alive.

or shalom just there that is

It’s going to be living, active faith, because just like the body without the spirit is dead, faith without works is dead. Your body is alive, but there’s works, there’s no spirit behind it. There’s no living action to it. So it’s not just raw belief because even the demons recognize the existence of one Elohim.

The word for spirit means breath in Hebrew, so if a a man doesn’t have a living, breathing, alive faith then he doesn’t really have faith. So our faith needs to be demonstrated by repentance from dead works, and walking in truth. Kepha was speaking to the crowd in the following verses.

shabbat being over

Acts 2:36 – “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that Elohim has made this Yahushua, whom you crucified, both Master and Messiah.”

Acts 2:37 – Now when they heard [this], they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?”

Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahushua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

That’s a promise. So the word repent in verse 38 is a key thing. If we repent, then we have an active faith. Faith in Messiah has to be accompanied by repentance. That’s why He says go get baptized, because baptism has a way of separating things out.

If we claim to be a believer in Yahushua, and yet we refuse to do what He said here, and that is to get baptized, then where’s our works to back up our faith? Where is it?

How can we claim to even have repented at all? It’s the first thing we’re supposed to do as a believer. In fact, all throughout the Scriptures we see this. In the book of Acts, Paul the Apostle, the Ethiopian were immediately baptized.

The Philippian jailer was immediately baptized. Cornelius and his household were all immediately baptized. Lydia, the seller of purple, Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue. All of them. Even Simon the sorcerer. You go all throughout Scripture and right off the bat, immediately they got baptized. Some of you don’t realize that. Now you do, I hope. Study it out.

But I’m not making this point alone, the dividing line between a beliver and an unbeliever, but if someone refuses to get baptized, when they are presented with the Scriptures which plainly say get baptized, then how can they claimto have repented? The very definition of repentance means to turn.

We’re going one direction, now we’re going to turn around and go the other direction. We were headed toward lawlessness and unrighteousness, and now we’re heading toward righteousness. That’s the very definition. We turn — teshuva in Hebrew.

So we turn away from disobeying what we understood to be the will of Yahweh, and now we’re turning toward obedience to what we understand to be Yahweh’s will for us. We see it’s clearly commanded:

Matthew 28:18 – And Yahushua came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahushua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And many other places that say to be baptized. So if a person is married to somebody else who claimed to be a believe, and yet that person was kind of saying, “I feel awkwar about baptism. It’s kind of beneath my dignity a little bit, you know.”

on transcript page – 03/02/2012 chang eto 03/03/2012 for the shabbat message date

There’s a (for lack of a better word) real comfy little cross that people can run to, with flowers all over it and all this mushy kind of stuff. “Oh yeah, I’ll accept that, too.” They’re buyers.

They’ll buy the nice car, they’ll have the nice house, they’ll have the nice things for their house, and say, “Oh, I’ll buy that, I’ll take heaven to go with it.” Yet there’s no real sacrifice. Yahushua’s lookin for more than buyers.

He’s looking for people who are committed to Him. If we’re too ashamed or too obstinate to even make the first step toward a public confession of Him and being willing to stand for Him, in most circumstances, I would have a hard time believing they’re genuine.

Luke 9:24 – “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

Luke 9:25 – “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

Luke 9:26 – “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His [own] glory, and [in His] Father’s, and of the holy angels.

Very strong words here. We don’t want Yahushua to be ashamed of us. We need His grace, right? We need Yahushua on the day of judgment. It’s only through Him that we can even come to the Father. If we’ve been ashamed of Him, then we’re not believers. We’re just not. He’ll say, “Depart from me. I never knew you, you who work lawlessness.

You don’t care to do My Father’s will.” So we can’t be ashamed of Him or His words. That means His teachings. It means whatever you’re called to do for Him, don’t be ashamed of it. If you’re called to wear tassles, don’t be ashamed of it. If you’re called to wear a head covering, don’t be ashamed of it.

If you’re called to keep the Sabbath Day, don’t be ashamed of it. In fact, glory in it because you’re Yahweh’s child. Whatever He calls you to do, don’t be ashamed of it. For those of you who listened to the story earlier, he was not ashamed of the Sabbath, and even in the face of extreme circumstances, he was faithful.

That’s what we need to be. We need to be faithful, even if faced with death. So a person who has repented will have other things going on besides baptism. There’s a genuine seeking of Yahweh’s will even if confronted with death, because if we die, our body dies, but our spirit is still going to be with Yahweh forever.

In our mind; the body is irrelevant; it’s going to perish; it’s going to go back to dust anyway. This is not me. This is what Yahushua says. We’ve got to put Him first even in the face of death. It’s really a father and son relationship.

I know for instance with my children, if they did something wrong, but they didn’t really care to do the right thing, their attitude was, “Yeah, I did something wrong, but I didn’t know.” But they didn’t really want to know, they didn’t really care to know.

Then that would be different than if they just didn’t know because they really didn’t. They wanted to know, but they just didn’t. That would be different. Yahweh reads our hearts.

You can’t fool Him, whether or not we really want to know His will, or if we’re afraid to read Scriptures because we might find things we have to do. Then we’d have to live that way and we don’t want to. That’s not acting like a son or a daughter if that’s our attitude.

Having said all this, there are some things in Scripture we have to look at that are very important.

Don’t be too quick to judge someone as being an unbeliever because of the following verse

1John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Looking at this Scripture, do you see any exceptions given to this promise? I don’t see any. Are there any specific sins a person can’t be cleansed from if they go to the Father and ask for forgiveness?

I don’t know of any. Maybe the unpardonable sin, but if you committed that, you wouldn’t want to go to the Father anyway. The Spirit would not be drawing you. So if a person fails, and they sin against Yahweh, they confess the sin before Yahweh and are truly repentant, Yahweh is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from unrighteousness.

No matter what sin a person has committed, if they have done this (repented), we can’t say they’re an unbelieve no matter how bad the sin is. Someone might say, “Well, a believer wouldn’t do this. A believer wouldn’t do that.” The question isn’t whether a believer would or wouldn’t.

The question is what did they do once they did that? Did they seek Yahweh’s forgiveness? That’s the question. Did they confess their sins? Confession means I acknowledge my sin before You, and that acknowledgement has an action to it. I’m turning away from it because I’m admitting that was wrong.

A person may struggle with a sin over and over again until finally they get victory.

It’s the struggle that Yahweh is looking for. If we just kind of lay and wallow in it like a pig… you get washed and go back right in the mud again, then that’s not repentance. But if a person is face with temptation and are weak and when they sin, they go to Yahweh again and say, “Please Yahweh, I want to stop this. Help me stop this.”

I’m not ready to judge them as an unbeliever because He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnss if we confess our sins. So if He is, don’t judge someone to be an unbeliever just because they’re struggling with some particular in their life. I don’t care what it is.

Those of us who have been blessed to understand the rightful role of Yahweh’s law, His Torah, in our life, the Hebraic roots of our faith, the importance of proclaiming Yahweh’s Name, and honoring His Sabbath Day, we should just be in awe of the grace of Yahweh, that He would reveal these things to us, because we’re all wretched men apart from His grace.

We’re all wretched men. There’s a real danger of becoming prideful when we come to understand this whole new thing about the first two-thirds of the Bible actually apply to us today, not just the last third.

We get this knowledge, and if we’re not careful we’ll get this denominational kind of spirit where we get puffed up and say, ‘Well, we’ve got the Truth now, and there’s the haves and the have nots, and we’re the haves, and the people who don’t have this truth that we have, they’re the have nots.’

There’s a danger in this, because knowledge puffs up. We’ve got the knowledge.

1Corinthians 8:1 – Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

So instead of being puffed up toward those who don’t understand what you understand, instead love them, edify them.

1Corinthians 8:2 – And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

Just because you think you know something, you don’t know anything yet. If you think you know something, you don’t know anything yet. You’re just getting started. So don’t even claim to know anything because you’re being wise in your own conceit. There’s more hope for a fool that for someone wise in their own conceit, according to Proverbs.

1Corinthians 8:3 – But if anyone loves Elohim, this one is known by Him.

Yes, we want to know things, but the real key is we want to be known by Yahweh, don’t we?

That’s very important. If the things that we’ve learned are just merely words of knowledge that we follow, we can become puffed up, but if we understand that the things we are learning were intended to teach us to love Yahweh, how to love our fellow man in greater ways, then we’ll not become puffed up.

We’ll walk in love an even greater way, and by that we can edify many, because knowledge puffs up and love edifies. So be patient with that brother who is struggling with some kind of sin in his life because who among us can say we’re completely without sin, without any struggle at all?

Who among us is able to pass judgment for some brother because of some sin he’s struggling with, and than say, ‘Well, I’m not going to be around that person because he has some sin in his life.’? When in reality we have sin in our own lives, things that we’re trying to battle against. I hope you do. I mean, I don’t hope you have sin in your life.

I hope that you’re battling against whatever sin you do have in your life and you’re fighting it. That’s what we’re called to do. We’re warriors. Sin is the enemy, and that’s what we’re supposed to be warring against, but if we decide that we’re going to judge somebody without mercy, we’ve got to be careful because we’re heading for a fall.

James 2:13 – For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

These are very important principles when it comes to actually applying the things I’ve been sharing the last week or two. We’ve really got to get this right. We can’t assume that because the other people might be Christians that they are automatically unbelievers. Were you an unbeliever before you came to the understanding of your knowledge of the Sabbath, for instance?

Were you an unbeliever then and still an unbeliever until you understood the rest of Torah? I mean, when did you become a believer? If you’re going to judge all Christians to be unbelievers, then when did you become a believer? Was it when you kept Sabbath?

What is it that makes you a believer? Is it the keeping of specific commandments, or is it a heart that’s turned toward our heavenly Father? I think from what I read in Scripture, it’s a heart that’s turned to doing out heavenly Father’s will, and there are probably things that I don’t know yet and that I don’t know yet.

If someone’s a Seventh Day Adventist, they might be a believer. They might not be a believer. It depends on what they’ve done with what they know. It depends on what their reaction was when presented with the truth. Was it, “That doesn’t make any sense to me,” and go on about their way? That could still be a believer.

Or if someone says, “Wow, I have to leave the church, and my parents wouldn’t like me, and my friends wouldn’t like me.” That’s putting Yahweh in second place and man in first place, and that’s not a sign of a believer.

A lot of times we can’t read that mind. We can’t. Now sometimes they’ll just admit it. They’ll confess it out of their own mouth. We have to be very, very careful about that. We can’t assume that because someone hasn’t been revealed something that we know that disqualifies them as an unbeliever.

If they’re doing what they truly understand to be the right thing to do, it’s a Father-son relationship.

If my children are doing the very thing that they understand to be right thing to do, am I going to judge them because they didn’t understand properly and kick them out of my house? Of course not.

So how can we judge somebody to be an unbeliever and kick them out of our Father’s house when they’re doing the very things that our Father has expected of them, which is to do His will as they understand it and to seek the truth.

So when I say seek the truth that covers the earlier portion when I was sharing about if we really want to know. Sometimes that’s a heart issue that we really can’t tell the difference.

There could be a hundred people in a Christian church and maybe only three people are sincere, maybe 10, maybe all of them. We don’t know. It’s hard to tell sometimes. the bottom line is:

James 4:17 – Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do [it], to him it is sin.

So if we judge others who might be blinded to some truth that we understand, we’re judging people Yahweh has not judged to be unrepentant sinners. There’s another thing here. Yahushua said the following in response to the Pharisees.

John 9:40 – Then [some] of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

A very key statement here in verse 41. If someone in your past or someone that you know, is blinded to the truth, they have no sin, until it’s been revealed to them. If they know it and don’t do it , that’s when it becomes sin. Look what He said here:

John 9:41 – Yahushua said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, `We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

Very, very interesting. Knowledge puffs up. See, if they’re obstinate, and they claim to be perfect in their understanding and flawless, then Yahushua said their sin remains. I f you claim to not be blind in some areas, you claim, “Oh, we’re the seeing ones. We know everything. Come to us,” then you’ll be responsible for the very thing you claim.

That’s the error of denominationalism. ‘We’ve got the truth. Come to our church. We’ve got it all.’ I once witnessed to a Jehovah’s Witness lady. I said, “There’s some new truth here.” She said, I don’t need any new truth. I found it. I’m not looking for any more truth. I’ve arrived.” Wow, out of your own mouth. Well, you’ll be responsible for that then.

But if their hearts are humble and they’re willing to learn and practice anything their heavenly Father teaches them, but they don’t understand yet or believe what we believe, how can we judge them? If we do judge them, what if we lack understanding? If we lack understanding, and we don’t have truth in some area of our walk, then we become like the ones who claim to see.

Then our sin remains. We are responsible for our own sin, and whatever sin it might be. If we judge somebody else for their blindness, and don’t acknowledge our own blindness, we judge ourselves. Yahushua said,

Matthew 7:2 – “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

So when it comes to the divorce and remarriage question, this is a very important principle that we need to understand. Do not, do not divorce someone, or think that you’re free from a former marriage in your past, just because they happen to be or happened to be Christians, or had some sin they were struggling against, even if it was a sin against you personally.

If you judge them, Yahushua said, “YOu will be judged by the same measure.” Can you say that you live up to that same measure? Can you say that you always will? Because that’s the standard by which you judge them. Will you always live up to that standard, until the day you draw your last breath on the earth.

Maybe you’re a strong believer now, but maybe you’ll have some times of weakness ahead. Yahweh forbid. But please, listen, my beloved brothers and sisters, we have to be very, very careful in this manner. This is life and death, spiritual life and death.

If you’re wrong in your judgment, you may find yourself to be in a marriage that Yahweh considers nothing short of adultery, and you will be judged with the measure with which you judged your previous marriage partner.

So what should a person do if they’re married to a person who claims to be a believer yet they’re committing heinous sins, and they don’t seem to be repenting? Do we automatically judge them to be unbelievers?

Is there a process we should follow? Thank Yahweh, there is. Yahushua gave it to us.

Matthew 18:15 – “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Matthew 18:16 – “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that `by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’

Now notice He didn’t say, fun off and tell everybody. Take with you one or two more, so no more that 2 or 3.

Matthew 18:17 – “And if he refuses to hear them, tell [it] to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Yahushua gave us the directives here, separating the sheep from the goats. What’s the determining factor here, between who’s a believer and who’s an unbeliever? The very thing I’ve been sharing with you, repentance. That’s the determining factor. They claim to be a believer in Messiah, but are they repentant? So here’s the procedure of identifying an unbeliever:

1) “Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.”

2) “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” If he repents, forgive him. If you don’t forgive him, you won’t be forgiven of your own sins, so you have to forgive him.

3) “If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the congregation (church). But if he refuses even to hear the congregation, let him be to yu like a heathen and a tax collector.”

At that point he’s like an unbeliever to you. So if you’re married to a person who claims to be a believer yet is committing heinous sins, you have an option. It’s determined by the body of the Messiah ultimately (step 3). It’s not yur decision to make.

If it’s determined by the body of Messiah that this person is not a repentant believer in Messiah Yahushua because he refuses to repent of some blatant, obvious sin, then they are to be treated as an unbeliever, and if you’re married to an unbeliever, the Master has mot commanded that you remain together.

That would be potential grounds for divorce as Yahweh leads. Maybe you’ll save him, you never know, or her.

That’s what Paul brought up earlier. Let’s say a person has a spouse, and they claim to be a believer, and yet they’re physically abusive. Then go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he won’t listen, bring one or two more, and if he won’t listen to them, tell it to the congregation. If he won’t listen to them, call the police, and let the heathen deal with him. That’s the steps.

Whatever sin is being committed, I mean this is subject to abuse, because people could choose to divorce over different understandings of doctrine, but the context of what Yahushua is talking about is determing not whether their doctrines are right,but whether or not they truly have a repentant heart.

That is the thing they’re trying to figure out in this procedure. Does the person really have a repentant heart? We’re talking about obvious, clear sins that even the sinner himself would acknowledge to be wrong. And yet he’s refusing to repent.

Yahushua gives us this procedure to follow so we can make a determination as to whether or not a person is really a repentant believer in the Messiah Yahushua. We need Yahweh’s discernment, and may Yahweh give the congregations and the elders discernment in this matter.

Cleave to the Scriptural principles that are given. I’ll be sharing more on this point on Matthew 18 on the next broadcast.

Don’t feel pressured to make a judgment when there is not enough evidence to make a positive determination one way or the other. Be humble and realize that there are some things that we don’t know yet. Some sins are clearly evident.

1Timothy 5:24 – Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding [them] to judgment, but those of some [men] follow later.

1Timothy 5:25 – Likewise, the good works [of some] are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.

One day it will be revealed. There are some things that you just can’t tell. The bottom line is, Yahweh knows those that are His. What about the tares among the wheat? Yahushua gave a parable about the wheat and the tares.

The wheat was the righteous, and the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and He compared it to us that we are in congregations and churches where there are tares.

The tares look like the wheat.They look identical, but when they start getting to the fruit bearing stage, the seed bearing stage, they look different because one is bearing good fruit, and the other is not. One is bieng nourished by the soil, the Word of Yahweh.

The other is just not, so it is not a genuine wheat plant. He said, do not rip the tears out, otherwise you rip the wheat out with it. So there are some times, I believe Yahweh will allow this to be kind of iffy, an iffy situation where tares are among the wheat, because He knows if you pull that tare out, the wheat would be ruined also.

In cases where others are caused to stumble by our judgments, if we try to rip them out, we have to be very, very careful because, say our children might be caused to stumble if we assume that this man is an unbeliever, or this woman is and unbeliever that you’re married to, and the children are going to be caused to stumble, we have to be very, very careful.

We can’t necessarily rip the tare out because the wheat might be going with it. So if the children are being caused to stumble through a divorce situation, we don’t want that. The goal is to produce a seed of Elohim. That’s the main goal behind everything. We have to use discernment.

What did Yahushua say? ‘We’ll let the tares and the wheat grow together until the end of the age, then I’ll separate the wheat from the tares an throw the tares into the fire and the wheat into my barn.’ We don’t have to be impatient in our judgments of others, because there are tares among the wheat, and Yahweh is allowing it. He uses it to test us, doesn’t He?

There are a lot of things going on in the body of Messiah. We’re sort of a messed up body in some ways. Who are the ones that Yahweh’s chosen? ‘Go out in the highways and the byways and bring in the lame, the blind, the down-and-outers, the poor.’ A lot of these people have problems they bring with them. I’m one of them. I have my own problems.

I hope you all acknowledge your own, too. We’re a work in progress. We’re His workmanship. Look at the Corinthian assembly. If you read the book of 1 Corinthians, it’s very clear. There were divisions within the body of Messiah. There was selfishness in marital relationships.

There were people who were dying and getting sick from abuse of the Passover meal. There was selfish use of spiritual gifts. There were false teachings about the good news of the resurrection. Only in the matter of the man having his father’s wife, Paul said, ‘

You need to make a judgement in this matter. Not even the Gentiles do this. You need to disfellowship that man.’ So we are called to be longsuffering and patient with one another, and we can’t forget this when it comes to applying this understanding of divorce and remarriage.

I hope I’ve given you enought principles to work off of so you can make a sound judgment. Not by yourself, but with the congregation, if you have one by you.

If you don’t have one, then you need to talk to elders. Be able to talk to those who have congregations. Let them make the determination, not just you by yourself if you have any question whatsoever.

We want to move on to another viewpoint on the divorce and remarriage question. That viewpoint is, as we shared earlier, the belief that there is never to be divorce in any situation once a husband and wife come together in a one flesh relationship.

When Yahushua gave this exception in the following verse, how would someone who believed that there is never to be a divorce and remarriage reconcile this with his view?

Matthew 19:19 – `Honor your father and [your] mother,’ and, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”

There’s got to be some examples for this. The context of this verse is a marriage. It’s not just spiritual harlotry alone. There’s got to be some examples of physical pornea, where it would make sense with the rest of Scripture. There are some legitimate reasons for divorce. For instance, the case of 1 Cor. 5:1

1Corinthians 5:1 – It is actually reported [that there is] sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles — that a man has his father’s wife!

This is incest, a man having his father’s wife. Obviously divorce would be permitted in this scenario. I hope you all would agree with that. That would be an unbiblical marriage, so they would be permitted to divorce. So that’s one exception that would fly in the face of those who say, there’s never any divorce.

Once there’s a marriage, it’s always a marriage. That would be an obvious exception. I would hope that they would see that, yeah, case of incest, a man having his father’s wife, obviously yes, that would be a legitimate grounds for divorce.

When Yahushua is talking about pornea, He would have some things in mind, I’m sure. Maybe a homosexual marriage or prostitution or something.

When we read this verse, there are some examples of physical marriages that would be legitimate cause for divorce. I hope you see that. The thing they like to bring up often is that there are some places where no exceptions are mentioned.

Mark 10:11 – So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.

We have to say there is some kind of exception. What is their view? I don’t think they even thought about that, some kind of unbiblical marriage in that way.

I want to point out that one of the reasons Yahushua never mentioned any exceptions, a legitimate reason why He would not have mentioned any exceptions is because the extreme rarity that there would be a person that was a believer in Yahushua’s day, a Jewish person would go out and marry a heathen woman was unheard of.

I wouldn’t say unheard of, but it was rare among any sincere followers of Yahweh in that time. Consider the following Scripture.

Acts 10:28 – Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But Elohim has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

In the eyes of a Jewish man, they weren’t even to keep company with heathen girls or women or even go to them.

So when Yahushua is speaking earlier, in some cases when He was sharing this principle, the exception wasn’t even mentioned, I think because the exception would have been so rare that it was barely even worthy of mention because at that time when the men He was teaching, for them it was unlawful to even keep company with a heathen person, yet alone marry them.

I think this is why when we read this whole section, when He gave the exception in Matt 19:9-10,

Matthew 18:9 – “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast [it] from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.

Matthew 18:10 – “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

Judging by the response of the apostles, demonstrates that the exception would be so rare that divorce would be practically unheard of in Israel. They thought it might be better not to marry since you basically would be locked into a marriage forever.

Romans 7:1 – Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

Romans 7:2 – For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to [her] husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of [her] husband.

Romans 7:3 – So then if, while [her] husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

These verses are used by some to support the view that there is never to be any kind of divorce, period. If there is, it is always adultery and no exception is mentioned here either. But notice, it says, “But while her husband lives.”

In other words, there hasn’t even been a divorce yet, she marries another man, she’ll be called an adulteress. So if there hasn’t even been a legitimate divorce, of course that would be considered to be adultery if she married another man while still being married to the first man.

Even if you don’t look at it that way, again we’re talking about those who know the law, as it says in verse 1.

He’s talking amongst believers, and amongst believers, there is no divorce and remarriage. It is nonexistent among believers. There is never divorce or remarriage between believers. Paul specifically said,

“The Master has commanded that you stay together, and if you do end up divorcing you have to remain unmarried or be reconciled.” Paul was speaking to believers in Yahweh producing a seed of Elohim.

1Corinthians 7:39 – A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in YAHWEH.

That’s talking about believers once again, but pay attention, In that same chapter, Paul makes this statement:

1Corinthians 7:25 – Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from YAHWEH; yet I give judgment as one whom YAHWEH in His mercy has made trustworthy.

1Corinthians 7:26 – I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress — that [it is] good for a man to remain as he is:

1Corinthians 7:27 – Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

The word translated loosed does mean to be loosed. It means what is it says. One who is bound versus one who is loosed. So consistent with Paul’s counsel, he’s saying remain in the same calling in which you’re called.

He mentions the possibility that a man could be either bound to or loosed from a wife, and since he couldn’t have been talking about the dead remaining unmarried, there would obviously be instances when a man could be loosed from his wife, contray to those who say there is never to be divorce under any circumstance.

So Paul would be speaking in the context of marriage between believers if we look in earlier verses, and that’s the only way I can really see to line it up with the rest of Scripture. I want to mention, this particular verse about being loosed from a wife, we’re talking about the difference between a person being bound to their believing husband or believing wife (verse11). They’re bound. They have to remain together or be reconciled in some way. If you’re divor

But in the case of a believer being married to an unbeliever, he says a brother or sister is not under bondage (verse 15). They are not bound. They are loosed in such cases.

To me that makes the most sense, it lines up with the rest of Scripture, and it preserves the fidelity and the seed of Elohim that Yahweh desires from marriage. It also guards against the congregations, against believers divorcing and marrying other wives in the congregation.

That whole mess. So if a person is not under bondage in such cases, it seems to me it would be pretty much in line with what he’s saying here a little bit later in 1 Cor 7, that there are instances where a person is loosed from a wife. It means they’re not bound.

Those are some Scriptures, that to me, right off the bat, would indicate that those who say there is never to be divorce and remarriage under any circumstances, even if you’re married to an unbeliever, just can’t be. It’s not Biblical as far as I can tell.

What do they say about the exception?

It does say that except for being for pornea. Those who believe that a marriage is always a marriage, not matter what, there’s never to be a divorce under any circumstances, they would say that that sexual immorality or that pornea was something that occurred prior to the consummation of the marriage, where they became one flesh.

They would point to Yahushua’s words in saying that the premise of what He was saying was “what Elohim has joined together as one flesh, let no man separate.”

So they would interpret Yahushua’s words as saying if sexual immorality occurred you’re free to divorce and remarry, they would interpret that divorce as being a divorce that occurred during the betrothal period, not during the time when you’ve actually come together as one flesh.

That’s how they kind of work their way around that. Something just doesn’t seem to line up with me about that, so I began to do some research. There is one thing that they teach on that that is very, very true, and I think that we would benefit if we understand it properly.

See, today promises are exchanged. Engagements are made. They’re not really binding. Either one can break it off and it’s really no big deal.

But in the eyes of Yahweh and in the eyes of ancient Israel, the only way someone betrothed to another person could not be betrohed any more, was if a man divorced the woman. That’s the only way it could happen. Here’s some Scripture on this.

Deuteronomy 22:23 – “If a young woman [who is] a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her,

Deuteronomy 22:24 – “then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

So in the eyes of Yahweh, when there’s a betrothal that’s a marriage. In fact, He referred to the woman as being the man’s wife. So even a virgin could be married in the eyes of Yahweh. Yahweh considered the virgin in this instance to be the neighbor’s wife. To betrothed persons in His eyes are husband and wife before the marriage is even consummated.

Anciently, as we said, a betrothal was so binding that it took a divorce to create any kind of separation. We see that even in the New Testament

Matthew 1:18 – Now the birth of Yahushua Messiah was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:19 – Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

Here we have a betrothal going on. They were betrothed, but in order to eliminate the betrothal there had to be a divorce, a putting away. This was a divorce that would have occurred during the betrothal period because of what others might have perceived as unfaithfulness on her part.

We see here this is the binding nature of betrothal in Yahweh’s eyes. We have to agree that it is a legitimate divorce here because Joseph is called a just man. He is considered to be a righteous man, and because he was a righteous man he didn’t want to make her a public example or a spectacle. He understood she was a virgin yet she was with child. He understood that.

He didn’t know what to do, so he thought maybe he should divorce her and let her raise the child. But that’s not what Yahweh’s plan was. But when Yahushua made the exception of porneia, would this have been a legitimate case? I think it would have because there was no one flesh relationship.

Elohim had not yet joined them together in one flesh, so it was a legitimate exception. But it’s not the only exception. Not the only one. Since we’re limiting this view here, we’re limiting the porneia to being only something happening during the betrothal period, then He would have to be talking about whoever divorced his betrothed wife.

Because Matt. 19 says whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality (porneia), and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery, so He wouldn’t be talking about a normal wife, one you were consummated with, He would be talking about the wife you’re betrothed to.

That’s the only way it makes sense. when it says wife here, it would only be talking about one you’re betrothed to, it can’t be talking about one you’re betrothed to. It can’t be talking about someone you’re consummated with. That’s the premise that they’re making, not mine. I don’t see that. The context has nothing to do with the betrothal period.

The context of the entire conversation is after the betrothal period, and you’re married. You’re one flesh. This being the case, if you were going to read it the way that they understand it, the entire statement would have to be read as a statement that applies to the betrothal period.

In other words, if a man betrothed himself to a wife, and he broke off the betrothal for any reason other than sexual immortality or porneia, he and his betrothed wife would be committing adultery if they ever marry anyone else, even though they never consummated. They would be committing adultery if they broke off the betrothal for any reason other than porneia.

Say, they decided they weren’t compatible, and they went off and married someone else, they would be committing adultery if you read this statement the way these people interpret this statement. I don’t believe that. Here’s something else that is a real problem.

Matthew 19:3 – The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for [just] any reason?”

Matthew 19:4 – And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made [them] at the beginning `made them male and female,’

Matthew 19:5 – “and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

That was it. They were one flesh. That’s the basis of the statement later in that chapter:

Matthew 19:6 – “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what Elohim has joined together, let not man separate.”

That is the basis for His decision that there is no divorce and remarriage. That is the basis of it. So that’s the foundation. Think through with me on this. If you believe there is never ever any divorce under any circumstances, think through these verses.

Matthew 19:8 – He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

He is appealing to the foundation of verse 6. Then He says:

Matthew 19:9 – “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

Let’s trade this out – the word porneia. Instead of porneia, we’re going to put in their view point on this. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for [porneia that occurred before you were ‘one flesh], and marries another, commits adultery; and woever marries her who is divorced commits adultery. (vs 9) Now wait a minute.

Isn’t the entire foundation for what He said, this one flesh thing in verse 6? They’re saying in verse 9 that they’re not even one flesh. This had occurred before they were one flesh. So why would Yahushua appealing back to a foundation where they’re shown to be one flesh to prove in verse 9 something that happens before you’re even one flesh?

So the foundation and the premise of what is bein spoken is of no value. The context of what He is saying is a one flesh situation.

Marriage is not one flesh until it is consummated through intercourse, so I find it hard to believe that Yahushua is talking about the betrothal period alone when He says, ‘except it be for porneia.’

He was not talking about divorces that took place in the betrothal in the betrothat period, although that would apply because the context of the Pharisees’ question was marriage that had already been consummated.

Those who hold the view that Yahushua could only be speaking of divorces during the betrothat period because they say that is the only kind of divorce which would not violate Yahushua’s statement, “What Elohim has joined together, let not man separate.” (vs 6)

This doesn’t make sense because someone could divorce his divorce wife for any reason and still not separate the one flesh relationship. The point is the one flesh relationship. So the whole foundation isn’t holding water, and the whole thing just falls apart.

What actually constitutes a marriage? What it is that makes a marriage a marriage?

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.

Companion that Yahweh appointed to you. She is your companion and your wife by covenant. When a man and woman of Yahweh decide that they want to get married, they are considered to be husband and wife. Whenever they make their covenant with one another to be husband and wife.

That’s the key. In Scripture, a covenant is an agreement. For instance, when we see Isaac and Rebecca. Rebecca agreed to marry Isaac. Isaac had to agree to marry Rebecca, didn’t he? So Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebecca and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

In this case, Abraham and Yahweh chose a wife for Isaac. This obviously something Isaac had agreed to because he took her into the tent. Rebecca had already agreed to it and showed her agreement by coming with Abraham’s servant. So all that was needed was an agreement on the part of Isaac when he saw her to accept her as his wife.

Then it was consummated when they became one flesh. No ceremony was needed, no formal wedding was needed. Only an agreement by the husband and wife was needed which was then sealed and joined together by Elohim as one flesh when they became one flesh. It really is that simple.

Yahushua is working from this foundation. They are no longer two, but one flesh. He’s working from the foundation that Elohim has joined together. But Elohim is not going to join together a marriage which He forbids. He forbids a believer to marry an unbeliever.

He forbids a person to engage in what is commonly known today as gay marriage. He forbids the situation where an incestuous marriage would be going on, or the marriage of two sisters, or the marriage of a mother and her daughter. Those would be examples of forbidden marriages He would not honor. So in those cases, Elohim is not going to join together something He forbids.

So to me it would make the most sense that the very exceptions Yahushua is speaking of are the very exceptions Yahweh made in the Torah where certain marriages were not permitted. That included not marrying heathen women. When they did marry heathen women, they divorced them They were expected to divorce them as a way of making recompense because those women were speaking foreign languages, and even no Hebrew.

They were apparently just playthings for Hebrew men. They weren’t even really sincere in their marriages and about teaching them about Yahweh or anything. Today I realize that marriage with all its commitments are made at the wedding.

This is when they are pronounced husband and wife, and the marriage is sealed when they become one flesh in the eyes of Yahweh. It doesn’t require any involvement from some government entity, but there does have to be witnesses.

Everything is established by 2 or 3 witnesses. The marriage is not a covenant between a man, a woman, and some government. It is a covenant between man and woman and Elohim. Yahweh joined them together as one flesh.

If a couple has proper relations prior to there being an agreement to be married, then that’s considered to be a sin. That is considered to be fornication. That is considered to be harlotry.

It is not marriage until there is an agreement and a covenant on the part of both people to be married. A good test you can give to yourself and anybody else is to whether their boyfriend girlfriend relationship is really a marriage in the eyes of Yahweh is just ask them.

Do you call her your wife? Does she call you her husband? Does she say my husband at home…? That usually tells the story and cuts right to the chase.

We will continue next week when we will be discussing the question of whether or not adultery is sufficient alone to justify divorce and remarriage.

Some of you are going to be surprised. Some of you might not be. I really think we need to maintain integrity in the people of Yahweh in the congregations, and we want to try to maximize the opportunities for our children to become children of Elohim. And those are the guiding principles that we need to make our decisions in these areas.

Until next week may Yahweh bless you, and may Yahweh truly have mercy on every single one of us. HalleluYah.