Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign
[00:00:04] Speaker B: welcome to Hope for Today, a weekly Bible teaching program that will bring you hope for every day.
It is an honor to be with you today as we open the Bible and learn from the best teacher who ever lived. This program is produced by Heralds of Hope, where our goal is to make disciples, disciples who put the teaching of Jesus into practice.
Last time we looked at Jesus teaching from Mark 10 about divorce and remarriage. If you would like to hear the first part of this teaching, please find it online or reach out to us with the contact info I will give at the end, Pastor J. Mark divided the teaching into three the confrontation, the concession, and the clarification. Let's go with Jesus back to Genesis as he clarifies what God intended for marriage in the first place.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: In our previous episode we were discussing Jesus teaching on marriage and divorce. From Mark chapter 10, we m noted that since a woman came from a man, a man should unite with a woman to recapture their original unity. It takes both male and female to represent God and His attributes accurately and fully.
The man is commanded to leave behind his father and mother, those who are closest to him in flesh and blood.
He forms a new union, a new family unit by cleaving to his wife.
To cleave means to glue or bond or adhere, and it creates an unbreakable bond.
Jesus said that leaving and cleaving would result in two becoming one flesh.
Deuteronomy 6, verse 4 states this hear o uh Israel, Yahweh, Our God is one.
The Hebrew word for one is echad, but more precisely it means a single entity comprised of more than one part that allows for the tri unity of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They have separate roles and titles, but uh, they are one.
Ekkad also describes the reality of a man and a woman becoming one.
According to Ephesians 5:32, the unity of their marriage is to mirror the unity of Christ and his church.
As a result of this oneness, Jesus said, that which God has yoked together do not let man divide.
Human beings have no right to divide what God has joined.
Sadly, there are many marriage counselors and pastors who have allowed their emotions and and their preferences to override the clear teaching of Scripture.
The Pharisees, like many today, treated marriage too lightly.
Marriage isn't a business contract.
It is an exclusive heterosexual covenant between one man and one woman, ordained and sealed by God and commanded to be lifelong.
In both the Old and New Testaments, marriage is a metaphor for God's covenant relationship with his people.
And if you know Anything about biblical covenants. They involved cutting. That is animals were killed, cut in half and placed so that the parties to the covenant could walk between them.
When you walked between those animal parts, you affirmed, if I don't keep my part of this covenant, then let me be cut in pieces like these animals.
Then later, when the 12 were alone with Jesus, they brought up this subject again.
Hm. And Jesus responded, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.
Jesus gives no exceptions. Divorce is wrong, but divorce followed by remarriage is worse.
That seems pretty straightforward to me. But it was revolutionary for the 12.
We know that by comparing the parallel passage in Matthew 19 there, in response to this teaching, they said, if that's the way it is, then it's better not to marry at all.
In other words, it's better not to marry than to enter into a relationship with that much weight and meaning only to have it fail.
The disciples statement about not marrying strikes at the heart of God's plan for humanity.
Here's Genesis 1:27 28.
So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female. He created them.
Then God blessed them. And God 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.
For those of us who follow Christ, refusing marriage because it calls for a lifetime commitment is unacceptable.
Through the prophet Malachi, God says, I hate divorce. It is an act of violence.
God hates divorce because it harms the couple involved. It generally leaves scars that never truly heal.
It's detrimental to society and it is damaging to the children that are involved.
You know, we live in a day of human rights. Everyone seems to be fighting for theirs.
Divorced people fight for their right to be happy. But what about the children?
I maintain that they also have rights. A ah, right to a mother and a father and a biblical model of what a home should be.
Divorce deprives them of that and often leads them into self destructive life patterns.
You know, the great majority of children appearing in juvenile court come from broken homes and the vast majority of prison inmates have the same background.
In the final analysis, however, the fundamental reason why God hates divorce is that he created marriage to illustrate the most blessed of all spiritual relationships, the union of a believing man or woman with Christ, the divine Bridegroom of the church.
And divorce must therefore illustrate apostasy the falling away of a man or woman from God, which is damnation.
Yet the church today largely ignores this clear teaching. It invents all kinds of excuses to explain away what God has said.
I know very well this teaching isn't popular, but neither are kingdom values nor the radical discipleship that Jesus demands.
I was taught that when you interpret Scripture, you use the easily understood portions to help you understand the portions that are more complex and and perhaps confusing.
Most scripture passages on divorce and remarriage teach against it clearly.
This leads me to the exception clause in Matthew 19.
There, Jesus mentions sexual immorality as the only permissible grounds for divorce, but he did not command divorce.
In addition, it's possible that since Matthew was writing to a ah, predominantly Jewish audience, this exception was meant to be exercised during the Jewish betrothal period. A betrothed or engaged Jewish couple was treated as being legally married.
That's why when Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant, he was inclined to write a bill of divorce for her.
God had to intervene through a dream to let Joseph know how to respond properly in the situation.
The marriage had not yet been consummated, and Joseph had the legal right to divorce Mary because he assumed her pregnancy was the result of being with another man.
For the moment, let's assume the exception clause is valid for today, though I don't subscribe to that interpretation.
What percentage of divorces among professing Christians are the result of sexual activity outside of marriage?
Far less than the total number of divorces.
And even if divorce takes place, do the Scriptures assume that God approves of remarriage?
For centuries, the church was a force to protect God's marriage covenant.
Historically, the Catholic Church took divorce so seriously that it broke with English King Henry VIII by refusing to allow him to marry multiple times.
For Protestants, divorce was heavily discouraged and it was stigmatized for centuries.
And yet, across the world today, believers are relaxing their standards for divorce.
Today, the divorce rate among members of God's church is roughly equal to that of nonbelievers.
This happened because the church no longer stigmatizes divorce.
Why not? Has God's Word changed?
Author Carl Zimmerman compared the disintegration of various cultures with with the parallel decline of family life in those cultures. And here's what he Eight specific patterns of domestic behavior typified the downward spiral of each culture the author studied.
Marriage loses its sacredness. It is frequently broken by divorce.
Traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony is lost, and feminist movements abound.
There is increased public disrespect for parents and authority in general, leading to an acceleration of juvenile delinquency, promiscuity and rebellion.
There is a refusal of people with traditional marriages to accept family responsibilities.
A growing desire for and acceptance of adultery is evident.
And finally, there is increasing interest in and spread of sexual perversions and sex related crimes.
Now, did you catch where this downward spiral starts?
Marriage loses its sacredness and is frequently broken by divorce and the effects. Feminist movements abound and masculinity as a whole is considered toxic. There is increased public disrespect for parents for authority in general.
Lack of commitment in marriage leads to insecurity and rebellion in children.
It accentuates juvenile delinquency and promiscuity.
And then people with traditional marriages refuse to accept family responsibilities. They say, we don't want children, they're too costly, and if we have children, then we won't be able to travel or entertain or enjoy expensive vacations.
Failed marriages indicate a growing acceptance of adultery. There's increasing interest in sexual perversions and sex related crimes.
All of these begin with the rejection of God's plan for lifelong monogamous marriage.
So what is the solution to the maybe I do mindset in our world and even in the church?
First, we must acknowledge that even secular studies prove the value of lifelong monogamous marriage. In a healthy culture.
Research shows us that married men and women with families report more meaningful lives than their single and childless peers.
Couples who take a we before me approach to married life are happier and much less prone to divorce.
Next, the church must teach God's purposes for marriage.
In my youth, I heard a lot of teaching about the sacredness and permanence of marriage. But I don't ever recall hearing explicit teaching about why God created marriage in the first place, other than human reproduction. And that certainly is one purpose, but I don't believe it's the primary one.
Those who are married must provide an excellent example to those who are watching.
Many young people today see the troubled marriages around them and it scares them away.
We must teach them that marriage is hard work, but it's also enriching.
We must remind them that God's plan is for marriage to be an enduring, monogamous, lifelong covenant. It's something we enter into in the fear of God, and we must teach them that divorce is not an option.
Furthermore, we must be prepared to accept the reaction of those who interpret the Scriptures differently from the teaching I just have given you.
Let's proclaim the truth with an attitude of humility and gratefulness to God. For what he's given us. Let's be prepared to experience ridicule, scorn, and opposition.
Graciously.
The question the Pharisees posed to Jesus still exists today.
The human heart is still hardened by sin and selfishness. It still looks for concessions.
But just as Jesus clarified God's original intention for marriage and calls us to walk in obedience, let's make our marriages an, um, unequivocal I do.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: As a child I played with Legos. These are tiny building blocks with which you can make various cars and buildings. Each building block is part of a bigger structure. This lesson on the permanence of marriage reminded me of building with Legos.
Using broken Legos makes the bigger structure weak and sometimes impossible to build. Marriage is the structure cultures are built on.
Marriage is important and we value Jesus teaching on this topic. Does your idea of marriage include a uh, maybe?
How can we as Christians influence our culture's view of marriage?
Do you have other comments or questions about this lesson? Here are a few ways you can reach us. Our email address is hopeheraldsofhope.org and our website is heraldsofhope.org There you will find Contact us under the Partner tab on the top right. Click on that and you can message us directly. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks so much for listening. As we think about Jesus revolutionary teaching on marriage, let's go all in with him. In John 10, Jesus tells us his sheep follow him because they know his voice. That is always our goal, especially with topics like this one. Hearing the voice of our shepherd and knowing it because we know him.
