YAH'SHUAH'S
TEACHINGS ON MARRIAGE
Committing Adultery In The Heart
Matthew 5:27-28 reads,
5:27"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not
commit adultery;’ 5:28but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust
after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Didn't Yah'shuah show that adultery is committed not only physically, but also in the heart? Such that if one purposes in the heart to commit adultery he indeed commits adultery? In other words, didn't Yah'shuah show that sin is committed not only physically, but also in the heart, by purposing to commit it?
What is adultery? Isn't it sexual union that involves a wife with a man not her husband? Isn't it therefore the case that anyone who purposes to engage in sex with someone else's wife commits adultery?
Matthew 5:31-32 reads,
5:31"It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife,
let him give her a writing of divorce,’ 5:32but I tell you that whoever
who puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an
adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
Doesn't Yah'shuah make clear that the only ground allowed a man for putting away his wife is sexual immorality (Greek: "porneia"), such that if a man puts away his wife on a ground other than porneia he makes her an adulteress? Doesn't Yah'shuah also make clear that a man who marries a woman put away from her husband commits adultery, implying that even though she is put away she is still, in Yah'shuah's eyes, the wife of the man she is put away from?
How To
Put Away A Wife Without Making Her An Adulteress
Seeing that porneia is the allowable ground for putting away a wife, isn't it the case that a wife so put away is not made an adulteress, such that if she is subsequently married no adultery is committed on account of the subsequent marriage? Doesn't this imply that a wife put away for the cause of porneia ceases to be wife to the man she is put away from and is therefore duly divorced from him? Doesn't this imply that a duly divorced woman is free for marriage in Yahweh's eyes?
Has
Your Husband Put You Away?
Have you been a man's wife? Did he put you away on account of porneia on your part? If so, isn't it the case that you were duly divorced from him, and therefore free to enter into a new marriage? If not, isn't it the case that you were not duly divorced from him and are therefore prohibited, by Yahweh, from entering into a new marriage, seeing that any sexual relationship with a man other than this man is adultery?
Have
You Had Sex With A Woman Who Has Been Another Man's Wife?
Have you had sex with a woman who has been another man's wife? If so, has she been duly divorced from him, thereby freeing you to take her as your wife and have sex with her? If she has not been duly divorced from that other man, hasn't your sex with her been adultery, seeing that Yahweh still considers her to be that man's wife?
What constitutes a woman becoming a man's wife? How does a woman become a man's wife?
Marriage
Feasts Are Supposed To Be Joyous Occasions
Matthew 9:14-15 reads,
9:14Then
John’s disciples came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast
often, but your disciples don’t fast?"
9:15Jesus
said to them, "Can the friends of the
bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will
come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Don't Yah'shuah's words indicate that weddings or marriage ceremonies are happy occasions, with the friends of the bridegroom sharing in the joy of the bridegroom?
Should
You Follow Human Traditions Or Yahweh's Commandments?
Matthew 15:1-9 reads,
15:1Then
Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from
15:3He
answered them, "Why do you also disobey the
commandment of God because of your tradition? 15:4For God commanded,
‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or
mother, let him be put to death.’ 15:5But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother,
"Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted
to God," 15:6he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made
the commandment of God void because of your tradition. 15:7You hypocrites!
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
15:8‘These people draw near to me with their mouth,
And honor me with their lips;
But their heart is far from me.
15:9But in vain do they worship me,
Teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’"
Are we making void the commandment of Yahweh because of human tradition? Are we making void Yahweh's marriage commandments because we are following human marriage traditions? Do we truly honour Yahweh with our hearts with respect to marriage matters? Do we teach for marriage doctrine rules made by men, thereby worshipping Yahweh in vain? Or do we teach for marriage doctrine Yahweh's own word, thereby worshipping him in spirit and in truth?
Matthew 15:15-20 reads,
15:15Peter
answered him, "Explain the parable to us."
15:16So
Jesus said, "Do you also still not understand? 15:17Don’t you
understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then
out of the body? 15:18But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the
heart, and they defile the man. 15:19For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and
blasphemies. 15:20These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the
man."
Don't Yah'shuah's words show that there are both adulteries and sexual sins, implying that adultery is only one of a number of sexual sins? Doesn't he also make clear that sexual sins, including adultery, defile the person who partakes of them?
Is It
Lawful For A Man To Divorce His Wife For Any Reason?
Matthew 19:3-12 reads,
19:3Pharisees
came to him, testing him, and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to
divorce his wife for any reason?"
19:4He
answered, "Haven’t you read that he who made
them from the beginning made them male and female, 19:5and said, ‘For this
cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and
the two shall become one flesh?’ 19:6So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore
God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart."
19:7They
asked him, "Why then did Moses command us to give her a bill of
divorce, and divorce her?"
19:8He
said to them, "Moses, because of the
hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the
beginning it has not been so. 19:9I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for sexual
immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when
she is put away commits adultery."
19:10His
disciples said to him, "If this is the case of the man with his wife,
it is not expedient to marry."
19:11But
he said to them, "Not all men can receive this
saying, but those to whom it is given. 19:12For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their
mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there
are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He
who is able to receive it, let him receive it."
Doesn't Yah'shuah's answer to the Pharisees show that it is not lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason, it being lawful for him to do so only for sexual immorality (Greek: "porneia") on her part?
Yah'shuah's
Teaching In Harmony With Moses' Writings
Aren't the writings that Yah'shuah quoted from in answer to the Pharisees those of Moses? Didn't his basing his answer on Moses' writings show that his teaching was in harmony with those in Moses' writings?
Human
Marriage Is Yahweh's Creation
Isn't it clear from Moses' writings and Yah'shuah's words that human marriage is Yahweh's creation? Isn't it Yahweh who made them male and female, set a man to leave his parent's household and join with a woman who is his wife, and then become one flesh with her? Isn't marriage, as described by Moses and affirmed by Yah'shuah, the process whereby a man becomes one flesh with a woman who is his wife, seeing that he is to join to his wife and not to another woman? And don't Moses' writings and Yah'shuah's words show that a woman indeed becomes a man's wife prior to their enjoining and becoming one flesh?
How does a woman become a man's wife prior to their enjoining and becoming one flesh?
Sex
Between A Husband And His Wife Result In Their Becoming One Entity
Don't Yah'shuah's words in 19:6 show that when a man becomes one flesh with his wife Yahweh indeed joins them together, such that they cease in his eyes to be two separate entities but become one entity - one flesh?
It Is
Possible To Tear Apart The Unity Of A Husband And His Wife
Don't Yah'shuah's words in 19:6 imply that it is indeed possible for man to tear apart the one-flesh union that Yahweh has effected, but he is prohibited from so doing, just as it is possible for a man to sin though he is prohibited from so doing?
At The
Time Of Creation A Man Was Not Allowed To Divorce His Wife
Isn't it clear from Yah'shuah's words in 19:8 that at the time of human creation a man was not allowed to divorce his wife? But later on, on account of the hardness of human hearts, men were allowed to divorce their wives? Don't Yah'shuah's words imply that human hearts were not supposed to grow hard, for if divorce was allowed on account of their hard hearts, and initially they were not to divorce, it appears that initially their hearts were not to be hard?
Why did human hearts eventually become hard? Was it as a result of their sins?
In showing in 19:8-9 that divorce was allowed on account of human hard heartedness, and also showing that divorce is allowed only on the ground of porneia, isn't Yah'shuah showing that human hard heartedness is equated with porneia? Implying that it is as a result of porneia growing among human beings that Yahweh allowed them to divorce? Such that if they had not partaken of the way of porneia there would not have been cause for allowing them to divorce?
How A
Man Who Unlawfully Divorces His Wife Commits Adultery
How does a person who divorces his wife on a ground not founded on porneia and marries another woman commit adultery, as Yah'shuah says in 19:9? Does he commit adultery on account of his new marriage, or does he commit adultery on account of divorcing his wife on a ground not founded on porneia?
Don't Yah'shuah's words in Matthew 5:31-32 show that he commits adultery on account of making his wife an adulteress? Implying that a man who divorces his wife on a ground not founded on porneia is responsible for his wife's adultery, seeing that he is the one who has placed her in that potentially adulterous situation?
Do Not
Be Married By A Man Who Has Unlawfully Put Away His Wife
Don't Yah'shuah's words in 19:9 imply that a man should not marry another woman while he has put away his wife on a ground not founded on porneia? Doesn't this also imply that a woman should not become wife to a man who has put away his existing wife on a ground not founded on porneia? Doesn't this imply that a woman should ascertain the marital history of any man proposing to become her husband before agreeing to become his wife, specifically checking to see whether or not he has put away his existing wife on a ground not founded on porneia?
What is porneia? Is it only sexual immorality, or does it entail much more than just sexual immorality?
Unlawfully
Putting Away A Wife Is Adultery
Seeing that Yah'shuah shows that it is adultery for a man to put away his wife on a ground outside porneia and marry another woman, isn't it clear that it is not adultery for a man to put away his wife on a ground founded on porneia and marry another woman? Implying that the adultery is committed not on account of marrying the other woman, but on account of putting away his existing wife on a ground not founded on porneia?
Is It
Adultery To Be Married To More Than One Woman At The Same Time?
What about a situation that Yah'shuah does not address here - the case of a man marrying another woman without putting away his existing wife? Is it adultery for a man to marry another woman without putting away his existing wife? In other words, is it adultery for a man to be married to more than one woman at the same time?
Yah'shuah's
Teaching On Divorce Is A High Moral Standard
Didn't Yah'shuah's disciples' question to him in 19:10 imply that they found the standard upheld by Yah'shuah's teaching on divorce to have been quite high? For didn't it seem to them that if a man could not put away his wife for any reason, whether or not founded on porneia, it wasn't worth marrying? Doesn't this imply that they felt that there were grounds outside porneia meriting putting away a wife? Doesn't this also suggest that it was not always the case that a wife pleased her husband, with possibly a large incidence of wives displeasing their husbands? Suggesting that it was not always the case that marital harmony existed?
Some
People Are Given The Gift Of Not Marrying
Don't Yah'shuah's comments in 19:11-12 show that there are some people who are given the gift of not marrying, with this gift reaching different people in different ways? Don't Yah'shuah's comments also imply that not everyone is able to receive this gift of not marrying, but only those given this gift?
Do you have the gift of not marrying? Have you had this gift of not marrying from your birth, having been born incapable of sexual relations? Did another human forcibly give you this gift, removing from you the ability to have sex? Did you personally choose for yourself this gift, denying yourself the ability to have sex for the sake of the kingdom of heaven?
Not
Everyone Is Meant To Marry Or Be Married
Seeing that Yah'shuah acknowledges that some have the gift of not marrying, even for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, isn't it the case that it is not inappropriate for a person to have this gift? Isn't it therefore the case that not everyone is meant to marry, with some remaining single or unmarried?
Does Yahweh will for you to be married or to remain unmarried? Will you abide by Yahweh's will for you?
To Have
Eternal Life Do Not Commit Adultery
Matthew 19:16-19 reads,
19:16Behold,
one came to him and said, "Good teacher, what good thing shall I do,
that I may have eternal life?"
19:17He
said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is
good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the
commandments."
19:18He
said to him, "Which ones?"
Jesus said, "‘You
shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not
steal.’ ‘You shall not offer false testimony.’ 19:19‘Honor your father
and mother.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"
Isn't it clear that among the commandments that must be kept for one to enter into life, to have eternal life, is to not commit adultery? Isn't it clear that a man should not have sex with another man's wife? Isn't it clear that a wife should not have sex with anyone apart from her husband?
Invitation
To The Kingdom Of Heaven's Marriage Feast
Matthew 22:1-14 reads,
22:1Jesus
answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying, 22:2"The
Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his
son, 22:3and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to
the marriage feast, but they would not come.
22:4Again
he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, "Behold,
I have made ready my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things
are ready. Come to the marriage feast!"’ 22:5But they made light
of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise, 22:6and the rest
grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. 22:7But the king was
angry, and he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their
city.
22:8"Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready,
but those who were invited weren't worthy. 22:9Go therefore to the
intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the
marriage feast.’ 22:10Those servants
went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both
bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests. 22:11But when the king
came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding
clothing, 22:12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not
having wedding clothing?’ He was speechless. 22:13Then the king said
to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the
outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’ 22:14For many are
called, but few chosen."
It Is
Appropriate For A Father To Hold A Marriage Feast For His Son
Isn't it the case, drawing from the example of the kingdom of heaven, that it is appropriate for marriage feasts to be held? Isn't it also appropriate for a father to hold a marriage feast for his son?
The
King Of The Kingdom Of Heaven
Who is the king of the kingdom of heaven? Isn't it Father Yahweh?
Who is the Father's son? Isn't it Yah'shuah?
Doesn't Yah'shuah's parable show that the Father will indeed hold a marriage feast for him?
Who
Will Be Present At Yah'shuah's Marriage?
Who will Yah'shuah marry? Who is Yah'shuah's bride? And who are the guests invited to feast with the groom and the bride? Who are the king's servants - the Father's angels or human servants? What is symbolised by wedding clothing? And why is it essential to have wedding clothing in order to attend Yah'shuah's marriage feast?
What is "the outer darkness"? Where is it? Why do those thrown there weep and grind their teeth?
Does
Marrying And Giving In Marriage Take Place In The Resurrection?
Matthew 22:23-32 reads,
22:23On
that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to
him. They asked him, 22:24saying,
"Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother
shall marry his wife, and raise up seed for his brother.’ 22:25Now there were with us seven brothers. The
first married and died, and having no seed left his wife to his brother. 22:26In like manner the second also, and the
third, to the seventh. 22:27After
them all, the woman died. 22:28In
the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all
had her."
22:29But
Jesus answered them, "You are mistaken, not
knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. 22:30For in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s
angels in heaven. 22:31But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read
that which was spoken to you by God, saying, 22:32‘I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living."
Yah'shuah
Did Not Contradict Moses' Teaching
Isn't it the case that in answering the unbelieving Sadducees Yah'shuah did not contradict Moses' teaching? Isn't it the case that Yah'shuah did not do away with the command of a man marrying his brother's widow to raise up seed for his brother when he dies childless? Isn't it therefore the case that this command still stands?
Do We
Follow Yahweh Or Human Tradition?
Do we respect this command of Yahweh by Moses or do we forsake it? Do we follow this command of Yahweh or do we follow human tradition that does not uphold this command of Yahweh? Are we teaching for doctrine human traditions, thereby worshipping Yahweh in vain, or are we teaching for doctrine Yahweh's word?
The
Sadducees Held A False Premise
Isn't it the case that the Sadducees assumed that those who believe in the resurrection of the dead teach that marrying and giving in marriage continues to take place in the resurrection even as it takes place in this life? Didn't Yah'shuah inform them that marrying and giving in marriage does not take place in the resurrection? Isn't it the case that Yahweh's angels in heaven do not marry, nor are given in marriage?
Do
Defiled Angels Engage In Marrying And Giving In Marriage?
What about those who are not Yahweh's angels - defiled angels? Do defiled angels marry and are they given in marriage?
Does Yahweh have angels outside heaven? If so, do these angels outside heaven marry and are given in marriage?
Human
Marriage Is An Earthly Matter And Not A Heavenly One
Don't Yah'shuah's words imply that human marriage is an earthly matter and not a heavenly one, a matter for this age and not for the age of the resurrection? Doesn't Yah'shuah's answer to the Sadducees imply that in the resurrection the woman who in her earthly life had been married more than once will not be wife to all the men she was wife to in this earthly age?
Isn't it also the case that the Sadducees assumed that those who believe in the resurrection hold that the marriage bond - the one flesh union - established in this earthly age continues to subsist in the age of the resurrection? Implying that it is not broken by death, but continues to subsist even beyond death?
The One
Flesh Union Does Not Continue Beyond Death
Didn't Yah'shuah's answer show that the one flesh union does not continue beyond death, in that the woman is not, in the resurrection, wife to the different men she was wife to in this earthly age? Doesn't this imply that once the one flesh union has been severed it indeed has been severed?
Some
Religious Leaders Sexually Exploit Widows
Matthew 23:13 reads,
23:13"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore
you will receive greater condemnation.
Don't Yah'shuah's words suggest that the scribes and Pharisees sexually exploited widows? Weren't these scribes to receive greater condemnation for both their hypocrisy and sexual exploitation of widows?
Sexually
Immoral Widows Will Receive Condemnation
Doesn't the fact that the scribes and Pharisees were to receive greater condemnation imply that there were also others to receive condemnation? Aren't these others the widows who were sexually exploited? Implying that the widows should not have allowed themselves to be sexually exploited by the scribes and Pharisees, despite bearing less guilt in the matter than the scribes and Pharisees bore?
Isn't it therefore the case that the widows were engaged in sexual sin, for they were having sex with a man not their husband?
Can A
Widow Have Sex Without Being Sexually Immoral?
Why did the widows allow their sexual vulnerability to be exploited by the scribes and Pharisees? Is there a way widows can have sex without subjecting themselves to sexual exploitation by others?
Isn't one way Yahweh reveals that already seen in Matthew 22, whereby a widow of a childless man is married by his brother to bear seed for him? What about widows who have already borne a child or children to their late husband? How can these avoid subjecting themselves to sexual exploitation, seeing that the law Yahweh gave by Moses as seen in Matthew 22, does not specifically apply to them? Can widows be married, and thereby have sex without beings sexually immoral?
The Human
Body Needs Sexual Gratification
Isn't it the case that Yah'shuah recognised that a married woman not living with her husband is vulnerable to having sex with another man? Didn't his words in Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:8-9 show that a man commits adultery by putting away his wife on a ground not founded on porneia? Implying that it was most likely that the put away wife would commit adultery by having sex with another man, seeing that the manner the man would have committed adultery would have been by his responsibility for his wife's adultery, on account of putting her in the situation whereby she committed adultery? Don't Yah'shuah's words in Matthew 23:13 also show that a widow, a woman previously married but no longer living with a man, is also vulnerable to having sex with another man? Isn't it therefore the case that women who have intimately lived with men are indeed vulnerable to having sex with others when they no longer live with the men they commenced their sexual intimacy with? Wouldn't it seem that the human body, once sexually triggered, needs sexual satisfaction every once in a while?
Seeing that such is the nature of the human body, how are women who have been sexually intimate to continue having sexual intimacy without violating Yahweh's word?
Human
Marriage Will Still Exist At The Time Of The Coming Of The Son Of Man
Matthew 24:37-39 reads,
24:37"As the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son
of Man. 24:38For as in those days which were before the flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noah entered into the ark, 24:39and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all
away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Isn't human marrying and giving in marriage to continue right up to the coming of the Son of Man? Doesn't this imply that Yahweh's marriage laws applicable in Noah's time will continue to be applicable in the time of the coming of the Son of Man?
What were Yahweh's marriage laws applicable in the time of Noah? The very same ones applicable in the time of Adam?
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