Yahweh's
Marriage Laws For Israelite Priests
Leviticus 21:1-15 reads,
21:1Yahweh
said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them,
There shall none defile himself for the dead among his people; 21:2except for his relatives, that is near to
him, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter,
and for his brother, 21:3and for his
sister a virgin, that is near to him, that has had no husband; for her may he
defile himself. 21:4He shall not
defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 21:5They shall not make baldness on their head,
neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings
in their flesh. 21:6They shall be
holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for the offerings of
Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they
shall be holy. 21:7They shall not
take a woman that is a prostitute, or profane; neither shall they take a woman
put away from her husband: for he is holy to his God. 21:8You shall sanctify him therefore; for he
offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I Yahweh, who
sanctify you, am holy. 21:9The
daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the prostitute, she
profanes her father: she shall be burnt with fire. 21:10He who is the high priest among his
brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, and that is consecrated to
put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head go loose, nor tear
his clothes; 21:11neither shall he
go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; 21:12neither shall he go out of the sanctuary,
nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his
God is on him: I am Yahweh. 21:13He
shall take a wife in her virginity. 21:14A
widow, or one divorced, or a profane woman, a prostitute, these shall he not
take: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife. 21:15He shall not profane his seed among his
people: for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.
Yahweh
Imposes A Higher Standard On His Priests Than On The Rest Of His People
Doesn't Yahweh impose a higher standard on his holy people, the priests, than he does upon the rest of his people? Doesn't he prohibit them from taking as wife a prostitute or profane woman, or one put away from her husband, whereas he does not so forbid the rest of his people from so doing?
A
Daughter's Prostitution Profanes Both Her And Her Father
Doesn't Yahweh make clear that the prostitution of a daughter profanes not only her, but also her father? Shouldn't fathers therefore be extra vigilant to ensure that their daughters do not prostitute themselves, or that they do not cause their daughters to prostitute themselves such as by delaying giving them to a man as wife?
The
Holiest State Of An Unmarried Woman
Doesn't Yahweh make clear that the most holy man among his people, the high priest, is allowed to take as wife only a virgin? Doesn't this imply that the holiest state an unmarried woman can be in is that of a virgin?
A
Childless Daughter Previously Married Can Return To Her Father's House
Leviticus 22:10-13 reads,
22:10There
shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest’s, or a
hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. 22:11But
if a priest buy any soul, the purchase of his money, he shall eat of it; and
such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread. 22:12If a priest’s daughter be married to a
stranger, she shall not eat of the heave-offering of the holy things. 22:13But if a priest’s daughter be a widow, or
divorced, and have no child, and be returned to her father’s house, as in her
youth, she shall eat of her father’s bread: but there shall no stranger eat of
it.
Doesn't Yahweh's word show that a childless daughter previously married can
indeed return to her father's house, and be there as she was in her youth?
Isn't this the word that
A Woman
Who Has Borne Children Is Not To Return To Her Father's House
Seeing that Yahweh has spoken only with respect to a childless previously married woman, doesn't it appear that a previously married woman who has borne children is not to return to her father's house and be there as in her youth? Isn't her role that of looking after her children wherever it is that her children are?
Doesn't Hagar's case shed some light on this matter? When Abraham cast her out, didn't she refrain from returning to the house of her parents? Didn't she take care of her son in the wilderness and eat of what Yahweh provided them?
Isn't Zipporah's case also helpful in shedding some light in this matter? When she returned to her father's house, didn't her father seek to remove her from his house and return her back to Moses' house? Didn't her father's conduct indicate that a woman who has borne children indeed is not to return to her father's house as in her youth, but should take care of her children elsewhere, preferably in the household of those children's father?
Yahweh
Makes Fruitful Those Who Keep His Commandments And Do Them
Leviticus 26:1-13 reads,
26:1You
shall make you no idols, neither shall you rear you up an engraved image, or a
pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to
it: for I am Yahweh your God. 26:2You
shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Yahweh. 26:3If you walk in my statutes, and keep my
commandments, and do them; 26:4then
I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase,
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 26:5Your threshing shall reach to the vintage,
and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to
the full, and dwell in your land safely. 26:6I
will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you
afraid: and I will cause evil animals to cease out of the land, neither shall
the sword go through your land. 26:7You
shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 26:8Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a
hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you
by the sword. 26:9I will have
respect to you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my
covenant with you. 26:10You
shall eat old store long kept, and you shall bring forth the old because of the
new. 26:11I will set my tent among
you: and my soul won’t abhor you. 26:12I
will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 26:13I am Yahweh your God, who brought you
forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondservants; and
I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
Doesn't Yahweh make clear in 26:9 that it is in his power to make a people fruitful and multiply them? Seeing that Yahweh has commanded humans to be fruitful and to multiply, and seeing that it is in his power to facilitate that fruitfulness and multiplication, isn't it the case that humans should concentrate on what they should and leave what is beyond them to Yahweh? Shouldn't humans simply act in obedience to Yahweh's command of being fruitful and multiplying, without trying to prevent or impede their being fruitful and multiplying?
Numbers 5:11-31 reads,
5:11Yahweh
spoke to Moses, saying, 5:12"Speak
to the children of Israel, and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, and
is unfaithful to him, 5:13and a man
lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is
kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she
isn’t taken in the act; 5:14and the
spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is
defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his
wife, and she isn’t defiled: 5:15then
the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for
her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor
put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering
of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 5:16The
priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh; 5:17and the priest shall take holy water in an
earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the
priest shall take, and put it into the water. 5:18The
priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head
go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal
offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness
that brings a curse. 5:19The priest
shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, ‘If no man has lain with
you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be
free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 5:20But if you have gone astray, being under
your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides
your husband:’ 5:21then the
priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest
shall tell the woman, ‘Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your
people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 5:22and this water that brings a curse will go
into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.’ The
woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’
5:23"The
priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the
water of bitterness. 5:24He shall
make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the
water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 5:25The priest shall take the meal offering of
jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before
Yahweh, and bring it to the altar. 5:26The
priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as the memorial of it, and
burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 5:27When he has made her drink the water, then
it shall happen, if she is defiled, and has committed a trespass against her
husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become
bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away: and the woman
will be a curse among her people. 5:28If
the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall
conceive seed.
5:29"This
is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and
is defiled; 5:30or when the spirit
of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set
the woman before Yahweh, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. 5:31The man shall be free from iniquity, and
that woman shall bear her iniquity."
Isn't it clear that when a wife is unfaithful to her husband, and sexually lies with another man, she becomes defiled or unclean?
The Spirit
Of Jealousy Is Not A Reliable Indicator Of A Wife's Defilement
Isn't it also clear that the spirit of jealousy can come on a husband, on account of his wife, irrespective of whether or not she is defiled or unclean? Doesn't this show that the spirit of jealousy is not a reliable indicator of a wife being defiled or unclean, seeing that it can come upon a husband even though his wife is clean?
A Wife
Is Under Her Husband's Authority
Doesn't 5:20 show that a wife is under the authority of her husband?
Yahweh
Has Capacity To Curse A Woman
Doesn't 5:21-22 show that Yahweh has capacity to curse a woman, by causing her body to waste away, on account of her defiling act of adultery? Shouldn't wives fear Yahweh, and not act unfaithfully against their husbands, lest Yahweh curse them by causing their bodies to waste away?
Barrenness
Is A Curse From Yahweh
Doesn't 5:27-28 show that a woman cursed by Yahweh as shown above on account of her defiling adultery becomes barren? And doesn't Yahweh spare a clean woman, one not defiled or unclean by adultery, barrenness - facilitating her conceiving, bearing and giving birth?
Shouldn't Yahweh's people fear him and walk faithfully in his law, and not commit adultery? Shouldn't Yahweh's people act to spare themselves curses at Yahweh's hand on account of walking in the uncleanness and defilement of adultery?
Moses'
Marriage To A Cushite Woman
Numbers 12 reads,
12:1Miriam
and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married;
for he had married a Cushite woman. 12:2They
said, Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us?
Yahweh heard it. 12:3Now the man
Moses was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the earth. 12:4Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, and to
Aaron, and to Miriam, Come out you three to the tent of meeting. They three
came out. 12:5Yahweh came down in a
pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and
Miriam; and they both came forth. 12:6He
said, Hear now my words: if there be a prophet among you, I Yahweh will make
myself known to him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream. 12:7My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful
in all my house: 12:8with him will I
speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form
of Yahweh shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against my
servant, against Moses? 12:9The
anger of Yahweh was kindled against them; and he departed. 12:10The cloud removed from over the Tent; and,
behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow: and Aaron looked at Miriam, and,
behold, she was leprous. 12:11Aaron
said to Moses, Oh, my lord, please don’t lay sin on us, for that we have
done foolishly, and for that we have sinned. 12:12Let
her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he
comes out of his mother’s womb. 12:13Moses
cried to Yahweh, saying, Heal her, God, I beg you. 12:14Yahweh said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her
face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the
camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again. 12:15Miriam was shut up outside of the camp
seven days: and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again. 12:16Afterward the people journeyed from
Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.
Why
Miriam And Aaron Spoke Out Against Moses
Isn't it clear that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of his marrying a Cushite woman? Did they speak out against him on account of his marrying a woman not a child of Israel?
Moses'
Cushitic Wife Was Additional To His Midianite Wife
Wasn't the Cushite woman Moses married an additional wife to the Midianite woman, Zipporah, Jethro's daughter, who bore him two sons? Isn't it clear that Moses had more than one wife, a Midianite one and a Cushite one?
It Was
Not Sin For Moses To Marry An Additional Wife
Didn't Yahweh make clear that Miriam and Aaron had sinned in speaking against Moses on account of his marrying a Cushite woman? Doesn't this imply that it was not sin on Moses' part in his marrying an additional wife, a Cushite woman?
It Is
Sin To Speak Out Against A Man For Marrying An Additional Wife
Isn't it therefore clear that it is not sin for a man to marry an additional wife? Isn't it also clear that it is sin to speak out against a man on account of his marrying an additional wife?
Shouldn't Yahweh's people refrain from speaking out against men who marry additional wives on account of so marrying, seeing it is sin to so speak?
Inheritance
When A Man Has Only Daughters And No Sons
Numbers 27:1-11 reads,
27:1Then
drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead,
the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of
Joseph; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and
Milcah, and Tirzah. 27:2They stood
before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the
congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying, 27:3Our father died in the wilderness, and he
was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against
Yahweh in the company of Korah: but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons.
27:4Why should the name of our
father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a
possession among the brothers of our father. 27:5Moses
brought their cause before Yahweh. 27:6Yahweh
spoke to Moses, saying, 27:7The
daughters of Zelophehad speak right: you shall surely give them a possession of
an inheritance among their father’s brothers; and you shall cause the
inheritance of their father to pass to them. 27:8You
shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son,
then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 27:9If he have no daughter, then you shall give
his inheritance to his brothers. 27:10If
he have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.
27:11If his father have no brothers,
then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his
family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be to the children of Israel a
statute and ordinance, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Isn't it clear that among the children of Israel a man's inheritance is to pass onto his sons? Isn't it also clear that if the man has no sons then his inheritance passes onto his daughters? Isn't it therefore clear that in matters of inheritance sons have a right while daughters have only a contingency right, daughters having a right only when there are no sons?
Validity
Of The Vows Of A Woman
Numbers 30 reads,
30:1Moses
spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This is the
thing which Yahweh has commanded. 30:2When
a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he
shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his
mouth. 30:3Also when a woman vows
a vow to Yahweh, and binds herself by a bond, being in her father’s house, in
her youth, 30:4and her father hears
her vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds
his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she
has bound her soul shall stand. 30:5But
if her father disallow her in the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of
her bonds with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and Yahweh will
forgive her, because her father disallowed her. 30:6If
she be married to a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance
of her lips, with which she has bound her soul, 30:7and
her husband hear it, and hold his peace at her in the day that he hears it;
then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul
shall stand. 30:8But if her husband
disallow her in the day that he hears it, then he shall make void her vow which
is on her, and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her
soul: and Yahweh will forgive her. 30:9But
the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, even everything with which she
has bound her soul, shall stand against her. 30:10If
she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, 30:11and her husband heard it, and held his
peace at her, and didn’t disallow her; then all her vows shall stand, and every
bond with which she bound her soul shall stand. 30:12But
if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then
whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond
of her soul, shall not stand: her husband has made them void; and Yahweh will
forgive her. 30:13Every vow, and
every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her
husband may make it void. 30:14But
if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he
establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are on her: he has
established them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard
them. 30:15But if he shall make them
null and void after that he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity. 30:16These are the statutes, which Yahweh
commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter,
being in her youth, in her father’s house.
Isn't it clear from Yahweh's words that a daughter, being in her youth, in her father's house, prior to being given as wife to a man, is under her father's authority? Isn't it also clear that a wife is under her husband's authority?
Vows Of
Those Under Authority Need The Ratification Of Their Superiors
Isn't it also clear that the vows of those under authority are not valid until ratified by the one in authority over them, the ratification being either express or by implication?
Numbers 36 reads,
36:1The
heads of the fathers’ houses of the family of the children of Gilead, the son
of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came
near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’
houses of the children of Israel: 36:2and
they said, Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot
to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the
inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 36:3If they be married to any of the sons of
the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be
taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the
inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away
from the lot of our inheritance. 36:4When
the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be
added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will
their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our
fathers.
36:5Moses
commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Yahweh, saying, The
tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right. 36:6This
is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad,
saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of
the tribe of their father shall they be married. 36:7So
shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for
the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to the inheritance of the tribe of
his fathers. 36:8Every daughter, who
possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife
to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel
may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. 36:9So shall no inheritance remove from one
tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave
everyone to his own inheritance.
36:10Even
as Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: 36:11for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and
Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s
brothers’ sons. 36:12They were
married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their
inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 36:13These are the commandments and the
ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the
plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Isn't it clear that there are circumstances where Yahweh restricts the group of people from whom a person may marry? Hasn't Yahweh restricted, within Israel, daughters possessing an inheritance from being married outside their father's tribe, that no inheritance passes from one tribe to another? Hasn't Yahweh also restricted a widow of a childless man to being married by one of his brothers, that she may conceive and bear seed to succeed to his name or bear his inheritance?
Servants
Of Yahweh Should Marry Only Amongst Themselves
Deuteronomy 7:1-6 reads,
7:1When
Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and
shall cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and
the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the
Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you; 7:2and when Yahweh your God shall deliver them
up before you, and you shall strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them: you
shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them; 7:3neither shall you make marriages with them;
your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to
your son. 7:4For he will turn away
your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger
of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly. 7:5But thus shall you deal with them: you shall
break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their
Asherim, and burn their engraved images with fire. 7:6For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God: Yahweh your
God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who
are on the face of the earth.
Why
Yahweh Forbids His Servants From Marrying Those Who Are Not His Servants
Isn't the reason Yahweh forbids his servants from marrying with those who do not serve him to prevent his servants from turning away from serving him? Doesn't this imply that a marriage relationship has great potential in causing a person to behave in a given manner, whether to serve Yahweh or whether to depart from serving Yahweh? And don't Yahweh's words show that in a marriage relationship there is greater potential in a mixed marriage for a servant of his to depart from him than for the servant of another god to become his servant?
Shouldn't Yahweh's people heed his words and forsake entering into marriage with those who do not serve him?
Yahweh
Blesses His Faithful People With Fruitfulness Of Body
Deuteronomy 7:12-15 reads,
7:12It
shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them,
that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the lovingkindness
which he swore to your fathers: 7:13and
he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit
of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new
wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in
the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. 7:14You shall be blessed above all peoples:
there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 7:15Yahweh will take away from you all
sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, will he put
on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.
Aren't fruitfulness of the body and the multiplication of human beings a blessing from Yahweh? Isn't the lack of barrenness, among both men and women, a blessing from Yahweh?
Shouldn't Yahweh's people heed his words that he may indeed bless them, making them fruitful and multiplying them, and removing barrenness from among them?
When A
Person Seeks To Entice Another Away From Serving Yahweh
Deuteronomy 13:6-11 reads,
13:6If
your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the
wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly,
saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you,
nor your fathers; 13:7of the gods of
the peoples who are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the
one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; 13:8you shall not consent to him, nor listen to
him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall
you conceal him: 13:9but you shall
surely kill him; your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and
afterwards the hand of all the people. 13:10You
shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away
from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage. 13:11All Israel
shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this
is in the midst of you.
Terminate
Your Relationship With A Person Who Seeks To Entice You Away From Serving
Yahweh
Doesn't Yahweh show that if one person entices another to depart from serving Yahweh to serve other gods the relationship between the one and the other is to be terminated? Isn't that relationship to be terminated even if in the past both the one and the other had been faithfully serving Yahweh? Isn't the relationship to be terminated even in the case of a marriage relationship or other family relationship?
It Is
Great Wickedness To Entice Another Away From Serving Yahweh
Doesn't Yahweh show that it is great wickedness for a person to entice another to depart from serving Yahweh to serve other gods?
How To
Deal With Those Who Seek To Entice You Away From Serving Yahweh
Seeing that today people do not execute Yahweh's word to kill those who entice his servants to depart from him to serve other gods, how are servants of Yahweh to deal with a situation of a person seeking to entice them to depart from serving Yahweh to serve other gods?
Isn't it clear from Yahweh's word that his penalty upon such wicked people is death? Upon execution of Yahweh's word, don't the relationships that existed while the dead person was alive cease? Doesn't this imply that Yahweh's people should act towards such people as if they no longer existed, even if they are not killed? Doesn't this imply that Yahweh's people should cease all communication and relations with such people, acting as though the person was dead?
Is The
Marriage Of A Woman To A Man Who Seeks To Entice Her Away From Serving Yahweh
Terminated?
Does this imply, in the context of marriage, that a woman married to such a wicked man effectively becomes a widow in Yahweh's eyes? Or does her marriage continue to subsist, seeing that her wicked husband is still alive, and she is therefore not a widow? Does she remain his wife and bear whatever adverse consequences arising from her husband serving other gods, because Yahweh's word to kill her wicked husband wasn't executed?
In Genesis 20, when Abimelech had sinned in taking another man's wife to be his, didn't Yahweh tell him that he and all who were his would die if he did not restore the woman to her husband? Hadn't Yahweh already by then made barren Abimelech and all who were his - his wife and maidservants? Didn't the penalty for Abimelech's sin include all who were his - his wife and maidservants? Doesn't this indicate that Yahweh made no distinction between Abimelech and all who were his, those who were one-flesh with him? Weren't those who belonged to Abimelech caught up in his sin, even though they were not responsible for the sin, seeing that he was the one responsible for it? Doesn't this show that a maidservant of Yahweh married to a wicked man is caught up in the curses against her wicked husband, seeing she is one-flesh with him and therefore one entity with him in Yahweh's eyes?
How can a maidservant of Yahweh married to a wicked husband escape the punishment or curses that befall her husband's household on account of his wickedness?
In Genesis 38, didn't Yahweh kill Er on account of his wickedness, thereby terminating his marriage to Tamar? Didn't Yahweh also kill Onan on account of his wickedness, thereby terminating his marriage to Tamar? Wasn't the manner Yahweh terminated Tamar's marriages the death of her wicked husbands, thereby making her a widow?
Isn't it seen that Yahweh indeed has power to kill the wicked, even when those living around the wicked do not kill them? Doesn't this suggest that if a husband is wicked, in that he seeks to entice his wife to follow him in serving other gods apart from Yahweh, and those around him do not kill him, Yahweh indeed can kill him? Isn't this a way Yahweh may terminate the marriage of the wife to such a man, seeing that Yahweh has not given her authority to terminate her marriage on account of her husband's wickedness?
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