“And
if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy
whole body should be cast into hell. (Matthew 5:30).”
I.
Introduction
a. Christ’s
discussion of the Law
i.
Adultry, marriage, divorce, and
remarriage
ii.
Covers six verses
1.Vv. 27-32
II.
Adultry/Lust
a. Covers
four verses
b.Vv. 27-30
c. In
verse 27, Christ refers back to the Torah and the Law (especially the
Decalogue)
i.
Verse 27 refers directly the sixth
commandment.[1]
1.Six is the number
of man, beast, and the Satanic[2]
2.It is interesting
that the commandment dealing with adultery is the same number as the number of
man and beast considering that adultery is fleshly and wicked.
d.
Jesus deals with the root of
adultery, which is lust.
i.
Christ proceeded by establishing
Himself in the role of Master Rabbi with the phrase, “But I say unto you…”
ii.
He used the same teaching style
with anger/reconciliation.
1.Christ first named
the outward manifestation and then focused on the inward situation.
iii.
Lust is breed in the heart and manifested
in the flesh
1.For the person who
is married, Christ said that that individual committed adultery.
2.For the individual
who is single, they committed fornication.
3.Lust has taken
down many strong men.
a. Samson
(Prophet)[3]
b.David (King)[4]
c. Solomon
(King)[5]
iv.
Right eye and right hand
1.Right is the side
of strength, power, and prominence
2.Jesus said to
pluck it out/cut if off if it causes you to sin
a. He
did not mean to literally do it but used it as an illustration of “get rid of
and avoid anything that would cause you to lust”
b.It is a do
whatever it takes to prevent one from going to hell
i.
Once again, the Greek word “Geenna”
was used referring to the Valley Hinnom
III. Divorce
a. Covers
two verses
i.
Vv. 31 & 32
b.In Verse 31,
Christ directly references the Law of Moses[6]
i.
The ONLY allowance for the divorce
is unfaithfulness
ii.
The Bill of Divorce was only to be
issued either during the Betrothal Period or during the Wedding Week, probably
the wedding day itself.
1.The Jewish term
for this “bill of divorce” is a “get”
2.Joseph and Mary
are a NT example[7]
c. Divorce
was NEVER part of God’s design of marriage.[8]
d.
Divorce and the Bill of Divorcement
came into existence because of the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites.[9]
i.
The reason the Bill of Divorce was
important
1.The marriage began
with the signing of a legal document with witnesses and thus it must end with a
legal signed document
2.The woman was
originally under the headship of her father until marriage.[10]
IV.
Remarriage
a. According
to Mosaic Law, the couple that was divorced could not remarry each other after
one of them had been married to another[11]
i.
God used this as in illustration
with adulterous Israel.[12]
[1] Exodus 20:14 ”Thou shalt
not commit adultery.”
Deuteronomy
5:18 “Neither shalt thou commit adultery.”
[3] Note: See Judges chapters 14 through 16.
[4] Note: See 2 Samuel 11
[5] 1 Kings 11:1-4 “But king Solomon loved many strange women,
together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites,
Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; 2 Of
the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye
shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they
will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses,
and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old,
that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not
perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
[6] Deuteronomy 24:1 “When a
man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no
favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him
write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of
his house.”
[7] Note: See Matt. 1:19-25
[8] Matthew 19:4 “And he answered
and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning
made them male and female,
Mark 10:6 “But from the beginning of the
creation God made them male and female.”
[9] Mt 19:8 He saith unto them,
Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your
wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
[10]
Note: This structure of headship was
illustrated in Number chapter 30. The
rule of the husband over the wife is seen in Genesis 3:16 and 1 Corinthians
11:3 and Ephesians 5:21.
[11] Deuteronomy 24:2-4 “And
when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's
wife. 3 And if the latter husband hate
her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and
sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to
be his wife; 4 Her former husband, which
sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is
defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the
land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
[12]
Jeremiah 3:1 “They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and
become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be
greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return
again to me, saith the LORD.”
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