Divorce:
The Rough Spot In The Road
John 4:16 “Jesus saith unto her, Go, call
thy husband, and come hither.
17
The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no
husband:
18 For thou hast had
five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy
husband: in that saidst thou truly.”
Here is a rough spot in the road.
This is where people get upset.
This is where the brethren develop a case of hard of hearing. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” [Revelation 2:29]
If we would just believe the BOOK for what it says, where it said it, we would be far better off. Jesus Christ is THE WORD and BIBLE is the word. Both of them can pin you down with expert precision.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” [Hebrews 4:12]
Jesus Christ knew she had no husband even though she was married five times before. The SON of GOD knew the man she was now with was not her husband.
Jesus Christ The Definer Of Marriage
Jesus Christ knows what marriage is. He defined what marriage is … in THE BEGINNING.
It’s the book of Genesis 2:21-24 that gives the root or vital definition of what the essence of marriage is: "they shall be one flesh."
Therefore, marriage is first, primarily, a fleshly matter.
But, if we give ear to tradition, we would picture a marriage occurring with the ceremony, where the exchange of vows takes place, before a congregation, in conjunction with a writing (license), issued by the governmental institution (Romans 13).
If we are honest, most of the religious crowd would consider this the marriage.
Things To Remember
Remember: the first marriage occurred before the institution of human government (the licensing agency).
Remember: the first marriage occurred with an absence of a religious ceremony (before a human congregation).
However, this OLD BLACK BOOK will straighten us out.
It will clear out the fog of humanism.
It said "they shall be one flesh", and it occurs in its most basic meaning when flesh joins flesh ... to make one.
The Bible guides us by faith in the BOOK that the ceremony is not the real thing. It is only a picture of the real thing.
It is a picture of the marriage!
Or rather it is the declaration of a covenant before God and before men. This [THE CEREMONY] ought to be done, but the consummation [THE MARRIAGE] is: when flesh joins flesh. This gives the BIBLICAL ROOT or vital definition of what the very essence of marriage is: when flesh joins flesh.
So in verse eighteen when Jesus said: “For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly”, recognized that this woman was married five different times [five marriages] with five different men.
Furthermore Jesus Christ recognized that the man that she was now with was not her husband [no marriage but was an adulterous relationship [ADULTERY].
This is where the religious fundamentalist disagrees with the LORD.
The Rough Spot In The Road
Here is the rough spot! So many religious fundamentalists think you are still married even if your spouse divorces you. They think if you ever remarried, that is, married another person that you would then have more than one wife or husband. They would call this new marriage a marriage of perpetual adultery. They quote Romans chapter seven, verse one - three as their proof text.
“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”
They have misused the Scripture. In this passage, (Romans 7:1-3) you need to realize that no divorce is mentioned, nor is it implied in the context. Therefore, we must not force it into being there if we are to be honest. The religious fundamentalist sees a divorce occurring between the phrase: “while her husband liveth,” and the next phrase: “she be married to another man.”
No divorce ever occurred here in Romans chapter seven.
Then what happened in Romans chapter seven?
This is what the passage teaches! A woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive...so if she marries another man (no intervening divorce), she is called an adulteress. Therefore, the woman in our passage here in John four correctly and [SCRIPTURALLY] “answered and said, I have no husband.”
She was divorced five times!
She was no longer married.
She was unmarried, just like the man and woman in First Corinthians chapter seven, verse eleven, were now unmarried.
Do not believe me! Check it for yourself! “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” [1 Corinthians 7:10] “But and if she depart, let her remain UNMARRIED …”
Heart problem?
Are you hard of hearing? “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Jesus affirmed her marital status as unmarried. “Thou hast well said, I have no husband:” and verse eighteen: “For thou hast had five husbands;” HAD is the operative term.
The Ideal Biblical Pattern For Marriage
1. The ideal Biblical pattern for marriage is set in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 … one man - one woman for life.
2. God provided legislation (by the giving of the Law) to Israel, governing multiple wives; i.e., marriage privileges, responsibilities delineated, including the regulation of divorce and re-marriage.
3. God gives the New Testament order: National Israel set aside, and the institution of the Church established with the Jew and the Gentile in one body, which re-sets Genesis 1-2 for marriage, one man, one woman for life as ideal.
4. God reveals only two Biblical reasons for Divorce for New Testament Christians, that is, for adultery, and for desertion by the unbeliever. Remarriage allowed only in these cases, plus for reason of the death of the spouse.Help In A Time Of Need
Brethren we are the believers in Jesus Christ who are living near the end of the CHURCH AGE just before the translation of the all the church age saints.
The Scripture has said this would be a time of apostasy.
This is the apostasy that is running rampant in the churches today.
Our marriages and homes are under attack like never before.
Divorces and broken homes are all over the land.
This is because our nation has divorced God, and God therefore, is bringing us into JUDGMENT. Amen!
The chickens [so to speak] are coming home to roost to all the nations [GENTILES], but we [CHRISTIANS] need:
1. To have proper understanding [WISDOM] of the institution of marriage the way GOD sees it.
2. To have proper understanding [WISDOM] of the institution of divorce the way GOD sees it.
3. To have proper understanding [WISDOM] of how to deal with the brethren who have experienced the troubles that will come in this life because of sin.
Trouble will come for many of us!
The SON of GOD certainly knew all of the intimate details of this Samaritan woman when he met her at the well.
1. The SON of GOD knew she was just a DOG … a GENTILE. [Mark 7:25-28]
2. The SON of GOD knew “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans”
3. The SON of GOD knew she was an OUTSIDER to the promises of GOD given to Israel.
4. The SON of GOD knew she was an enemy of the Jews.
Why Did Jesus Come To Her?
1. This was to be a meeting, meant from heaven, to show in part the path of the travel of the Gospel was to take as stated in [Acts 1:8] “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
2. This was to be a meeting determined by the SON of GOD … on his way to the Cross of Calvary. [John 4:4] “And he must needs go through Samaria.”
3. Jesus Christ was seeking to save that which was lost. [Mark 10:45] “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Though the Samaritan woman had five marriages and was living in adultery at that very moment … Jesus Christ came to her.
The SON of GOD certainly knows all of our intimate details. Jesus has come to us, Amen.
We ourselves need to realize that Jesus Christ has come to us …
1. We who are dogs
2. We who are the enemies of God
3. We who are outsiders to the promises of God.
Here we are together this day.
This is a TRUE offer to you!
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Will you receive him? [John1:12]
Amen!