“Marriage, the Blessing or Divorce, the Curse”
“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day; And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God,...” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28 - All verses AV/KJV)
For thousands of years and unto the time of the sexual
revolution of the 1960's, a God-given institution called marriage was honored
by God’s true people, the Church. Since
the 1960's, hard hearts with desire for erroneous Bible interpretations of the
new versions have caused great damage in our society, by falsely justifying
divorce and causing broken families.
Concerning Eve, “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and
flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of
Man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh.” (Genesis 2:23-24)
Joseph and Mary, the earthly parents of Jesus, were already considered married by engagement vows, separable by divorce (putting away) only for the cause of “fornication” (Matthew 1:20) or “death.” The words “Yes” and “I Do” or “I Will” constitute a vow made by one man and one woman and seen before a Holy God Who knows and sees all. The marriage is to be completed (consummated) with the wedding ceremony and afterward, the sexual union.
“When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)
What did Jesus say about divorce? “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. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.” (Matthew 19:8-10; Also: Matthew 5:27:27-32, Luke 16:18)
“Fornication” in Matthew 19:9, refers to sinful sexual relations between the unmarried, while adultery refers to sinful sexual relations of married persons, but outside of the marriage. Sexual sins are grievous sins against oneself and God. (1 Corinthians 6:18-19)
Concerning recent confusion in mistranslating the word “Porneia,” Young’s Analytical Concordance (English translation of 1611) correctly lists the translation for the Greek word “Porneia” as “Fornication” and the English Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, fifth edition of 1948, defines fornication as “illicit sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried” or “Figuratively, esp. in Scripture, idolatry.”
(Greek word PORNEIA
definition according to Young's
Analytical Concordance to the Bible, 1879)
The KJV Holy Bible correctly translates “Porneia” as “fornication” but like the redefinition of our English word “gay,” the modern Greek interlinear versions later incorrectly added “Adultery” as a possible translation for “Porneia,” thereby causing confusion over the correct message that Jesus is teaching. If we, as His children, had just sincerely believed the Bible, instead of trying to become Greek scholars attempting to rewrite the Bible, our families and children would not have suffered such as they have in recent years.
In the above quotation from Matthew 19:8-9, God does not advise divorce for adultery because the marriage to another will result in the sin of more adultery. Why would God say it is ok to divorce in Matthew 5:32 or Matthew 19:9 and then say in 1 Corinthians 7:39 and in Romans 7:2 that “...the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth;...”? God does not make mistakes; since the sinful sexual revolution of the 1960's, we have begun to use incorrectly translated and contradictory Bibles in the desire for easy reading. However, if divorce and remarriage is God’s will for the family, then why did God say, “he hateth putting away” in Malachi 2:16 and why did God command married people not to depart in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11? “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.” Of course, the lost and hell-bound unbelievers can not be forced or expected to do God’s will. (See 1 Corinthians 7:12-16)
If man’s newly written versions have the better teaching on divorce, then why is it that these new teachings are causing more divorces in the churches than outside of the churches and why is this new teaching causing couples to go back to “An eye for an eye” in our eagerness to repay jealously for jealously in another boy or girl friend? “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Isaiah 40:8 and Matthew 18:3)
In God’s true Word, the Bible, there is only one
exception to break a marriage engagement vow, and that is fornication. During the engagement period, the marriage
can be broken with a divorce only if the engagement vow was made falsely on the
grounds of sexual purity, virginity.
Since only adultery, not fornication, can exist after the marriage
completion, (the sexual union), there is only one true way a completed marriage
can be broken, that is death. Persons
committing adultery were lawfully stoned to death. Listen to this true example:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother
Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with
child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph
her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example,
was minded to put her away privily. But
while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 1:18-20)
Notice Joseph was called her husband, yet he was espoused (engaged) to Mary. The marriage had not yet been completed; therefore Joseph could divorce Mary only if she had committed fornication. She had not committed fornication; therefore Joseph could not divorce her. Fornication or death could separate this marriage before the marriage sexual union, yet only death could separate the completed marriage, after the sexual union.
For about two thousand years, God’s New Testament people understood that the marriage vow was “unto death” and that sinners committing the horrible sins of adultery and fornication were in great danger of eternal damnation and punishment in the fires of Hell. Since God’s Word never changes, this higher standard is still taught correctly in today’s KJV Bible. Newer and weaker versions with a lowering of God’s standard, have inserted other exceptions for divorce in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 and as a result we have “itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3-4) with much confusion and contradiction concerning the truth about marriage.
Be aware of the truth, or by ignorance you may bring “the curse” upon yourself, your Church, your family, and your children down to the 3rd and 4th generations. (Numbers 14:18) Jesus said, “you shall know them by their fruits.” Can you see the damaging fruits that divorces bring to our families? “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
God defines the length of a marriage: “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.” (Romans 7:2-3, 1 Corinthians 7:39)
God defines the permanence of an engagement or marriage vow: “When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill-offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou has promised with thy mouth.” (Deuteronomy 23:21,23)
Listen to God’s Word in the following verses starting with a record concerning John the Baptist:
“For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon
John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife:
for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for
thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against
him, and would have killed him; but she could not:" (Mark 6:17-19)
“Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)
“For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away:...” (Malachi 2:16)
“I tell you, Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3,5)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Some Common Marriage Advice
(1) Being a young or unmarried person (that is a virgin) is a good thing. Do not let Satan convince you to throw away something that you can never regain.
(2) If you’ve committed fornication and both of you are unmarried, abstain from continued fornication and marry only this person in due time, until death. Ask your fiancé and God for Forgiveness. (1 Corinthians 7:9)
(3) Do not marry a non-Christian if you are a Christian and do not marry a Christian if you are not a Christian. (2 Corinthians 6:14)
(4) If you are separated from your spouse, do not commit adultery with another person or marry someone else while your put-away spouse is still alive. If neither of you have remarried, love, provide for and treat your spouse well with prayer and hope that your put-away spouse shall be saved and that the two of you shall be reunited as desired by God.
(5) If you are currently married, do not divorce. Consider this marriage until death.
(6) Repent of all fornication and adultery. If you are sexually involved with someone whom you are not married to, you are in fact living in sin. If you are remarried and your former spouse is still living, you’ve been living in the sin of adultery. Lustful eyes are considered adultery, a grievous sin against one’s own body. Regardless of the sin there is hope: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Regardless of the sin there is one hope, that of repentance. In all cases, repent of sin. Repentance means to turn away from sin. Further sin will likely bring further consequences, especially if you are sexually involved with someone that is not your husband or wife. The seemingly apparent benefits of sin will likely never out-weigh the unseen, dangerous, and sometimes permanent consequences to follow you and your family and the time will most surely come when you will regret your sinful life.
If you have gotten a divorce and you are now sexually involved with another person, you are living in a sinful adulterous relationship which leads to Hell. The good news is that there is a way to escape the eternal torment that you are facing. The only way to be free of sin is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, ask for forgiveness and repent of all sin. If you do not repent of your sins, there is no forgiveness; you are still on the path leading to eternal damnation.
Marriage was designed by God for one man and one woman for life. (Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:6-9)
Old Testament men of the Bible sometimes sinfully selected more than one wife, however in spite of some very serious consequences, God allowed that to be a family. If you are a man and you have sinfully selected more than one wife, you are by obligation responsible to support all of your children as well as any financially destitute wives that you may have left behind. If you have remarried, then you should abstain from all sinful sexual relations and sexual relations with any previous wives or husbands. Support of your previous families will likely lead to additional cost and hard work and as a result, poverty may affect your families and children. A sinful choice of divorce and remarriage bears serious consequences for you, your families and your children for generations to come.
Additionally,
it has been reported that there are now over twenty-five different strains of
sexually transmitted diseases today of which almost half have no known cure;
some are impossible to protect against and as you know, HIV, initially apparent
in Gays, will likely end in high cost and suffering before it eventually takes
a life. Many are reporting a connection
between cancers and sexually transmitted diseases. Sexually active people today are sometimes saddened to find that
they have contracted two or more diseases in just the first sexual
encounter. (See: http://www.medinstitute.org/medical/updates/spr2000_SHU.pdf)
“If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3,5)
“Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:24-27)
Link to this page: www.wtlministry.org/articles/Marriage.htm (Updated 3-19-2015)
Way Truth Life Ministry www.wtlministry.org