Episode 201
Don't Burn the Eggs (and Other Ways to Prevent Divorce)
In this episode of Ryan and Brian’s Bible Bistro, Ryan and Brian continue their walk through the Sermon on the Mount, focusing on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 about adultery and divorce. What does Jesus mean when He says lust begins in the heart? Is He making the law stricter, or restoring its original intent? The conversation explores how desire, temptation, and the “lust of the eyes” work together, tracing those themes from Genesis and David & Bathsheba all the way to modern life with phones, advertising, and social media.
The discussion also dives into the difficult topic of divorce, unpacking the Old Testament background from Deuteronomy, the debates between the Pharisees, and why Jesus points back to creation and God’s design for marriage. Ryan and Brian talk honestly about the ways these passages have sometimes been used harmfully in church contexts, while emphasizing the importance of understanding both the historical setting and the high view of marriage Jesus presents. Along the way, they touch on rabbinic teachings, the meaning of the Greek word porneia, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7, and how both singleness and marriage can be understood as gifts from God.
Takeaways:
- The podcast discusses the significance of the Sermon on the Mount, focusing on Jesus' teachings regarding the law and moral conduct.
- The conversation emphasizes the importance of understanding Jesus' interpretation of the law, particularly regarding issues like adultery and divorce.
- Listeners are encouraged to consider the heart of the law, as Jesus seeks to redirect the focus from mere legalism to the underlying intentions of God's commandments.
- The speakers highlight the complexities surrounding divorce in biblical context, stressing that the focus should not solely be on legalism but on the sanctity of marriage and God's design.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Ryan and Brian's Bible Bistro.
Speaker B:I'm Ryan and that's Brian.
Speaker B:Say hi, Brian.
Speaker A:Brian,.
Speaker B:This is the Bible Bistro, a podcast all about the Bible theology and all things related to the Christian faith.
Speaker B:How you doing this morning, Brian?
Speaker A:I'm doing okay.
Speaker A:A little.
Speaker A:Little allergies this morning, I think, in the.
Speaker A:In the.
Speaker A:You know, it's that time of year.
Speaker A:Everything's the.
Speaker A:The blooms are budding and the buds are blooming and my nose is running all, all, all.
Speaker B:All of that must be an Illinois phrase I'm not familiar with.
Speaker A:I just made it up.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker B:Yeah, it feels like it.
Speaker B:It feels like it.
Speaker B:Spoken word.
Speaker B:Yeah, we can start doing, like, spoken word.
Speaker B:Like, you know, I don't know what they call it.
Speaker B:Words about your allergies, but that's not what we're doing here today, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Okay, we're not.
Speaker B:I mean, if you had to do spoken words about the Sermon on the Mount, spoken word, I'd love for it.
Speaker A:All right, here we go.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, we're.
Speaker A:We're moving through the Sermon on the Mount a little bit at a time.
Speaker A:So just to review, our last episode was on Jesus and the law, basically, Matthew 5, 17, 18.
Speaker A:I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
Speaker A:And what did he mean by that?
Speaker A:So we talked about that quite a bit, and then Jesus gives us a series of examples, I think, that show us kind of what he's referring to.
Speaker A:The first was this idea we looked at as a part of that episode, do not murder.
Speaker A:So there's this whole series of statements from the Old Testament law, do not murder.
Speaker A:You know, you've heard that it was said, do not murder.
Speaker A:But I say to you.
Speaker A:So we talked a little bit.
Speaker A:So I encourage you, if you're just getting into this, go back and listen to that episode, because we talked about, you know, is Jesus, what does he need in relation to this?
Speaker A:Is he trying to make the law more harsh or harsh isn't the right word?
Speaker A:Is he trying to strengthen the law, or is he, you know, what's going on here?
Speaker A:And I'll just remind you for this part that I think one of the primary things is he's saying that the law has been interpreted in an incorrect way, that they miss the point of the law.
Speaker A:And I think that's what we're going to see with these two issues today.
Speaker A:We're going to look at two issues.
Speaker A:Hopefully we'll get through them.
Speaker A:Adultery and divorce.
Speaker A:Not necessarily Related, but they can be.
Speaker A:But we're gonna look at those two things where Jesus brings us kind of back to the heart of the law on these two particular issues.
Speaker A:And we'll kind of see.
Speaker A:Now, I do wanna.
Speaker A:I'll say at the outset, and try to help me with this, Ryan, is these are issues that can be very hurtful.
Speaker A:And even the way that they've been handled in the church sometimes in the past because of some of these statements of Jesus.
Speaker A:In fact, a particular one here in Matthew chapter five, something that Jesus says that has been interpreted in a way that has been hurtful to people.
Speaker A:So we want to be sensitive.
Speaker A:We realize that divorce is a reality.
Speaker A:And again, I don't think that's what Jesus is not primarily trying to make this into a really legalistic, strict thing.
Speaker A:What he's trying to do is to bring people back to what God's intention was in the law.
Speaker A:So I'll kind of just begin with that.
Speaker A:So go ahead and read Matthew 5, 27 with all of that.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker B:All of those disclaimers.
Speaker B:Here we go.
Speaker B:What do you want to read here?
Speaker A:Just 27 right now, I think.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So this is a reference to, again, the Ten Commandments back in Matthew, chapter 20.
Speaker A:It's important to note, and this is the Old Testament background.
Speaker A:We want to see that he's talking in this context.
Speaker A:There's actually two different statements in the law that have to do with this question of adultery, I think.
Speaker A:And it'll actually help us understand what Jesus says next, I think.
Speaker A:So verse 14, of course, is just, you shall not commit adultery.
Speaker A:That's one of the Ten Commandments.
Speaker B:Exodus 20, Exodus 20, sorry, verse 14.
Speaker A:And then down in verse 17, this is the law of coveting.
Speaker A:And what is specifically mentioned there is, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
Speaker A:Coveting, we usually covetousness has to do with desiring or wanting what does not belong to you.
Speaker A:And so this idea of coveting your neighbor's wife actually goes kind of along with what we see Jesus here saying.
Speaker A:So here's the contrast.
Speaker A:You've heard that it was said, I'll remind you again, the herd there probably has to do with this has been brought to them by teachers like the Pharisees.
Speaker A:They've heard the law explained by them.
Speaker A:But go ahead with verse 28, then see what Jesus says.
Speaker B:But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Speaker A:Okay, so there's two things.
Speaker A:No, go ahead.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:No, I didn't know.
Speaker A:Yeah, we'll come down to verses 29 and 30 in just a minute.
Speaker A:So there's two things here we'll see in this verse.
Speaker A:And one of them is what he goes on with verse 29.
Speaker A:He talks about looking at a woman lustfully.
Speaker A:And there's two parts to this, I think, that help us to understand the nature of sin.
Speaker A:The word lustfully here is just the idea of a strong desire.
Speaker A:And the interesting thing is that it's used other times in the New Testament.
Speaker A:In fact, Jesus says, this is the one in Luke.
Speaker A:Do you remember when they're getting ready to have the Passover meal?
Speaker A:And he says, I've eagerly desired to share this Passover with you.
Speaker A:Exact same word.
Speaker A:So lustfully we've taken.
Speaker A:It's the same word that we have, desire.
Speaker A:It really just means to desire something strongly.
Speaker A:The problem isn't the desire, it's the object of the desire.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So wanting something that is prohibited or forbidden is, you know, we would say in English, lust, you know, or we've used that connotation.
Speaker A:But it can even have just a neutral idea.
Speaker A:For example, when Jesus is talking about things that are being fulfilled, he says those of the past eagerly desired to look into these things.
Speaker A:In other words, the things that you're able to see, he's saying to the people who are seeing these signs, fulfilled people in the past desired it.
Speaker A:So that's kind of more of a neutral idea.
Speaker A:Or like I said, it could even be positive.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker A:It's dependent upon what the nature of that desire is.
Speaker A:What's the object of the desire?
Speaker A:I guess is what I should say.
Speaker A:So that goes along too with that second comment I made in the Ten Commandments.
Speaker A:The idea of coveting.
Speaker A:Coveting your neighbor's wife is the idea of having this strong desire of something that doesn't rightfully is outside of the bounds of what is available to you.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So we see both of those things here in this.
Speaker A:Thoughts on that or comments.
Speaker A:So we have the ideas of desire and looking.
Speaker A:Both.
Speaker A:Go ahead.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So, I mean.
Speaker B:Yeah, No, I just hadn't.
Speaker B:I'd never thought of the.
Speaker B:I mean, I've always thought of the word lust very much in a sexual context, not just in a desiring context.
Speaker A:And so in English, lust, a lot of times would have that.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker A:What were you saying?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So I mean, just to think about that.
Speaker B:Eagerly desires you're talking about, like in Luke, when Jesus is talking about that Passover meal, to think about this.
Speaker B:It's over desire, and it's about the object.
Speaker A:Object of your desire.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I think that's a really interesting thing to think about there.
Speaker A:We read through some of this.
Speaker A:I didn't think about the C.S.
Speaker A:Lewis quote, but it goes along with this.
Speaker A:And I don't know if I can come up with it exactly.
Speaker A:We'll have to look it up maybe and put in the show notes or something.
Speaker A:Or we can use AI to bring it back and I'll say it correctly the next time.
Speaker A:But his quote, no, you will never.
Speaker B:Hear AI voices on this podcast again, FYI.
Speaker A:So the CS Lewis quote is something to the effect is we don't desire too.
Speaker A:Our problem is not that we desire too much as we desire too little.
Speaker A:In other words, our desire is too small for the things of God.
Speaker A:If our desire for the things that he has for us were stronger, then it would help us with the desires, the weaker desires that we have.
Speaker A:So that's kind of this idea.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's not the emotion of desire itself that's wrong.
Speaker A:It's what is the object.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So the other thing is the eye.
Speaker A:So go ahead with 29 through 30, because remember he said anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Speaker A:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker B:Yeah, I gotta hear you.
Speaker B:If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.
Speaker B:It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Speaker B:And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.
Speaker B:It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Speaker A:Now, obviously this is a very graphic statement, and I think this is a hyperbolic statement that Jesus is making here.
Speaker A:But it points out that we are better to focus upon the spiritual rather than the physical things that can perhaps be a stumbling block to our spiritual lives.
Speaker A:The things that are before us physically, often we place ahead of those things that have a deeper value spiritually.
Speaker A:And I'm going to show you some other passages that talk about that.
Speaker A:Jesus says something similar to this, by the way, in Matthew, chapter 18.
Speaker A:I think it is.
Speaker A:I think I have this here someplace.
Speaker A:He says has a very similar kind of statement that might help us to put this into context as well.
Speaker A:18, 8, 9.
Speaker B:Yep, I've got that if you want me to.
Speaker A:Okay, go ahead.
Speaker A:If you got it already.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.
Speaker B:It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
Speaker B:And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.
Speaker B:It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the fire of hell.
Speaker A:So, you know, again, I think these are.
Speaker A:They're really extreme, right?
Speaker A:I think they get our attention.
Speaker A:They're hyperbolic statements, I think.
Speaker A:You know, and so the idea is that, you know, we would.
Speaker A:We would do anything to protect our, you know, physical body, not to lose our eyes or whatever.
Speaker A:But he's saying there is a deeper and more eternal spiritual nature that you have, that you have to be very careful of.
Speaker A:And so I think he's.
Speaker A:When it talks about this idea of adultery, committing adultery, he's bringing us back to the law.
Speaker A:It's not just a matter of you can say, oh, I never committed the act.
Speaker A:But he's saying you need to be careful of even those things that might lead you to that.
Speaker A:And I think it really points to what I'm going to say is the nature of temptation, the way that temptation works.
Speaker A:And I'll go ahead and give you the outline and I'll show you a couple of passages that talk about this.
Speaker A:But it's the idea of seeing, right?
Speaker A:You look first, and then the idea of desiring those things that are outside of what is allowed.
Speaker A:This actually goes back to the Garden of Eden, if you think about it.
Speaker A:Genesis chapter three.
Speaker A:You remember what it says?
Speaker A:It says that when the woman saw that the apple was good for food and desirable for gaining knowledge, then she reached out and took it, right?
Speaker A:So there's that progression, progression.
Speaker A:There's the seeing, there's the desiring.
Speaker A:David, when you think about Bathsheba, that's the way his temptation is described there.
Speaker A:He saw her and he then desired her.
Speaker A:And then he acted on that desire.
Speaker A:And so that's kind of the progression of the way things go.
Speaker A:And so I think what Jesus is saying is it's better to guard our eyes.
Speaker A:It's better to make sure that we're not even allowing that first step into that.
Speaker A:It's interesting.
Speaker A:We could maybe talk about this another day.
Speaker A:But in the passage everybody always wants to know in Genesis chapter 6 about the Nephilim, it has that same pattern there as well, that they saw the sons of God, saw the daughters of the earth, and then desired them, and then acted on that.
Speaker A:So let me show you a couple of passages regarding this guarding your eyes in Psalm chapter 19.
Speaker A:And there are other places in the Old Testament.
Speaker A:This is just one that I, that I pulled out.
Speaker A:This is Psalm chapter 19, 36 and 37.
Speaker A:Turn my heart.
Speaker A:All Psalm 118 is about desiring God's word.
Speaker A:And so it says, turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward foolish gain or selfish gain.
Speaker A:Turn my eyes away from worthless things.
Speaker A:Preserve my life according to your word.
Speaker A:So in other words, help me to focus upon those other things I had in our notes.
Speaker A:By the way, Colossians chapter three, which is.
Speaker A:Which is again about focusing upon the spiritual and the things of lasting value rather than being distracted by only the physical kind of things.
Speaker A:And that's a longer passage, but I'll just put that note there.
Speaker A:Colossians 3 has a similar teaching on this idea of things that have lasting value, and that should be our focus rather than the things of this earth.
Speaker A:One more, and I think you have 1 John 2.
Speaker A:And I really like the way this goes.
Speaker A:1 John 2:15, 17, if you want to read that for us.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do not love the world or anything in the world.
Speaker B:If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
Speaker B:For everything in the world.
Speaker B:The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world.
Speaker B:Love the world and its desires pass away.
Speaker B:But whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Speaker A:There's that idea of desire again.
Speaker A:But notice the lust of the eyes, and there's your lust idea.
Speaker A:This is where it can begin.
Speaker A:And I think that's what Jesus is warning us about here.
Speaker A:Anyone who looks at a woman with great desire, I'll go ahead and say it that way.
Speaker A:The forbidden fruit.
Speaker A:Let's use that phrase.
Speaker A:When we look at that, then it leads us into temptation, leads us into sin.
Speaker A:So it has that progression.
Speaker A:And like I said, I think we see this several times in the Scriptures.
Speaker A:They look and then desire, the thing that is not allowed.
Speaker A:And then that results in us acting upon those desires.
Speaker A:So Jesus, brother, in James one has a similar progression.
Speaker A:I think we say when he's talking about temptation, James 1:13 says, when tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me.
Speaker A:For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
Speaker A:But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own.
Speaker A:And here the translation is evil desire, same word, epithumia.
Speaker A:It's the same word we have, by the way, in.
Speaker A:In Matthew 5 that I mentioned.
Speaker A:The translators have inserted the evil there, dragged away by their own desire and enticed.
Speaker A:Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.
Speaker A:And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.
Speaker A:So he's using this image of, like a conception, right?
Speaker A:And then birth.
Speaker A:So desire then leads to.
Speaker A:Or get.
Speaker A:You know, it results in sin.
Speaker A:So that's kind of the progression that we see there in the nature of temptation.
Speaker A:Any thoughts on that?
Speaker A:Any.
Speaker A:Any questions or.
Speaker B:Well, as I'm sitting here and we're going through this, I was just thinking about, you know, the eyes.
Speaker B:It's just like, you know, you say it like, well, I think it's hyperbolic.
Speaker B:And I'm kind of going, well, I don't know.
Speaker B:You know, I think.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, I think if I removed my eyes, how much my desires would, you know, even.
Speaker B:Like, I'm even thinking consumeristic.
Speaker B:Consumeristic desires.
Speaker A:That's a good point.
Speaker B:I think about, like, we always talk about phones, and you flip through your phones, and it's like, I have a neighbor whose wife likes.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:She sometimes buys these trendy things, and he's like, oh, my wife got it on sucker.com.
Speaker B:Like, she saw it and like, I wanted to have it.
Speaker B:And I mean, it's not all bad stuff, but it's just like, you know, that's.
Speaker B:That plants that seed in you.
Speaker B:You know, I'm in the video world, and there's a big convention that's going on right now, and all these new things are coming out, and I see it and I go, oh, yeah, like, that's cool.
Speaker B:And it's like, it builds this.
Speaker B:Like, how do I get this money?
Speaker B:And I'm just thinking about the eyes and how much.
Speaker B:How much they are the starting point for that desire piece in me.
Speaker B:That lustful, even outside of sexual connotations starts to bubble up in me.
Speaker B:And so, I don't know, I just thought, man, if I was blind, that's.
Speaker A:A great example, the phone.
Speaker A:Because I know, it's interesting.
Speaker A:What I've heard is that they even track where you stop and where you.
Speaker A:How long your eyes track.
Speaker B:You pause for a second.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:So, you know, obviously, the marketers have.
Speaker A:Have understood this, and so they're constantly bringing things and, like you said, making them look attractive to us.
Speaker A:I heard someone refer to the phone just this past week on a.
Speaker A:On a.
Speaker A:A podcast that they called it.
Speaker A:What is it?
Speaker A:Something along what you said.
Speaker A:But it's basically Machines that make us want things that we can't afford, that we end up spending money that we.
Speaker A:We shouldn't spend because, you know, our phones, our computers are constantly bringing that up.
Speaker A:So that's a great point.
Speaker A:And that's where it begins.
Speaker A:They understand that that's a gateway.
Speaker A:That's the, that's where it begins.
Speaker A:And I think that's Jesus point.
Speaker A:When I said it's hyperbolic,.
Speaker B:I really think it's hyperbolic.
Speaker B:But I'm just saying, like, I'm putting myself in there.
Speaker B:When I think about the things that.
Speaker B:How my heart has been bent towards sin in my life with, with the.
Speaker A:Things that we've seen.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:It starts with the things I've seen.
Speaker B:Or it's even as I, you know, we even talk about comparison or even for me and my business, and I go, I see what he's done or what he's done and I see that.
Speaker B:And I mean, we've talked about this even in social media.
Speaker B:It's like we always present the best version of ourselves, but then it's like it creates a desire in someone else to live that life.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And we're like the, the eyes, it's.
Speaker B:It, it's those eyes thinking that as we consume this stuff is creating this unnaturalness.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, or I mean, not un.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, we have a sin nature or we be.
Speaker B:We have a sinful nature because of sin in the world.
Speaker B:And so it's, it's, it's preying upon.
Speaker A:That through our eyes before we leave this.
Speaker A:Well, I remember.
Speaker A:You remember the kids song, oh, Be Careful, Little Lies?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:You see, you remember that song?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:So it'.
Speaker A:It's got that element of truth to it.
Speaker A:I think that it is something that the scriptures tell us to guard our eyes, to guard the things that we're seeing.
Speaker A:And that's even in Judaism and Jewish tradition.
Speaker A:This was part of what the Jewish men were supposed to do.
Speaker A:They were supposed to guard their eyes and make sure that they weren't looking at things that they shouldn't see.
Speaker A:So again, I don't think Jesus is.
Speaker A:He's not changing the law really.
Speaker A:He's saying what the law says.
Speaker A:Don't covet, you know, don't.
Speaker A:Don't even desire those things that are outside of your.
Speaker A:Of your.
Speaker A:What's allowed to you.
Speaker A:And so, so I think that's.
Speaker A:That the other thing I was going to mention.
Speaker A:Do you're.
Speaker A:You're younger than I am.
Speaker A:Do you remember Jimmy Carter at all?
Speaker A:I mean, Well, I know, you know, you remember him, but, but I, I.
Speaker B: Was born in: Speaker A:So, so he, he had a famous interview and, and he was asked about the idea of committing adultery because he was, you know, I don't know if, you know, but he was a very devout Baptist, you know, until, until he was in his 90s, he was teaching Sunday school every Sunday.
Speaker A:And his, you know, even after he's president, he was teaching Sunday school in his little Baptist church in, in Plains, Georgia.
Speaker A:But, you know, great, you know, really devout guy, I think.
Speaker A:But I think it was, I can't remember, it was Barbara Walters.
Speaker A:But anyway, he would be interviewed and asked about adultery, and he says, well, I've committed adultery in my heart, this big news story.
Speaker A:And, and I mean, you know, Christians all knew what he was talking about, knew he was referring to this teaching of the Sermon on the Mount that, you know.
Speaker A:And so again, I think what Jesus is saying here is he's saying you need to guard yourself against what is even the beginning of sin or where that leads.
Speaker A:So let's go on to divorce then.
Speaker A:And this is Matthew 5.
Speaker A:Start with verses 31 and 32, and then we'll talk about.
Speaker A:I think we have to understand the Old Testament law on divorce, which is not as familiar to us.
Speaker A:It's not a part of the Ten Commandments.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's not as familiar to us, but I think we have to understand it and we have to understand the way it was interpreted in Jesus day in order to understand what he's really saying here about divorce.
Speaker A:So go ahead with Matthew 5, 31, 32, if you would.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It has been said anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.
Speaker B:But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Speaker A:So there's several things that are difficult to understand about this passage that we want to spend some time looking at.
Speaker A:So really, Jesus is saying that there's very little reason for divorce.
Speaker A:He talked about sexual immorality, which we'll come back to that word in just a minute because I think that's an important word for understanding Jesus worldview as well.
Speaker A:But let's look at Deuteronomy 24.
Speaker A:Do you have that up or do you want me to read that?
Speaker A:Deuteronomy 24, 1:4.
Speaker A:So this is the teaching on divorce, and there's a couple of little words here that really become the issue.
Speaker A:Ask this question, as this teaching is handed down through history.
Speaker A:So go ahead and read Deuteronomy 24 for us.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house, she becomes the wife of another man and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband who divorced her is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled.
Speaker B:That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord.
Speaker B:Do not bring sin upon the Lord the land the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance.
Speaker A:So the two words that are really difficult, and then this last part about remarrying, we'll talk about when we see what Jesus says here in just a minute in the Sermon on the Mount.
Speaker A:The two words to notice there is if he finds anything displeasing in her.
Speaker A:And then the second phrase is this idea.
Speaker A:It was translated there as indecent.
Speaker A:If there's something indecent, and it's the idea of unclean thing or a shameful thing is the way it could be translated in Hebrew.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:So this is the reason for divorce.
Speaker A:If a man finds a displeasing, an unclean, indecent, a shameful thing in the woman in his wife, then he is allowed to divorce her.
Speaker A:It's an idea of allowance.
Speaker A:So we've already seen that one of the major emphases, and I've said this already in the Sermon on the Mount, is that followers of Jesus, he's saying, if you're gonna be a part of the kingdom, then you're going to be distinct from the society around you.
Speaker A:And I'll remind you, last time we talked about how difficult the teaching unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So the Pharisees were seen as very righteous guys, very righteous dudes.
Speaker A:And so this teaching for Jesus followers might have sounded almost impossible, but again, he's trying to say they've missed the point.
Speaker A:The Pharisees have missed the point here.
Speaker A:And I'm going to give you a very specific example when it comes to this idea of divorce.
Speaker A:This is in Matthew 19.
Speaker A:This is how the Pharisees talked about divorce.
Speaker A:And we're going to see Jesus.
Speaker A:I think there's some important things for understanding Jesus teaching here.
Speaker A:When we see the way he interacts here.
Speaker A:So verse three, this is Matthew, chapter 19, starting in verse three is some Pharisees came to him to test him.
Speaker A:The whole book of Matthew really focuses upon the Pharisees and their lack of being true to what God's desire in the law was.
Speaker A:And then Jesus opposition to that.
Speaker A:Jesus bringing a different understanding of the law.
Speaker A:So Pharisees came to him to test him.
Speaker A:They asked, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?
Speaker A:And in just a minute, I'm actually going to show you where I think this debate comes from.
Speaker A:Is it lawful to divorce his wife for any and every reason?
Speaker A:Haven't you read, Jesus replied that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
Speaker A:So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Speaker A:Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Speaker A:So the first thing I think we need to see here, and we're going to read some more here in Matthew 19 in just a minute, but I want to stop and just comment on this part of it is the Pharisees here are focused on divorce.
Speaker A:And I'm talking about the teaching on divorce.
Speaker A:That's what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount.
Speaker A:But really, I think we need to think about, when we think about the law, we need to think about the purpose of marriage.
Speaker A:And that's what Jesus does here.
Speaker A:He takes them back to creation and he says marriage was given to humans for an important reason.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I've said before, the passage of all the things that God created there in Genesis chapter two says, it was not good for man to be alone.
Speaker A:All these other things are good.
Speaker A:It was not good for him to be alone.
Speaker A:And so we find Eve created and they become, in this passage here, they become an example of the first married couple, right?
Speaker A:This idea that God has joined together these two and that that should not be separated.
Speaker A:The two have become one in flesh and that should not be separated.
Speaker A:So the main thing I want us to get from the teaching on divorce is actually about marriage, that God desires marriage to have a.
Speaker A:A meaningful, useful place within our lives and in society.
Speaker A:Now, I'll say this doesn't mean that we all have to be married.
Speaker A:And we can look at some of what the Apostle Paul says about this, but it is.
Speaker A:Well, in fact, we'll look at that in a little bit.
Speaker A:Marriage.
Speaker A:I'm going to go ahead and call you and I'll Tell you why a little bit later.
Speaker A:Marriage is a gift.
Speaker A:And what that means is that when we talk about a gift, it's something that God has given us to be used for.
Speaker A:For good, for good purpose, not only for ourselves, but also for society.
Speaker A:And even, you know, I should, should have said this first for family and, and, and for society.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So, so there's, there's a reason that marriage has a positive place in God's.
Speaker A:In God's desire.
Speaker A:And that's what I think this, this law is about.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Does that make sense so far?
Speaker A:Kind of.
Speaker A:I feel like I'm kind of just like, like, like, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A:But anyway, so Jesus takes them back to creation and says, for this reason, God made the male and female.
Speaker A:They become one flesh.
Speaker A:The Pharisees then respond, why then?
Speaker A:And I love this.
Speaker A:This really gives us a sense of what they're talking about.
Speaker A:Why then they asked, did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?
Speaker A:Moses commanded us to divorce our wives is kind of the, the upshot of what they're saying here.
Speaker A:Why did he command his certificate of divorce?
Speaker A:And this is something again in the law.
Speaker A:We're not going to take time to look at this, but you can look it up.
Speaker A:They were supposed to send from their house a certificate of divorce and send them away.
Speaker A:Well, we saw some of that in Deuteronomy 24.
Speaker A:And I want you to notice the wording here in Jesus reply.
Speaker A:Jesus replied, moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.
Speaker A:They're talking about a command, and he's talking about permission.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so that's, I think that's at its very core, the difference here between their misunderstanding of the heart of the law.
Speaker A:So Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.
Speaker A:But it was not that way from the beginning.
Speaker A:I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife.
Speaker A:Here's the exception clause again.
Speaker A:Only in Matthew do we have this.
Speaker A:We'll say something about this later.
Speaker A:Anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality and marries another woman, commits adultery.
Speaker A:So it's a repetition of what we saw.
Speaker A:The disciples said.
Speaker A:The disciples are saying this.
Speaker A:They said, if this situation between a husband and wife, it's better not to marry.
Speaker A:And Jesus replied, not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it is given.
Speaker A:And then he goes on, he says, there are eunuchs who are born that way and eunuchs made for the kingdom.
Speaker A:I think this is what we're getting at.
Speaker A:Jesus is saying, there's some people who are gifted with singleness, and a gift always needs to be used for kingdom good.
Speaker A:That's why God gives us gifts.
Speaker A:And I'm talking about spiritual gifts here.
Speaker A:And I believe both singleness and marriage are gifts that God has given for the good of his people.
Speaker A:And so that's kind of the difference in what we're looking at.
Speaker A:So that gives us a sense of what the Pharisees thought about divorce.
Speaker A:I'm trying to decide how to do this.
Speaker A:I want to look at one more passage from the Old Testament.
Speaker A:This is the book of Malachi.
Speaker A:And I think this gives us a sense of God's heart when it comes to the idea of marriage and his desire for good.
Speaker A:This is in chapter 2, Malachi 2, 13.
Speaker A:It says another thing you do.
Speaker A:You flood the Lord's altar with tears.
Speaker A:You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.
Speaker A:So he's talking about the context of worship, your worship of God.
Speaker A:And you're coming and you're crying because it's like God no longer receives your worship in an appropriate way.
Speaker A:You ask, why?
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:It is because the Lord is the witness between.
Speaker A:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:You ask why?
Speaker A:And here's the answer.
Speaker A:It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth.
Speaker A:You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner.
Speaker A:And the wife of your marriage covenant has not the one God made you, and you belong to him in body and spirit.
Speaker A:And what does the one God seek?
Speaker A:Godly offspring.
Speaker A:In other words, he wants godly children.
Speaker A:So be on the guard and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Speaker A:The man who hates and divorces his wife, says the Lord, the God of Israel does violence to the one that he should protect, says the Lord Almighty.
Speaker A:So be on your guard and do not be unfaithful.
Speaker A:So I think that that's talking about this idea again of what the.
Speaker A:The way the people are interpreting this to divorce for a indecent cause, or if they find an indecent thing in her.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:So he says, the wife of your youth.
Speaker A:The whole reason God has given you this idea and you're to be faithful is because God desires you to raise a family within this context of a godly context.
Speaker A:So this is why divorce, I think, is a concerning thing.
Speaker A:And you know, we find in the prophet as well that God says, I hate divorce, right?
Speaker A:In other words, too many times I think we focus upon the loopholes of divorce, and we should be thinking about the positive side of this, that God desires marriage to be a useful thing for us.
Speaker A:He says, when you divorce your wife, you're actually doing violence to the one that you're called to protect.
Speaker A:So part of what the marriage is, is the husband is called to be the guardian, the protector, the provider, and with the result of having a godly family.
Speaker A:So I know that said a lot right there.
Speaker A:Any thoughts do you have on that, or comments or question?
Speaker B:No, I had never caught the commanded versus permit thing before.
Speaker B:I mean, it's pretty important.
Speaker B:But it's just that, you know, that they're saying God commanded us.
Speaker B:And Jesus saying, well, no, you were permitted to do this because of the.
Speaker A:Hardness of your heart, not because it's God.
Speaker A:You know, it's not like God said to Moses, oh, make sure you command them to divorce their wives.
Speaker A:And I think their focus is wrong, too.
Speaker A:Now, here's the interesting thing is in the Mishnah, which is a Jewish writing, and some of this comes from later, but I'm going to show you that it at least refers to an earlier time during this period of time that we're talking about.
Speaker A:So in the Mishnah, we find a whole section on this idea of divorce.
Speaker A:And I'm going to read some from it.
Speaker A:From the Mishnah.
Speaker A:You know, it's always nice to have a recitation from the Mishnah.
Speaker A:This is from Gettine, which is.
Speaker A:That's the idea of that certificate of divorce, 9, 10 is what I'm quoting here.
Speaker A:So Beit Shammai.
Speaker A:And so beit means house.
Speaker A:The house of Shammai says this, and then later we're going to have Beit Hillel.
Speaker A:And so that's that house of Hillel.
Speaker A:So this is what I'm saying refers back to kind of the time of Jesus.
Speaker A:These are the, these are the rabbis during this period of time that are having this debate, Shammai and Hillel.
Speaker A:And they, they debated about a lot of different ways of understanding the law.
Speaker A:They were different a lot of ways.
Speaker A:Hillel, Beit Hillel.
Speaker A:Hillel was actually the, the, the teacher of Gamaliel, Gamaliel the Great, the one that that was, this was Paul's teacher.
Speaker A:And so this is, you see, we're talking about this kind of general period of time.
Speaker A:So Beit Shammai says this.
Speaker A:A man may not divorce his wife unless he finds out about her having engaged in a matter of forbidden sexual intercourse.
Speaker A:And there's that.
Speaker A:So it's a Thing of indecent.
Speaker A:They quote the Hebrew From Deuteronomy, chapter 24.
Speaker A:Here, Davar Evra acid is stated because he has found some unseemly matter or indecent matter.
Speaker A:There's that shameful matter I said was the important word here in her.
Speaker A:And he writes her a scroll of severance.
Speaker A:There's the certificate of divorce.
Speaker A:So I'm going to read that again.
Speaker A:A man may not divorce his wife unless he finds out about her having engaged in a matter of forbidden sexual intercourse.
Speaker A:And there's lots of debates about exactly what within, within rabbinic understanding of this time, what that would have included.
Speaker A:But I'm going to come back and when we talk about pornaya, I'm going to tell you what I think Jesus is referring to here.
Speaker A:But you see, Shammai is saying, you know, it needs to be right.
Speaker A:She might agree with Jesus here, right?
Speaker A:It has to be this, this is the reason that you can divorce.
Speaker A:And Beit Hillel, here's the house of Hillel says he may divorce her even due to a minor issue because she burned or over salted his dish.
Speaker A:Acid is stated because he's found some unseemly matter in her, meaning that he found any type of shortcoming.
Speaker A:So you get what I'm saying?
Speaker A:And you burned it.
Speaker A:Burned.
Speaker A:Burn his eggs.
Speaker A:Well, that's, that's, that's a unseemly thing, right?
Speaker B:Over salt my fish.
Speaker B:Straight to jail.
Speaker B:Under my fish.
Speaker A:Yeah, straight to jail.
Speaker A:You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.
Speaker A:At least you know that, that kind of thing.
Speaker A:So, so, you know, I don't like the way she fixes her hair, you know, she, she, her, she's got wrinkles, you know, any, for any reason.
Speaker A:And that's kind of how it had become.
Speaker A:So here's, here's a.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker A:Rabbi Aqaba so here's the, here's kind of, here's what Beit Shemai says.
Speaker A:Here's what Beit Hillel says.
Speaker A:Rabbi Akiva says he may divorce her even if he found another woman who is better looking than her, which is to marry her, as is stated in the verse.
Speaker A:And it comes to pass if she finds no favor in his eyes.
Speaker A:So they're interpreting that he finds no favor in his eyes.
Speaker A:It's like, oh, this one looks better.
Speaker A:So that shows you this context of permissiveness that the Pharisees are referring to.
Speaker A:And that's the debate of that day.
Speaker A:And so they bring that to Jesus to test him.
Speaker A:Can a man divorce his Wife for any and every reason.
Speaker A:In other words, do you agree with the house of Hillel?
Speaker A:And Jesus says no only for sexual immorality.
Speaker A:And then they come back, well, why does he give us the certificate of divorce?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So that's really what is the contrast or the context against which this is written.
Speaker A:And Jesus saying to his followers, you need to be different than the Pharisees, that there's something else going on here that you need to understand.
Speaker A:Okay, did we already read all of Matthew?
Speaker A:Let me look at this real quick.
Speaker A:Any thoughts on that?
Speaker A:While I'm.
Speaker B:I mean, that rabbinic literature really helps kind of set the.
Speaker B:It helps understand the contrast of what Jesus is saying here and why this is because.
Speaker B:Yeah, again, if it's the burned or over salted dish or you know, someone that's better looking, I mean, it's like, why would you enter into marriage in a relationship with someone like that, knowing as a female that this was the.
Speaker B:Yeah, if something better comes along, you know, you can move along and you know, it's desiring to God.
Speaker B:And Jesus is drawing that in saying no.
Speaker B:And I think even as we come back to this, the wife of your youth.
Speaker B:I mean, it plays an important.
Speaker B:That that phrase of there is really important in contrast to this rabbinic literature of the time, especially, you know, the Beit Hillel, you know, if he's training Gamaliel and you have Paul, like this is right, this is all.
Speaker B:This is the conversation of the day of what's going on.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So just read those verses again.
Speaker A:Matthew chapter 5, verses 31 and 32 again, just.
Speaker A:And I want to say just a few more things about this and then we'll.
Speaker B:Yeah, it has been said anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.
Speaker B:But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality makes her the victim of adultery.
Speaker B:And anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Speaker A:So the word here is porneia, which is a very broad term for sexual immorality.
Speaker A:And I want to say this because we have all kinds of other debates about sexual ethics these days.
Speaker A:And what is correct.
Speaker A:That's one of the major issues the church is facing today.
Speaker A:And often they'll say, well, Jesus didn't talk about this or that.
Speaker A:The term pornaya is a very broad term for sexual immorality.
Speaker A:And I think it covers all kinds of different.
Speaker A:In fact, I often will say porniah is anything.
Speaker A:So within a Jewish context, within a Jewish worldview against the context of the Old Testament, this would forbid all Kinds of different things that should not be done.
Speaker A:So the law is very specific about things that are not permitted.
Speaker A:And in this context, I think it has to do with anything that is outside of the bounds of a marriage.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We're talking about anything.
Speaker A:So it includes all kinds of different things.
Speaker A:It's a very broad term.
Speaker A:Pornia is a very broad term.
Speaker A:When Jesus uses this from his worldview.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:In other words, from the.
Speaker A:From the context of the way he looks at the law and all these things, I think that this is where Jesus refers to some of those things that we debate today.
Speaker A:And that's.
Speaker A:I'll leave it at that.
Speaker A:But I'll say I do think Jesus refers to anything outside of this.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The kind of marriage that God put in place for the good and for, you know, Godly offspring is.
Speaker A:Is what.
Speaker A:What he desires.
Speaker A:And so I think.
Speaker A:I think that helps not only with this, but, but in other.
Speaker A:Other places in Matthew 18 or Matthew 19, in both those places, Jesus appeals to creation.
Speaker A:Again, he's.
Speaker A:He's not saying, you know, so they're saying, here's what Moses tells us.
Speaker A:And Jesus says, look at creation.
Speaker A:And we can see something about what God's heart is for, why he created man and woman.
Speaker A:You know, in the beginning, he made them male and female for this purpose.
Speaker A:Now, I do feel the need to say this.
Speaker A:The way that this has sometimes been used in a way that's harmful, I think, is this exception clause, which, by the way, I've already mentioned, if you look at the parallels in Mark and in Luke, that doesn't occur.
Speaker A:Only in Matthew do we have that exception clause except for sexual immorality.
Speaker A:And we have those two places.
Speaker A:I think it's because of this debate with the Pharisees.
Speaker A:I think that's the reason Jesus said that.
Speaker A:But there have been times where the church, and I'm even saying when I was a kid, they would say, well, divorce.
Speaker A:The only reason for divorce is sexual morality.
Speaker A:So if your husband or your wife has been physically abusive or mentally or emotionally abusive, that's not grounds for divorce.
Speaker A:And I don't think that's the point of Jesus teaching.
Speaker A:I think when we understand it against this background, that there are things that are required of the husband.
Speaker A:For example, like we see in Malachi, and we see other places that the husband is called to be a protector and called to be a provider for his wife in that marriage.
Speaker A:That's part of what God's heart for marriage is.
Speaker A:And so I think, you know, when that has been used as an excuse for saying that this is not permitted.
Speaker A:I think that's not from Jesus.
Speaker A:That's not something that he's trying to do in this context.
Speaker A:And that's why I think it's so important to kind of think about what it means against, against that historical context.
Speaker A:There is a way in which, you know, there are other ways in which both a husband and wife can break that marital contract.
Speaker A:Comments or thoughts on that?
Speaker A:I just wanted, I think that's important for us to say.
Speaker B:No, I think that's, you know, I hadn't heard that before.
Speaker B:You know, I mean, like it always, you know, I think that, that the rabbinic literature in the context of Matthew makes a lot of sense because we have that exception clause in there, except for the sexual normality.
Speaker B:And then reading what we just discussed with rabbinic literature helps put that in context.
Speaker B:And I think that's it.
Speaker B:You know, I think there's, there's something there for us all to chew on as we think through some, some of this stuff to, you know, to, to go, how do we look at this?
Speaker B:Because I think it is, it is a complex situation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:And some of those things, because it's, you know, I, I understand from the past where it's.
Speaker B:We've been like, yeah, we want to hold on to that high view of marriage, but at the same time it's been, yeah, it's.
Speaker B:It can also be, you know, abused.
Speaker B:Like, you know, that, that can be a tool of manipulation as well.
Speaker B:So I think, yeah, what you said.
Speaker A:About the high view marriage, I think is very important.
Speaker A:I think that's, that's really should be our focus, that let's look at creation and look at why God gave us to one another.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And how we're to be one flesh.
Speaker A:And I think that really should be our focus.
Speaker A:And, you know, we become.
Speaker B:It's just not about having that paper contract or whatever.
Speaker B:It says that we're married.
Speaker B:It's about if you're married, it looks a certain way.
Speaker B:Like, you know, if you're not living in the way that.
Speaker B:The full biblical way, instead of just saying, well, we're married, then there's a problem there.
Speaker B:It's not functioning.
Speaker A:Living into the desire that God has for this, I think is a way to think about it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So the other thing I want to just point out is this idea.
Speaker A:What does it mean?
Speaker A:And this is pretty difficult.
Speaker A:I'm going to refer to this book again, and I think he does a Good job.
Speaker A:Scott McKnight does a good job with explaining this.
Speaker A:This is in his Sermon on the Mount from the Story of God Bible Commentary series link to be found on Facebook.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:What a link to it on Facebook.
Speaker A:I think that, I think that he does a good job explaining this.
Speaker A:The question about how does, if she remarries, how does she become an adulterer?
Speaker A:And you saw that back in Deuteronomy 24.
Speaker A:If you divorce, I think that's kind of what Jesus is referring to, that idea.
Speaker A:But I think the point here is if you are divorcing her for just any reason, right, Then that's not really a nullified.
Speaker A:That marriage contract, as you say, in God's eyes, isn't really.
Speaker A:There's no adequate basis for it, and therefore she marries another.
Speaker A:And then that's akin to adultery.
Speaker A:And again, this has been, you know, there are people who say, oh, well, if you are divorced, you should never get remarried.
Speaker A:And I don't think, again, that's the primary focus.
Speaker A:I think Jesus saying, when you divorce for any and every reason, you're not really nullifying that original relationship.
Speaker A:And that leads to this idea.
Speaker A:It's akin to adultery is the way I would read this.
Speaker A:I want to share one more passage.
Speaker A:And this is from First Corinthians 7.
Speaker A:This is Paul's teaching on this stuff.
Speaker A:And I think it's important to bring this up as well.
Speaker A:And this is what I was talking about, this idea of marriage as a gift to the married.
Speaker A:I give this command, not I, but the Lord.
Speaker A:He says, a wife must not separate from her husband, but if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband, and a husband must not divorce his wife.
Speaker A:So again, I think Paul is agreeing with Jesus here and agreeing with the house of Shammai rather than the house of Hillel, which, interestingly enough, he's from the house of Hillel.
Speaker A:There's other ways that he broke from the house of Hillel before even this, as a Pharisaic rabbi, he was trained as a Pharisaic rabbi by Gamaliel.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So this idea that I think, again, Paul is saying that don't quickly leave that relationship, don't quickly divorce to the rest, I say this, I, not the Lord.
Speaker A:And we can come back to that if you want.
Speaker A:If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she's willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
Speaker A:And if a woman has a husband who's not a believer and he's willing to live with her, her, she must not Divorce him.
Speaker A:For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.
Speaker A:Otherwise, your children would be unclean.
Speaker A:But as it is, they are holy.
Speaker A:And that seems really like a strange thing.
Speaker A:But I think, again, what Paul's saying is, don't look for an excuse to leave this marriage, but God can use that in order to accomplish his purpose.
Speaker A:In other words, your unbelieving husband can become a believer, your unbelieving wife can become a believer.
Speaker A:And ultimately, this idea of children goes back to what we saw in Malachi.
Speaker A:God desires godly offspring.
Speaker A:And so I think he's saying, you need to stay with him and be with that.
Speaker A:He goes on and says, but if an unbeliever leaves, let it be so.
Speaker A:The brother or sister is not bound.
Speaker A:In such circumstances, God has called us to live in peace.
Speaker A:How do you know, wife, whether you save your husband or know husband whether you save your wife?
Speaker A:And then he goes on, he says, everyone should be in whatever situation that they were in.
Speaker A:And he, of course, famously says, I wish that everyone could be as I am.
Speaker A:And his point is that as a single person, he doesn't find himself distracted by family life, that he's able to devote himself fully to the church.
Speaker A:But at the same time, he says, and this is where I think we miss this, he says, but some have one gift and some have another.
Speaker A:So singleness is a gift.
Speaker A:Like, it is not.
Speaker A:It's not something for everybody.
Speaker A:But God sometimes gifts people with that ability that they can then.
Speaker A:But it's only a gift if they're using it, using the time that they have available.
Speaker A:You know, they're not.
Speaker A:It's not so you can play Call of Duty all day, right?
Speaker A:It's so that you can devote yourself to the work of the church.
Speaker A:And it's the same way for married people.
Speaker A:We need to look at our marriage as a gift that God wants to use in order to have positive impact in the community as well.
Speaker A:So our home should be places where people can find peace, they can find shelter, they can find help.
Speaker A:That's what.
Speaker A:There's a giftedness for marriage as well, I would say.
Speaker A:And we shape one another.
Speaker A:It's part of the way that we're being sanctified, the way that we have an influence, positive influence on one another as well.
Speaker A:So thought I would end with that.
Speaker A:So again, I think the focus instead of thinking about the teaching on divorce is really to think about what.
Speaker A:What Jesus, what God has desired in marriage and what Jesus teaches us about how, as his followers, our married life should be.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's great, Brian.
Speaker B:Well, thanks so much.
Speaker B:There's a lot there to kind of think about and chew on and, you know, to kind of put our mind around and think through some of these issues.
Speaker B:You know, they're.
Speaker B:They're important issues for us to think about.
Speaker B:So I really appreciate that, Brian.
Speaker A:Yeah, no problem.
Speaker A:And we'll continue.
Speaker A:There's some more teaching on the law that we'll look at on oaths next time and talk about that.
Speaker A:Not oats, but oaths.
Speaker A:Oaths.
Speaker A:I can't say that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:There's not a lot to say about oats.
Speaker B:You know, there's.
Speaker B:You eat them.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Brian, thanks so much.
Speaker B:We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ryan and Brian's Bible Bistro.
Speaker B:You can find us on thebiblebistro.com you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at.
Speaker B:You can also find us on YouTube @ryanand Brian's Bible Bistro.
Speaker B:If you like to watch us.
Speaker B:There will be no lust of the eyes if you watch us on YouTube, Ryan and Brian's Bible Bistro.
Speaker B:So, yeah, we appreciate that.
Speaker B:And if you've got questions or things you'd like us to talk about, please reach out.
Speaker B:We'd love to hear from you.
Speaker B:And we are hopefully, I think we're going to start finding ourselves a little bit better rhythm here to kind of get out, get this going back and going.
Speaker A:Thanks to all those who talked about thanks to all those who've talked about missing us and, and hopefully we're back in a.
Speaker A:In a regular with rhythm again.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right, Brian, well, thanks so much and appreciate it and we'll chat again soon.
Speaker A:All right, See you.
Speaker B:See you.
Speaker A:Bye, Sam.
