Jesus Christ:
Yesterday
Jehovah, Almighty God, the Word divorced the nation of Israel for her fornication and adultery: "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also." Jeremiah 3:8
If divorce were
always a sin then
God sinned.
God had a wife and God said He divorced her. God will not lie and God will not sin.
Will the LORD "Remarry"?
It is evident in the book of Revelation that there will be a marriage. It will not be to Israel only.
Jesus Christ:
Today and Forever
Who will the NEW BRIDE in the Book of Revelation be? Revelation 21 says: "And I John saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" The name of this new bride is
new Jerusalem. Now this is not that old wife Jesus divorced in Jer. 3:8.
Jesus divorced Israel and He will marry New Jerusalem. This is a spiritual example of
REMARRIAGE.
Is God polygynous?
Jesus Christ:
Yesterday
Jeremiah 31:32 "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring
them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was
an husband unto them, saith the LORD:"
Them = PLURAL
When we read chapter three in the book of Jeremiah we discover that God pleads for His
divorced wife, Israel, and His
other wife, Judah, to return to him. In fact this is precisely how the chapter opens:
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."
Yet Jesus still pleads with His wives as though they were children. (Do any of the men here get the feeling that they should be loving their wives with a fatherly love?) After He already stated previously that He has divorced Israel, He says: "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God." Jeremiah 3:22
Is God not imploring them to engage in a re-marriage? A re-uniting? Please read the entire chapter because it is irrefutable that God is referring here to both Israel and to Judah as being his wives (plural). The tribes are two nations at this point in scripture. Still He pleads with His divorced wife to return to Him! How great and merciful is our Lord!
Who are (were) the wives of the LORD? I will list four Old Testament examples: Judah (Jeremiah 3), Israel (Jeremiah 3), Jerusalem (Ezekiel 23:4) Samaria (Ezekiel 23:4)
If the word "Re-marriage" does not constitute more than one marriage (but only refers to marrying one's wife for a second time) then God would not be exempt from this either as He pleaded for his backsliding wives to return to Him - even the wife whom He had divorced. However the Lord refers to a distinction in the plurality of His wives, regarding each as an individual singularity. This means that each is individually accountable to Him. Consider in your hearts just what this means. For those who will receive it, Ephesians Chapter 5, verse 32 also supports this truth.
We need to determine precisely what marriage in the Lord is before any of us, who would be truly and lawfully monogamous, preach contrary to the example set forth by Jesus, Himself. Now how many of us today are truly and lawfully monogamous in the truest sense of the term? Be Honest. If we follow the Mosiac law to insist that this is absolutely (without exception) the only marriage God will ever recognize in the church then there are alot of marriages in the church that need to be annulled! Since we would hold those who would be naturally married (prior to baptism) to any spouse, (other than the partner of their first carnal union) in bondage to sin and living in perpetual adultery! We would have to tell them to
divorce their existing spouse! This smacks of Catholicism.
If we would hold the brothers and sisters in bondage to that Mosiac marriage law, then by that same law they are the husbands and the wives of the first person they willingly engaged in carnal relations with! This is Old Testament Law. If this were the case, the only married people who would have any hope of salvation would be those who married as virgins. Period. My point? God will not hold anyone who repents and gets saved in Jesus' name accountable for past marriages. Either Jesus Christ paid the price or He did not.
Israel and God: the two became one.
Judah and God: the two became one.
Samaria and God: the two became one.
Jerusalem and God: the two...
shall I continue? We further read that Jesus referred to His wives (plural) as a collective within a singularity. It cannot be otherwise because the LORD became ONE with
more than one. This does not defeat the fact that Jesus claimed to be the Bridegroom over five wise virgins; neither does it refute the facts that He has a wife, had wives (plural), or even that He divorced. Remarriage can be biblical and godly. "putting away", in and of itself, is not. God hates "putting away". The Bible says so. We either believe the Bible or we don't. Does this mean that God did an ungodly thing when He put away Israel? God forbid. Then how is this reconciled?
A: "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away,
and given her a bill of divorce...". Jeremiah 3:8
I want to know, did God lie? Even Jesus obeys His own law. He hated to do it some times, but He did it all the same: He put away Israel and followed this with presenting his wife with a bill of divorce. We could argue that He is now waiting for His old wife to die first before He "re-marries" to the New Jerusalem but that would not explain the fact that Israel is still present in the New Bride. Quite frankly, I think that Jesus has all of the bases covered. This "putting away" is clearly represented by Jesus as something other than "divorcement." I am not an advocate of divorce but there is a point in the reality of our sinful world that it is needful. God reached that point with Israel and divorced her. Even then, not all of Israel perishes. For those of you who are convinced that this "putting away" literally means "divorce", consider that God did put away Israel but it wasn't enough for Him to put her away... He still had to give Israel a bill of divorcement.
Does this mean that since our Lord put away Israel and divorced her that He will NEVER MARRY AGAIN?
Jesus:
Today and Forever
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. (Luke 16:8 )
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)
IS GOD AN ADULTERER? I think not.
IS GOD GOING TO REMARRY? YES.
DID GOD PUT AWAY ISRAEL WITHOUT A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT? I think not.
DOES GOD HATE PUTTING AWAY? YES.
DID ISRAEL PUT AWAY GOD WITHOUT A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT? YES.
DID GOD DIVORCE ISRAEL? YES.
DOES GOD WANT ISRAEL TO RETURN TO HIM? YES.
DOES THIS MEAN ALL OF ISRAEL WILL NEVER BE THE WIFE OF THE LORD EVER AGAIN? I think not.
We cannot interpret the term "Divorcement" to literally mean "put away" because if we did so this would make Jesus an adulterer. Not only did He "put away" Israel, but he also made provision for the remnant. Jer. 3:14-15: Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Let us turn to the New Testament for a moment to see what applies in the coming Dispensation. Please notice that the name of the Bride in Revelation is not called "Israel". Neither is she called "Judah". Who is this One Bride that the Lord is going to marry after having "put away" and divorcing the nation of Israel? Bear in mind that Judah was only one of the twelve tribes of Israel eventhough God uses "wives" (plural) in the book of Jeremiah. This is only one more example of how the New Bride in the book of Revelation represents a plurality of persons in a singularity:
Revelation 21:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
9-10: And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" At the very least one hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Israel (the remnant of the
DIVORCED WIFE - some don't like to be reminded that God did indeed divorce. It totally refutes anti-remarriage doctrines.) will be citizens of
NEW JERUSALEM.
Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel; but look, there are more!
Revelation 7:9-14: After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Now look what is stated concerning the Bride who is called to the marriage supper:
Revelation 19:6-9: And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."
Following this, we learn that a great multitude of souls, each soul married to the Husbandman, (see Romans 7:4) is represented in a singularity again in Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Some say that re-marriage was acceptable only in Old Testament times and that in this present Dispensation of Grace there is no more re-marriage in the Lord and no plurality of wives. There is no scriptural substantiation for this claim; for we quickly learn that Jesus also refers to His
future role as the
Bridegroom over five wise virgins. (Read Matthew 25) Jesus Christ was born under the law and Jesus Christ also fulfilled the law.
Jesus Christ referred to the
Kingdom of Heaven and compared Himself to a
Bridegroom over a
collective plurality of virgins. Jesus was also describing an event (the second coming) that was to occur in the future, in a new dispensation: The marriage of the Lamb. It is evident that Jesus will marry again. I would not pretend to diminish the truth of God to lead any of you astray by implying that God is limited in any way. It is also evident that in scripture, the Lord Jesus is both polygynous and monogamous (if we would dare to use such worldly terminology) as He honors a plurality of wives collectively, in a singularity, called THE BRIDE. Hallelujah!
Baptism presents yet another example of this collective plurality in a singularity that Paul compares to baptism and requiring that the brethren be "married to another": "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7:4)
Can everyone here say, "Married to Another"? Amen. How many are to be married to this other? Paul speaks of "bretheren" (plural) here so I would safely assume that Paul is referring to the baptized plurality in a singularity. In each and every case the two become one. Now the apostle Paul pleaded with the church (Ephesians 5:32) to understand this great mystery of marriage between Christ and the church, for by and through a multitude of the scriptural examples of marriage we find this very metaphor continually being laid before our feet: Genuine Marriage is fully an institution of God in every respect. If we are to conduct ourselves accordingly we must also embrace His example. It is evident that there is a time when even GOD resorted to divorce. It is also evident that He will take another bride, even a plurality of virgins, and also "re-marry" a repentant bride. All of this is to occur in the collective singularity of a new bride, THE LAMB'S WIFE! There will be a reunion in Unity.
God cannot lie.