Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20060927.htm

EXODUS: FUNCTIONING WELL IN A HOPELESS GROUP ASSIGNMENT
Part II: God's Sustainment Of Israel In The Wilderness Amid Humanly Helpless Trials
I. Aligining With God's Moral Order: The Ten Commandments
2. The Last Five Commandments: Loving Our Neighbors As Ourselves
b. Commandment Seven: Honoring The Sanctity Of The Home With Moral Excellence
(Exodus 20:14)
  1. Introduction
    1. Especially since the twentieth century's "sexual revolution", the sanctity of human marriage has been challenged, and many men and women today think nothing of living together outside of a marital contract.
    2. This arrangement and way of thinking violates the sanctity of God's model for the home as follows:
  2. Commandment Seven: Honoring The Sanctity Of The Home With Moral Excellence, Exodus 20:14.
    1. In review of the Ten Commandments, we Christians are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law, for we are dead to that Law in our spiritual position in Jesus Christ, Romans 7:4a with Romans 3:23.
    2. Nevertheless, that Law is intrinsically holy, just and good (Romans 7:12), so the Christian will live up to the righteous standard of that law as he is filled with the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:3-4! Thus, we view the Ten Commandments to note the standard of righteousness we will attain in life as Spirit-filled believers.
    3. Thus, we view Commandment Seven: Honoring The Sanctity Of The Home With Moral Excellence:
      1. God's call for Israel not to "commit adultery" in Exodus 20:14 (KJV, NIV, ESV) uses the word, na'ap, meaning "'sexual intercourse with the wife or betrothed of another man,'" Koehler and Baumgartner, Lex. in Veteris Test. Libros, 2nd ed., 1958 as cited in Theol.Wordbook of the O.T., vol. II, p. 542.
      2. Now, practices such as legally having a mistress (Genesis 16:1-2) or divorce and remarriage for various reasons have been supplied as just exceptions to this rule, but these fall short of God's righteousness:
        1. In man's first marriage, God did not provide a concubine, and everywhere concubinage or polygamy appears in Scripture, it produces problems and is an imperfect practice, Gen. 2:20-25; 16:1-16 et al.
        2. In Mark 10:11-12, Jesus said that divorce followed by remarriage to a third party is adultery.
        3. Matthew 5:31-32 can seem to qualify this claim, that Jesus held that divorce except "for fornication" is sin so that immorality by one spouse frees the other spouse to divorce him and remarry. Yet, this view errs: (1) Jews under the Law required divorce for (a) the union of a Jew and a Gentile (Ezra 10:10-44), (b) the union of close relatives in violation of Leviticus and (c) immorality with a third party during betrothal (H. Hendricks, Christ. Couns. for Contemp. Problems, p. 111-113). (2) Well, Matthew was written for Jews under the Law and Mark for Gentiles (Ryr. St. Bib., KJV, 1978, p. 1337, 1397), so Mark omitted the "exception" clause where Matthew used it, (3) and the "exception" does not apply to us! Jesus does not condone divorce for us!
        4. Some religious leaders in Jesus' day taught that Moses ordered divorce, Matthew 19:7. Actually, the Deuteronomy 24:1 KJV "then" clause is misplaced, and should begin at Deuteronomy 24:4 to make Moses state that original partners could not remarry after intervening marriages to third parties!
        5. Also, Matthew 5:27-28 shows God holds those who visually lust after another who is not their spouse to be guilty of adultery! Pornography and voyeurism with non-spouses is thus immorality!
        6. As for 1 Corinthians 7:15, the "not under bondage" clause does not give a divorced believer liberty to remarry another party if the unsaved partner divorces him; to be consistent with Paul's teaching against divorce and remarriage in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, the "not under bondage" clause in verse 15 releases the believer only from guilt for not contesting a divorce proceedings by his unsaved spouse!
        7. The only two Biblical grounds for remarriage are the death of a spouse (Romans 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:39) and a reconciliation to the original spouse if there was no remarriage to a third party, 1 Cor. 7:11.
        8. Scripturally, activity that God requires must result in marriage are consensual premarital sexual union (fornication, Ex. 22:16) and a wedding vow (Mal. 2:14b); either act must be followed by the other. The sole exception is adultery that is to cease to protect the original marriage, 1 Cor. 6:15-18.
        9. Forced rape is to result in death for the aggressor, so the victim is not guilty of sin, Deut. 22:25-26.
Lesson: May we heed God's order to limit all sexual activity to the union of a man and a woman in marriage, for doing fits God's standard and provides a stable, upright setting for the home and society!