Concept #3 - Leviticus 20:10-13, 21 & Deuteronomy 24:1-4
The Power of That Unique Bond - Pastor Tim Carpenter © 2008 (Please ask for permission)
On the surface, these passages may appear to be a list of 'random' do's and don'ts. They are just another list of laws to guide the people of God… maybe. However, if one begins to think these through in their context and then in the light of Genesis 1 & 2, we see something deeper that enforces the strength of the marriage bond.
Leviticus 20:10-13
Using the New International Version (NIV) we read in Leviticus:
"'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife-with the wife of his neighbor-both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
On the surface this appears to be the standard 'do not commit adultery' law. But the following verses will give us further understanding as to why, when two adults who are already married, commit a sin worthy of death. For in the case of two adults that are not married they are forced to marry. Deuteronomy 22:28-29
11 "'If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
This is the law to which Paul applies for the case in the Corinthian Church (1 Corinthians 5:1). While the woman is now the man's step-mother, why do they deserve death when they are not 'blood related'? Looking at the more 'literal' translation of the Hebrew begins to open our eyes to what the marriage bond implies. The New American Standard Bible translates 'he has dishonored his father' by rightly stating: "he has uncovered his father's nakedness". What these two have done is not just have sex outside of marriage, but rather, because of the marriage bond, involved the father of the man because he is joined to his adulterous wife now to his own son. Adultery is defined as the mixing of others together. With the Biblical understanding of the Theology of marriage we now see why God warns us to not mix others into the marriage bed. It brings not only the two involved in the sin, but their spouses as well. When a male marries a female they are bond so permanently tight that they participate in the deeds of the other. Consider why the whole family of Achan were destroyed with him in the book of Joshua.
That is why the situation in verse 12 is also punishable by death.
12 "'If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
If the man and this woman were not joined to their spouses, these two could have legitimately wed. But because the woman is now joined to the man's son, she has brought that man's son into the bed and thus the father, in essence, has lain with his own son. Such is a perversion! In fact, look at the culmination of this passage in verse 13.
13 "'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
There is no doubt that the church in the United States, let alone those outside the kingdom of God, have very little understanding of the right and wrong of homosexuality as well as adultery and sensuality. The percentage of those in the church who participate in sexual sins is as high if not higher than those outside the church. God have mercy on us all!
It is only natural to then wonder about divorce and remarriage. We will hit the passage in Deuteronomy while we are in the context of Leviticus. Then the next concept will deal with what Jesus thought about marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
Deuteronomy 24:1-4
I admit that this passage is not an easy slice of pie to handle. The rabbi's and teachers of the Bible have voiced a large variety of opinions. Few, however, kept the original theology of marriage in view in their lengthy discourses. You can find anything you want in the volumes of literature that cover these verses. Even in Jesus' day there was one group that said burnt toast was enough to dismiss the woman while others insisted that it had to be something serious like marital unfaithfulness. There was one Rabbi, however, who kept His eye on Genesis 1 & 2 and left this passage out of the divorce and remarriage discussion very succinctly.
That Rabbi, Jesus, said that "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning." In the complete context of what and how Jesus addressed this whole issue, it is very plain to see that Jesus saw this passage in Deuteronomy as a control on the hard hearts of stiff necked men rather than the rule of all creation.
As Jesus applied the original intent of Genesis 1 & 2 we can see that the truth of the marriage bond as discussed previously has an overriding authority over what is meant here in Deuteronomy. Understanding the power of the bond, let us take a 'fresh' look at this passage in 24:1-4: (NIV) 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, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 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, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
We may never sufficiently understand what the indecent something is that would cause a husband to dismiss his wife. We do know that in the Hebrew the word translated as indecent is actually 'nakedness'. Perhaps there is something shameful or she has an inability to participate in sexual union. We know it is not that she was unfaithful prior to marriage for that situation is covered in Deuteronomy 22:13-21.
But the point is not what is indecent in the spouse. The point is that this is not a law ordering God's people to divorce their spouses. It is a law that controls what happens if a man (for whatever reason) dismisses his wife and she marries another man. This law is simply inserted to order God's people that if that 2nd spouse dismisses him/her or dies, that person is certainly NOT to go back to the original spouse.
Why? Because of the permanent nature of the marriage bond would cause that spouse to bring the current spouse to be brought into the marriage bed with the original spouse.
But why? Hasn't that spouse already been defiled when put away from the first and joined the second? YES! That is the whole point! Look at what is said at the end of the sentence before the statement 'that it would be detestable'. Her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. He is not allowed to marry her again AFTER she HAS BEEN defiled. In other words, she is defiled when she marries the 2nd husband while her first husband is alive!!!
When the first dismisses the spouse and that spouse then joins another, it defiles that spouse by bringing the first spouse into the bed with the second spouse to whom the marriage vow has now been made with that powerful bond of marriage. To be brought back to the first spouse after being also joined and defiled with the second spouse would compound the adultery exponentially. Death cannot erase the defilement that has already occurred!
This passage is perhaps the only one that really speaks against polygamy in the Old Testament if it is read and understood in the light of Genesis 1 & 2 in the power of the marriage bond. It was given to God's people because of their hard hearts and so Jesus, facing hard hearts in Matthew cuts the Gordian knot and went to the real issue. That will be picked up in concept #4 as we look at what Jesus taught in the Gospels about marriage.
Copyright 2009
