Have you noticed how many of the basic core values of a healthy productive human society have come under attack? Such as the assault on the definition of “Marriage”; and Just what constitutes a “Family”? Have you wondered about the rise in anti-biblical concepts such as Abortion, Euthanasia, homosexuality, and paganism in general which have made inroads even into certain factions of the visible church? Is this a new trend? Or is it the same old grind from an ancient time? In our lesson today, our pastor teacher Landis Fisher digs in at the foundation of this troubling situation as he highlights this important topic in a lesson from our ongoing study through the gospel of Mark that he calls: “What God Has Joined Together ” So, open your bibles and listen in, as we pray along with our teacher.
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Jer 4:1 – 4 (KJV)
Jer 4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. Jer 4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. Jer 4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Jer 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Mark 10:1 – 9 (KJV)
Mark 10:1 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. Mark 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. Mark 10:3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? Mark 10:4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. Mark 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. Mark 10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; Mark 10:8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. Mark 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Transforming Power Statements:
#1) Since Jesus taught what the Word “really” meant, on many occasions it was contrary to what the religious people taught who had twisted the original intention in most cases into an entirely different thing than what God intended, usually dealing with a mere fleshly understanding and application of a spiritual principle. (Many of the Jews practiced “the letter of the Law” while neglecting : “The Spirit of the Law” ) 2 Cor 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 2 Cor 3:6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
#2) Marriage and family as God designed them are the very core of human society and are therefore, attacked from many angles by the world, the flesh and the devil, who set themselves to undermine and destroy this basic human standard for healthy civilization.
#3) God honors the institution of marriage and uses it metaphorically to illustrate His relationship to the covenant people in the Older Testament, and as the bride of Christ in the New Testament.
