Imagine the folks in the time of Noah. It took Noah 120 years to build that
ark. And he preached salvation to the
curious onlookers even as they made fun of him for building a boat nowhere near
water, in a time that had never before seen rain. The dew watered the earth. They had no need of rain from the sky. And so to hear Noah speak of a flood was
against common sense. Yet, they also had
120 years to change their minds and enter that ark. When the time finally expired, Noah went
inside. But he did not go in alone, his
wife went with him. Further his sons
went in, along with their wives. 8
people in a boat meant to house quite a few more, in a time when the flood may
never have even come if the world back then had repented of its evil and chose
to live another way. But the world chose
not to repent. And only 8 folks were
saved accepting the offer of God. As it
was back then, so would it be right now, as we face the end of all things.
But there are also some things of God that are not meant to
be limited time offers. They are
fundamental and given no expiration date by God Himself. Marriage, Procreation, and the Sabbath were
meant to be 3 of those fundamental ideas from the mind of our God. Man did not invent them God did. It was God who looked at us and decided we
were not meant to be alone. That a man
needed a wife, and she would need him. That they should literally be of one
flesh, and through the union of becoming one flesh, become fruitful and
multiply. There were no time limits set
aside for this. God did not say it
should only happen once every “x” number of years for example. He offered it to us as often as we wish to
employ it. And His Sabbath was of a
similar nature, existing before sin, and meant to be eternal, as our God is
eternal. The Sabbath has no expiration
date in mind, and why should it? Our
creation is a thing that is meant to be eternal, our communion with our God
eternal, our reconciliation to Him eternal.
So without God saying He has had enough, and without even a reason to
do. These things were meant to be
eternal, that is not just relevant in this life, but in the next one as well. Think of it, if we had never sinned, all of
these institutions would have continued on without interruption forever as God
intended.
While the offer of our salvation may only be here for us for
a little while; at least while we live we can choose to embrace it. Our marriages and the celebration of His
Sabbath were meant to start here and have no end in the next life. Which means – we are doing it wrong. At least our marriage vows most fundamental
tenant is stating it wrong. It is not
meant to be “until death do us part”.
That clause is present because of sin, and meant to allow the living to
start over not bound to the dead. But
like the idea of divorce, it exists because of sin, not because it was supposed
to be a happy “out” clause of any marriage we just got tired of. Yes the sins driving divorce include
adultery, but they also include abuse, and a litany of others as well. It does not have to be a particular sin alone
that drives divorce, but at a minimum it requires selfishness to see it
implemented, perhaps not on your own part, but at least on one partner’s
part. And yet, even in marriage there
can be repentance, forgiveness, and re-creation. I wonder what would happen if we removed that
clause from our vows and our thinking.
What if there was not meant to be divorce at all, nor a reset with
someone else just because one partner dies.
What if we were meant to be as Adam and Eve, married forevermore. Because in truth, this is what I believe was
truly meant to be for us all. We just
choose not to think about it this way.
Even those who accept the idea of an eternal Sabbath, choose to abandon
the idea of an eternal marriage. And
why? Because of what Jesus said during a
trick question?
Luke records the incident in his 20th chapter of
his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why. But be careful to note, this was not a speech
Jesus was making about life in the next world.
It was an answer to a trick question, posed by those who did not even
believe in a next world. How many of
those folks still live and walk among us?
The incident picks up in verse 27 saying … “Then came to him certain of the
Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,” The folks posing this question still
considered themselves part of the Jewish faith, even though they differed on
perhaps the most fundamental doctrine of all time. They threw out the idea of an afterlife
entirely. It was not that you just slept
until a resurrection when all would be put right. It was that you slept forever, and you became
nothing more than a memory. Gone meant
gone forever to them. This was a far cry
different than the Pharisees and an endless source of debate between the two of
them. Yet both factions were represented
in the Sanhedrin, and neither could seem to change the mind of the other. To any modern Christian, it is easy for us to
see how the Pharisees were right on this, and the Sadducees were wrong. But we have the light of Jesus to prove it
out. They refused that light.
The false premised question was then posed as Luke continues
in verse 28 saying … “Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother
die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take
his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. [verse 29] There were
therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.
[verse 30] And the second took her to wife, and he died childless. [verse 31] And the third
took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and
died. [verse 32] Last of all the woman died also. [verse 33] Therefore in
the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.” So they laid out a scenario where one woman
was married to seven different brothers while on earth, and now that all 8
folks were raised up in the next world whose wife would she be? But before we attempt to resolve this dilemma
we must break down their question a little for there is a ton of wrong in it,
before it even begins.
Let us start by what drove the policy Moses handed out in
the first place. Chauvinism. Or perhaps even better stated, good old fashioned
greed. You see women were not allowed to
own property back in the “good” old days.
Property was only allowed to pass from father to son. Daughters had to be married, or live at home
with dad and mom till they died. And a
wife’s worst fear, was to lose a husband, without first having a son that the
family wealth could be passed down to.
To become a widow, was to become homeless. It meant you would become instantly poor,
with no place to call home. And many a
poor widow died of starvation, or exposure to the elements. NONE of this was what God intended or wanted
for a woman, any woman. ALL of this was
driven by men who believed they were authorized by God to drive it. They were dead wrong. Unfortunately, it was the women who usually
wound up dead, not the men. So what to
do?
We must now engage in lesser sin, to cover up our greater
sin. We will “add” the recent widow to
the wife collection of the next older brother in line in the family. In fact marrying the widow will become his
responsibility and should he fail to marry her, and attempt to give her a son
to resolve the passing of family wealth to, the next older brother could be
killed for avoiding his responsibility.
If he already had a wife, too bad, he is getting another one. Better to have forced multiple marriages,
than to have a widow dying of starvation and exposure. Of course NONE of this would be needed, if we
simply let women carry the rights to own property. She could have maintained the family wealth
on her own. And all of this requirement
would have become moot. But greed
prevented that. So now a system of
marriage corruption must be invented to cover for greed and prevent avoidable
murder.
This was the marriage scenario the Sadducees laid out. They were careful to avoid the divorce
scenario entirely. These were all
“legitimate” marriages having only occurred after the death of a partner. Even without the tradition of remarriage to a
brother, the widow could have chosen a random new husband as widows still do in
our day and time. Should they lose that
partner to death, they may still choose again.
And so on, and so on, leading to a very similar scenario – only worse
this time, for each of these modern day marriages could have been done for
love. Now upon waking up in the
resurrection, the heart of the modern widow may be split in a love for several
former husbands who may each be looking to spend eternity with the wife they
thought only to be theirs. But here is
where eternity begins to reset. It seems
even the Sadducees had the notion that marriage was intended to be
forever. “If” there was an afterlife,
then the marriage bond was meant to continue in it. They at least built that idea into their
trick question.
Jesus responds in verse 34 saying … “And Jesus answering said
unto them, The children of this world marry, and
are given in marriage: [verse 35] But they which
shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the
dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:” The phrase “marry and are given in marriage”
has a few significant meanings. It
implies we treat marriage casually. It
implies we choose to marry and with equal choice choose to get divorced as
though we have the right to do both, as often as we choose. Or we remarry upon the death of a partner,
staying true to the older vows of limiting marriage “until death do we part”. In either case our ideas of marriage are
transient at best, convenient at worst. Jesus
says in “that” world this is not the practice.
“Neither marry, nor are given in marriage”. By the way “given” in marriage implies
daughters do not have much of a choice.
Which is in itself another less ideal idea. If we are to be bound eternally, we should
freely choose to be bound eternally, not given to it, by the choice of someone
else. But back to marry and are given in
marriage; how we do it here, is NOT how it is done in a world where eternal
really means something. Notice the next
words of Jesus.
Jesus continues in verse 36 saying … “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the
angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” Jesus immediately follows up the last concept
with the next one where death is no longer an “out” for marriage as death is no
longer a reality for anyone. For we will
live forever as the angels do, and have.
The children of the resurrection will not take marriage the same we do,
as something casual that can be undone on a whim. Bonds made there are bonds made to last. Soul mates are truly soul mates. So what happens to the women with seven
former husbands? Or to the modern woman
or man who has married after a partner dies?
It would seem that sin has left us a lot of clean up that
God will have to do. First I believe this
happens by trusting God above all else with our hearts. When we reach a place where we trust God this
much, we give God license to clean up our mess.
To remove love for one we are not meant to eternally be with. And to channel our love to one we were meant
to eternally be with. This can only
happen though if we trust God enough to let Him be in charge of our love
life. And anyone in that Kingdom will do
just that. I believe our God will clean
up the mess we have made with our hearts due to sin and errant choices. I believe he will lead each one to where he
or she should have been, or is destined to be with, in His Kingdom according to
His will, which our will be overjoyed at.
Former loves become old friends we love no differently than everyone else. And eternal spouses become uniquely loved
that everyone else respects and never interferes with. In this alone can perfect harmony be achieved
with no jealousy, and no pain.
I believe however, for those of us rare folks who have only
ever known one wife or one husband, for those who even after the death of a
partner remain steadfast to the hope of that partner returned in the resurrection;
that this faith and commitment will be honored by God in that Kingdom that is
yet to come. For it does not make any
sense to undo a commitment freely given, that actually embraces the idea of
eternal both in this world and in the next.
God will clean up what He must.
But God can also reaffirm and honor a marriage that endures as He
planned for them to endure. Imagine Adam
and Eve raised to be in the next kingdom, do you truly envision Jesus saying,
well time is up. Your marriage was a
limited time offer and for the rest of eternity, you are going to be celibate. That makes no sense. They were meant to be together, literally
created to be together, considered incomplete until they were together, and
told never to part from each other. What
part of that sounds temporary? What part
of that implies a limited time offer?
Its not. It is eternal the way
God intended marriage, not the way we have messed marriage up in the countless
ways sin has figured out how to mess marriage up. Adam will forever be the husband of Eve. And I imagine for all those who honored
marriage forever, the same will be true.
The rest can be cleaned up by God as recovery from our sin requires Him
to do.
Now some parse this passage to separate “marry” from “given
in marriage” as if Jesus was speaking about 2 entirely different things. In that light they presume Jesus does not
want us to divorce, but He does not want us to marry either. In this world or the next. That would of course destroy the concept of
marriage that Jesus Himself created all the way back in Genesis before sin ever
entered this world. These folks who
believe this use the follow on phrase equal to angels to believe that since
angels do not marry, we don’t need to either.
Really? How do you know what
angels live like? Have you had extensive
conversations with them? I have
not. I do know there are a variety of
types of angels, some have 2 wings, some 4 and some 6. I have no idea if there are male or female
angels. And I have no idea if marriage
is a concept they embrace and understand and who am I to judge that. But take the angel equality phrase out of it
for a minute and come back to the practical side of Jesus saying anyone saved
needs to be single. First that does not
agree with anything found anywhere else in scripture. And it was offered during a trick question
from folks with screwed up beliefs across marriage, widows, divorce, and life
after death. And guess what life after
death was the main reason Jesus was here in the first place. To offer that to us through His own
sacrifice.
So Jesus continues to now address the much bigger problem
the Sadducees continue to embrace, their incorrect doctrine about hope in the
world to come. Jesus picks back up in
verse 37 saying … “Now that the dead are raised, even
Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. [verse 38]
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. [verse
39] Then
certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said. [verse
40] And
after that they durst not ask him any question at all.” These men had tried to use the edict of Moses
to care for widows as a trap to snare Jesus in.
Now Jesus would turn our attention back to the same Moses and point out
the obvious, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were meant to live again and live
forever. God is after all not the God of
the dead, but of the living. So on the
greater point of life after death, here is Jesus affirming there will be such a
thing. Jesus is here to live and die for
us, for just such a purpose. To restore
us back to how it was before sin ever entered this world. We may have a limited time, to accept this
gift or reject it. But the life He
offers is limited in no way shape or form.
There are those who say that procreation was meant for
humanity to replace the number of angels who fell with Satan, and then quit
multiplying as it were. Really? Is that what God said? Seems to me God told Abraham his descendants
would number like the stars or grains of sand on a beach. Perhaps not just a metaphor. Perhaps a real number. And have you counted the galaxies
lately? Imagine the number of stars
within each galaxy. Now I cannot tell
you what that number is, particularly if expanded to include the concept of a
multiverse. But even within the context
of this universe alone, that number has more zeros in it, than the population
of earth has ever had at any time, or in aggregate since our creation. And sadly we know, not every person who has
ever lived, has embraced the gift of salvation our God offers. So there is a LONG way to go to come anywhere
near that number. And have you
considered the idea that even with ALL the residents of heaven at the perfect
age, even with all married which not all may choose to be, and even with all of
those married couples churning out new children every 9 months, it would take
an infinite amount of time to populate an infinite universe. And time is something we have in
abundance. No need to rush
anything. We may alternatively choose to
raise a family every 100 years, or every 1000, or every million. Time again will be nothing to us. At that rate, the multiplication would again
take forever, and forever we have.
What is certain, is that Jesus is trying to restore us to
the creation He intended. In that
marriage, procreation, and the Sabbath will endure forever and ever – and will
no longer be marred by sin in any way shape or form. “Limited time” will become a concept so
foreign to us, it will lose all meaning and disappear from the lexicon of human
experience entirely. What God creates and
establishes is meant to endure forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment