Mark 10:2-4, 11-12 (ESV);
Hosea 3:1 (ESV);
John 8:10-11 (ESV);
Matthew 18:15-16,21-22 (ESV)
04 October 2009
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
504th Compound’s Multi-Purpose Facility
C.O. B. Adder
Tallill, Iraq
Big Idea: Push past justification and reasoning for divorce to peek at God’s Grace and Forgiveness through Hosea and the woman caught in the act of adultery.
REFERENCES: Note: In the English language an Ellipsis is when there is an unfinished thought and three dots are used, such as "Adultery is not grounds for divorce ...";
Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times; Hosea 1-3 (ESV); Hosea 1:2-3 (ESV) When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, ¡Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.¡¨ So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son; John 8:1-11 (ESV) The Woman Caught in Adultery; Deuteronomy 22:22 (ESV) "If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel; Deuteronomy 24:1-5 (ESV); Mark 10:1-12 (ESV); Matthew 19:1-12; Matthew 19:9 (NIV) I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."; Romans 7:1-3 (NIV) Do you not know, brothers¡ for I am speaking to men who know the law¡ that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man; Matthew 5:32 (ESV) But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery; Leviticus 18:6-18 Prohibited marriages within certain degrees of kinship - (ESV); Leviticus 20:10 (ESV) If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death; Ezekiel 16:40 (ESV) They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords; James 4:1-10 (ESV) Warning against worldliness; Genesis 2:18-24 (ESV); Man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife;
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Mark 10:2-4, 11-12 (ESV); Hosea 3:1 (ESV); John 8:10-11 (ESV); Matthew 18:15-16,21-22 (ESV)
II. READ THE PERICOPE: Mark 10:2-4, 11-12 (ESV); Hosea 3:1 (ESV); John 8:10-11 (ESV); Matthew 18:15-16,21-22 (ESV)
III. READ THE TEXT: Hosea: 3:1 (ESV) And the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins; John 8:10-11 (ESV) Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." Matthew 18:15, 16; 21-22 (ESV) "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to move past justification and reasoning for divorce to peek at God’s Grace and Forgiveness through Hosea and the woman caught in the act of adultery.
V. SERMONIC THEME: "Adultery is not grounds for divorce ..."
VI. INTRODUCTION:
Good morning Task Force 504. I want to send out some SHOUTS of praise to our Soldiers for expressing very strong opinions about our topic today! It’s great to see that your leaders are passing on the information from the BUB; while others aren’t deleting the chaplain emails.
Some Soldiers have even come over to my office to express their feelings; and to see if I was okay.
I have also received emails regarding the topic: "Adultery is not grounds for divorce ..." So, let us begin this most delicate topic.
Divorce in the New Testament is equivalent to death in the Old Testament because it affords an opportunity for remarriage.
Who can ever forget the Old Testament account of Hosea and Gomer?
In fact, if you allow your imaginations to work with you, this morning, perhaps (like me) you’ll be able to imagine God at the beckoning plea of His manservant (Hosea) gives Hosea permission (years prior to his first deployment to Iraq) to marry one of the hottest cheerleaders in Texas - Gomer.
In fact, Gomer was so good-looking, both men and women were guilty of double-takes when she walked by. She was an amazingly beautiful and intelligent woman. She had everything going for her or so it seemed.
She had the intellect, the looks, the body, the walk and the incredible perfume scent. Everything about Gomer spelled gorgeous - inside and out! No wonder Chaplain Hosea prayed to God for her.
Still, God honored Hosea’s prayer with an instructional warning that she would break his heart:
Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son (Hosea 1:2-3 ESV).
Now, my brothers and sisters, as you may recall the unique thing about Hosea’s message is that he had to live it himself before he could preach it to his brigade.
Chaplain Hosea had to experience deep agony in his own marriage because of the sins and shortcomings of his wife. But, all of this was a divinely sent lesson to Hosea and Task Force Ready.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 1: For don’t you remember, Gomer gave birth to three children in all:
a. Two sons and one daughter.
b. The children were all from other Soldiers.
c. None of them were fathered by Chaplain Hosea. They were all a result of Gomer being unfaithful and committing adultery.
d. Yet the chaplain, for whatever reason, took care of Gomer children as if they were his very own.
e. He loved them, and they loved him.
f. As a father, he provided a shelter and healthy meals for them.
g. He was there for them when they took sick; and he nursed them back to health because his wife (Gomer) was never there.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 2: She remained in the streets for many years following her worldly cravings and desires.
a. She wore the revealing clothes; and she hung out at the trashy joints.
b. She went after young Soldiers (potential clients) and sold her body for huge sums of money.
c. Now, the law of God was clear regarding adultery - for the Good Books says in Leviticus 20:10 (ESV);
d. If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death;
e. Yet, Chaplain Hosea didn’t have Gomer (or her lovers) stoned.
f. Instead, he was very forgiving. He allowed GRACE to shine through him.
g. For the Good Book says in Chapter 3, God instructed Chaplain Hosea to buy back Gomer.
h. In other words, pay the necessary price for her to be his wife again.
i. For as God was merciful to Israel; Chaplain Hosea was also merciful to Gomer. Though she deserved death, he brought her home and gave her life.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 3: Likewise, who can ever forget the New Testament account of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11 (ESV)?
a. The Pharisee and Scribes brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the act of committing Adultery.
b. And they reminded our Lord of what Moses said.
c. They said to him in (John 8:4b-11 ESV): Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
d. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?
e. And the Good Book says in John 8:7 (ESV) that The "Lord stood up and said to them, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
f. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
g. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
h. Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?¨
i. She said, No one, Lord¡ And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.¨
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 4: "Adultery is not grounds for divorce ..."
a. Technically, my brothers and sisters, in the Old Testament if you committed Adultery, it was grounds for being stoned to death which afforded your spouse the opportunity to REMARRY.
b. In the New Testament Divorce is the equivalent of Death in the Old Testament because it allows you the opportunity to REMARRY.
c. In the backdrop of our Scriptures today, it’s imperative for us to know that the Rabbis and various Schools of Thoughts did not agree on their interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4;
d. So they kept asking Jesus what he thought the passage taught. They were not questioning the legality of either divorce or remarriage;
e. because Moses made it clear that God permitted both.
f. The bigger question was For what cause may a man put his wife away and REMARRY?¨
g. Of course their motive was not TO LEARN TRUTH; but to trip-up our Savior.
h. Because in that day in time there were TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS:
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 5: One was from Rabbi Hillel the liberal interpretation. He taught that a man could get a divorce for almost any reason.
a. On the other hand, Rabbi Shammai (who had a stricter and more conservative perspective) held that a man could get a divorce ONLY BECAUSE OF UNFAITHFULNESS.
b. But, Moses commanded that those who committed adultery be stoned (Deut. 22:10; Lev. 20:10);
c. In Jesus’ day this particular law was rarely obeyed.
d. Therefore, in our Scripture today, we find the theater chaplains theological community once again trying a Booby Trap on our Savior.
e. But, Jesus didn’t choose Rabbi Hillel or Rabbi Shammai side.
f. Instead he said ¡§from the beginning, marriage meant one man and one woman becoming one flesh for one lifetime¨
g. He said that Moses¡¦ commandment in Deut. 24:1-4 was a compromise to the Jews because of their hardness of heart.
h. It does not represent God’s ideal for marriage.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 6: Matthew 19:1-12 tells us that Jesus did permit divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality (12:9).
a. Which could be adultery or any other sexual act.
b. But, before we run off to JAG and READY LEGAL;
c. Let us all be reminded that this SAME JESUS said - in John 8:1-11 (ESV) to the religious community that caught the woman in adultery and brought her before the church - :
d. Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at the woman caught in adultery.
e. And who can ever forget just before Jesus left Galilee in Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) - to come over to the other side of the Jordan River, he spoke to Peter about the Unmerciful Servant.
f. For the Good Book says Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
g. Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
h. Adultery is not grounds for divorce is intended to push us past the basic justifications and reasons to peek at God’s Grace and Forgiveness as displayed by Chaplain Hosea to his wife Gomer and by Jesus to the woman who was caught in the very act of Adultery.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
CELEBRATION:
(Psalm 8 and Deuteronomy 22:22) Adultery is not grounds for divorce
Adultery is grounds for death by physical stoning in the Old Testament and "spiritual" death in the New Testament.
For the Good Book says in Deuteronomy 22:22 (ESV)
"If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay
with the woman, and the woman."
But thanks to the mercy of God
I can hear Gomer and the "woman caught in the act of adultery" ...
... uttering the words of David in Psalm 8 - O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
In other words, God is W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L to me!
I deserved death but He gave me L-I-F-E.
