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NASB | Matthew 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED INSEPARABLY TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? [Gen 1:27; 2:24; Mark 10:7] |
Bible Question (short): Only words count God? |
Question (full): Hi Mark, As for Leviticus 27, I do not understand what those passages have to do with this specific issue. I didn't read anything there that had to do with a "foolish vow". It just seems to give a set of instructions as how to make special vows to dedicate persons to the Lord by giving equivalent values. Before I address Matthew 23, let me begin by saying that I think it was wrong for the 2 people to make deceptive vows for personal gain. Well, the man made the deceptive vow for his own personal gain and the woman made a deceptive vow for his personal gain. In either case, it was deception and thus morally wrong, not just illegal. It is common sense to know that the Lord would see deceit as a sin. Before I go any further, please explain to me what kind of vows are being referred to here in Matthew 23? I do not understand what kind of vows were being made. For example: "Woe to you blind guides! You say,if anyone swears by the temple it means nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath." (matt.23:16) What oaths were being made? What is this oath system that the pharisees were regulating? What does the bible mean by "swearing"? Let me see if I'm following you correctly. So what God holds you to is not your thoughts/intentions, but your audible words? Let me draw you a picture: This is what the girl literally did on that day. First before the ceremony was to take place she said this audibly in a prayer to God: "God the words that I am about to make in that room to the mayor (who was performing the ceremony), are not true. I do not vow to marry this man. You know in my heart this is false and though I know that it's wrong to lie, I am doing it with the best of intentions. " During the ceremony when she was asked: "do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Her mouth said: "I do" and her thoughts finished the sentence with the word "not". Again I do not question the immorality of the deceit, but I am trying to stress to you that her frame of mind was one that was definitively not saying "I do" to God or to the man. They were both complicite in this deception. The way she rationalized the deceit was by believing she was doing this for a greater good (i.e helping the guy not get deported) and she also believed at the time that since it was a civil ceremony and not before God that it would not count as valid in God's eyes. She has since then realized that the deceit in the first place was wrong. I feel that you are understanding this as though she made an impulsive rash decision or that she was thinking "oh maybe I really mean to marry him". It wasn't that she made this vow with the intent to keep it, she went into this vow with the specific intent to NOT keep it. The pharisees said many things with their mouths, but God knew the intent of their hearts. The law, the law, the law. I feel like that is the focus here. The specifications of the law. Whether it was made by the alter or by the gold of the alter. What is more sacred? The signed marriage license which "proves" that vow valid or the inward vow/heart/prayer that truly makes that vow sacred? Her audible vow was in truth a lie, while God would dissaprove of lying, I can't believe that God would hold her bound to that vow and doom her to a life of loneliness. |