Nicodemus, an esteemed ruler of the Jews and a prominent Pharisee, sought to meet with Jesus. He disclosed to Jesus the conclusions that the Pharisees had drawn about Him. Nicodemus affirmed that the Pharisees recognized Jesus as a teacher sent from God because of the many miracles He had performed. As a result, both those who were supportive of Jesus and His adversaries believed that He was a divine messenger, and that His teachings were the perfect Word of God for humankind.
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him”
(John 3:1- 2).
The topic of marriage and divorce was one of the most confusing topics to the Pharisees for hundreds of years. That was why they had to confront Jesus with these important questions on marriage.
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“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”
(Matthew 19:26).
Jesus in answering their tempting questions referred them to the beginning when God first instituted marriage. They had referred Jesus to the Laws of Moses concerning marriage and divorce. However, Jesus declared the final answer.
“They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery”
(Matthew 19:7-9).
In the same manner as people’s hearts were hardened in the past, the hearts of this generation have also become hardened. This is due to the regrettable fact that some religious leaders are altering the true teachings of Christ for their own personal gain and interests. Consequently, many people have been cursed because they have abandoned the traditional practices of the past. For instance, the original design for marriage is one man and one woman. However, modernists are continuously attempting to eliminate these traditional practices and replace them with tolerance and humanism.
“And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple”
(1 Kings 7:48-50).
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When Solomon built the temple for the LORD, he made vessels and put them in the house of God. He dedicated pure gold, five on the right side and five on the other side before the candlestick. However, when king Shishak of Egypt conquered Jerusalem, he took away all the treasures that Solomon put in the house of God. This prompted the king of Israel, Rehoboam, to make other vessels of his choice and place them at the altar. The only problem was that Rehoboam’s vessels were not the original vessels.
“And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house. And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber”
(1 Kings 14:25-28).
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”
(1 Timothy 4:1).
Likewise, most marriages today are not original as God ordained them to be. In most cases, many people have changed and modernized their marriages to their satisfaction, while disregarding God. God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost cannot change or lower His standards on marriage in order to suit the ‘modern’ men. He is still the same, yesterday, today and forever.