Scenario for your input please...

[CecilW]

(It has, however, been asked how God could ever remarry one of His unfaithful, yet 'put away' wives. There are several possible answers, all consistent with Scripture.

I see two answers to this question:
a) A divorce following a wife's whoredoms was NOT mandated, only allowed as a dispensation due to the hardness of mens' hearts. In fact, Hosea (if memory serves) intentionally married a prostitute at God's instruction, and continually redeemed her when she returned to her former life. I find it interesting that the Torah restrictions under which a woman could justly terminate her marriage seem almost more lenient than those available to a man. It is as though God holds us men to a higher standard and responsibility as the leaders in the relationship.

b) It is this last part that draws me. While Torah almost seems to me to advise a woman to get out of a relationship with an abusive head, it seems to want men to practice the compassion and longsuffering exemplified by Hosea. I see it as yet another facet of how the family here on earth is SUPPOSED to mimic and illustrate to watching men and angels (! cOR 4:6?) the heart of God and workings of His family.

(Also, I see a distinction between straying from the relationship and being abusive to those within it. If the wife is an abuser, beating up on the husband and throwing things at him, etc. I believe God would advise the termination of that relationship as well.)

 

[Josh516]

Ok I would really like to add to what the Doc. said lol. I find myself agreeing whole heartedly. St Matthew 19:8-9 says "8 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. 9 And i say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

So we see from these versus that Divorcement and Re-marriage is alright if its being done due to an afair or things of that nature. Also, though I do believe Christ when He says divorcement is wrong, I probably have a different view of it because of my religious beliefs and the group I'm with. So I'll just share briefly on the subject.

In a perfect world where everyone is obeying the laws of God, divorcement and remarrying is against God's will. However, since men abuse their wives and neglect them in this day and age, I do not believe for an instance that God would condemn the wife for choosing to leave him and marrying a wonderful husband afterwards. Now if the full Kingdom of God were on the Earth today, then everyone would be aware of the laws of God and would obey them or suffer the penalties affixed. But that's not the case in this day and age. So since we have these scenerios where the men abuse their wive(s), I believe God will be understanding of the situation. I guess I sometimes just feel that men abuse Plural Marriage and neglect their wives and their feelings. So I know this is kind of off topic here, but I would really like to advise all men who are living Plural Marriage or who believe they will at some point in time, to love their wives and treat them with dignity. They should consider their feelings and their viewpoints and thoughts and they should strive with everything they have to make sure each wife feels loved for their own special reasons. And when a second wife comes along, that wife should marry into the family, not the man himself. The wife should give her consent to it, and if she doesn't feel good about the woman, the man should consider her feelings and they should resolve the issues in a loving manner. Anyways, just my thoughts there.

 

[Doc]

Please note that I have not locked out this thread to this point, and frankly, I am glad I didn't. I think that we have come to a place of understanding on this issue. We may not agree on every single point, but I think that we have come a long way.

Unfortunately, our friend David chose not to continue in the discussion. In fact, he felt so strongly regarding this issue, he has chosen to leave our forms competely. I wish he would prayerfully reconsider, because I certainly appreciate his input, and would never condemn him for his point of view. We need all the friends we can get.

However, there comes a time where those of 'like precious faith' find commonality in fellowship. Sometimes, people just don't agree, especially as it relates to Scripture.

Some of us have experienced this on the other end, where our position on plural marriage causes us to be set aside from our fellowships, friends, and sometimes family. We feel strongly about this issue, and are willing to stand up for it. Likewise, there will be those that don't agree on the definition of divorce in relation to plural marriage. To those we say, the door of fellowship opens inward....you are always welcome.

I would like to thank Cecil, Mark, DrRay, Paul and others for your insight on this particular scenario. It helped me to further define my own viewpoint on divorce and remarriage. I am more at peace now than ever, and I hope that you are too.

Blessings,

Doc Burkhart