Notes on Luke 16
Notes on Luke 16 Compared with the Book of Malachi
(Some Quotations are from the ESV for Clarity)
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.
(Luk 16:18)
There is confusion stemming from what appears to be a very out of place teaching on divorce and remarriage sandwiched between two parables (The parable of the Unjust Steward and the Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus).
Given that the two parables both teach that the stewardship of God’s Kingdom and covenant would be taken from the Jews, how might we apply the above words on divorce and remarriage? The answer is to be found in Malachi Chapter 2:
My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts,
(Mal 2:5-8)
Now notice verse 10:
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
(Mal 2:10)
The Jews were given a COVENANT with God under the Law. Now verse 11 and verses 14-16
Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
(Mal 2:11)
But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. "For the man who hates and divorces, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."
(Mal 2:14-16)
Herein lies the meaning of Luke 16:18. Israel is the husband. The LAW COVENANT is the WIFE. God put this union together to produce Godly offspring, but the husband (the Jews) acted treacherously and committed adulteries, thus PUTTING AWAY (DIVORCING) the LAW COVENANT.
In Luke 16:18 Jesus tells the Jews that by corrupting and neglecting the law they had divorced the LAW COVENANT and had committed adultery with the nations and with money.
"The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.
(Luk 16:16)
The Law and the prophets were only until John. Since Israel had put away the Law Covenant and had been adulterous, they would not be offered the New Covenant. HOWEVER, since the Law and Prophets were now a divorced wife anyone else who sought to be married to the law COMMITTED ADULTERY. The Jews committed adultery by putting away the Law, but from the time of John the Baptist and the preaching of the kingdom of God, anyone who would seek to be married to or justified by the law would also commit adultery.
Compare Romans 7:
Or do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
(Rom 7:1-4)
The Jews committed adultery by putting away the Law. The Gentiles would commit adultery if they sought to be married to the Law because her husband (The Jews) was still alive. Since the Law cannot pass away (as it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the law to fail Luke 16:17) then there is only one solution to the dilemma:
BOTH JEW AND GENTILE ALIKE MUST DIE TO THE LAW IN ORDER TO BE FREE FROM IT. In the New Covenant there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and both are DEAD to the Law that they may be married to another, Christ.
Notice then in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus that they both have to DIE. But the Jews who committed adultery and rejected the New Covenant are now tormented, whereas the Gentiles are now comforted. In either case, neither can go back to the Law.
The short version is that Israel is a treacherous husband which divorced his wife (the law covenant) and committed adultery with the nations and with unrighteous mammon. The Gentiles could not therefore be united to the divorced wife (the law) or they would be committing adultery (since the spouse -the Jews still existed as a nation). The law cannot pass away; therefore we must be counted dead to the law by the death of Christ so that we may be married to Him in the New Covenant.
(Some Quotations are from the ESV for Clarity)
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.
(Luk 16:18)
There is confusion stemming from what appears to be a very out of place teaching on divorce and remarriage sandwiched between two parables (The parable of the Unjust Steward and the Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus).
Given that the two parables both teach that the stewardship of God’s Kingdom and covenant would be taken from the Jews, how might we apply the above words on divorce and remarriage? The answer is to be found in Malachi Chapter 2:
My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts,
(Mal 2:5-8)
Now notice verse 10:
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
(Mal 2:10)
The Jews were given a COVENANT with God under the Law. Now verse 11 and verses 14-16
Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
(Mal 2:11)
But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. "For the man who hates and divorces, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."
(Mal 2:14-16)
Herein lies the meaning of Luke 16:18. Israel is the husband. The LAW COVENANT is the WIFE. God put this union together to produce Godly offspring, but the husband (the Jews) acted treacherously and committed adulteries, thus PUTTING AWAY (DIVORCING) the LAW COVENANT.
In Luke 16:18 Jesus tells the Jews that by corrupting and neglecting the law they had divorced the LAW COVENANT and had committed adultery with the nations and with money.
"The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.
(Luk 16:16)
The Law and the prophets were only until John. Since Israel had put away the Law Covenant and had been adulterous, they would not be offered the New Covenant. HOWEVER, since the Law and Prophets were now a divorced wife anyone else who sought to be married to the law COMMITTED ADULTERY. The Jews committed adultery by putting away the Law, but from the time of John the Baptist and the preaching of the kingdom of God, anyone who would seek to be married to or justified by the law would also commit adultery.
Compare Romans 7:
Or do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
(Rom 7:1-4)
The Jews committed adultery by putting away the Law. The Gentiles would commit adultery if they sought to be married to the Law because her husband (The Jews) was still alive. Since the Law cannot pass away (as it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the law to fail Luke 16:17) then there is only one solution to the dilemma:
BOTH JEW AND GENTILE ALIKE MUST DIE TO THE LAW IN ORDER TO BE FREE FROM IT. In the New Covenant there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and both are DEAD to the Law that they may be married to another, Christ.
Notice then in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus that they both have to DIE. But the Jews who committed adultery and rejected the New Covenant are now tormented, whereas the Gentiles are now comforted. In either case, neither can go back to the Law.
The short version is that Israel is a treacherous husband which divorced his wife (the law covenant) and committed adultery with the nations and with unrighteous mammon. The Gentiles could not therefore be united to the divorced wife (the law) or they would be committing adultery (since the spouse -the Jews still existed as a nation). The law cannot pass away; therefore we must be counted dead to the law by the death of Christ so that we may be married to Him in the New Covenant.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home