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How many times have you heard someone who is in doubt about the validity, authenticity or truthfulness of something say, "It just does not add up"? Well, that was my feeling after reading articles on the subject of divorce and remarriage in various journals.
I am not proficient in math; nevertheless, I am familiar with the simplest of equations and formulas for arriving at a determination, or conclusion of fact, based upon the variables provided and available data. I want to present a lesson here that, if applied, will aid you in discovering the truth on this important subject that does “add up.”
John’s dad gave him three baseball cards, and John acquired two more from his uncle. He shows these cards to his friend, George, saying, “Look, I have six baseball cards.”
"Where did you get them?” George asks.
"I got three from my dad and two from my uncle,” John replies.
George thinks for a moment and says, "That does not add up. You are telling me you now have six cards, three from your dad and two from your uncle. That, my friend, adds up to five. You are mistaken about having six cards."
Looking a little embarrassed, John says, “Oh yeah, you’re right--three plus two equals five.”
Regarding the scenario above:
However, 3+2 does not = 6. The statement or figure is incorrect. The figures do not add up. 3+2 = 5. This figure is correct. It adds up. It is the truth.
We can all understand the above, and if we make a mistake, like John with the cards, we immediately see that things do not add up and correct our mistake when someone draws our attention to the error. We would not close our minds to truth and argue against reason, logic and the obvious facts--because we do not want to be seen as close-minded and we want to be right.
A man, Bob, reads that Jesus teaches that a man commits adultery if he puts away his wife and marries another and so does any person who marries either of them. Bob believes (based on what he has heard from others) that "put away" (apoluo) means "divorce" and that a person whose spouse has divorced him may not marry. Further, Bob believes that those who have been "put away" and remarry are living in adultery.
Bob ponders this for a while and says to himself, "This just does not add up. What about a common case where a man divorces his faithful wife and she remarries? My current beliefs would forbid such a divorced woman from remarrying. If she did remarry, I would have to tell her that she must divorce again to get her life right in God’s sight! This would mean that this innocent wife would, in essence, be being punished when she has done no wrong. The husband who sinned would remarry but she could not remarry because of what he did. She wants and needs a husband, for God has said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone,’ and Paul said to let her marry (1 Cor 7:1, 2; 8, 9; 27, 28). How, then, can my current beliefs possibly be true?”
Deeply concerned, Bob turns to the scriptures for some clear answers He reads 1 Timothy 4:1-3, where it is said that "forbidding to marry" is a doctrine of the devil. He realizes that the woman (in the above example) has no spouse, and the only evidence he has to uphold the traditional view that says she may not remarry is his assumption of what Jesus is teaching. Bob turns to 1 Corinthians 7 (verses 2, 8, and 9), where he reads that all are to be allowed to have a spouse and that the unmarried are to be allowed to marry. This makes him think. "Could my assumption of what Jesus teaches be wrong? Things are not adding up here.” Bob is then determined to get to the truth on this matter. “This is serious matter. I cannot teach others what I have assumed to be true. What if I am wrong? Think of all the people I would be leading astray and advising them to do something that may be wrong in itself, and possibly even cause someone to reject the Lord.”
Bob turns again to Matthew 19:3-9. After much studying, Bob realizes that Jesus was responding to the Pharisees who were trying to entrap him with their questions. They wanted Jesus to say something they could use against him in order to accuse him of breaking the law. Their question pertained to the teachings of Moses concerning the practice of husbands' putting away their wives in order to marry another woman.
Bob finds the Old Testament reference (Deut 24:1-4) and discovers that the problem Moses dealt with was men's putting away their wives and marrying another, which would (did) leave them without means of taking care of themselves or the right to marry another. If the "put away" women were found with a man, or married another, they would be committing adultery, which required the death penalty. Thus, Moses commanded a man to give his wife a "bill of divorcement," which released her from the marriage.
Bob considers what was in the mind of the Pharisees (their plan to destroy Jesus) and what would have been the wisest response from Jesus. He looks at various translations and sees that they are not consistent in translating the terms "put away" and "divorce". So he consults a lexicon and learns that apoluo is the word that is translated "put away" but that there is another word for the divorce, and that it takes both to actually be a divorce. Things begin to come together when he realizes that Jesus’ response was in reference to husbands who were putting away their wives without any evidence that a legal/scriptural divorce had taken place. And it was this very thing that prompted God to instruct Moses to command that a "bill of divorce" be given to the woman if the man was determined to put her away. Jesus was saying that when a woman is put away (apoluo) without the bill of divorce (apostasion), then anyone who marries the "put away" person is committing adultery. That is really very simple, isn't it?
Bob considers the common teaching that a divorced person may rightly marry only the person that divorced him, but he sees that Moses’ Law (which was in effect at the time of Jesus' teachings) forbad the husband from taking back his wife after she had been with another man (Deut 24:4).
Bob realizes that with this understanding things do indeed "add up." When he thinks about the fact that his first conclusion could have been true only if Jesus had taught something contrary to Moses, the law under which he lived. Bob wonders how he could have ever come to the conclusion he did regarding Jesus’ teachings. Then he remembers the sermons he had heard, the articles that he had read, and the actions of the church, which everyone had assumed were supported by the "clear teachings of Jesus." He thinks, "I had a lot of help in misunderstanding this matter." He then sets out to do his best to help others see the truth. He realizes that he is not dealing with a simple math problem and that he must help people to learn and change their position and teaching on a very important doctrinal matter. So he diligently prays and prepares, and determines to teach with love and patience.
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