Sukkot Series (3a) Marriage, Procreation & Family Prefigure the Family/Kingdom of God

This video series presents an amazingly expansive view of the gospel message including explaining the mystery and higher purpose of marriage, sexual procreation, and family as the creative process by which YHVH is expanding his own glorified, spiritual family. The mainstream church has largely missed this aspect of the gospel message, which has been hidden in plain sight in your Bibles all along.

The theme of sexual and spiritual procreation runs like a major thread forming part of the rich tapestry of the gospel message from Genesis to Revelation.

Moreover, marriage and family are the cornerstone building blocks of the kingdom of Elohim and are the Creator’s plan to recreate himself (in a majorly stepped down version, of course) or “the God family” that will live forever with him in the new heavens and new earth.

To that end, two families presently coexist on earth—a physical and a spiritual one. Adam and Eve started the physical family of man that then went astray spiritually. Then Elohim raised up Abraham to start a physical family that would then become a spiritual one — the nation and chosen people of Elohim with the commission of expanding that family throughout the world by being a spiritual light to the nations through the spreading of the Torah-based gospel message.

Yeshua the Messiah is squarely at the center of Elohim’s plan to expand this spiritual family, by unifying the physical and spiritual families in himself culminating with his marriage to his glorified saints who qualify to be his bride.

Creating the kingdom or family of Elohim then is the higher purpose of physical marriage, sexual procreation and family.

Of course, Satan the devil is promulgating his own counterfeit family and kingdom on this earth to compete with that of Elohim. But Satan’s plan, which involves sexual promiscuity and perversion, the destruction of the family and marriage and male and female genders, if allowed to continue, will end in the extinction of the human race.

Thankfully Yeshua the Messiah will return and destroy Satan’s nefarious plans along with his global world order before they come to fruition. He will then establish his universal kingdom on this earth that will last forever.

This then is Elohim’s ultimate and expanded plan of salvation to which the mainstream church has largely been oblivious for some 1,900 years.

 

Sukkot Series (2)— Marriage, Procreation & Family Prefigure the Family/Kingdom of God

This video series presents an amazingly expansive view of the gospel message including explaining the mystery and higher purpose of marriage, sexual procreation, and family as the creative process by which YHVH is expanding his own glorified, spiritual family. The mainstream church has largely missed this aspect of the gospel message, which has been hidden in plain sight in your Bibles all along. 

The theme of sexual and spiritual procreation runs like a major thread forming part of the rich tapestry of the gospel message from Genesis to Revelation. 

Moreover, marriage and family are the cornerstone building blocks of the kingdom of Elohim and are the Creator’s plan to recreate himself (in a majorly stepped down version, of course) or “the God family” that will live forever with him in the new heavens and new earth. 

To that end, two families presently coexist on earth—a physical and a spiritual one. Adam and Eve started the physical family of man that then went astray spiritually. Then Elohim raised up Abraham to start a physical family that would then become a spiritual one — the nation and chosen people of Elohim with the commission of expanding that family throughout the world by being a spiritual light to the nations through the spreading of the Torah-based gospel message. 

Yeshua the Messiah is squarely at the center of Elohim’s plan to expand this spiritual family, by unifying the physical and spiritual families in himself culminating with his marriage to his glorified saints who qualify to be his bride. 

Creating the kingdom or family of Elohim then is the higher purpose of physical marriage, sexual procreation and family. 

Of course, Satan the devil is promulgating his own counterfeit family and kingdom on this earth to compete with that of Elohim. But Satan’s plan, which involves sexual promiscuity and perversion, the destruction of the family and marriage and male and female genders, if allowed to continue, will end in the extinction of the human race. 

Thankfully Yeshua the Messiah will return and destroy Satan’s nefarious plans along with his global world order before they come to fruition. He will then establish his universal kingdom on this earth that will last forever. 

This then is Elohim’s ultimate and expanded plan of salvation to which the mainstream church has largely been oblivious for some 1,900 years.

 

Sukkot Series (1)—Marriage, Procreation & Family Prefigure the Family/Kingdom of Elohim

This video series presents an amazingly expansive view of the gospel message including explaining the mystery and higher purpose of marriage, sexual procreation, and family as the creative process by which YHVH is expanding his own glorified, spiritual family. The mainstream church has largely missed this aspect of the gospel message, which has been hidden in plain sight in your Bibles all along. 

The theme of sexual and spiritual procreation runs like a major thread forming part of the rich tapestry of the gospel message from Genesis to Revelation. 

Moreover, marriage and family are the cornerstone building blocks of the kingdom of Elohim and are the Creator’s plan to recreate himself (in a majorly stepped down version, of course) or “the God family” that will live forever with him in the new heavens and new earth. 

To that end, two families presently coexist on earth—a physical and a spiritual one. Adam and Eve started the physical family of man that then went astray spiritually. Then Elohim raised up Abraham to start a physical family that would then become a spiritual one — the nation and chosen people of Elohim with the commission of expanding that family throughout the world by being a spiritual light to the nations through the spreading of the Torah-based gospel message. 

Yeshua the Messiah is squarely at the center of Elohim’s plan to expand this spiritual family, by unifying the physical and spiritual families in himself culminating with his marriage to his glorified saints who qualify to be his bride. 

Creating the kingdom or family of Elohim then is the higher purpose of physical marriage, sexual procreation and family. 

Of course, Satan the devil is promulgating his own counterfeit family and kingdom on this earth to compete with that of Elohim. But Satan’s plan, which involves sexual promiscuity and perversion, the destruction of the family and marriage and male and female genders, if allowed to continue, will end in the extinction of the human race. 

Thankfully Yeshua the Messiah will return and destroy Satan’s nefarious plans along with his global world order before they come to fruition. He will then establish his universal kingdom on this earth that will last forever. 

This then is Elohim’s ultimate and expanded plan of salvation to which the mainstream church has largely been oblivious for some 1,900 years.

 

On Finding Godly Spouses for Our Children

Genesis 34:1, Dinah…went out. The lure of friendship with the world is a powerful one. Youth are especially vulnerable to the attractions of the world, since it offers things that are new and exciting. But this is not always for their ultimate good as Dinah soon and sadly discovered. 

Dinah’s being drawn to friends among the heathen is what caused this whole sorry affair between the sons of Jacob and the inhabitants of Shechem resulting in Dinah’s kidnapping and rape and the massacre of the Shechemites. James the apostle warns us, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with Elohim? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of Elohim” (Jas 4:4). Similarly, John states, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15–16). The lure of the world’s acceptance is a dangerous one that leads one down a slippery slope spiritually as Paul opines. “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Cor 15:33). Elsewhere, Paul warns the young Timothy to “Flee youthful lusts” (2 Tim 2:22). If the enticements of the world weren’t such a difficult temptation to resist, then he wouldn’t have urged young people to flee them! 

Furthermore, YHVH, our loving Heavenly Father wouldn’t be urging his people to come out of the world (Rev 18:4; 2 Cor 6:14–17). Moreover, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, and who knew something about the alluring power of sexual and lustful enticements, dedicates the first seven chapters of the book of Proverbs to warning against it. He urges young people to follow the path of wisdom, truth and the fear of Elohim by fleeing the ways of the perverse woman—a metaphor for evil in its every form. 

The problem is that most young people feel they are powerful enough to resist the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil—that they’re an exception to the rule and immune. Sadly, this is pride based on naiveté. As the Scriptures teach us, pride comes before a fall, which results in shame (Prov 16:18; 11:2). “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov 14:12; 16:25). “He who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Dinah would have been better off had she heeded this advice. 

So how could Jacob have protected his children from worldly influences? After a certain point when young people become adults, this is no longer possible; they have to figure things out for themselves and to make their own choices one way or the other. Until then, parents can somewhat shield their children from the evil influences of the world within the protective confines of the family structure, even as they are inoculating them against the world’s ungodly mores by laying under them a strong, biblically-based spiritual foundation of Truth. After that, however, the young and tender plants have to leave the protective greenhouse of the family and face the exposure of the outside elements—the wind, cold, rain, ice, snow as well as competition from other plants, where they will either stand firm against these adverse forces, or will, to one degree or another, succumb to them.

It is a particular and difficult problem for young people who are raised in godly families to find godly spouses. If they are not part of a spiritual community where the “fishing” is good, then they are forced to go searching for marriage prospects in the world around them. This is a potentially dangerous proposition and a gamble at best. This was likely the case with Dinah, and it turned out badly for her. For this reason, both Abraham and Isaac insisted that their children NOT seek marriage partners from among the Canaanites around them. They went to great lengths to find godly spouses for their children. Jacob would have been well-advised to do the same. Perhaps, however, this was not an option for him after his difficult experience with Laban and the vow he had just made with his uncle at Mizpeh not to cross the Jordan River en route to Babylonia. It seems that this would have precluded Jacob from seeking wives for his children elsewhere, leaving them no choice but seek such among the local heathen populace. Evidently, Dinah’s brothers intermarried with the local girls, which may have contributed to the Israelites’ eventual apostasy and enslavement in Egypt.

Whatever the case, it is not easy for anyone to remain faithful to Elohim in this evil world. If it is difficult for parents to resist the forceful currents of spiritual declension short of divine intervention and empowerment, then how much more so for their children after them?! Many godly people have been asking this same question for a long time as we read in the Gospels,

And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:26–27)

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:23–24, emphasis added


Genesis 34:9, Make marriages with us. After the Dinah and Shechem incident, the local Canaanites wanted to intermarry with Jacob’s children and steal their inheritance (Gen 34:23). It is the desire of worldly people to pollute and desecrate YHVH’s set-apart people. The world isn’t content to live and let live—to leave the saints alone. It pollutes and destroys everything it touches wants by pulling those of a higher spiritual level down to its low spiritual level. Jacob and his sons, however, remained firm and refused to assimilate with the Canaanites. 

Had Jacob succumbed to the alluring offers of the devil, he would have lost his spiritual standing with Elohim as well as his future, promised and covenantal inheritance. 

The devil offered Jacob the small reward of temporary peace and prosperity by making assimilating alliances with the heathens in exchange for Jacob’s birthright. Esau made this mistake years earlier, and Jacob knew better than to fall for the enemy’s lies. 

The devil tempted Yeshua in the same way after his forty day fast in Matthew chapter four. Satan promised Yeshua temporal and immediate fame, glory and prosperity if he would submit to him. To do so, Yeshua would have forfeited his future higher glory. Instead Yeshua chose the better reward of the delayed gratification that his Father offered him as opposed to the instant carnal gratification the devil offered. 

We too must follow the example of Jacob and Yeshua and resist the enemy’s overtures that appeal to our base carnal nature. Instead, we must aggressively fight off the enemy who wants to steal and destroy our inheritance and kill us in the process. 

No good can come from intermarrying literally or spiritually with the heathen! 

Be not deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. (1 Cor 15:33)

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with Elohim? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of Elohim. (Jas 4:4)

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Messiah with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of Elohim with idols? for ye are the temple of the living Elohim; as Elohim hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (1 Cor 6:15–18)

 

Retirement Is a Non-Biblical Concept

Deuteronomy 34:5, So Moses… died. Even at age 120, Moses never retired; he died with his boots on continuing in the spiritual mission that YHVH had given him. Retirement, as in sitting around doing little or nothing productive once one has reached a certain age, is not a biblical concept. Yeshua instructed his saints were to occupy until he returns (Luke 19:13). Elsewhere, Paul tells the followers of Yeshua to stand (not sit) as they battle against the forces of darkness (Eph 6:14). Moreover, the Bible characterizes the spiritual journey heavenward of the child of Elohim as a walk, not sit and do little or nothing. The concept of retirement as it is commonly meant in our modern culture is a recent one, and not a biblical one as I discuss in the article below.

Where is retirement mentioned in the Bible?

Here is a challenge. Show me in the Bible where the word retirement or the concept is even mentioned? Retirement as it is commonly understood to mean ceasing to work and doing little or nothing after a certain age is not to be found from one end of the Bible to the other. What the word of Elohim teaches, however, it that we are to work six days each week and to rest on the seventh day (the Sabbath or Shabbat, Exod 20:8–11). Moreover, it is clearly evident that because of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, the Creator told us that the “free lunch” had ended and we had to get to work (Gen 3:17–19). What does this mean for you and me if we claim to be Bible followers—especially after we reach the age where due to health and age regular physical work may be a challenge?

Only in our overindulgent, materialistic and wealthy western society is retirement an option.

For many who are lacking in a spiritual faith and who have no concept of biblical truth, retirement has become their “heaven on earth.” Retirement, in fact, is a sort of humanists’ heaven on earth until one dies and goes back into the soil.

Admittedly, as one becomes elderly, the body doesn’t function as it once did. But that doesn’t mean one has to resort to a life of inert, non-productive inactivity. For example, in ancient Israel, when the Levites reached the age of fifty, they presumably took on more of an advisory role in helping to train the next generation of Levites (Num 8:25). This rule didn’t, however, apply to those in the priesthood who served until death. The kings and prophets and prophets of Israel served until their death as well. Moses never retired and served YHVH and the Israelites until age 120! Neither did Joshua, David or the apostles retire from the ministry. As they grew older, they likely slowed down, but they never retired to life on a golf course, or sitting in front of the television watching old re-runs of Western movies or the daytime soap operas and game shows. No! They all died with their boots on doing YHVH’s work. 

Once we reach a certain age where hard physical labor becomes impractical or even impossible, we are faced with two choices: we can rust out or burn out. Like an automobile or piece of equipment, it can sit there rust away inactively, or it can be used until the engine wears out. Wouldn’t you rather burn out then rust out? Similarly, Yeshua commended the wise servants in the Parable of the Talents for being profitable with the talents the master had given them while he was away in a far country. Conversely, the master sternly rebuked the servant who did nothing but bury his talents in the soil (Luke 19:11–27).

Moreover, the elders (wise and older people) were to serve as leaders of the congregational assembly in the New Testament era. To be sure, the older generation was busy during their so-called retirement years.

These things being the case, why is it that so many Bible followers and even supposedly Torah-obedient individuals don’t work six days a week, but stop working when they reach a certain age and acquiesce to the concept of what our humanistic society calls “retirement age”? Similarly, why do so many woman support their husbands, who proudly laud their new status as “house husbands”? Why are there so many men on welfare feigning a disability, so they can collect a check from the government, when, for many of them, there is something they could do to help support their families, but instead, they proudly live off the labors of others? In reality they’re lazy  bums—thieves! This is hardly a godly virtue. Unless is bed-ridden due to severe health issues, there is something everyone can do to be a profitable servant rather than a lazy couch potato bum.

Even those who have worked hard and have the financial resources to be able to “retire” at a certain age, is it biblical to resort to a life of laziness and self-indulgent ease? Hardly! The biblical model is for the older folks to be using their resources including their time, knowledge and wisdom to help others—especially the younger generation. Kudos to those who are doing so. Shame on those who aren’t!

Sadly, we have become a society of lazy bums all too often living off of the labor of and resources of others. Is this something to be proud of? If this is our lifestyle, do we really think we will hear YHVH’s words on the day of judgment, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”?

 

The Real Purpose for Divorce Under Torah

Deuteronomy 24:1, Write her a bill of divorcement. Divorce laws and a bill of divorcement (Heb. get)is the subject of this passage. This verse forms the basis of the divorce laws of the Torah and the actual get or bill of divorce, which was a written document that a husband gave to his wife because of some immoral activity on her part (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash, p. 1058). The subject of divorce and remarriage is a large subject and is beyond the scope of this present work, yet it is interesting to note that Moses himself, the one who YHVH used to pen the Torah, was very likely divorced and remarried. (We have discussed this subject in Parashat Yitro.) YHVH himself divorced Israel and gave her a get because of her unfaithfulness to him, though he never remarried. (See the teaching below.)


Deuteronomy 24:1–4, Natan’s Notes on the Biblical Reasons for Divorce

Divorce and remarriage is a highly controversial topic due to the emotional nature and its prevalence in society.  Thus arriving at a balanced biblical perspective is not always easy. Those who advocate divorce and as well as those who are against it have their favorite scriptures that justify their position, while each side tends to overlooks the Scriptures that disagree with them. In this study, we will look at one aspect of divorce and the reasons that Scripture permitted it under certain circumstances. To be sure, this is a delicate subject that affects the lives of countless people.

  • Jeremiah 3:14, After YHVH divorced Israel (v. 8), he was still married to her. What’s going on here? Even though YHVH divorced Israel, he still considers himself married to her because he had made a covenantal vow with Israel, and vows can’t be broken (except by death or under very stringent requirements). Period.
  • Look at Hosea 1:2 cp. 3:1–3. Hosea’s actions toward Gomer, his adulterous wife, is an example of YHVH’s unfailing love for is Israel, who was his spiritual adulterous wife. Marriage is a covenant vow that when broken by adultery requires the death penalty for the offending party. Gomer committed adultery. Yet Hosea brought her back and redeemed her from adultery. He loved her unconditionally and laid his life down for her (as YHVH does for us, see Eph 5:28).
  • Deuteronomy 24:1 cannot be used as a justification for divorcing under just any circumstances. Only if the wife has committed or is committing sexual immorality (in Hebrew ervah) can her husband put her away. A bill of divorcement, in Hebrew called a get, must first be issued for the purposes of restoring the immoral woman. One cannot put their wife away for any reason. Even Yeshua confirmed this in Matthew 5:32. Ideally, according to the Torah and to Yeshua, some sexual immorality (in Hebrew ervah)has to have been committed for a man legally to divorce his wife according to the Torah-law. I inserted the word ideally because there are seldom ideal situations in life, and humans rarely live up to YHVH’s ideal moral and spiritual standards. As such, Yeshua admits that the Torah as administered by Moses allowed for divorce to occur, sadly, because of the hardness of human hearts (Matt 19:8). What does “hardness of heart” mean? Scripture doesn’t say. The following is simply my speculation on what this means. For example, I would not expect one to be required to stay married if several severe conditions existed such as physical abuse, criminality, drug addictions, abandonment, total dereliction of responsibilities or extreme heathenism. Such sins make it all but impossible for a righteous person to remain in such a spousal relationship. A spouse who is practicing such has violated their contractual marriage vows and thus there legally and technically is no marriage. A believer shouldn’t be forced to remain in such a relationship. Having said this, it is the saint’s duty, as much as possible, to vet out a prospective mate before marrying them to ensure that they have never been involved nor are currently involved in such activities. One should only marry an Elohim-fearing, commandment-keeping, born again faithful believer in Yeshua the Messiah, who has a long fruit-bearing track record of such a lifestyle. Again, this is Natan Lawrence speaking, not Scripture, but it is my best understanding of scriptural principles as they relate to marriage and divorce.
  • Marriage between two believers is a vow with YHVH. Marriage between two unbelievers is something else. It is simply an agreement or contract between two people. Maybe YHVH is part of it, maybe he is not. It all depends on the vows and the situation. 
  • Deuteronomy 24 is not a permission to divorce and to remarry. Rather it is a judgment because of sin. It must be viewed in this manner. YHVH’s Torah-laws, statutes and ordinances are for when things go well. The judgments of Torah, on the other hand, were for when things went wrong. A judgment was meted out because some Torah-law had been broken and now a solution to the problem had to be found or worked out within the framework of Torah. This is the situation Deuteronomy 24 is dealing with respect to the marriage covenant that has been violated. A get was a temporary legal measure to protect the adulterous woman from stoning, so that the marriage could be restored.
  • In the Torah, divorce was to be a temporary situation to bring the sinning wife to repentance and to restore YHVH’s perfect ideal of marriage—to restore order back into the home, to heal the family structure. If the sinning wife refuses to repent and remarries (Deut 24:2–3), and continues in her sin and she becomes divorced again or if her second husband dies, then this severs the marriage covenant permanently. This act on her part renders the marriage covenant null and void forever.
  • Again, a bill of divorcement or a get under the Torah was a temporary legal measure to protect the adulterous woman from stoning, so that the marriage could be restored. Matthew 1:19 demonstrates this. Joseph acted righteously in not putting Miriam (Mary), his pregnant betrothed wife, away, which could have resulted with her being stoned to death. By all outward appearances, she was guilty of adultery, but Joseph’s act of mercy was an example of his exercising mercy over judgment. It ended up that she was pregnant not by a man, but by the Spirit of Elohim resulting in the birth of Yeshua the Messiah. Thus Joseph’s act of mercy spared the Messiah from potential death.
  • In Malachi 2:10–17, YHVH addresses the issue of divorce. Here the prophet speaking for YHVH is discussing the treacherous nature and misuse of divorce, which is one of the reasons YHVH says he hates divorce (v. 16). This is because divorce often results in treacherous dealings between people (vv. 10–11, 14), it violates and profanes a sacred covenant (vv. 10), and it profanes the holy institution of marriage, which YHVH loves (v. 11), because it is often the result of adultery (vv. 11–12), and adultery leading to divorce often causes a man to leave the wife of his youth (v. 14) thus breaking the oneness of marriage (v. 15), and divorce covers one’s garments with violence (v. 16). Again, for these reasons, YHVH hates divorce, which is why he refers to it as “evil” and unjust (v. 17).
  • According to YHVH’s Torah standard, the righteous are to care for widows and orphans, not to create them as a result of the misuse of Torah’s laws regarding divorce.
  • In Matthew 5:32, Yeshua’s words fit into the above context. Only, ideally under the strictest standards of the Torah, for sexual immorality is divorce permissible. Otherwise divorce is unlawful, since the couple is legally still married and a bill of divorce (in Hebrew, called a get) is simply a temporary measure for the purpose of reconciling the couple and bringing the marriage back together.
  • In Matthew 19:3, when Yeshua mentions divorce “for just any reason,” he is referring to the Pharisaical schools of Beit Shamai and Beit Hillel of the time. The Pharisees that came to him asking the question were from School of Hillel. Yeshua is taking the Beit Shamai conservative position as was the case when John the Baptist took Herod to task for his adultery. Verse 8 shows that there is a provision for divorce but it is not YHVH’s perfect will. Rather it is a judgement and an indictment against carnal men.
  • Again, in 1 Corinthians 7:10–11, we see that the primary purpose of divorce is for reconciliation of the marriage, not so that one can justify themselves in getting out of a less than ideal marriage in order to fetch themselves another spouse. Divorce and remarriage, as millions of people will attest to, causes a shipload of unintended negative consequences on the lives of many people and often for generations to come. It is something to be avoided if at all possible.