Deuteronomy 24:1-4
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
24 Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house 2 and goes off to become another man’s wife. 3 Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); 4 her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.
REDEEMING HIS BRIDE:
Yeshua said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” – Matthew 15:24
Why did He say that to the Jews? Why the lost from the house of Israel? Both are harlots – but Judah is actually part of Israel as one of the 12 tribes. He came for the whole house, because the Groom needs to redeem the adulterous bride.
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. – Jeremiah 3:1
But God divorced Israel:
“And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.” – Jeremiah 3:8
Yeshua says Matthew 5:32, “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”
Where did Jeremiah and Yeshua get that notion? From the Torah – the Father’s marriage contract:
1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.
3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. – Deuteronomy 24:1-4
YHVH married Israel at Mt. Sinai. His Torah was the marriage covenant. Through it, He said:
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. – Exodus 19:5,6
When Israel later began whoring after other gods, YHVH divorced her. But that meant – according to God’s own Law, she could never return to Him. Yet, throughout the Old Testament, we see the prophets declaring that YHVH will redeem and take her back. How could that be? Would YHVH really violate His own Law? Nope. He had an amazing plan in mind! A “great mystery” as Paul called it.
Though a man can divorce his wife, she can not remarry, for despite the marriage contract which is easily broken, the two become ONE FLESH. That is not something that can be separated so easily. If she remarries, she causes the other man to be an adulterer. And she can never return to her first husband, for she has been defiled by the last husband. This problem remains in effect until the original husband dies.
The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. – 1 Corinthians 7:39
Now watch this – Romans 7:
1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Did you catch it? The adulterous wife – in this case Israel – was freed from the curse of adultery by the death of Christ/who is the Word of YHVH made flesh. Thus, the Father redeemed His Bride (Israel) through His only begotten Son Yeshua! It’s the most amazing love story ever! In order to get His Bride back, the Groom had to die.
The HCSB renders Romans 7:4 a lot clearer for us:
Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the crucified body of the Messiah, so that you may belong to another--to Him who was raised from the dead--that we may bear fruit for God. – Romans 7:4 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
This makes Paul’s words to the Ephesians make a whole lot more sense:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; – Ephesians 5:25
This verse explains why Yeshua said what He said in Matthew 15:24. He loved His Church, the Bride, which is Israel (as confirmed by Rev. 21) so much that He gave His own life to redeem her back to Himself.
This is the reason why Gentiles get grafted/adopted into this family. To be the Bride, is to be Israel, which was redeemed unto YHVH by the death of the Husband. Gentiles were never in covenant to begin with. Gentiles are “out of covenant people.” When you accept Christ, you “cross over” (which is what the word “Hebrew” actually means) from death to life. Once you do that, you are grafted into the cultivated olive tree which is Israel. More specifically, you are adopted in through the family name of Ephraim (who was himself adopted by Jacob from Joseph to be his own).
Once you understand the above, you realize that Darby was wayyyyyyy off-base. His Dispensational theology messes up the entire plan of YHVH as clearly laid out in the Scriptures and serves only one purpose: to justify the equally bogus and ubiblical notion of a pre-Trib. Rapture. It allows people to look at Matthew 24, wherein verse 29 clearly states that Yeshua won’t be in the clouds (where Paul says we will meet him at the “harpazo” of 1 Thess. 4:16,17) until AFTER the Tribulation, and say things like “That’s for the Jew. The Church is already gone by this point.” Separating the Church from Israel causes all kinds of problems with reconciling the entire Bible – OT and NT – and it totally nullifies huge sections of the book of Romans and other books as well.
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