The Bible on Marriage, Divorce, & Remarriage

The Bible on Marriage, Divorce, & Remarriage
By Pastor Doug Batchelor

Happily Ever After…
In light of the recent royal marriage extravaganza between Prince William and commoner Kate Middleton, many still remember the wedding of the millennium: Diana Spencer to Prince Charles.
Widely billed as the fairytale story of a beautiful girl who marries a prince, the royal wedding was broadcast around the world to a television audience of 750 million, while 600,000 people lined the streets just to catch a glimpse of Diana en route to the ceremony.
Diana wore a pricey dress with a 25-foot train, and the guest list read like a “who’s who” of the world’s richest and most famous citizens.
It was a wonderful picture of hope and promise, but a lavish wedding does not a loving marriage make. As we all know, within a decade the “wedding of the millennium” unraveled into just another miserable marriage that ended in sordid stories of infidelity and divorce. What made it even sadder was Diana had herself come from a broken home. Her mother had divorced her father when Diana was very young. On the day Diana’s mother left the house, she said to her little girl, “I will be back very soon.”
“Very soon” turned out to be never, and that event deeply impacted Diana for the rest of her short life. In fact, after Diana first met Prince Charles—who apparently was actually going out with her sister at the time—she told her friends that she was going to marry him. Her friends wondered how she could possibly know that. Diana responded, “Because he’s the only man on the planet who is not allowed to divorce me.”
Sadly, no human promise, wisdom, or wealth can keep a marriage together; sin has infected our lives too much for that. But the Bible has the keys to make a marriage a happy and productive one—and avoid the scourge of divorce.

Most Sacred Institution
On January 3, 2004, pop star Britney Spears shocked her fans when she impulsively married her childhood friend Jason Alexander in Las Vegas.
Within 55 hours the marriage was annulled.
Spears said, “I do believe in the sanctity of marriage; I totally do.” But she confessed, “I was in Vegas, and it took over me, and, you know, things got out of hand.”
One obvious reason many people so recklessly jump into marriage is that they figure if it doesn’t work out they can just as quickly jump out. The solemn vows, they reason, are just a required formality.
However, the Bible is not silent regarding the sanctity of marriage. How could it be silent when marriage was created by God? We should expect that the Bible would come with some strict guidelines about what is permitted to cancel a marriage. The many civil and religious laws established to preserve marriage exist because of the high priority of the institution.
After all, how important would marriage be if it could be so easily dissolved? If you could be released from this solemn covenant for the most trivial of reasons, then marriage itself would be trivial—and, as we’ve noted already, this is exactly what’s happening in our culture because marriage is so easy to escape.
Salvation is also a sacred covenant. We might have cause to worry if God honored His covenant to save us the same way many people these days honor their marriage vows.
Fort Knox is one of the most heavily guarded locations in North America. Why? Because its vaults contain approximately 4,600 tons of gold bullion. However, grocery stores are not built like small fortresses—with thick walls, armed guards, and complicated safes—to protect bubblegum. The value of what is inside a location is often best revealed by the level of security protecting it.
It’s the same with marriage. God has placed a formidable wall, a holy hedge, around this institution in order to protect it precisely because it is so valuable, so sacred, so important. The marriage vow is not like children on a playground making fanciful pledges like, “Cross your heart and hope to die.” When a man and woman get married, they are committing themselves to each other in the strongest possible terms. It is a solemn oath made in the presence of God, meant to last as long as those two hearts keep beating in stereo. “For You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever” (1 Chronicles 17:27 NKJV).

Conditional Commitment?
Joseph Campbell said, “A marriage is a commitment to that which you are. That person is literally your other half. And you and the other are one. … Marriage is a life commitment, and a life commitment means the prime concern of your life. If marriage is not the prime concern, you are not married.”
But what if you are thoroughly convinced that you married the wrong person? Does the vow still need to be kept … really? Psalm 15:1 says, “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” In other words, who will go to heaven? Part of the answer is found in verse 4: “He who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (NKJV). It’s talking about a person who has made a promise he doesn’t really want to keep anymore, but he keeps it anyway because it was a promise.
It’s someone like Jephthah, who promised to dedicate to the Lord whatever came out of his gates when he returned home victorious. (See Judges 11:30, 31.) He likely thought it would be a goat or a cow, but it turned out to be his daughter. Who could have blamed him for taking back that pledge? Yet with a broken heart, he kept his vow, and she was given to serve in the temple for the rest of her life without marrying.
When you stood at the altar and made your vow, did you not know that someday your husband or wife might have days when they act grumpy and look frumpy? Did you never consider that their outward beauty and rippling muscles would eventually sag? They might even snore or someday grow senile and need your constant care. There is no excuse for abandoning your sacred vow because it hurts you.
Remember, the kind of love spoken of in the Bible is an unconditional love. “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you’ ” (Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV). This is the way Jesus loves us. It’s not because we are always lovable, but because He has chosen to love us despite our failures. It’s not a love driven because of what you do for Him. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38, 39 NKJV).
It’s a choice to love regardless of whether or not a spouse is always lovable.
Inseparable love? That’s commitment.
Martin Luther said, “The Christian is supposed to love his neighbor, and since his wife is his nearest neighbor, she should be his deepest love.”

One Plus One Equals One
The deep-sea angler is a very interesting ocean fish.
The female is about as big as a volleyball. On the other hand, the male is disproportionately small, like a black jellybean with fins. He has small hook teeth that he uses to bite the female of his dreams and attach himself to her. Once attached, his blood vessels actually join with those of the female—and he will spend the rest of his life merged with her like an extra appendage, getting all of his nourishment from her body in return for fertilizing her eggs. The flesh of the two fish eventually fuses, and they remain permanently connected.
This might not be the most elegant word picture, but it adds new meaning to the Scripture, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
Consider the word “cleave” used in this verse; it comes from the Hebrew word dabaq, which means “adhere” or “glue.” In other words, husbands and wives should be super-glued together in their marriage.
There are several ways that a husband and wife become one flesh. The most obvious is when their chromosomes blend together through an act of love to form a new creature, a child made in their image. However, whether or not they have children, this oneness also applies to the spiritual, mental, and physical aspects of their lives and partnership.
According to researchers at the University of California in San Francisco, when a man and woman engage in sexual intimacy, the hormone oxytocin is released, which helps bond the relationship. Oxytocin has been shown to be “associated with the ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships and healthy psychological boundaries with other people.” When it is released during sex, it begins creating an emotional bond between individuals. Oxytocin is also associated with mother/infant bonding because it is released during childbirth and breastfeeding.
Let’s be clear though: When a man and woman get married, becoming “one flesh” is far beyond sexual or chemical. Emotions, dreams, responsibilities, and relationships are all melded together. We have all heard stories of how difficult and dangerous it can be to separate conjoined twins when arteries, nerves, and organs are shared. Likewise, separating what God has joined together seldom happens without great risk.
A man and woman in marriage become so closely united in purpose, being, and existence, it is as though they were literally “one flesh.” And two lives so intertwined cannot be divided without causing great pain, emotional bleeding, and scarring. That’s why divorce is always so devastating.

Tips for a Happy Marriage
No question: Marriage can be challenging. But as we have seen, it is intended to be a wonderful gift from God—a blessing, not a burden. “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22 NKJV).
The key, of course, is communication.
There is a story about an old man and his wife who were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary—50 years of married life. Having spent most of the day with relatives and friends at a big party given in their honor, they returned home. They decided, before retiring, to have a little tea with bread and jam. Seated in the kitchen, the husband opened up a new loaf of bread and handed the end piece (the heel) to his wife. After a long pause, she exploded, saying, “For 50 years you have been dumping the heel of the bread on me. I’ve held my peace, but enough is enough. I refuse to take it anymore, this lack of concern for me and what I like.” On and on she went scolding him. The husband was absolutely astonished at the tirade. When she had finished, another long pause drifted between them. Finally, with misty eyes, he softly said to her, “The heel is my favorite piece.”
I say again: Communicate!
Every marriage faces challenges, some big and some small. Life is precious and short; therefore, focus on the larger battles, working through them as a team while letting go of the incidentals that, in the big scheme of things, don’t really matter. If you are going to pick something apart, make sure it’s worth the effort. Unfortunately, unresolved arguments are a big issue in marriages, often leading to divorce. Therefore, unless the issue is something significant, learn to let some things roll off your back. When you do discuss the big stuff, wait until you’re alone. If the children feel like they’re in the bleachers of a boxing match between mom and dad, it can be very troubling.
Below are a few more points that can help make marriage the blessing it was intended to be. Some of these tips might sound like fortune cookie clichés, but they are true nonetheless.

First, one of the most crucial aspects of marriage is practicing forgiveness. Ben Franklin said, “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards.” We need to learn to apologize when we are wrong—and if we’re smart, we might find something to apologize for even when we know we are right.
As we have been forgiven by God, we should also forgive our spouses, even when they don’t deserve it. “Marriage,” someone said, “is three parts love and seven parts forgiveness.” That’s what biblical forgiveness is all about: forgiving the undeserving. If we don’t learn to forgive, marriage, if it survives, will be like purgatory.
But you might be asking, “How can I love and forgive a person when they have hurt me so deeply? After I have seen their dark and ugly side. How can I love them when they demonstrate so little love for me?” As you think about these questions, keep in mind these are the very questions Jesus can ask about each of us. Despite our selfishness and sin, He loves and forgives us. He gave His life to be one with us. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25 NKJV).
Second, just as the Bible teaches that we are sinners, we must accept the fact that we are married to someone who is physically, emotionally, and spiritually damaged by sin. Get over it. Your spouse has faults. Marriage is the art of two incompatible people learning to live compatibly. Pray your way through his or her faults. You might have to live with those faults, but you don’t have to obsess over them. If you do obsess over them, they will eventually eat you and your marriage alive. A perfect, holy God, through Christ, accepts us as we are; you, who are hardly holy and perfect, must do the same for your spouse. God then transforms us by love. If you would see change in your spouse, exemplify His life and love in your life (Ephesians 5:28).

Don’t always think of yourself first. As fallen humans, our default mode is “Me, Me, Me.” Like a compass that always points inward, our first impulse in any situation is to think of ourselves and of our own needs, survival, and comfort before anyone else’s—and that, unfortunately, includes our spouses. Try, through God’s grace and Spirit, to put your spouse before yourself just as Christ put us before Himself. Such an attitude can, and indeed will, do wonders for any marriage.
And just as Christ put Himself in our situation, for He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin,” try to put yourself in your spouse’s shoes (Hebrews 4:15). In other words, when a tense situation arises, step back for a few moments and try to see things from your partner’s perspective. How does this situation impact him? Why would she feel as she does? It’s amazing how this understanding can alleviate a lot of stressful situations that will inevitably arise in a marriage.

Schedule quality personal time together. Time is the stuff of which love is made. Dry dishes together, pull weeds in the garden as a team, or anything else that will bring you together. Remember that immediately after God made marriage, He made the Sabbath—creating a time to build the relationship.

“When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken” (Deuteronomy 24:5 NKJV).

Every marriage has its own set of challenges, and no formula guarantees success. But through these simple principles, one can go a long way in helping make marriage better and better as the years go by.
One divorce is one too many. That was not how things were supposed to be. Marriage is sacred. If you understand that it is sacred, you will do everything you possibly can, in God’s grace, to protect it—making it a commitment for life.
So make up your mind now to say in the words of Ruth:

“Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me” (Ruth 1:16, 17).

Tempted and Tried (sneak peek)

In our time pornography has become the destroying angel of male Eros. I don’t mean to suggest that pornography is only a male temptation (it is not), but pornography, because of the way a man has been designed toward arousal is, when available, a universal male temptation. It has come to the point now that whenever I meet with a couple in which there is a man who is an emotional shell of himself—dead to intimacy with his wife—and a marriage is fraying apart, I ask how long the pornography has been going on. In every case it’s there.

There is a kind of helplessness that a man engaged in pornography exhibits. He often speaks of it in terms of a “struggle” or an “addiction.” Now both of those terms are accurate, I believe, but they distance a person from his sin in a soul-decaying manner. Pornography is not just an addiction; it is occultism. The man who sits upstairs viewing pornography while his wife chauffeurs the kids to soccer practice is not some unusual “pervert”; he is (like his forefather Adam) seeking the mystery of the universe apart from Christ. That’s the reason the one picture, stored in his memory, of that naked woman will never be enough for him. He will never be able to be satisfied because he will never be able to get an image naked enough.

I say pornography is occultism because I believe the draw toward it is more than biological (though that is strong). The satanic powers understand the “the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). They understand that the pornographic act severs a one-flesh marriage union at the very point of intimate connectedness and instead joins Christ, spiritually, to an electronic prostitute (1 Cor. 6:16). They also know that those who unrepentantly practice such things “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10).
Pornography is, in one sense, no different from any other form of sexual temptation. But in another sense it is even more insidious. Pornography brings with it a kind of pseudo-repentance. Immediately after it is “over,” the participant feels a kind of revulsion and self-loathing. Whereas an adulterer or a fornicator can at least rationalize a kind of transcendent “love” behind his sin, even a conscience thoroughly seared over rarely wants to write love songs or poetry in celebration of his pornographic self-satisfaction.

Typically—at least in those who have some sort of Christian or moral identity—the pornographic act is followed by a resolve never to do it again, to leave it behind and find some sort of accountability. But what masquerades as a repentant conscience is in most cases little more than a sated appetite. When the appetite is “hungry” once again, the demonic powers will collaborate with the biological impulses to find a way to make it seem irresistible again. As the cycle of temptation grinds on, the illusion of repentance keeps the sin in hiding, so that actual repentance never happens until, as with Esau, the conscience is so seared that repentance is then impossible (Heb. 6:4-6, 12:16-17).

And this is, of course, exactly where the powers want any child of Adam—and especially any professing brother or sister of the Lord Jesus.

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_____ if you liked this excerpt, check out Tempted and Tried by RUSSELL D. MOORE_______

Aliens, Angels, or Adopted? Who Are the Sons of God?

 

By Pastor Doug Batchelor
October 30, 1938. It was Halloween night, and much of America had tuned their radios to the Columbia Broadcasting System, which had just finished reporting on the weather and began playing music. Within moments, the broadcast was interrupted by a news flash about strange explosions on Mars. The announcer reassured the audience that as more information became available, more announcements would be made. Then the music continued.
As the night progressed, the music was interrupted frequently, now with terrifying reports of an invasion. Aliens from Mars had landed in New Jersey and in cities around the world. The Earth was under attack. Panic filled the streets as many people fled their homes.
But it was all fiction.
A young Orson Wells had adapted the H.G. Wells’ book War of the Worlds for broadcast and modified the script to present the story as though it was happening in real time. Many listeners took the fictional radio play to be real.
Those who panicked were operating with incomplete information. They had failed to hear the station announce at the beginning and the end of the broadcast that it was all mere drama. Coming in at the middle, hearing only part of the story, they had no context and ran off thinking the sky was falling.
Similarly, a passage in Genesis when read out of context has caused many to believe that Earth has been invaded by aliens from outer space. Let’s take a look at that challenging verse:

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose (Genesis 6:1, 2).

Some believe that the term “sons of God” refers to extraterrestrial invaders. They believe that these beings are fallen angels or aliens from space who took human females as wives and produced offspring. They rationalize this belief by saying that the progeny produced by these unions were “giants” (v. 4). They believe these unholy unions were ultimately responsible for the increased wickedness of man.
On the surface, this seems to be a reasonable explanation of Scripture. But as we shall see, without understanding the context that surrounds this passage, you can actually be confused into believing that certain fictions are real. Fortunately, we can clear up any confusion on the sons of God quite easily by gathering more information from the Bible.

Angels Are Spirits
The King James Bible uses the term “sons of God” 11 times in two primary ways. However, it never uses the term to refer to an angelic being.
“He who makes his angels spirits …” (Psalms 104:4). Angels are spirits; they are not flesh. They are all around us now, but we cannot see them. They generally remain in their spiritual form and have no physical integration in our world—they don’t go to school, get jobs, or raise families. They are here to “minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).
Even if they wanted to marry and have babies, they couldn’t; they don’t have human DNA. It would be easier for a jellyfish to marry a mountain goat than for angels to marry people. Thus, it doesn’t make practical sense to believe that our passage in Genesis refers to the marriage of angels, fallen or holy, to humans.
Angels are not born; they are created. If God wanted more angels, He wouldn’t need to marry them off to humans or other angels to reproduce. He could create them from scratch. Speaking of Lucifer, God said, “The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created (Ezekiel 28:13 NKJV, emphasis added).
Moreover, Jesus tells us plainly that angels do not marry. Marriage is a uniquely human institution, reserved for mankind. “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Mark and Luke suggest the same thing: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God” (Luke 20:36; some translations render it “sons of God”). Notice here that Jesus makes a distinction between angels and sons of God. They are classified separately, which means they are not the same thing.
So if the sons of God are not angels, what are they?

Cosmic Life?
While the sons of God were not space invaders, the Bible does appear to teach that there is other life in the cosmos. It is clear in Scripture that Jesus made other planets: God “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2 NKJV).
In the parable of the lost sheep, the Earth represents the one lost sheep, a wandering world that went astray, the one Christ came to save. It’s easy to imagine that God, in His infinite existence, created other worlds with other physical beings. Of course, we know He had seraphim and cherubim and other angels prior to our world, so at a minimum we know there are at least those extraterrestrial creatures. “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth” (Colossians 1:16 NKJV). “And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth ... I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’ ” (Revelation 5:13 NKJV).
However, most of these other created beings do not visit this world. The Earth is infected with a deadly contagious disease called sin, and we are likely quarantined. The only ones allowed to go into a quarantined hospital ward are the hospital staff; in this case, God’s angels. They are ministering spirits.

Princes of Planets
Thousands of years ago, an intriguing meeting took place in heaven. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them” (Job 1:6).
In attendance at this meeting are sons of God, as well as Satan himself. Satan says that he has come from the Earth. The sons of God were there representing their un-fallen worlds in God’s universe. Satan was there to represent the Earth.
Why would Satan be representing our world? Originally, Adam had dominion over the Earth. He was created by God to subdue and manage it. God said to Adam and Eve, “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
While Adam was in obedience to God, he enjoyed dominion over the world. But once Adam sinned and obeyed Satan, that dominion was forfeited to the enemy. “To whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness” (Romans 6:16 NKJV).
Even Jesus referred to Satan as “the prince of this world” (John 12:31).
In the Gospel of Luke, the genealogy of Jesus is traced all the way back to Adam. Notice what Luke says about this lineage: “the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God” (Luke 3:38, emphasis added).
The difference between Seth and Adam is the bellybutton. Adam was created by the hand of God; Seth was born of Eve. Adam was the son of God, created to have dominion over the Earth. Thus one definition for sons of God is those beings God Himself created to have dominion over the worlds He made. These beings were not born but were created directly by God.
Job 38:7 tells us that when our world was created, “the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy.” The “morning stars” are angels, whereas “the sons of God” are the leaders of other worlds. (See Revelation 1:20.)
With that cleared up, let’s talk about the second way the term “sons of God” is used.

Heirs of Righteousness
The other meaning of sons of God refers to human beings who have been recreated by God’s Spirit. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Matthew 5:9 adds, “Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God” (NKJV).
Here Jesus is obviously referring to human beings, but not just any human beings; these are peacemakers, the righteous children of God. In no way should this be construed to refer to angels or aliens.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Notice that there were those who were not sons of God, but that through receiving Him became sons of God.
It should be mentioned that “sons of God” doesn’t mean just males. Many Bible translations render the phrase “children of God.” Galatians 3:26 says, “For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” It is by faith that a man or woman becomes a “child of God.” (See also Isaiah 56:5; Philippians 2:15.)
The inescapable conclusion from these verses and others is that the sons of God in Genesis 6 refers to the righteous children of God.

Daughters of Men
The term “daughters of men,” therefore, refers to the unrighteous children of men, those human beings who do not call on the name of the Lord. In the context of our Bible passage, “daughters of men” refers to the offspring of Cain and his wife.
Originally, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain murdered Abel, so God gave Adam and Eve another son, Seth. He began to have children of his own, and they “began to call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:25, 26). And from what we’ve seen in the Bible, those who call on the name of the Lord are called the sons of God.
Now Cain had been banished from God’s presence. He settled “in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch” (Genesis 4:16–18).
Here, before the Flood, we have the descendants of Cain living in cities and the descendants of Seth living in the country. As long as they remained separate, the sons of God remained pure in their religious beliefs and practices.
However, eventually they began to intermingle. Maybe the sons of God needed supplies that could be easily obtained in the cities where the daughters of men resided. The sons of God and daughters of men became familiar with each other, even friendly. Whatever the case, soon the descendants of Seth, or sons of God, began to marry the daughters of men, or the descendants of Cain.

Mixed Marriages
It’s even quite possible the sons of God went into this situation with good intentions. Maybe they believed they could convert these daughters of Cain, introducing them to the Lord their God. However, the counsel of God is clear:

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 Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:14–18).

God does not want His children marrying the unconverted or the unbelieving, even if they have a pretty face, the nicest disposition, or a passionate belief in another religion. It makes no difference; God says that relationship will have problems.
So the result of these intermarriages was not only giants, but sorrow. Instead of the sons of God influencing the daughters of men, the daughters of men influenced the sons of God.
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly (Deuteronomy 7:3, 4; emphasis added).
The Bible is filled with stories about the sons of God mingling with the daughters of men and the disasters that follow as a result. Samson, chosen by God, was derailed by the Philistine women. His parents pled with him to avoid marrying a pagan bride, but he insisted on having what he wanted (Judges 14:3).
Solomon no doubt believed that he could marry the daughters from pagan nations and convert them. However, those pagan daughters drew away Solomon’s heart. This is why God is so adamant about His children not marrying unbelievers. It is almost always the case that the believer is gradually transformed by the unbeliever, not the other way around.
Jesus likewise has a warning for us in these end-times:

But as the days of [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that [Noah] entered into the ark (Matthew 24:37, 38).

Jesus here is likely referring to the mixed marriages of Genesis 6 that brought on the universal wickedness leading to the Flood.
As in Noah’s day, before the Flood, things that led to the destruction of the world with a deluge by water are going to happen again. They are a preview of what’s going to happen before the destruction of the world by a flood of fire when Jesus returns. History is going to repeat itself, but we don’t have to be among the repeat offenders.

Adoption Choices
Not everyone who thinks they are a son or daughter of God really is. The Pharisees boasted to Jesus that they were the children of Abraham. Jesus corrected them. “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). This is a simple principle to test our heritage. Which “father” do we follow in our actions? Jesus told the religious leaders, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44).
When we are born again and adopted into the family of God, we will want to imitate our heavenly Father. “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6 NKJV).
If you are not a son or daughter of God now, the wonderful news is that you can choose a new family.
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward (Hebrews 11:24–26 NKJV).
When called by God, Moses traded in his Egyptian adoption for a heavenly one. Through Jesus, you can too.
When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:4–7 NKJV).
Right now you can choose to be a child of the King, an heir of eternal life, and become a son or daughter of God in whom He is well pleased! Just ask Him.

Setting Dates for Christ’s Return

 

By Pastor Doug Batchelor

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”
—Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV)

Few things cause more sadness than failed expectations. Over time, many believers have been discouraged by failed predictions of Jesus’ coming.
Jesus cautions in Matthew 24:11, “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” It’s a straightforward warning that He repeats a little later in verse 24. He says, “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not” (v. 23).
The subject of this article is extremely important: dealing with the danger of setting or embracing particular dates for Jesus’ return. Christians need to be reminded periodically what the Bible plainly says about this perilous practice, even now, when it seems like His return could come at any moment.
When anyone starts predicting the day and hour of the second coming, in light of everything Jesus said about what we can know and what we can’t know, it’s reckless.
Still, we’ve all been exposed to these false predictions, and it’s not going to stop. Probably one of the most well-known episodes in recent times was when Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, predicted that Christ would return May 21, 2011. When that date passed, he said it would be October 21, 2011—and obviously, if you’re reading this article, we’re still here. His adherents were so convinced that judgment day would occur that many sold everything they had to announce this prediction all across America.
Sadly, Camping had already once predicted that Jesus would come in September 1994. His followers did not learn from his first mistake, but had they known their Bibles, they would have seen the Word is very clear on the matter of date setting. That’s why it’s so important for you and I to be clear about it too.

A Brief History of Date Setting
History is replete with those who have set a date or two for Christ to return—and then watched those dates come and go. There isn’t enough space here to cover all of the false prognostications, but it would be good to cover a few high points.
But first, let me clarify that some of these date setters were well meaning, so I’m not judging their love for the Lord. Some of them just misapplied Bible verses and overzealously proclaimed it on a grand scale ...

• William Miller, a well-intentioned and godly man, said the Lord was coming October 22, 1844. He took Bible prophecies that talked about the sanctuary and misapplied them to the second coming. I believe he had an accurate date but the wrong event.
• Hal Lindsey wrote the bestselling book The Late Great Planet Earth, in which he predicted Jesus would come in 1988. Thousands got excited, but none of it happened. Today, Lindsey still has a TV program where he explains prophecy.
• Edgar C. Whisenant sold 4.5 million copies of his book 88 Reasons Why the Lord Is Going to Come by 1988. Trinity Broadcasting Network interrupted their programming to tell people how to get ready for the rapture. The next day, their normal programming simply resumed.

Non-Christians Aren’t Immune
It’s not just Christians who are interested in apocalyptic date setting. Remember Y2K? And once again a troubled world is asking questions about the end. You’ve likely heard about the Mayan calendar, which some say declares the last day on December 21, 2012. However …

Authors disagree about what humankind should expect. … Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, says, “For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to mark the end of the whole cycle; to render December 21st, 2012 as a doomsday ... is a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in” (USA Today, 3/27/2007, emphasis added).

Did you catch that? It’s not only televangelists trying to “cash in” on date setting. It’s also people trying to sell books or tickets to a movie.
My wife Karen and I were in Belize recently and explored the Mayan ruins. At one point, I was sitting in a van with a driver who was Mayan and asked him about it. He just laughed and said, “It doesn’t mean anything.” So why do we get so excited about these things?

Do We Really Want to Know?
There’s a certain amount of insecurity we all feel about the future, knowing our lives are going to end. Perhaps some just want to know when their time is up so they can fit everything in on their bucket list before it’s too late.
Still, if you could know the day you were going to die, would you want to? What if I told you it was 100 years from now? Would you feel better about it? If it’s next week, would you want to know? Are you ready for it? For you, the jury might still be out.
What kind of attitude should you have about the second coming? Fortunately, the Bible tells us. Even in New Testament times, self-styled prophets were unsettling everybody by predicting dates for the end. Paul writes quite a bit about the second coming in 2 Thessalonians. He says, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord ... we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter” (2:1, 2 NKJV).
It’s interesting that he says not to be troubled. Everything else we read in the Bible offers a sense of urgency—“I am coming quickly”—yet Paul says here, “Wait a second! Don’t be shaken.” Even if you have a dream, hear it spoken by a famous evangelist, read it in a bestselling book, or even if a spirit appears saying it has the exact date calculated—don’t be troubled! Why? Because we don’t base our conclusions on dreams. It’s got to go along with what the Word of God says.

What Does God Want Us to Know?
Does the Lord want you to calculate the day of His coming? In Mathew 24, Jesus says, regarding the temple in Jerusalem, that not one stone was going to be left upon another. His disciples surely thought, “Wow! That must be the end of the world!” So they asked Jesus when these things would be. But see how Jesus answers them in verse 36: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
In Acts 1:6, we read, “They asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.’” Notice that emphasis—the Father has it in His own authority.
Instead, Jesus takes them from their focus on when He’s coming back and places it elsewhere. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me … to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NKJV). The reason Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit is not so we can untangle a mathematical secret and announce it in a book. No! He gives us the Holy Spirit so we can live godly lives and bring people to the cross.
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them [food] in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” (Matthew 24:45, 46). Jesus wants us to be feeding others the Word of God. He doesn’t want us to be running off to some wilderness hideout, holing up like hermits waiting for the end. You might have met people like this. They want to calculate a date because they want to know when to start liquidating their assets, running to the hills, storing up their ammo and dry goods. They want to know that they are ready for the end. Who are they thinking about? Themselves. They’re not thinking about helping the lost get ready to meet Jesus.
Christians ought to be as motivated to share the gospel now as His disciples were then. Christ has not withdrawn His commission simply because He’s closer to coming back than yesterday. Why do we need a date to stir us up? After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, our church had our best attendance in years. We had people spilling out of the sanctuary. They thought, “Maybe it’s the end; I’d better get back to church.” But Luke 12:40 says, “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

You Might Not Know What You Think You Know
As a prophecy teacher, I’ve often been asked if the ongoing economic crisis is a sign that Jesus is coming. My answer is, “Yes and no.” (I’m not trying to hedge my bets, mind you.) Yes in that it shows we can’t put our trust in money. But no in that Jesus doesn’t say that after great economic stress He’ll come. He actually suggests otherwise: “As it was also in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded” (Luke 17:28). In the days of Lot, the citizens were out being industrious and investing their gold the same day the end came.
In a sense, the prophecies of Scripture are better understood looking back. For instance, we know Jesus prophesied His death to the apostles. How many times did He tell them plainly that He was going to be betrayed, crucified, and would rise again? How much good did it do for the disciples? In Luke 24:6–8, after the faithful women arrived at the tomb, the angels said,

He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words.

Typically, the truth of the future can be kind of fantastical—it goes in one ear and out the other because it’s beyond our understanding. Jesus says in John 13:19, “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.” He’s saying He wants to reveal the future so that when those events happen, people will understand that Jesus is the point of all prophecy. Indeed, prophecy isn’t always about knowing exactly when this or that will happen.

What We Can Know Today
How can we be prepared if we don’t know the date? Jesus says,
When it is evening you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red”; and in the morning, “It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.” … You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:2, 3 NKJV).
If you’re in the south and you see the barometric pressure dropping, you know it’s time to batten down the hatches. You might not know exactly when that storm will strike, but you do know to be prepared.
In the same way, when we look at the confluence of everything happening in our world, it’s significant. Wars and rumors of war are a daily headline. Political and religious tensions are growing. Monstrous natural disasters seem to strike every other month. Doesn’t it seem to you that if Christ doesn’t come soon, all flesh would die? But knowing this isn’t about a date or hour—it’s about something else altogether.

How You Can Be Ready Even When You Don’t Know
First Thessalonians 5:1–3 is an impressive warning for the people of God:

Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

The Lord is not coming at a time when people are looking for a fire escape. Rather, Jesus is going to come at a time when His people are serving Him because of their love for Him. Luke 21:34 says, “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly” (NKJV). If we get caught up in the cares of the world, we won’t be preparing our hearts to meet Jesus.
If we’re living lives of consistent surrender and obedience and looking for opportunities to share our faith, we won’t need to worry about the date on the calendar because we’ll be ready every day for the Lord’s coming!

A Spiritual Rush and Depression
One of the major problems with date setting is that it’s like getting your vigor from eating a giant candy bar; sure, you’ll feel a surge of energy, but there will be lethargy afterward. Setting a date gives people an artificial spiritual high. When the date passes, there is a corresponding depression that follows.
The fallout for these false alarms can be an attitude of increasing doubt about the Word of God—like the boy who cried, “Wolf!” Read 2 Peter 3:4 and ask yourself how motivated you would be to live for Christ if you were to stop believing He’s really coming.

His Promise Is Sure
Thousands of date setters have failed, but that doesn’t mean the Lord has forgotten about us. He’s coming back; we might not know the day and the hour, but we know He is coming and the time is near. We just need to be ready for it.
Remember, the Lord doesn’t want us to get ready because we know the date. He wants us to be ready because we know Him. If you’re motivated to get ready because you know a date, you have the wrong motive. How would you live if you thought Jesus was coming in a week? I ask you to live like that now for the rest of your life. Just be the way He wants you to be because you love Him and know He is coming someday soon.
Maybe you haven’t truly accepted Jesus as your Savior, trying to wait until the eleventh hour to get ready. Don’t tempt fate. Wouldn’t you like to know that you’re ready now? God is coming to rescue us from the sin-stained world—that’s a promise.
My prayer is that the Lord will deliver all His people from our inclination to calculate and fix the date on our calendars. Instead, let’s invite Him into our hearts now so we can be ready at any moment.