We are in Mark chapter 10, we're switching chapters, and I've got a couple maps on here for you, because what's taking place, and a lot is happening, and I'll show it to you. And again, we're not trying to do an overlap, a parallel gospel account, but it is interesting because we jump from chapter 9, and Jesus has been up at Caesarea Philippi, has come down to galilee and is passing through and is on his way to jerusalem he's going to say as you know one two and coming up next week the third time he's going to announce he's going to jerusalem uh... to be executed uh... to die on the cross but what takes place between chapter 9 and chapter 10 is detailed on these maps. And it's detailed in Matthew 18 and 19 and Luke 18 and 19. And so we'll walk through that first. I'll just read Mark chapter 10 to show you what we're looking at tonight. And it involves more instruction. This whole time that he's going from You know he goes to a house last time we saw him in a house talking to his disciples explaining things we're going to see several times where he's going to be with his disciples explaining things privately and much more than what is recorded in Mark so Mark chapter You know, the issue last week was they're arguing about who's the greatest, and he began to explain to them the difference in the priorities of the kingdoms. In chapter 10, verse 1, it says, Jesus then left that place, and that place would be where he'd come from, Caesarea Philippi, came down and was in a house in Capernaum. We're going to say Peter's house because we're familiar with that, but it could have been any house in Capernaum. It's a private residence. There was a child there. So one of the disciples' children was there and used it as an example. They left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. So what it's saying is, across the Jordan, this is what we're talking about. We're going to look at this map. Real quickly, we draw a We got the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Jordan River, there's the Sea of Galilee, here's Caesarea Philippi, the Mount Hermon, Capernaum, Jesus is gonna go basically, he goes down to the, this is Judea, and then across the Jordan on the east side, this is Perea. Herod Antipas rules Galilee, and Perea. And so he had a place in Tiberias, which is right there. Tiberias was one of his capital, or capital's palace. He also had the fortress in Perea. This is where John the Baptist is going to be beheaded. Now this plays into our story tonight It's kind of under the surface, but when you put this all together and realize where Jesus is talking tonight, and where he gets jumped for this question, and you understand cancel culture, and you remember who got canceled in Perea by being decapitated, and why he got decapitated, because he came against Herod Antipas, marrying his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, And Herodias was upset and had her daughter dance at a feast. And then Herod Antipas says, what would you want? Anything. She says, I wouldn't ask your mom, what do I ask for? Ask for John the Baptist's head. And John the Baptist got his head cut off because he was against Herodias, who had divorced her husband to marry Antipas. Now, we're going to find out tonight in Jewish law Again, we've got a ways to go. In Deuteronomy, there was a provision for a man to divorce his wife. There's going to be two schools of thought in the Pharisees on why and when you could divorce, a man could divorce, but there's no provision for a wife or a woman divorcing her husband in the Law of Moses. We're going to talk about that. But yet Herodias, she divorced Philip, because in Roman law, a woman could divorce. So we got two worlds colliding. You got Herodias using the Roman law to divorce his husband to marry Herod Antipas. And John the Baptist is calling her out on it. He gets canceled. And Jesus is going to end up being, through a series of events, is going to end up being in Perea on his way back to Jerusalem. And it's right here. They come and say, hey, hey, with all the cameras and all the spotlights and all the talk shows, hey, what about divorce? Is it legal? And now they're asking him, standing right in front of the Capitol, is it ever right to go into the Capitol, maybe if the doors are open, would you ever go into the Capitol? And it's like, what would you say? And it's like, whatever he says. It's going to be all over the news, and they're trying to set him up, potentially, for him to get canceled. They're trying to figure out a way of trapping Jesus. It's going to be going on and on throughout this whole session right here. And that's the basis of where we're at. And we're going to look at that tonight. It's very interesting. Now, when Jesus is leaving Capernaum, Mark says he was in Judea and on the other side of the Jordan. And here's how this goes, if you don't mind. Go to Matthew chapter, well, I had you go to Mark 10 and never did anything, so let me go ahead and read this right here. Mark 10, we'll just go down to say verse 12. Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again, crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Now again, when it says testing him, they're not, oh, you great teacher, what should we do? They're testing him, trying to see if they can trap him, trick him, and get rid of some of these people that are following. You know, they're the White House press corps trying to trap the president. Again, there's a thousand illustrations we could use. Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? They already have their opinion. They really don't want to know. They've already argued it. They've got their sides. They just want him to step in it. so they can then accuse him. Well, Jesus does exactly what the rabbinic style of debate would be. Well, what did Moses command you? Now, this is going to be two levels. There's two levels going on here. What did Moses command you, he replied. They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. In other words, we all agree a man can divorce his wife, and it's in the word of God. We've got it in Deuteronomy. And that's true. And Jesus says, it was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law. But at the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Okay, that's crazy talk right there. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, he's quoting scripture, and the two will become one flesh, so they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate. So what he's talking about, this is gonna be interesting, because you've got what is a permission You've got a consolation, but then you've got God's will. You've got the institution. And they're both in Scripture. There is a permission to get divorced. Right. So you're saying that that permission is God's will? Well, yeah, it's fine. Because God allowed it. God allowing, God giving a consensus, God working in a situation doesn't mean that's what his original purpose was. And Jesus recognizes that law, but goes down to, so you're gonna have a contrast here between God's permission or God's allowing and God's will. And they're confusing them or using this permission to drive home, well, you can see their hard hearts. Now, that's what we're going to talk about tonight. When they were in the house against, now they're alone, the disciples are alone. That was in front of the crowd. The Pharisees came up in front of Jesus in front of a crowd to try to test Him, meaning to get Him to trip. When they were alone in the house, again, the disciples asked Jesus about this, which is interesting. He already answered the question publicly. Now they're alone, and they're still, as always, they themselves have issues with Jesus' teaching. They can stand there in the crowd and nod their head, but when they go away, they realize, that's not really what we think that's not what it's like they got have some questions about it so you can see the disciples they not everybody's on the same page you've got two different schools of thought with the pharisees you've got jesus you've got the book of deuteronomy giving permission you got jesus going back to the original will of god and now you've got the disciples going Okay, we're not even sure on this. And then Jesus explains this, and it's going to be more complete in Matthew. He says, anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And this is where the Roman law comes in. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. Now understand, that was never, under the law of Moses, that was never even possible. A woman could not divorce her husband. But Jesus adds it, which is very interesting, because one, that's the Roman law, and two, that's what the situation was probably about, was that very thing. And that's the verses we're gonna look at tonight. Now, that is, you see how far that goes. I want you to notice this. Caesarea, the Capernaum, and he's talking about who's the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus had given his second announcement of his death, and now they're in Perea talking about divorce. Now a lot has taken place right there, and I just want you to see this. Go to Matthew chapter 18 and 19. I just want you to see it. Matthew chapter 18. uh... and the next part of the chapter that we're gonna read with in in mark ten is about children and you know he has little children around him and so if you look in chapter nineteen of matthew verse thirteen you see there's that the section there about little children then little children are brought to jesus for him to place his hands on them and that's what comes next in mark in chapter ten verse thirteen right before that is chapter 19 verse 1 through 12 is the talk about divorce. Go up to verse 8. verse eight jesus reply okay we'll go to verse seven of chapter nineteen and then they asked did moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away notice that in this case it says they say command they come a was the commands of moses moses commanded and that's that that's a trap or because it's not command it's allowed it was permission and it was even god's will it was because the heart is of heart now jesus replied in matthew If Moses permitted, he changes the word command, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard, but it was not this way from the beginning. That is not his will, but because of you he had to make some allowances. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, now here's the exception, except for marital unfaithfulness and marries another woman, commits adultery. Now that's not in Mark, but Mark does have there a woman and a man, both getting divorced. Okay, I just want you to see that in chapter 19, verse 18. You've got chapter 18, verse 1. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who is the greatest in the kingdom? He called a little child. And there's that conversation about the greatness of the kingdom. And you got some other teaching going on there. So after this, go to chapter 20, there's parables. And then. in chapter twenty verse seventeen we're not there yet in mark there's jesus giving his third declaration uh... or foretelling of his death now jesus was going up to jerusalem you see going up from perrea through jericho and then from jericho which is the lowest place lowest city uh... just north of the dead sea from there you go up to jerusalem i mean it's it's it's a client's continuous climbing uh... up to jerusalem uh... he was going up to jerusalem uh... he took his disciples aside and said to them that you know some man is going to be betrayed and then chapter twenty verse twenty that's when james and john are going to ask in their mom's gonna ask uh... when you come into your kingdom can our boys sit on your right and on your left once again all three times one two three times jesus predicts his death the disciples don't understand it and they ask Or make some kind of ridiculous statement like i'm gonna go to jerusalem. I'm gonna be handled or be executed Okay Can my boy sit on your right and your left when you come into your kingdom meaning? You didn't hear anything. I said and the reason they don't hear it. He says it here He says it here and he says it here and all three times They they end up going like How can we be great? We want to be great. Who's the greatest among us? Can we sit on your right and on your left? And James and John have been campaigning for these positions. That's why they're talking about who's the greatest up here, is because who's going to sit on his right and on his left? And here they finally decided, we are the greatest. So let's just go ahead and ask him. I mean, you've got to put your application. You've got to put your name in the hat. You've got to at least let the owner know that you're interested in the position. And we're interested in being on your right and on your left. And Jesus just got done saying he was going to be executed for the third time. And so you can see that's where we're at in the book of Matthew. Go to Luke chapter 18. And there's a lot going on in John. I'm going to show you here in just a minute. Yeah, I'm not saying at all that Mark is rushing or skipping, but you do see there's a lot of ground being covered. Jesus is going to end up from Capernaum, and Mark says he's in Judea and in Perea, and what's going on all here? Look in chapter 18 of Luke. There you're going to see the little children in verse 15. And you've got several parables there. You've got the persistent widow. You've got the tax collector and the Pharisee. You've got the rich young ruler coming to Jesus in chapter 18. And then in chapter 18, verse 31, Jesus took the 12 aside and told them, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that was written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He'll be handed over to the Gentiles. They'll mock him, insult him. uh... spit on him for women kill him on the third day he will rise again the disciples did not understand any of this its meaning was hidden from them and they did not know what he was talking about uh... then you're gonna have a blind bigger receive his site and that he is all of that's taking place in jericho uh... the parable the ten minutes and then you know by time you get to chapter nineteen verse twenty eight now you're in the triumphal intrigue that it's it's palm sunday he's going into jerusalem and that's in lube now look at your map if you don't mind and uh... the map that you've got on page one has got, this is right out of the framework book, you've got several references there, and I'm going to just read through this list. Jesus leaves Caesarea Philippi for Jerusalem. He leaves Caesarea Philippi for Jerusalem. But there you've got the line of where he goes. And that's recorded in Luke and Matthew. As he approached Samaria, the Samaritans do not welcome him. So he's going to come down and go through Samaria. You can see him entering, going through Tiberias, across the Jezreel Valley. And then he's going to go into Samaria. And they meet him and say, we don't want you here. You can't now. And that was typical. The Samaritans, their territory, of course, was between Galilee and Judah right here. And whenever they are leaving Galilee and going this way to the Passover, the Samaritans would oppose them and make them go around. They'd have to go over here and come down this side and come in through Jericho. Whenever someone was leaving Passover and going away from Jerusalem, the Samaritans would welcome them. Yeah, you can go this way, as long as you're leaving, walking away from Jerusalem, but we won't let you go towards them, because they had set up their own, between Mount Ebal and Gerizim, They had their own temple or on Mount Gerizim, they had their own temple that had been torn down by the Hasmoneans. And so they were in opposition. They had their own priesthood. In fact, there's still Samaritans today that are still practicing their religion, which is based in parts of the Old Testament. So they were opposed. That's where James and John When they come out and say, we don't want you going through here, that's when James and John says, Lord, we got this. You want us to call fire out of heaven. And Jesus had to roll his eyes and says, sons of thunder, calls them sons of thunder, and makes fun. And in just a few moments, they're gonna come down here, they're gonna ask that he sit on the right and the left. I mean, this is your apostle of love and his brother, James and John, wanting to call lightning out of heaven to consume the Samaritans, just smoke them like Elijah had lightning come out of heaven. And over here, they're on their way to Jerusalem for the crucifixion, and they're asking to sit on his right and his left. I mean, would you not be embarrassed to have that recorded about you in the Gospels? It's like, and then you're trying to go out and start churches and promote, it's like, hey, we just read your history. I mean, then all of a sudden you realize you cut yourself a little slack as you're maturing as a Christian. It's like, dumb things I said and wanted to do and dumb things I asked for, and now I'm trying to be a Bible teacher. It's like, well, hey, John didn't look too good here. And yeah, okay, nonetheless. Jesus travels to the border of Samaria and Judea. He heals 10 lepers in Luke at this time. Jesus sends out 72 disciples. When he sends out 72 disciples, it's during this time as he's going to Jerusalem, he sends out 72 to start promoting in the Judean area about the kingdom. This is not the 12. The 12 are with him. These are 72 that are going out and getting things. So we do not have a full understanding and written records of everything that those 72 are doing. how this word was being spread. I mean, this is a big, it's not a small event. It's well orchestrated. It began with John the Baptist, who even Josephus records in the history, and now Jesus is going to his death, and he's sending out 72 people to begin to continue to explain and promote the kingdom. Jesus goes to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Now, get this if you don't mind. The Feast of Tabernacles, that's gonna be on October 15th, and that's in John chapter 7. This is, he is coming to, this is his last time, he's coming, he's gonna be executed in, let's just say, April. Okay? He's gonna be executed in April. This is October. and you are in the book of john in john chapter seven that's how fast john moves you're in thirty a d or the last month last half year of jesus ministry in john seven and the crucifixion resurrection will take place at the end so the big portion of john is just the the last part of his ministry but no less he does record uh... jesus in the feast of tabernacles Jesus teaches at the feast in Jerusalem in John 7. On the last day of the feast, Jesus invites the thirsty to come to him to drink. He's on the Temple Mount proclaiming, he says, anyone who's thirsty, come to me. And he's picking up on a ritual. We could go through all that. There's rituals that are taking place, and they're pouring out water. He says, hey, if you want the true water, I am it. Events in John 8 through 10 occur in Jerusalem between October 15th and December 25th when Jesus confronted in the temple by religious leaders during the Feast of Lights. That's Hanukkah. See, December 25th, that's October. Now December 25th, That is Hanukkah. That is when the Hasmoneans, the Maccabees, regained the temple in 165, 163 BC, and they lit the lights, and they ran out of oil, but miraculously oil was provided, and the lights kept burning, and they created their own festival, the Festival of Lights, or Hanukkah. And that's where Jesus then is preaching. and is confronted in the temple during the Feast of Lights, Jesus leaves for the other side of the Jordan to land called Perea. So from this point on, after December 25th, there's so much pressure on him that he knows he's got to get out of town, so he's going to go across here over to Perea. And that's kind of where our story is about to pick up. While he's over there on the other side of the Jordan in Perea, he knows he's in trouble, he goes over here to Perea, And at that time, Lazarus dies. A friend dies who lives just on the backside of the Mount of Olives. And they send people over to Jesus to say, hey, Lazarus is sick. And then Jesus doesn't respond. And then Lazarus dies, and they come and say, you know, he's gonna be dead. Lazarus dies in Bethany, located by Jerusalem in Judea, while Jesus is in Perea, and that's John chapter 11. Now turn the page. You've got now another map. Jesus is in Perea. Let's go ahead and erase this, if you don't mind. Because now we've got the Dead Sea. You've got Perea. You've got Jerusalem. You've got the land of Ephraim up here. And Jesus is going to leave in Jericho, right here. Jesus is going to leave Perea. go through Jericho and come to Jerusalem to raise Lazarus from the dead. He's going to walk right into the trap, the zone that they're trying to kill him, and he's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. You can see that he's starting with that X. There's an X right here. Now, Perea's got a dot here. Perea's a land, a country, not a city. but jesus here comes over raises lazarus uh that's point one two days later he leaves her bethany in judea to raise lazarus jesus raises lazarus that's john 11.3 jewish leaders in chapter 11 verse 45 after raising lazarus and everybody comes out to see The Jewish leaders decide now we've got to kill them both. We got to kill Jesus and Lazarus. I mean, it's comedy. I mean, Jesus comes and raises a man from the dead. They're trying to kill Jesus. But now that he's raised someone from the dead and everyone saw him and they were well-known people. I mean, he wasn't just some, you know, random guy. People knew who he was. Everybody's out at his house, him and his sister's house. And they said, OK, now we're going to kill Lazarus because Jesus raised him from the dead. I mean, do you I mean, that's that's like that satanic thinking. God is the creator the controller of history. Ah, I'll overthrow him. It's like are you kidding? What don't you understand and he's gonna he's gonna play this out to the very end you get to the final battles of Armageddon and he's still got a plan it's like do you realize God is telling you how you're gonna be defeated how you're gonna lose and you're gonna be like, yeah But I think I got this one Well, right here, Jesus shows that he is the life. He raises Lazarus from the dead. And they say, well, now we'll kill them both. Now, it's not like he was a doctor and he healed somebody or he is a politician. I mean, actually, you're going to use death to kill him. But he just demonstrated that he can raise people from the dead. Well, we'll kill them, too. What are you, this is just illogical. But nonetheless, they're coming against Jesus. Now, when they decide to kill him, that's point three, point four, Jesus leaves the area of Jerusalem to Ephraim, a city in the hill country of Ephraim. So he goes from here, you can see he goes up in here, he makes this circle kind of like this coming around here. I've got that kind of drawn on the map. he's just going around and a bunch of events are taking place there the 72 have gone out this may be the area that those 72 went out and jesus is just circling through the cities that those 72 have gone to making a personal appearance um now point five. Jesus goes back to Perea and that right here, that's my friends, that's Mark chapter 10 verse 1. He came to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Hanukkah. He then leaves, finds out Lazarus is dead, comes back, raises ladders, goes up through Ephraim, and then ends up in Perea. And that is where Mark 10 says he left that area, went to Judea and Perea. And that is where, right here, is where the religious leaders are going to come and say they want to kill him. But now that he's here, right in here at Antipas' territory, Let's ask him about divorce. Now you think, I mean, right away, everyone's going to take this on to a debate, a theological debate, what's right, what's wrong, what's about divorce? Okay, that's a conversation, but this conversation is a trap for Jesus. They're not really, they're not trying to solve a church debate or a theological issue, or is this pastor qualified, or can this person still be in the choir? They're over here going, ah, John got his head cut off for coming against divorce. Jesus is right there. What about divorce? They really don't want to know. They want to kill him because he just raised Lazarus from the dead. We don't know what we're going to do. So that's point five. In Perea, Jesus blesses the little children. That's chapter 10, verse 13, if Mark will get there next week. And speaks to the rich young ruler. That's in Mark 10, but also in Matthew. Jesus leaves Perea. That's number six. Jesus is going to leave Perea. uh... and that we're not here this is what coming up and goes towards jericho on his way to jerusalem for the final time that's where i were right now we're in my mark ten he's gonna answer these questions and he's gonna go to jerusalem for the last time for the crucifixion so yes it is a whole lot of details that have been left out you'll see why john kinda came back and wrote some of those details in because he he feels a lot of this the same this one this map in the one before is from john uh... Okay, for the final time, it was at this time James and John asked to sit at his right and at his left in the kingdom, and we'll read about that. On a Friday morning as Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar receives his sight. Jesus sees Zacchaeus in a tree and ate lunch at his house in Jericho. As he leaves Jericho, Jesus heals two blind men. One was named Blind Bartimaeus, that's in Mark chapter 10, so that's coming up. point seven that friday night jesus arrives in bethany and stays at the house of mary martha and lazarus on the other side of uh... of amount of olives uh... that's word that's you know they're him they're talking i mean would you like to be there here last to talk about what was it like on the other side do you remember anything uh... they have a there they're eating at their house uh... mary annoyance jesus for Jesus' burial, and Judas objects. That's where Judas is going to come in this very expensive perfume. She's going to pour it on his feet. It's going to make the whole house smell good, but it's definitely going to make Jesus smell good. I mean, it's going to be a very strong perfume, very, very expensive. And of course, Judas, being a very righteous, religious, A person concerned with social affairs says, this is a waste of money. This should have been sold and the money given to the poor. And Jesus gives a very unchristian answer. And he says, Judas, this is for my burial. You're always going to have poor people. meaning, this is about me right now. You're going to have poor people forever to take care of. Let's focus on me. It's like, oh, what an arrogant son of God. I mean, you know, it's just like, it's just so out of sight. It's like, well, yes, I think, yes, Jesus said, whoa, Mary, I know you want to anoint my feet with oil for my burial. So, you know, she didn't really understand it, but he knows they're getting my body ready for burial. I'm going to be in a tomb. But the self-righteous, I guess an unbeliever, says, I know the Christian thing to do. We'll sell this and give it to the poor. And of course, then it says he was trying to get money for the treasury bag because he'd been stealing from the treasury bag. and Jesus coming in to set up his kingdom and first thing he gets his kingdom set up he's going to ask for the treasury bag and there's going to be missing money and it's like oh and so Peter and John or James and John are trying to get positions Peter's thinking he should be in some position Judas knows he's going to be called to count with the treasury bag and so a lot I mean it says right here in the text okay Many people come out to see Jesus and Lazarus. On Sunday, the first day of the week, Jesus leaves Bethany early in the morning for Jerusalem. His interest in Jerusalem becomes known as the Triumphal Procession or Palm Sunday. So when he comes back, goes through Jericho, has several miracles there, spends the weekend at Mary and Martha and Lazarus' house, had the oil poured on him, and that Sunday, the first day of the week, he goes into Jerusalem, that's Palm Sunday, by that Friday, he's on the cross. And so that's kind of where we're at, we're in Mark chapter 10, heading towards this right here. Okay, so. That again, like we said, I don't want to be going through and trying to teach all the gospels at the same time, but it's kind of interesting to see how that where we're at in those gospel accounts. So with if you don't mind, I've said a lot of these things already tonight. I'm going to page one of the notes. first mark chapter 10 verse 1 and he left there and went to the region of judea and beyond the jordan and crowds gathered to him again and again as was his custom he taught them so he's teaching the crowds publicly and the pharisees are going to come in in a public demonstration trying to ask a question and again you've got to decide that we don't know all of this background stuff but you do know we're in peria where antipas had John the Baptist executed, and it's in Herod Antipas' territory. And the Pharisees, chapter 10, verse 2, the Pharisees came up, and in order to test him, so it says right up there, to test him, asked, not because they wanted to know, not because we've got to solve these two debates, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Now notice that, is it lawful? And when they say lawful, they're talking about the law of Moses. Is it lawful in the Law of Moses for a man to divorce his wife? And the answer is yes. Because there is a provision, Moses records it, there is a provision, the Law of Moses will read it, for a man to divorce his wife. It's in the Law of Moses. So, what's the big deal? John the Baptist came against that. Jesus is in the same territory that John was executed. What do you think about it? Hoping he sides with John the Baptist and he gets the same political cancellation. This occurs in Perea, point one. Point two, John the Baptist lost his head there. Point two, between Herod Antipas and Herodias. The Pharisees hoping Jesus opinion would get him canceled by the Herodian family here It is Deuteronomy 24 1 through 4. I think it's worth looking at because so we can see a Deuteronomy 24 1 through 4 now, this is not the end of the story this is Moses dealing with the people and And Jesus going to explain because we this is not well here you've got the original creation and God's will. Then you've got the fall of man and everything that comes from that, including the flood of Noah, the Tower of Babel, the life of Abraham. These are heroes of faith, but all that's involved in disaster and confusion. Then you're going to have the Israelites coming out of Egypt, and now they're in the wilderness. And they're in the wilderness for 40 years because they won't trust God. Now they're in Deuteronomy, which is at the end of the 40 years. Do you think there is marital strife among the people. It's like, well, we've already flooded the world. We've already had the Tower of Babel. We've already had Abraham and all of that scenario with Hagar and Sarah and children whose children are these children. Then they're in Egypt, and they're slaves, and the Egyptians are totally corrupt. And now they're out here in the wilderness. God sets them free and shows them miracles. Then they reject God, and now they're being punished for 40 years. and now uh yeah well here it is chapter uh 24 this is what this is this is what they're talking about chapter 24 verse 1 in the niv in deuteronomy if a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him this is sad stuff because he finds something indecent about her now then i'm going to show you two schools of thought on this The idea here is he marries a woman who becomes displeasing. And the reason she would be displeasing to him is something indecent. Indecent would be adultery. But as you add another 1,400 years to this and run it all the way through the rabbinical schools, indecent, like, for example, burning my stake, That's indecent. That's the reason. So I want to show you the two schools of thought that they were being argued with right here. And indecent would be, and Jesus is going to say that in Matthew, except for marital unfaithfulness. And that would be an example of indecent. But there was a school of thought that was in the Pharisees and the scribes that if a man was displeased with his wife for any reason, it's like, okay, it was fine for the first two years, but you're getting on my nerves, I'm done. Okay, we call that a no-fault divorce. It's like, okay, she's a, why? Because he gave her a certificate of divorce. And the certificate of divorce would be like this. I divorce you. Why? Here, you're done. It's like getting fired at Quick Trip or something. It's like, we're done. You're late. And that's how they had manipulated the Law of Moses. So you can see the rabbinic interpretation, and then you can see the provision in the Law of Moses And even the provision is not God's will, but the twisting of it is definitely not God's will. But the provision was there. Jesus is gonna take them back. Okay, let's go back to the will of God. And he says, they're not gonna be separated. And we'll talk about that in a moment. But nonetheless, here it is. Because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce. And again, that's an expensive endeavor today. I mean, you're going to have to get a lawyer. She's going to get a lawyer, going to have it written up, have a court case, pay all the fees. It's like, this is just, you just write it down and hand it to her. You serve your own papers. Gives it to her and sends her from his house. and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce gives it to her and sends her from his house or if he dies then her first husband who divorced her is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled that would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord do not bring sin upon the land of the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. So the idea there is if a man divorces his wife, gives a certificate, she goes and marries another guy, and then he divorces her, her first husband can't say, well, come on back. You can't go back. Or if he dies and she's now single, a widow, she can't come back. It's like, no, you're not gonna be just handing wives around. Okay, if you wanna divorce her, she's gone, okay, but she's not coming. That was the provision, and that's what they're referring to. Now, look at this if you don't mind. Point four, Jewish wives could not, there's nothing about a wife handing, thank God, there's nothing in the law of Moses that a wife can hand the husband a certificate of divorce. You wake up someday and you walk into the mirror, there's a little note. It's like, you need to leave. I'm removing you from my house. It's like, and you walk out, it's like, okay, thank God. No, I'm trying to be funny there. But it is interesting that a man could do it, but a woman couldn't say, yeah, well, here's my certificate of divorce to you, too. You just take your stuff and go. Now, point B, there were different schools of thought concerning divorce among the Pharisees and the scribes. And this is, again, this is interesting. And this is a real deal. Make sure I spell these right. S-H-A-M-M-A-I, Shammai, and then Hillel. And I spelled that right, H-I-L-L-E-L. Okay, these guys were contemporaries. This will help you put this in perspective. Hillel's grandson was Gamiel. Let me make sure I spell Gamiel, Gam-A-L-I-E-L. I don't even say, Gamiel, Gamaliel, Gamaliel, you know. This, he is in the book of Acts. When the Sanhedrin wanted to bring charges against the Jews, against the apostles, and keep pursuing him, Gamaliel rose up and says, hey, you know, listen. And he mentions a guy that Josephus talks about. There was a rebel that had a bunch of people following him, a real rebel. And he got killed. He died. And his whole group just dispersed. There's nothing left of him. He says, these apostles, their leader is gone. He's dead. You're going to make a bigger deal. January 6th happened. Just let it go. It's not that big a deal. You're going to stir up more trouble, breathing oxygen into this thing, and pretty soon it's going to become a big deal. Just let it go. One and done. They're over. These apostles, just like the leader of the other group, they'll disperse. but he says, if they don't, and Gamaliel says it, you can read in the book of Acts, you may find yourself fighting against God. If this thing is of God, if this was the Messiah, and these people are, because they're doing miracles on the temple mount, and people are walking, groups, not like, you know, magical tricks here or there, and no one really saw it, it's like, they're healing people that everyone knows they're a cripple, and thousands of people have joined them, including some of the priests, who helped execute or support the execution of Jesus. And they know the back story that Jesus, they paid the guards off to say we fell asleep. The priest paid the guards off. And so within the priestly circles, we saw what he did. We tried to come against him. And we know they paid the guards off. We know the conspiracy theories are true. And it says in Acts, many of the priests became believers. And Gamaliel, who is the grandson of Hillel, a great teacher, and the Apostle Paul's teacher. He trained. Paul sat at Gamaliel's feet and received instruction. Gamaliel was very open. He had a looser hold of the law. He was open to the Gentiles. His idea was the Jews would reach the Gentiles and bring them into following their God, that the Jews were to reach the Gentiles. A harsher view was the Gentiles were dogs, no hope for them. It's interesting that Gamaliel was Paul, and Paul became the apostle of the Gentiles after he met, so he was already trained in some, and Gamaliel used the literature of the Greeks, of the world. So when Paul quotes the poet from the Cretans, or from Crete, or he goes on Mars Hill and Athens, and he quotes their philosophers, it's like, where's he getting that stuff? He was a scholar. I mean, he just didn't know the law of Moses. He knew all the literature because Gamial trained his students in all of these things. So Paul, of course, was an apostle called by God, but he'd been trained by Gamial, who knew the law, had a head on his shoulder because he says, don't persecute these guys. Let them go. If it's not of God, it's going to burn out. But if it is of God and you're fighting against it, You're going to find yourself fighting against God. His grandfather was Hillel. And Hillel was a contemporary of Shammai. Again, it'd be nice to say that correctly. Hillel, Gamial's grandfather, allowed a man to divorce his wife for anything that displeased him. So he, this, he was, like I said, he was a little more lenient. If she was indecent, did something indecent. Yep. Burnt supper. She's gone. That is more of the lenient view. Shimei, Shimei accepted the only reason for divorce was sexual immorality. So this would be immorality was the only reason for divorce. This would actually be more biblical than just the man is not happy. And so it's just interesting. Those are the two schools of thought. And the Pharisees were hoping Jesus would come down on one of those. Or maybe they were hoping, not hoping, but that were their two options. They were hoping he'd come down and say all divorce is wrong, like John the Baptist did. Or at least the Herodian one. Okay, so that's that part right there. Turn the page. And he answered them. And again, this is a style of rabbinic teaching or debate. You don't answer the question. They ask you a question. You reframe it and get them going one way or the other. And Jesus didn't answer them. Is it lawful? He didn't say yes or no. He says, well, what did Moses command you? uh... and they said moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away we read that met deuteron moses allowed the man to write again they're saying this right here they said allowed moses allowed which again moses is doing this for god is god's word god he allowed and jesus picks up on that that moses allowed Meaning there's a difference between allowing your child to do something and it's your will that your child do something. And you know the difference. It's like, all right, I'll let you do that, but I really want you here, but I'll let you go over there. And this allowing means it was not the will, it was not the purpose, but I will allow this. And Jesus picks up on that right here. And Jesus said to them, because of the hardness of heart, he wrote you this command, Deuteronomy 24, one, because again, hardness of heart. We're gonna look at that very quickly. Hardness of heart. of heart, it's one word, or it's a word out of two parts, I've got that coming up here next. Hardness of heart is, you can see the word, it's on the top of page three, sclerocardia. Now first of all, you recognize the word cardia, that's the word heart, cardia. So that is the word heart, and the word hardness is the word from scleros, which means hard because it's dry and it needs some kind of moisture. Or oil, so oil or just say water, because there's too many letters in moisture. Oil or moisture right here would make this dryness soft again. And this oil could be pointing towards, if we want to build on this, this would be the Holy Spirit. So the disciples are struggling with hardness of heart. What are they missing? They've got a dry heart. If you read the word, this means dryness of cardiac, dry cardiac, dryness of heart. They need moisture or they need oil. And the Holy Spirit is actually going to be the thing that is going to take and soften their heart. And you can see it after the resurrection continuously. And then their eyes were open and then they understood. or when jesus says something even john says but no one understood what he meant until after the resurrection and the spirit came at all sudden their hearts have the oil of the holy spirit they have soft or tender or you say hearts of flesh that is no longer dry and now their understanding is open so essentially that's kind of stuck right in there that's kind of the theme of where we're at is the heart of the disciples are not understanding but the point here is because mankind's heart was hardened they could not accept God's will they God had a will but they could not function they could not do what God intended and what God intended was marriage God intended marriage from the beginning we're going to read and now Jesus He had them read Deuteronomy or explain Deuteronomy. Jesus is right, allowed, because of the hardness of heart, because of the sin nature, you could not understand. And then he takes them right back to Genesis. All the verses are going to be before the fall of man. And there's what we've got right here. Verse 6 on page 3, but from the beginning from the beginning of creation God made them male and female this I mean this you have to stop here in 2023 and address this issue God made them male and And it's even starting to make sense to me that you have sex, biological, but then you have gender, which is actually a spectrum. So you've got A or B, sex. Okay, right, you're stuck with that. But what's inside of you, is on a spectrum. I mean, some people are more manly, then you've got some guys that are average manly, some guys are kind of like girly men, and then you've got actually women that look like men, and then you've got women, and then you've got some really, really, really, whatever, like really, like, what, they'd be like really, you know, ballerina type people that are really, really girly. And we're, you know, it's like, and this and this is what they're this. Listen, I'll tell you, in four years, if you're not careful, you're going to agree with this. No, I mean, you know, I'm saying it's gonna you're gonna keep hitting you hitting you. Okay, right. But here, this gender, it's a spectrum. And you see it. Where are you at on the spectrum? You see that funny bud light commercially put out? And the guy hands the guy a bud light. And as soon as he drinks it, he turns all pink. His fingernails grow. He's got all his hair all dressed. It's like a girl's like, ah! It's like, man, bud light is dead. This side right here, don't even want to have that in the house. You don't want that bud light. But anyway, that's crazy stuff. And that's postmodern. We knew this was coming 20 years ago. We knew this was coming. It's like we talked about it, but it doesn't make sense. How are people going to be that dumb? Because there's no absolutes. It's going to be what your own truth. And there's no standards. And we've gone through past the age of science and modernism, and we're now in postmodernism, where we're actually destroying the science we made to defend our feelings and what we want and that's that's the end i mean that that's the how are you going to come back someone that believes in the spectrum how are you going to come back how are you going to talk to them and use vocabulary words that you can have a debate and they'll say oh now i understand because they're all the words are changed the vocabulary's gone and you can't talk You can't say male and female. You know what you gotta say, you know what you gotta say right here, right? You know, this is now a sperm producer. Do you know this? And this is an, what is it, egg? Egg producer, producer of eggs. So male and female, these terms are now, they're being rewritten by postmodern. In schools, not my school. But this is male and female, a producer of sperm, a producer of eggs. And it's like, what? You mean like a chicken? I mean, what do you mean? It's like, what? And now you're going to take that vocabulary and come down here and explain gender. It's lost. So nonetheless, see right there, that That could get me canceled. It's like I just stepped into the divorce question trap. What do you think about divorce? Well, I think, what do you think about this verse, male and female? Well, that's what I think. It's like, okay, we're done. And it's, I mean, we haven't seen, it's a snowball coming down a mountain. I mean, it's getting bigger and bigger. It's not gonna, it's not melting. It's not melting. But nonetheless, this is what Jesus said 2,000 years ago, quoting scripture from 6,000 years ago. If you want to say 6,000 years ago when creation, now we're grabbing at numbers. But from the beginning of creation, quote, God made them male and female. Therefore, male and female, therefore a man will leave his house and be joined to his wife." Now notice this writer. This is important right here. This is an individual. This is an individual. These are two people. But when they are married, they're going to form a new union. It's going to be called marriage right here. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, forming a new union. Now you've got one and one, but now you also have this new one. What is this new one? That's the marriage. This is the new union. And the two shall become one flesh. I'll change union, they'll become one. Now the word flesh always sends you into the sex, you know, one, oh, they're gonna have sex. It's the ideal is one flesh, this is a unit flesh, this is a unit flesh, this is also now a unit. Them together are one. The two are one. And that is, I've got that right there, you see the box right there, Genesis 2.24? You see that, the Hebrew word there is ehad. One, Ehad. The two, the male and the female, the male leaves his house, marries the woman, and they become Ehad. They become one. Now, there's still a man and there's still a woman. They can both have a conversation. They both have two different wills. They both have different ideas. They both can think for themselves. But here, they are one. This is a new unit. And if you follow this institution of marriage and you do this, you've created a new one. You don't have the right to change that. Again, Moses gave them permission. Moses gave them the certificate. And Jesus says, because of the hardness of your heart, because your heart is dry, You can't do God's will. You're gonna mess it up. Now, this is marriage. It's like, oh, that's every area of our life. I mean, it's not just marriage. It's like God's will was, God's will was. Now the sin nature comes in. It's like, okay, what did that affect? Well, it affected marriage. It affected everything, my emotions, my intellect. I mean, it affected everything, but there are some now provisions that God has now put around, kind of boundaries, like, don't go outside of this area. There were not originally nations. But after the flood and the Tower of Babel, where they all came together and they're gonna do their own thing, God says, no, we're gonna create nations. And they're gonna have their own governments, that way when one goes astray, I can crush that without having to destroy the whole earth. So nations, they'll be in the millennium, and God's will right now is nations, but originally there were no nations. Israel originally didn't have a king. I mean, God says, I will be your king. It'll be a theophany, a theocracy. I will be your king. And you got priests, you got prophets. Just ask me, I'll help you. Yeah, but when you look at all the other nations, they've got posters of their king and monuments of their king, and they're supporting their king. They got great leaders. And we're like, so who's your king? He's God, Yahweh. We ask these prophets what to do, and they help us. You know, Samuel, we would really like to have a king. Samuel says, now listen, that's not a good thing. Because if you get a king, first he's going to need to have some provisions. He's going to start taxing you. He's going to take some of your crop. He's going to take some of your money. You're going to have to get permission. He's going to take your sons and put them in war. He's going to take your daughters and put them in his working. He's going to make you in his kitchens. He says you're going to now have this king that's going to be like all these other kings. That's what we want. And God says, well, he says, that's what they want. Give it to them. God's will was not that they have a king. God's will was that he would be king, but he made a provision. So God's will was never that Saul would be king. It was always that you just talk to me, and I'll take, you're my people. You don't need a king. I'll just go right directly to you. We want a king. And same thing here. This was supposed to be, once it was created, so Jesus is saying, yeah, Moses gave you a certificate, but God's will was, and now watch this, uh... that you can see the hebrew right there i've got a written out uh... arts in the greenery during the hebrew i just read the letter the translation therefore shall leave a man his father and mother and be joined to his wife uh... and they shall become flash he had not this is interesting if you don't mind deuteronomy six four The great Shema. You see how you say this word? You know the word. In the English Standard it says, Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. See the word one, if you flip over to page four, I've got that in a box also. You see the Hebrew. Here, Israel, Yahweh, our God, Yahweh, is Ehad. He is one. Now watch this. In the New Testament, this one, is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, and they are one. They are a union. They are the Trinity, and that is biblical. The three are one. They are the Godhead. As you know, the typical drawing of a triangle You've got the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. This is an individual. This is an individual. This is an individual. But the Holy Spirit is not the Son. The Son is not the Father. The Father is not the Holy Spirit. But all together, this is the Godhead. The three are one with the same attributes. Anyway, it's just interesting that man and woman become Ehud and God is one and we end up finding out he's three persons that makes this union Just that's the word right there of this new unit. Anyway, Jesus says Going back Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two But one now again, obviously you're still two like Tony and I are married. We're still two I'm still gay on she's still Tony but the two have become this new union in marriage and institution and and the two shall become no longer two but one flesh, then point, verse nine, what therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. If you've got this union, you're not supposed to break it. That was the original will. So if you are Pharisees and you really want to do God's will, you've got the law of Moses that gives you permission, but you'll want to do what's right, yeah, go back to the beginning. You don't mess with this. And again, point five, Jesus did not side with Shammai or Hillel, but simply quoted God's original will and drew his answer. It is wrong for man to break a union God has created, point B. Man has a sinful hard heart, so God made a provision. And again, I'm trying to find out where I wrote this, if I wrote this somewhere. Point two, back on page three. Jesus identified God's will, the religious leaders erred when they declared God's provision as God's will. The difference between God's provision, you can have a king, but that's not my will. I want to be your king, but since you can't handle me as king, I'll give you Saul. My will is that you're married, and that is a new union, not that you give someone a certificate. Okay, verse 10, chapter 10, verse 10, and in the house, the disciples asked him again about this matter. The disciples did not understand, which is not surprising, not making fun of him, but they're still like, they didn't, they got Hillel, they got Shammai, and now they've got Jesus. It's like, whoa, so you didn't agree with either side. When can a man get a divorce? And Jesus answered, whoever divorces wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. And there he puts the Roman law in place, both cases, because Herodias did that very thing. She divorced her husband. As we saw in Matthew, they add in there, except for unfaithfulness, that would be a reason to leave your wife or break this, because it's already broken, potentially, with that understanding. Okay, and there I got Matthew 5.32 and Matthew 19.19, both where Jesus says it twice in Matthew, where he says, except for marital unfaithfulness or sexual immorality. Okay, that is chapter 10, verses 1 through 12. We'll pick this up next week. I appreciate you being here, and we'll pray and we'll go. Father, we thank you for the chance to look into your word. We ask that we, again, would seek your will and seek, again, your purpose for our lives, that we would rise above the ways of the world and the provisions you've made for the sin nature would grow in Christ and become the people you want us to be, that we'd mature and, again, do the things you've called us to at this time. We thank you for the word of God and ask, again, that we may see revival in our land. In Jesus' name, we ask these things. Amen. Thank you for your time.