7
CHAPTER
7
THE
TRADITION OF THE ELDERS AND OTHER HERESIES
67.
THE TRADITION OF THE ELDERS
On one occasion I
was engaged in lengthy telephone discussion with a pastor and
evangelist, who never
having met me, opened his first telephone call to me by referring to me
as a pervert for subscribing to what
is set out in this book. Eventually, after repeatedly questioning him
on why he called me a pervert, on the
assumption that he must have some robust scriptural basis for such a
harsh opinion, he finally conceded that
he could not find a single scripture to refute me and that my knowledge
on the matter was much greater than
his.
His final response
was that he must "stand by the tradition of the
elders".
Unfortunately, the
tradition of the elders does not stand up to scrutiny. Time does not
permit a detailed
discussion but the references are available. There are a number of
books available which trace the decline
of true Christian principles, based on the acceptance of the entire
Word of God, as given to the Jews over
several thousand years before Christ and consummated and completed in
the Crucifixion of our Lord that
completely and thoroughly refute "The Tradition of the Elders".
*** add sections and
extracts ***
In simple terms,
monogamy was a Roman practice around the time that Jesus walked the
earth. The marriage
customs in Rome were very similar to those in our world today. Men and
women were divorcing on the
slightest pretext, extra-marital affairs were common place and publicly
accepted and fornication was the order
of the day. In reality it was these very practices to which Jesus was
referring in Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew
19:3-9 and Mark 10:2-12 (cited elsewhere) when he spoke of putting away
and divorce. Is it not ironic that
Jesus' very teachings against this practice are used to justify the
false doctrine of monogamy today? Is that
not heresy, if not blasphemy, of the worst kind?
*** details and
quotes ***
Furthermore,
monogamy was first officially promulgated by Justinian in about 600 AD,
after he had married
a reformed prostitute (could one argue that since she was denied a
multitude of men she sought to deny her
husband more than one wife? - it appears that she was a very dominant
woman. Monogamy was officially
instituted in the Jewish faith in about 900 AD, seemingly as a response
to persecution by the so-called
"Christian church". There is plenty of documentation on this whole
subject and it's history available to those
who will seek, yet it seems that the majority of those who call
themselves by the name of Christ are not
prepared to seek. It seems that they would rather stand on "the
tradition of the elders" thereby condemning
others to eternal damnation and themselves to harsh judgment.
Casual
investigation will reveal that most Jews, certainly those who are
reasonably well schooled in the Word
of God, know these basic facts and regard
the "Christian doctrine of monogamy" as one of
the key reasons why Jesus Christ cannot be the Messiah. Most Moslems also know these
truths and, again, the false doctrine of monogamy is one of the major
reasons why they regard Christianity
as a heretical religion, they have much greater reverence for the Word
of God than most who call themselves
"Christians". In fact, it seems possible that one of the reasons that
Mohammed had such a following was in
response to the extreme and ungodly actions of those who claimed to be
Christians at the time that
Mohammed lived. We cannot regard the Moslems as
heretics and unbelievers until we
own, confess and repent of the unbelievable atrocities and heresies
committed
through the ages by those who have called themselves "Christian".
Is it
not time to depart from the "heresies of the elders" and stop hiding
behind
"tradition"? Did not Jesus Himself, in Matthew 15:6 and Mark 7:13,
state that the
Pharisees made the Word of God of no effect by their traditions? Do you
not fear the
judgment of Jesus on your life for living the life of a Pharisee if you
do not repent of
your belief in the heresy of monogamy and speak the truth?
It is now time to
depart from doctrines of demons and from forbidding those who would
marry from marriage. Now is the time to speak the truth, to encourage
those who have more than one wife to acknowledge their
other wives and take them under their covering. Now is the time for
those who have put away wives against
the Word of God and who have remarried into adultery to recognize their
sin, confess their sin and repent,
returning to the husbands and wives that they married at first or at
the very least to seek Yahweh to extend
His grace to cover their past sin - but do not bank on it, we are
judged on the Word of God, not our humanistic
attempts to cover up our sin!
Consider
Ezra Ezra 10:1-44:
1 Now
while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and
bowing down before the house
of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to
him from Israel; for the people
wept very bitterly.
2 And
Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and
said to Ezra, "We have
trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples
of the land; yet now there
is hope in Israel in spite of this.
3 "Now
therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these
wives
and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my
master and
of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done
according
to the law.
4 "Arise,
for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of
good courage, and do it."
5 Then
Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all
Israel swear an oath that they
would do according to this word. So they swore an oath.
6 Then
Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of
Jehohanan the son of
Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water,
for he mourned because of the
guilt of those from the captivity.
7 And
they issued a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the
descendants of the captivity,
that they must gather at Jerusalem,
8 and
that whoever would not come within three days, according to the
instructions of the leaders and
elders, all his property would be confiscated, and he himself would be
separated from the assembly of
those from the captivity.
9 So all
the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days.
It was the ninth month,
on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the open
square of the house of God, trembling
because of this matter and because of heavy rain.
10 Then
Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have transgressed and
have taken pagan wives,
adding to the guilt of Israel.
11 "Now
therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers, and do His
will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the
pagan wives."
12 Then
all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, "Yes! As you have
said, so we must do.
13 "But
there are many people; it is the season for heavy rain, and we are not
able to stand outside. Nor
is this the work of one or two days, for there are many of us who have
transgressed in this matter.
14
"Please, let the leaders of our entire assembly stand; and let all
those in our cities who have taken
pagan wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and
judges of their cities, until the fierce
wrath of our God is turned away from us in this matter."
15 Only
Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah opposed this,
and Meshullam and
Shabbethai the Levite gave them support.
16 Then
the descendants of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with
certain heads of the fathers'
households, were set apart by the fathers' households, each of them by
name; and they sat down on the
first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
17 By the
first day of the first month they finished questioning all the men who
had taken pagan wives.
18 And
among the sons of the priests who had taken pagan wives the following
were found of the sons of
Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib,
and Gedaliah.
19 And
they gave their promise that they would put away their wives; and being
guilty,
they presented a ram of the flock as their trespass offering.
20 Also
of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah;
21 of the
sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah;
22 of the
sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and
Elasah.
23 Also
of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (the same is Kelita),
Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
24 Also
of the singers: Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and
Uri.
25 And
others of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Jeziah, Malchiah,
Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah,
and Benaiah;
26 of the
sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Eliah;
27 of the
sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and
Aziza;
28 of the
sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai;
29 of the
sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Ramoth;
30 of the
sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah,
Bezalel, Binnui, and
Manasseh;
31 of the
sons of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
32
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah;
33 of the
sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai,
Manasseh, and Shimei;
34 of the
sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,
35
Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluh,
36
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
37
Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasai,
38 Bani,
Binnui, Shimei,
39
Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
40
Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
41
Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
42
Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph;
43 of the
sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and
Benaiah.
44 All
these had taken pagan wives, and some of them had wives by whom they
had
children. (NKJ)
Surely, as much as
Yahweh required the people of Israel to put away their pagan wives
then, He will require
the church of Jesus Christ to terminate their adulterous marriages
today?
Paul
wrote in 1 Timothy 4:1-3:
1 Now
the Spirit expressly says that in
latter times some will depart from the faith, giving
heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
2
speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a
hot iron,
3 forbidding
to marry, and commanding to abstain
from foods which God created to be
received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
(NKJ)
Dear
reader, can you doubt any longer that monogamy is a doctrine of demons
and
heresy of the worst kind? Will you continue to espouse such heresy at
the risk of
your eternal salvation, or will you cease to believe the lie and seek
to refute it with
every fibre of your being that you may indeed hear those words "well
done thou good
and faithful servant"?
Consider
carefully Matthew 25:19-46:
19 "After
a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with
them.
20 "So he
who had received five talents came and brought five other talents,
saying, 'Lord, you delivered
to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'
21 "His
lord said to him, 'Well
done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a
few
things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of
your lord.'
22 "He
also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered
to me two talents; look, I
have gained two more talents besides them.'
23 "His
lord said to him, 'Well
done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful
over a few
things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of
your lord.'
24 "Then
he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to
be a hard man, reaping
where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered
seed.
25 'And I
was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you
have what is yours.'
26 "But
his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you
knew that I reap where I have
not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
27 'So
you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming
I would have received
back my own with interest.
28
'Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten
talents.
29 'For
to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance;
but from him who does not
have, even what he has will be taken away.
30 'And
cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be
weeping
and gnashing of teeth.'
31 "When
the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then He will sit on the
throne of His glory.
32 "All
the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one
from another, as a
shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 "And
He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 "Then
the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My
Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 'for I
was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I
was a stranger and you
took Me in;
36 'I was
naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in
prison and you came to Me.'
37 "Then
the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You
hungry and feed You, or
thirsty and give You drink?
38 'When
did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 'Or
when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40 "And
the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it to one of
the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
41 "Then
He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you
cursed, into
the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 'for I
was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no
drink;
43 'I was
a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me,
sick and in prison and
you did not visit Me.'
44 "Then
they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or
thirsty or a stranger
or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'
45 "Then
He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you
did not do it to one of the
least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
46 "And
these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life." (NKJ)
Surely it cannot be
much longer before our Lord returns and settles accounts with us?
Surely we have
received many talents, we have numerous translations of scripture, we
have the Bible on computer, we have
television, radio and numerous other resources. We, of all generations,
have no excuse for not knowing what
the Bible really says. Therefore, surely, much is expected of us and,
if we do not take the treasure in the
Word of God that has been given to us and use it wisely, we will stand
condemned to everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels? Surely, if we have forbidden a man to
take a second wife or forbidden a woman
to marry a man who already has a wife and those people have
subsequently fallen into sin, we shall be liable
for a harsher judgment, will we not be told that, as much as we did
that to the least of these we did it to Jesus?
68.
FURTHER COMMENTS ON THE EVIDENCE OF VIRGINITY
As discussed in
section 8, page 19, our modern understanding of virginity is very
limited and the sacredness
of virginity is all but forgotten.
In section 8.c.ii,
page 22, Deuteronomy 22:16 seems to suggest clearly that the father
witnessed the
defloration in order to be able to give evidence in support of his
daughters virginity.
***
As much as our
social system today finds the very thought of this offensive, sources
indicate that this was
not unheard of even in the last century in the United Kingdom where
etchings exist depicting the entire bridal
party observing the defloration. This was not a perverse act of
voyuerism but a socially accepted procedure
for ensuring that the bride was in fact a virgin and the marriage had
indeed been consumated.
My objective is not
to be offensive but only to demonstrate just how seriously virginity is
viewed in the Word
of God. AND how seriously it was viewed, even in the world, until
relatively recently.
69.
ECUMENICAL MARRIAGE
As an extension of
the discussion regarding the falling away (apostasy) of the church over
the past 2,000 years
in section 67, page 189, it should be noted that ecumenical marriage,
marriage by a "priest" or pastor, has only
been in existence for about 500 years, prior to that marriage took
place in a fashion much closer to scripture. A feast was held and the
couple consumated the marriage.
Some years ago, the
Lord led me to purchase a book .................... quote on ecumenical
marriage ***
Consider also the
case of the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah, Genesis 24:64-67, discussed
further in section
57, page 167 regarding betrothal, and elsewhere, reports with regard to
Rebekah on arrival from her father's
house:
64 Then
Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her
camel;
65 for
she had said to the servant, "Who is this man walking in the field to
meet us?" And the servant said,
"It is my master." So she took a veil and covered herself.
66 And
the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
67 Then
Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and
she
became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his
mother's death.
(NKJ)
As in every
marriage reported in scripture, there is no evidence here of a priest,
pastor, elder or ANYONE
else, officiating at the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. On the face of
it, the scripture says that she got off the
camel, met Isaac and went into his mother's tent with him whereupon he
"took" her - in other words they had
sexual intercourse and their marriage came into existence! Dare we
construct any other hypothesis based on
the facts at our disposal? Certainly we may assume that there was some
delay between her arrival and the
consumation of the marriage but scripture does not specify any
procedure nor does it report such a procedure
anywhere as being a matter of necessity.
Consider also the
case of Joseph and Mary. Matthew 1:18-25 reports:
18 Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was
betrothed to Joseph, before
they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then
Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a
public example, was minded
to put her away secretly.
20 But
while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream,
saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary
your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 "And
she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He
will save His people from
their sins."
22 So all
this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord
through the prophet, saying:
23
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall
call His name Immanuel," which
is translated, "God with us."
24 Then
Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord
commanded
him and took to him his wife,
25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.
And he called
His name Jesus. (NKJ)
On the face of the
scripture, immediately he awoke, Joseph went and fetched his wife and
she commenced
living with him the day after the dream. This interpretation is
entirely consistent with the bridegroom going
to fetch his betrothed bride on a date of his choosing with no prior
warning, as discussed in section ...........9,
page 30.
Consider
also the report of Samson's marriage in Timnah in Judges 14:1-11:
1 Now
Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters
of the Philistines.
2 So he
went up and told his father and mother, saying, "I have seen a woman in
Timnah of the daughters
of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife."
3 Then
his father and mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the
daughters of your brethren, or
among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the
uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson
said to his father, "Get her for me, for she pleases me well."
4 But his
father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD-- that He was
seeking an occasion to
move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had
dominion over Israel.
5 So
Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the
vineyards of Timnah. Now
to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him.
6 And the
Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart
as one would have torn
apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not
tell his father or his mother what
he had done.
7 Then
he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
8 After
some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the
carcass of the lion.
And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion.
9 He took
some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his
father and mother, he gave
some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had
taken the honey out of the carcass
of the lion.
10 So
his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for
young
men used to do so.
11 And it
happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be
with him. (NKJ)
Here we clearly see
the bride groom returning to get his betrothed woman at a time of his
choosing and then
giving a feast in celebration which continued for seven days. Again
there is no indication of an officiating
official or any formal cermony. The marriage was consumated in the
marriage chamber.
Genesis
29:20-30 reports regarding the marriage of Jacob to Leah and Rachel:
20 So
Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to
him because of the love he
had for her.
21 Then
Jacob said to Laban, "Give
me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in
to her."
22 And
Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.
23 Now
it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and
brought her
to Jacob; and he went in to her.
24 And
Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.
25 So it
came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to
Laban, "What is this you
have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have
you deceived me?"
26 And
Laban said, "It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger
before the firstborn.
27
"Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service
which you will serve with me still
another seven years."
28 Then
Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel
as wife also.
29 And
Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid.
30 Then
Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel
more than Leah. And he served
with Laban still another seven years. (NKJ)
Again, we see a
feast of seven days where, on the evening of the first day the marriage
is consumated. In this
case, the bride was presented under false pretences. There can be
little doubt that if the marriage had been
performed by a "presiding officer" with an exchange of vows, Jacob
would have realized that he was taking
vows with the wrong woman - he had served seven years for Rachel and
presumably knew her reasonably
well. If he had taken vows with Rachel and that, in fact, constituted
the marriage then Laban would have
achieved nothing by giving Leah to Jacob in the evening. The only
reason there was a marriage was as a
consequence of the taking of Leah's virginity and, insofar as Jacob
accepted that he had taken Leah's virginity,
albeit under false pretences, he made no attempt that we no of to seek
to have the marriage annuled. In other
words he accepted that he was married! Yet, today, we would be told
that Jacob was guilty of "premarital
sex" with two woman and that he could only marry one of them. In fact,
Jacob would probably be told to go
to counselling with the pastor who would assist him to determine which
of the two woman God wanted Jacob
to marry, if indeed the pastor saw fit to determine on God's behalf
that either of the two woman were suitable
marriage partners for Jacob such that the pastor would deem Jacob and
the young lady worthy to receive the
pastor's blessing and authorization of their marriage! What blasphemy!!
Indeed surely the name of Yahweh
and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is blasphemed because of this
heresy!
As a final
indicator, consider the marriage of Tobias as reported in the
Apocryphal book of Tobit, chapters
6 to 8:
Chapter
6
1 And as they went on their journey, they came in
the evening to the river Tigris, and they lodged
there. 2 And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish
leaped out of the river, and
would have devoured him. 3 Then the angel said unto him, Take the fish.
And the young man laid
hold of the fish, and drew it to land. 4 To whom the angel said, Open
the fish, and take the heart
and the liver and the gall, and put them up safely. 5 So the young man
did as the angel
commanded him; and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it:
then they both went on their
way, till they drew near to Ecbatane. 6 Then the young man said to the
angel, Brother Azarias,
to what use is the heart and the liver and the gall of the fish? 7 And
he said unto him, Touching
the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any, we
must make a smoke thereof
before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed. 8 As
for the gall, it is good
to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be
healed. 9 And when they were
come near to Rages, 10 The angel said to the young man, Brother, to day we shall lodge
with Raguel, who is thy cousin; he also hath one only daughter, named
Sara; I will speak for her, that she may be given thee for a wife.
11 For to thee
doth the right of her appertain, seeing thou only art of her kindred.
12 And the maid is fair and
wise: now therefore hear me, and I will speak to her father; and when
we return from Rages we
will celebrate the marriage: for I know that Raguel cannot marry her to
another according to the
law of Moses, but he shall be guilty of death, because the right of
inheritance doth rather
appertain to thee than to any other. 13 Then the young man answered the
angel, I have heard,
brother Azarias, that this maid hath been given to seven men, who all
died in the marriage
chamber. 14 And now I am the only son of my father, and I am afraid,
lest, if I go in unto her, I
die, as the other before: for a wicked spirit loveth her, which hurteth
no body, but those which
come unto her: wherefore I also fear lest I die, and bring my father's
and my mother's life because
of me to the grave with sorrow: for they have no other son to bury
them. 15 Then the angel said
unto him, Dost thou not remember the precepts which thy father gave
thee, that thou shouldest
marry a wife of thine own kindred? wherefore hear me, O my brother; for
she shall be given thee
to wife; and make thou no reckoning of the evil spirit; for this same
night shall she be given thee
in marriage. 16 And when thou shalt come into the marriage chamber,
thou shalt take the ashes
of perfume, and shalt lay upon them some of the heart and liver of the
fish, and shalt make a
smoke with it: 17 And the devil shall smell it, and flee away, and
never come again any more: but
when thou shalt come to her, rise up both of you, and pray to God which
is merciful, who will have
pity on you, and save you: fear not, for she is appointed unto thee
from the beginning; and thou
shalt preserve her, and she shall go with thee. Moreover I suppose that
she shall bear thee
children. Now when Tobias had heard these things, he loved her, and his
heart was effectually
joined to her.
Chapter 7
1 And when they were come to Ecbatane, they came to
the house of Raguel, and Sara met them:
and after they had saluted one another, she brought them into the
house. 2 Then said Raguel
to Edna his wife, How like is this young man to Tobit my cousin! 3 And
Raguel asked them, From
whence are ye, brethren? To whom they said, We are of the sons of
Nephthalim, which are
captives in Nineve. 4 Then he said to them, Do ye know Tobit our
kinsman? And they said, We
know him. Then said he, Is he in good health? 5 And they said, He is
both alive, and in good
health: and Tobias said, He is my father. 6 Then Raguel leaped up, and
kissed him, and wept,
7 And blessed him, and said unto him, Thou art the son of an honest and
good man. But when
he had heard that Tobit was blind, he was sorrowful, and wept. 8 And
likewise Edna his wife and
Sara his daughter wept. Moreover they entertained them cheerfully; and
after that they had killed
a ram of the flock, they set store of meat on the table. Then said
Tobias to Raphael, Brother
Azarias, speak of those things of which thou didst talk in the way, and
let this business be
dispatched. 9 So he communicated the matter with Raguel: and Raguel
said to Tobias, Eat and
drink, and make merry: 10 For it is meet that thou shouldest marry my
daughter: nevertheless I
will declare unto thee the truth. 11 I have given my daughter in
marriage to seven men, who died
that night they came in unto her: nevertheless for the present be
merry. But Tobias said, I
will eat nothing here, till we agree and swear one to another. 12
Raguel
said, Then take her from henceforth according to the manner, for thou
art
her cousin, and she is thine, and the merciful God give you good
success
in all things. 13 Then he called his daughter Sara, and she came to her
father, and he took her by the hand, and gave her to be wife to Tobias,
saying, Behold, take her after the law of Moses, and lead her away to
thy
father. And he blessed them; 14 And called Edna his wife, and took
paper,
and did write an instrument of covenants, and sealed it. 15 Then they
began to eat. 16 After Raguel called his wife Edna, and said unto her,
Sister, prepare another chamber, and bring her in thither. 17 Which
when
she had done as he had bidden her, she brought her thither: and she
wept,
and she received the tears of her daughter, and said unto her, 18 Be of
good comfort, my daughter; the Lord of heaven and earth give thee joy
for
this thy sorrow: be of good comfort, my daughter.
Chapter 8
1 And when they had supped, they brought Tobias in
unto her. 2 And as he went, he
remembered the words of Raphael, and took the ashes of the perfumes,
and put the heart and
the liver of the fish thereupon, and made a smoke therewith. 3 The
which smell when the evil
spirit had smelled, he fled into the utmost parts of Egypt, and the
angel bound him. 4 And after
that they were both shut in together, Tobias rose out of the bed, and
said, Sister, arise, and let
us pray that God would have pity on us. 5 Then began Tobias to say,
Blessed art thou, O God
of our fathers, and blessed is thy holy and glorious name for ever; let
the heavens bless thee, and
all thy creatures. 6 Thou madest Adam, and gavest him Eve his wife for
an helper and stay: of
them came mankind: thou hast said, It is not good that man should be
alone; let us make unto
him an aid like unto himself. 7 And now, O Lord, I take not this my
sister for lush but uprightly:
therefore mercifully ordain that we may become aged together. 8 And she
said with him, Amen.
9 So they slept both that night. And Raguel arose, and went and made a
grave, 10 Saying, I fear
lest he also be dead. 11 But when Raguel was come into his house, 12 He
said unto his wife
Edna. Send one of the maids, and let her see whether he be alive: if he
be not, that we may bury
him, and no man know it. 13 So the maid opened the door, and went in,
and found them both
asleep, 14 And came forth, and told them that he was alive. 15 Then
Raguel praised God, and
said, O God, thou art worthy to be praised with all pure and holy
praise; therefore let thy saints
praise thee with all thy creatures; and let all thine angels and thine
elect praise thee for ever. 16
Thou art to be praised, for thou hast made me joyful; and that is not
come to me which I
suspected; but thou hast dealt with us according to thy great mercy. 17
Thou art to be praised
because thou hast had mercy of two that were the only begotten children
of their fathers: grant
them mercy, O Lord, and finish their life in health with joy and mercy.
18 Then Raguel bade his
servants to fill the grave. 19 And he kept the wedding feast fourteen
days. 20 For before the days
of the marriage were finished, Raguel had said unto him by an oath,
that he should not depart
till the fourteen days of the marriage were expired; 21 And then he
should take the half of his
goods, and go in safety to his father; and should have the rest when I
and my wife be dead. The
King James Version Apocrypha, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems,
Inc.) 1995.
Ignoring the many
aspects of this story which have a fairy tale quality to them and which
appear to stretch
scripture as far as the conduct of angels, deliverance from demons and
other aspects are concerned, let us
consider only the sequence of events. Tobias, accompanied by his
companion, arrived at the house, declared
who they were, agreed to the marriage, signed an agreement, ate a meal
and consumated the marriage. Here
we have a very detailed account of an old testament marriage and we
clearly see that there is no ceremony
and certainly no third party officiating. The marriage came into
existence when it was consumated!
Ecumenical marriage
is a necessary device if one fails to accept the taking of virginity as
the seal of the
marriage covenant which in turn must be done in order to support a
doctrine of monogamy. If a man can take
the virginity of many virgins but only marry one woman then virginity
cannot be marriage and some authority
other than God must declare a marriage!
70.
WEDDING RINGS
*** add references
***
Wedding rings go
back further than marriage by a priest or pastor, they are in fact a
pagan tradition dating
from the time of Christ. Effectively they were instituted because the
safety seal of virginity was no longer
considered relevant and Satan needed an alternative device to
substitute for it. Thus we see rings which have
no scriptural significance, taking the place of virginity and millions
if not billions of souls potentially headed
for hell or already in hell as a result. At the same time,
internationally respected "men of God" preach and
teach that rings are a scriptural component of the marriage covenant
despite having no scripture to base their
teaching on. Some even construct a hypothesis based on the ring being a
substitute for a cut in the flesh of
the ring finger which constituted the former method of "cutting
covenant" in marriage and yet cannot and will
not recognize that the virgin flesh of the bride is the God given
mechanism for cutting covenant.
Again, the heresy
of monogamy requires that some other device be provided as a symbol of
the marriage
covenant where the virginity of a woman would otherwise serve as proof
positive of her marital status except
in the cases of widowhood and Holy Spirit authorized divorce.
71.
MARRIAGE COUNSELLING AND THE PERFECT PARTNER
As an extension of
the previous points, today it has become increasingly prevalent for
pastors in their office
of pagan priests officiating over pagan marriage ceremonies dressed up
in the name of Jesus Christ to further
set themselves up as judges of the suitability of couples to marry and
divorce. Today it is a challenge in many
communities for a man and woman who love God, to get married in church
in a socially acceptable fashion,
without the church insisting that they undergo a lengthy period of
premarital "marriage counselling" during
which the pastor claims the prerogative to assist the parties to
determine whether they are the "life partners"
which God has appointed for one another. In the process the pastor may
reserve the right to refuse to marry
the couple if he thinks they are unsuited, even if they have already
had sexual intercourse.
I sincerely hope
that by the time you have read all that preceeds this section you will
realize that nowhere in
scripture does God ordain any man to perform this role, that the role
is pagan, heretical and blasphemous and
also totally inappropriate.
The reallity is
that if the couple have had sexual intercourse they are married in the
sight of God and nothing
that any man does can change that, save that the day the father of the
woman finds out he has the prerogative
to terminate the relationship in terms of Exodus 22:16-17 cited in
section 8, page 20.
The further reality
is that if the woman had had sexual intercourse with another man before
this they are in
adultery and there is no basis for marriage unless the woman is truly a
widow or God truly permitted her to
divorce. On these two points alone may I submit to you that probably in
excess of seventy percent of all
"marriage counselling" in the church today is a total farce and heresy
bordering on blasphemy!