Tabernacles Central

Difficult decisions

First, we live in a fallen world that bears little resemblance to the paradise God created. Moreover, due to our separation from His Spirit, we often make decisions based upon what feels good at the time. Sometimes we choose wisely, sometimes we do not.

In the Old Testament, personally meeting God was dangerous. Often times, if you did not approach the Lord just right, you died. However, now that Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sin, once we accept Him as God’s Son and repent, we can approach God’s throne freely and without fear of rejection – or death.

The point I am making is that we do not live in the Old Testament according to the Law of Moses. We live in a New Testament era defined by grace and forgiveness of our sins. Some believers make a fundamental mistake of thinking that somehow the harsh judgment of the Old Testament was a good thing and superior. They decry “sloppy Agape” and others over reliance on grace.

You do not want to meet the God of the Old Testament

However, nothing could be further from the truth. Not one of those who believe in their own righteousness would actually want to meet God’s Old Testament persona. If they did, self-righteousness would evaporate and so would they. Stacked up alongside anyone else, they would not even be a hair breadth taller when measured against our Lord’s Holiness.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ saves us and makes us acceptable to God. It is His sacrifice alone, and His righteousness given to us, that covers our sinful ways, allowing us entrance into heaven. None that accuse us of sin is any better in the sight of the Most High than anyone else whose righteousness falls short of His glory.

Secondly, we all do the best we can given the situation we are in. It may not look like it sometimes, but generally, we all try to do the right thing. Even if we don’t, if others knew why we acted the way we did, they too might not judge so harshly. Some make snap judgments about situations and motivations of others lacking any real understanding of what is truly going on.

Jesus did not condemn

This is particularly true when it comes to Divine Divorce. In this case, like the woman caught in the very act of adultery, people take up stones without so much as a thought about what may be taking place in our lives. In their eyes, you have broken the law of holy matrimony, therefore you are the enemy of all that is good and proper. You must be made to repent or, if you do not, shunned as a sinner.

I tell you of a truth, as it was in the days of the first Christians in Israel, so it is in our day and age. Those who judge us do not keep their own law. They look down on those who are caught in very difficult situations, yet they have all manner of work around to their own rules when it suits them. The church has produced a generation of Neo-Pharisees who have made the New Testament into another bondage through falling away from the actual heart of it.

When it comes to Divine Divorce, no man or woman undertakes it lightly. Those who really care about their relationship with Jesus struggle, sometimes for years, to make sure that separating from their current spouse is the right thing to do.

When God leads

It is likely that up to one-third of current marriages in the Christian domain are not the will of our Father. These are mismatches that were entered into without God’s permission and have, in fact, severely limited their usefulness in God’s kingdom. Within this one-third, there are legal marriages that are so detrimental to one or both of the parties involved, that God not only allows for, but leads people to break their earthly contracts with each other.

Of this smaller group, many stay in terrible situations simply due to social pressure. The truth is, that even of those marriages that God does want to annul, only a few ever find the courage to do so. Then, when these people are at their most vulnerable point, clergy, friends and sometimes even family, persecute them as heartlessly and cruelly as Jewish families shunned their own flesh and blood in the first century when the chose Jesus.

Light reveals what is already in darkness

In conclusion, in the coming move of Tabernacles, Divine Divorce will be a real phenomenon. Just like Israel left Egypt, people who follow the Holy Spirit will leave error and embrace freedom. Those who are Neo-Pharisees will see this as proof positive that this amazing move of His Spirit is of Beelzebub. However, all that will be happening is that God is cleansing His temple and returning it to what it was originally meant to be – His house. When the Holy Spirit comes to His people, it will uncover the rot and the error that has been hidden underneath a crusted legalism for millennia. It is a correction that needs to take place and that can’t happen within the present structure of the church.

One final thought: You must pray and get God’s permission to divorce. It is between you and God and no one else. While there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors, still you must hear God’s voice personally.

Amen.

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Oceans cover by Liv Harland

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