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Sermon on Unorthodox
Marriages
CHAPTER 24
Yeshua is invited to read the
scriptures at the synagogue in Capernaum, but instead teaches
them about acting in the light of Elohim verses following the
letter of the law. He speaks about the "Great Commandment" to be
good stewards and replenish the earth, which leads him to
speaking about homosexuality and how homosexuals can have a
relationship sanctified by God as well. He also speaks about the
sacred covenant of a righteous marriage. --After
leaving the synagogue, Yeshua, Miriam and some of his disciples
go to the home of Cephas in
Bethsaida and find Cephas' mother sick with a great fever.
Yeshua heals her completely and she immediately gets up to
accommodate her guests. Many people arrive at Cephas' home
bringing diseased and possessed people for Yeshua to heal, and
he heals those who repent of the sins of their past, but does
not heal those who do not.
1 On the
Sabbath of that week, Yeshua went to the synagogue at
Capernaum
and was given a time to read the scriptures aloud.
2 But he
read not a single word from the scrolls. Instead he taught them
with his light, saying, “In the synagogue, much is spoken about
the law; much is spoken about keeping the Commandments of Sinai;
and this is from sincere devotions to Elohim and honest desires
to do that which is pleasing to God.
3 But in
seeking to be devout, do not be led into the pit of obeying the
law but being empty of the spirit and light of Elohim.
4 To
obey the law without the spirit is like casting a net for fish
on dry land. You are making an effort but it will gain you only
frustration.
5 But
the man who casts his net into the lake with vigor, even when
done in ignorance as to the proper way to fish or the correct
place to cast his net, will still catch fish because of his
enthusiasm and effort; even as the man with a true spirit will
find the favor of Elohim, while the man who obeys every law
without spirit will never know God.
6 So it
is in your life. Within the Commandments of Sinai are found all
the law Elohim asks of you, save the Great Commandment. Live
these simple principles with spirit and you will gain the
fullest blessings of Elohim, both in this life and the life to
come.
7 Know
that all other laws are given by men or added to by men, even if
they are read from the scrolls in the synagogue.
8 Decide
for yourself with the spirit of God as your guide, which laws
serve God and help you have the light of Elohim in your heart,
and which serve the Caesars, both the grand and the petty, by
keeping you passive and controlled like a flock of sheep.”
9 And
there was murmuring among many of those present for this was
doctrine such as they had never heard before.
10 Then
Yeshua continued to instruct them, asking, “who among you knows
the Great Commandment of which I spoke?”
11 Again
there was murmuring as they conferred one with another to agree
upon the answer to his question. And Silias the Elder answered,
“It is to marry many wives and bring many children into the
world.” And there were chuckles and even laughter at his reply.
12 And
Yeshua said unto them, “You have answered correctly in part, but
the response of levity is not in keeping with the weight of this
law.
13
Before the Commandments of Sinai came the Great Commandment.
When this commandment is lived in wholeness and purity, it is a
blessing upon the Children of Light. But it is more often lived
in perversion, which brings a darkness upon the soul.
14
When the progenitors of man first came upon the Earth, Elohim
blessed them with the Great Commandment, that the righteous
might inherit the bounties of Earth and Heaven, saying, Be fruitful,
and multiply; replenish the Earth and be good stewards over it.
15
Have sacred dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over every living thing that moves or grows upon
the Earth; that in your stewardship they also might be fruitful
and multiply and spread forth over the Earth in abundance.
16
And Elohim said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed
which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree whose
seed bears fruit of sweetness or meat; and the milk of the
beasts, and the non-fertile eggs of the fowls, and the honey of
the bees, and these shall be your food.
17
And to every beast of the Earth and to every fowl of the air,
and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb from the smallest to the
largest, for their meat.
18 And
you will say that these are not the words of the Great
Commandment you have been read in the synagogue all of your
life; and I say unto you that you have not even lived the
portion of the Great Commandment that you have.
19 But
now I ask you to be more than you have been, and to live the
Great Commandment in its fullness that you might receive an
inheritance of light in this life and the next.
20 And
what is that fullness? Look closely for there is much given in
the first commandment of God for the children of men.
21
Consider what it means for men and women to multiply and
replenish the Earth.
22
Obviously, a man cannot do it by himself, but only with a woman
may he procreate.
23 Does
that then mean that a man or a woman with uncommon affections
for their own should be scorned and whipped, and even put to
death as sometimes occurs among the religious zealots?
24 Why
do you think those with uncommon affections are the way they
are? Did not Elohim make them so? Will you scorn and whip and
put Elohim to death?
25
Unless they were irresistibly compelled by their nature from God
to be as they are, do you think they would choose to be reviled
and beaten throughout their lives?
26 But
if they have uncommon affections one for another, how then can
they obey the Great Commandment? In truth, they cannot in the
way of a man and a woman create children.
27 But
there is far more to the great commandment than bringing new
children into the world; for what is missed when those with
uncommon affections do not have children is more than
compensated by the men and women who have a great abundance of
children.
28 The
central point of the Great Commandment is not merely to have
children, but to be good stewards and multiply and replenish the
Earth and all life therein, in all aspects, of which children
are but one.
29 If
two people with uncommon affections have love one for another,
and sanctify it, and are faithful to it within the covenant of
marriage, and are good stewards of the Earth, helping to protect
it and all the life therein, and helping to increase and magnify
it and all life therein, they have fulfilled the Great
Commandment far more than the man and the woman who have many
children, but are so taxed with so many that they are unable to
give them either their time or love, or meet their most basic of
temporal needs.
30 At
this last pronouncement many stood up, yelling in anger at that
which Yeshua taught, and even some of his disciples looked at
one another questioningly.
31
Yeshua raised his hands and motioned for everyone to sit down
and listen to all he had to say.
32 Then
he continued, saying, “You see in my words the fulfillment of
that which I have said from the beginning. I have not come to
uphold the law, but to destroy it, save for the Great
Commandment and the Commandments of Sinai; for the laws of
Elohim have been perverted by the desires of men.
33 Hear
me now. I come not just to destroy, but to bring you a new light
far greater than you have known.
34
Before you tear me asunder or turn me over to the persecution of
the Romans, hear all that I have to say and weigh my words with
the sense of your head and the feeling of your heart.
35 In
commanding man to multiply and replenish the Earth, Elohim
gave men and women a righteous desire
for one another and pleasure in fulfilling the desire.
36 But this was countered by the commandments to not commit
fornication or adultery. Therefore, only in a bonded
relationship, publicly acknowledged in marriage, could a man and
woman virtuously fulfill the carnal desire for one another that
dwelt within them.
37 Why should men and women not just be like so many of the
animals who rut with who they will? The animals rut and they
are no different after than before. They rut again and still
they change not.
38 Hear me men and women of
Gennesaret.
You are spirit sons and daughters of Elohim; of a living father
and mother in heaven.
39 Verily, you are here on this Earth for more than pleasure
and sensual fulfillment. You are here to show God that you can
become more than you began, and to help others to do likewise.
40 Conquer your lust, keep it virtuous and in your marriage
bed where it is sanctified by God.
41 Be a good steward of yourself first, then of the Earth and
all that is upon it, and Elohim will make you an eternal steward
of much more.
42 Unite in the sacred covenant of marriage. Bring forth
children, such as you can care for with your time and coin, into
the world through love in your marriage bed, and teach them by
precept and example in the ways of righteousness that they may
walk in the light.
43 In this you are good stewards, helping your children to
become more than they began.
44 And you are also a good steward of your own life; for
having children helps you to overcome selfishness, one of the
most poisonous darts the Adversary will embed in your heart and
mind.
45 Children teach you patience; they give you a window to see
heaven; they help your weaknesses to become your strengths.
46 For a man to live his life with a woman, and a woman with a
man, in devotion to one another; and for them to bear and raise
children, sacrificing their time and treasure for the well-being
of their children; this is a light that overcomes the darkness
of selfishness.
47 And once overcome, dealings with all others become more
cordial; criminal acts less common, and wars less likely.
48 Righteous marriage with children teaches selflessness and
compromise by each individual for the happiness of one another
and the good of the family, and these lessons carry forth into
the wider world of community and nations.
49 Striving to live a righteous marriage with children forges
the weaknesses of men and women into their strengths; even as
fornication and adultery, or a life without marriage and
children, brings a forgetfulness of the light and opens the
transgressor to further darkness.
50 These principals of light are so important and needful for
expansion of the light within you that the man and woman who are
barren should always adopt children who are without parents, so
both may be filled with the love and growth that only a parent
and child can bring to one another.
51 Consider again now the men who have affections for men and
the women who have affections for women.
52 Elohim made them as they are, by their request, before they
were born of woman; that they might have the opportunity in life
to be sorely tested and grow great in stature as they overcome
their challenges.
53 Do you think then that Elohim would condemn them for the
nature that was given to them, and disdain their righteous
desire to have greater burdens and greater potential for reward,
any more than the fish would be condemned for swimming or the
bird for flying?
54 But there is a trap laid for them of selfishness and many
are those that are caught by it; for as they are scorned and
cast away from those who rebuke them, they may be enticed into
their lusts and begin to live for their lust and pleasure and
comfort, and thus are led step by step down the path to
damnation instead of the exaltation they sought.
55 I say unto you, do not by your actions of condemnation,
encourage them down that path.
56 Verily, if they accept a stewardship of the Earth and the
life therein and fulfill their stewardship, they have lived the
Great Commandment as fully as any husband and wife who cared
well for their children.
57 And like with children, fulfilling a stewardship to the
Earth and all the life therein requires a continued and
prolonged sacrifice of your time and your treasure. And in this
you overcome selfishness, and become far greater than you were.
58 Therefore I say clearly unto you, it is not a sin for a man
to have affections for a man or a woman for a woman, if it comes
not from carnal lust, but from virtuous love; for such was not
forbidden by Elohim in the Great Commandment or the Commandments
of Sinai.
59 But with those who love their own kind, let them lust not
after one another into fornication, but may they only have
intimacy within the bonds of marriage, even as it is for a man
and a woman.
60 Where a man may have two or more wives, and they may love
one another even as they love their husband, let there be no
other men but two in a marriage with one another; for beyond
this men are given to carnal lusts over love.
61 And let all marriages be in public. Let the unmarried keep
their chastity before marriage and guard their virtue zealously
once married.
62 And let any who would commit fornication before marriage or
adultery after marriage, suffer the full weight of their sin
before man and God until they have repented, and asked
forgiveness, and made restitution to all they have wronged.”
63 Again there arose a great hue and cry and much
consternation among the people in the temple at the words of
Yeshua, for never had they heard anything similar to what he had
said unto them, and it was vastly different from all they had
ever been taught.
64 Yet
they were
astonished at his doctrine and the power of his words, and
despite their shock at his teachings, many were not as angry as
they supposed they should have been, and some found themselves
nodding in agreement, for his teachings made sense in their
heads and resonated in their hearts.
65 Then a man stood up and yelled, “You are a false teacher!
You would undermine the sanctity of our homes and marriages with
your words of perversion. Truly evil must dwell within you to
say such things.”
66 And Yeshua answered unto him, “It is your actions to put
aside and persecute those who are not like you that weakens the
fabric of your home and marriage, for cast away and reviled
they are more likely to be angry and revengeful and fall onto
the paths of lust and fornication, as the path of virtue and
honor is forbidden by those who condemn them.
67 Let each be as they were created within the boundaries of
a righteous marriage, given the opportunity to be good stewards
and live lives of virtue and honor, and your home and marriage
will be far more protected.
68 That you may see the truth, that I am the light, and not be
offended by my teachings, but uplifted, bring the man beside you
up to me.”
69 Now the man he spoke of had glared at him in silence
through all he had said. But when all looked upon him because
of the words of Yeshua, his face contorted in rage and he
growled like a wild animal.
70 He turned to quickly depart, but Yeshua spoke forcibly to
him saying, “Turn to the light, demon of darkness.”
71 And the man turned to face Yeshua, drool coming from his
mouth, his face twisted in anger, and his voice garbled and
growling, saying, “Let me alone! What have I to do with you
Yeshua of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy me? I know who
you are, Holy One of God. Leave me be!”
72 Yeshua commanded, “Speak no more! Depart this instant! Let
the light in every darkness thwart you to ever again dwell in
man.”
73 Then the man fell to the floor with a piercing scream and
began to thrash about for a few seconds and then he was still.
74 Slowly, he opened his eyes and gingerly feeling his body,
found that he was unhurt. And on his face which was full of
dirt, was a countenance of light.
75 All who witnessed it were amazed. And the men and women in
the synagogue spoke among themselves, saying, “What power is
this? What can this new doctrine be, for with authority and
power even the unclean spirits obey him and depart at his
command.
76 And immediately as the people departed the synagogue they
separated, each to their own path, anxious to tell their friends
of all they had seen and heard. And Yeshua’s fame soon spread
throughout all the region of Galilee.
77 After leaving the synagogue, Yeshua and Miriam went with
Cephas and Amram to the home of Cephas in
Bethsaida,
and Yak’kov and Yohhanan went with them.
78 Upon arriving they found that the mother of Cephas was sick
with a great fever.
79 Yeshua came and held his hands above her body for a moment
moving them slightly, with his eyes closed as if in silent
prayer.
80 Then laying his hands upon her head he rebuked the fever
and took her by the hand lifting her up from her bed.
81 She arose well and whole with a great smile and words of
gratitude, and immediately she went to the string hanging from
the ceiling and brought dates out for them to eat.
82 In the evening, as the sun set, many of the people of the
town came to the house of Cephas; for everyone had heard of the
earlier events at the synagogue.
83 They brought all who were diseased and others who were
possessed of devils to Yeshua.
84 And those who were diseased, who attested in sincerity to
repent of their sins and walk in the light, he healed of many
diverse sicknesses.
85 But he rebuked those who would not repent in sincerity,
saying, “Only the pure in heart can be healed by the light of
Elohim.
86 Repent first of your sins that the light may find a place
in you. When the light is in your heart, all things are
possible.”
87 And from five men and two women, he cast out demons, but he
did not allow the demons to speak, for he did not want them to
say who he was; for the darkness unmistakably knew the light,
but the common people were not yet prepared to receive this
knowledge.
88 From this day forth, a Community of Light began to form in
the region of the three towns of the delta on
Lake
Gennesaret.
89 And in the weeks to come, many were baptized by the
disciples called by Yeshua, and when they came out of the water,
in their hearts was a light brighter than the sun.
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