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Lesson 29 - Sanctified HomesIntroduction: Among the sins of Noah's day that led God to destroy the world was the almost universal flouting of God's standards for marriage, sexual relations, and the home. "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of [the coming of] the Son of Man" (Luke 17:26). Today we are seeing that fulfilled. In this lesson we will study about God's plan for marriage and the home. Again we will quote from the Spirit of Prophecy (the writings of Ellen White) to shed additional light on the Bible. AH refers to a compilation of her writings on the home called Adventist Home. 1. With what were the antediluvians obsessed? Matt. 24:37-39 (Matthew 24:37-39 NKJV) "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. {38} "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, {39} "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. [Note: "There is in itself no sin in eating and drinking, or in marrying and giving in marriage . . . if that which is lawful is properly treated, and not carried to sinful excess. But in the days of Noah, men married without consulting God, or seeking His guidance and counsel." So it is at the present day. And marriage ceremonies are "made matters of display, extravagance, and selfindulgence." AH 121, 100. The Further-study verses are 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Luke 17:26-30] 2. Who established the institution of marriage? Gen. 2:21-24 [Matt. 19:4-6] (Genesis 2:21-24 NKJV) And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. {22} Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. {23} And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." {24} Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 3. Are religious orders made more holy by celibacy? Heb. 13:4a (Hebrews 13:4 NKJV) Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. [Ans: "Marriage is honorable among all." 1 Tim. 4:1-3] 4. While marriage is honorable, what does the Bible call those who engage in sex outside of marriage? Heb. 13:4b (Hebrews 13:4 NKJV) Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. [Note: "Fornicators" (KJV-"whoremongers") is from the Greek word "pornos" from which we get the word "pornography." This verse warns against all sexual relations outside of marriage. 1 Cor. 6:9, 10] 5. On what basis did the antediluvians choose marriage partners? Gen. 6:1, 2 (Genesis 6:1-2 NKJV) Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, {2} that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. [Note: The descendants of Seth were called the "sons of God" (See 1 John 3:1). They married the descendants of Cain, who were unconverted. This resulted not in the conversion of the unconverted spouses, but in the apostasy of the "sons of God." Gen. 24:1-3; 26:34, 35; 28:1] 6. What counsel does God give about marriage between a believer and an unbeliever? 2 Cor. 6:14-18 [Deut. 7:1-3] (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 NKJV) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? {15} And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? {16} And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people." {17} Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." {18} "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty." 7. Should one already married to an unbeliever seek a divorce? 1 Cor. 7:13 [1 Peter 3:1] (1 Corinthians 7:13 NKJV) And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. 8. Christ set forth only one legitimate reason for divorce. What was it? Why do you think He considered this reason legitimate? Matt. 19:5, 6, 9 (Matthew 19:5-6 NKJV) "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? {6} "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matthew 19:9 NKJV) "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." [Note: The Bible does not require the innocent party to divorce the unfaithful marriage partner. In some cases forgiveness can be granted, and trust reestablished. 1 Cor. 7:10-15, 39; Mark 10:11, 12; Deut. 24:1-4] 9. Marriage is not always ideal (as in the case of Paul) and young people should not be hurried into this sacred relationship. But when entered into in the fear of God, how does marriage help to preserve the purity of society? 1 Cor. 7:1-3 (1 Corinthians 7:1-3 NKJV) Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. {2} Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. {3} Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. [Note: The spouse is to render what is "due." "Marriage . . . in this degenerate age . . . covers vileness of every description . . . [as] previous to the flood." God never designed that marriage should cover base lust. "The fact that all the relations of life are of a transitory nature should have a modifying influence on all we do and say." AH 121, 122. 1 Cor. 7:5, 8, 9; Col. 3:18, 19; Ps. 24:3, 4; 2 Peter 1:4] 10. How important is it that we control our eyes and our thoughts? Matt. 5:27-30 (Matthew 5:27-30 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' {28} "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. {29} "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. {30} "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. [Note: The antediluvians gave full rein to evil thoughts (Gen. 6:5). Doubtless they enjoyed sensual songs, pictures, and jokes. Col. 3:5-8] 11. How is the spiritual life affected if wives are not honored and understood? 1 Peter 3:7 [ 1 John 4:7-8] (1 Peter 3:7 NKJV) Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. 12. What is God's ideal for the husbandwife relationship? Eph. 5:22, 25 (Ephesians 5:22 NKJV) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:25 NKJV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, [Note: God took Eve from Adam's side to be his "helper comparable to him" (Gen. 2:18, NKJV), not his slave. She was to be submissive to his godly affections and Christian leadership as an equal partner. They were to be "one." Gen. 2:18, 24] 13. What two commandments in the Decalogue deal with the home? Ex. 20:12, 14 [Matt. 19:16-19] (Exodus 20:12 NKJV) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:14 NKJV) "You shall not commit adultery. 14. In what way may parents show true love to their children? Prov. 13:24 (Proverbs 13:24 NKJV) He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly. [Note: Discipline and love must always go together. Eli is an example of one who mistook indulgence for love, and did not discipline his sons. 1 Sam. 3:13; Titus 2:4; Ps. 127:3] 15. What disposition in children is a sign of the last days? 2 Tim. 3:1, 2 [1 Tim. 3:2-5; Isa. 8:18] (2 Timothy 3:1-2 NKJV) But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: {2} For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 16. How does Paul summarize the ideal parentchild relationship? Eph. 6:1-4 [Col. 3:20, 21] (Ephesians 6:1-4 NKJV) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. {2} "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: {3} "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." {4} And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Commitment: Today's society is like Noah's. Jesus said, "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil" (John 17:15). Will you determine, by God's help, to be pure in both thought and deed; and to fulfill your Christian duty as a husband, wife, parent, or child?
Further Study VersesQuestion 1 - Further Study (Luke 17:26-30 NKJV) "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: {27} "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. {28} "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; {29} "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. {30} "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31 NKJV) But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, {30} those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, {31} and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away. -->Back to Study Question 2 - Further Study (Matthew 19:4-6 NKJV) And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' {5} "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? {6} "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." -->Back to Study Question 3 - Further Study (1 Timothy 4:1-3 NKJV) 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. -->Back to Study Question 4 - Further Study (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, {10} nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. -->Back to Study Question 5 - Further Study (1 John 3:1 NKJV) Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (Genesis 24:1-3 NKJV) Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. {2} So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh, {3} "and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; (Genesis 26:34-35 NKJV) When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. {35} And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. (Genesis 28:1 NKJV) Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. -->Back to Study Question 6 - Further Study (Deuteronomy 7:1-3 NKJV) "When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, {2} "and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. {3} "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. -->Back to Study Question 7 - Further Study (1 Peter 3:1 NKJV) Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, -->Back to Study Question 8 - Further Study (1 Corinthians 7:10-15 NKJV) Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. {11} But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. {12} But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. {13} And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. {14} For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. {15} But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. (1 Corinthians 7:39 NKJV) A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. (Mark 10:11-12 NKJV) So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. {12} "And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." (Deuteronomy 24:1-4 NKJV) "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, {2} "when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, {3} "if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, {4} "then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. -->Back to Study Question 9 - Further Study (2 Peter 1:4 NKJV) by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (1 Corinthians 7:5 NKJV) Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Corinthians 7:8-9 NKJV) But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; {9} but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. (Colossians 3:18-19 NKJV) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. {19} Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. (Psalms 24:3-4 NKJV) Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? {4} He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. -->Back to Study Question 10 - Further Study (Genesis 6:5 NKJV) Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Colossians 3:5-8 NKJV) Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. {6} Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, {7} in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. {8} But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. -->Back to Study Question 11 - Further Study (1 John 4:7-8 NKJV) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. {8} He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. -->Back to Study Question 12 - Further Study (Genesis 2:18 NKJV) And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." (Genesis 2:24 NKJV) Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. -->Back to Study Question 13 - Further Study (Matthew 19:16-19 NKJV) Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" {17} So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." {18} He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, " 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' {19} 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" -->Back to Study Question 14 - Further Study (1 Samuel 3:13 NKJV) "For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. (Psalms 127:3 NKJV) Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. (Titus 2:4 NKJV) that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, -->Back to Study Question 15 - Further Study (Isaiah 8:18 NKJV) Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the LORD of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. (1 Timothy 3:2-5 NKJV) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; {3} not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; {4} one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence {5} (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); -->Back to Study Question 16 - Further Study (Colossians 3:20-21 NKJV) Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. {21} Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. -->Back to Study
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