The Lord Jesus Christ entered the world at a time when the religious had taken over Judaism, making it a religion of rules and regulations, devoid of knowledge and caring little for the precepts of mercy and truth. As it was then, so it is today within contemporary Christianity.
Matthew 23: 23-24
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
The issue of homosexuality as it relates to the church is so hotly debated with the Fundamentalist side claiming to be upholding the uncompromised truth of God’s Word. It is disturbing to me to see how the church picks the issues that are worth so desperately fighting for and those that are to be ignored, or at least deserving of being reexamined and redefined. One such issue, which the church in general has done a complete turn about relative to, is the matter of divorce and remarriage.
The truth of the matter is, sin is sin. There is no one sin that stands greater than another in God’s book. In fact, the Word of God informs us “to be guilty at one point of the law is to be guilty of all.” (James 2:10) Why then is it that Gay-Lesbian people are preached into a virtual hopeless landslide with the final destination being naught but a devil’s Hell while others guilty, according to God’s unfailing Word, of another type of sexual sin are let off the hook, if not even given the church’s blessings?
James 2:10
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Let’s look at the Old Testament teaching relative to divorce and remarriage.
Leviticus 21:13-14
13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
Deuteronomy 24:1-4
1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
The men of Israel were commanded to take only pure virgin woman to be their brides. If a woman had been molested by a family member, widowed, or was raped by a stranger, she was considered defiled and unworthy to be married within the nation of Israel. Now let us look at the words of the Lord Himself relative to this issue.
Matthew 5:31-32
31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Matthew 19:6-9
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Mark 10:1-12
1 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.
2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught that divorce was an option made available to the children of Israel because of the hardness of their own hearts. It was not ever part of God’s original design for humanity. According to the Lord, the truth He represented was that any individual who sought to get out of a marriage could do so, through the writing of a bill of divorcement; however, they were not free to remarry until such time as their first spouse died. And any remarriage prior to this constituted in the Lord’s teaching, adultery plain and simple!
It is so amazing to me to hear how so many people and preachers explain away the very words of Jesus! After all, according to the enlightened church of our day, continuing to live in sin, which divorced people do when continuing to live with a new partner, is acceptable. Forget about the fact that the Bible clearly teaches that true repentance requires that the penitent stop doing that offense which they have been doing. After all, they argue, it’s a heterosexual matter whereas homosexuality is something altogether different. They try to suggest that sin has degrees or levels of severity and offense, which contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture!
Churches, even many pulpits, are filled with individuals who have been married, divorced, and who are now remarried. Some are on their third and fourth marriages. And yet the church is justified in accepting this and condemning GLBT peoples?
When man fell from the grace of God and was made to share the nature of the animal kingdom around him, it became necessary at that time that humanity reproduce if it was to continue to exist. God only needed one man to occupy and tend the Garden of Eden, but He realized that Adam was alone and in need of assistance – and this, He said, was “not good.”
Genesis 2:18
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Many try to say that Eve was created for the purpose of procreation. The truth is, prior to the fall, man did not even need to consider reproduction or procreation. Unlike the animals and plants, and world in general that lived about them, Adam and Eve, created in the image of God, existed sinless and perfect as “living souls.” (Genesis 2:7) Paul teaches us plainly that there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:44) The Bible tells us plainly WHY Eve was created. She was created to be a help meet, helper, assistant to Adam.
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
I Corinthians 15:44
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
It was not until after the fall that man was made a little lower than the angels, in fact demoted in nature, so that it became necessary for him to reproduce if his race were to survive. Sexuality, in general, is the byproduct of Adam and Eve’s sin, which was unbelief. The Bible promises us that after the Lord’s return, once the church has been redeemed and we have assumed our glorified nature, like that nature our Lord assumed after His resurrection, ALL the accoutrements of humanity shall no longer be necessary, including such matters as emotion, sexuality, tears, pain, etc. Jesus Christ accomplished at Calvary all that was necessary for humanity to be RESTORED to the same exact level of sinless and perfect existence known by Adam and Eve prior to the fall.
Revelation 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
The bottom line relative to human sexuality is that it all is the same. One may be moral and godly within a heterosexual or homosexual context, or one may be immoral and ungodly within a heterosexual or homosexual context. Human sexuality, the desire to find companionship and intimacy with another human being is as universal a need as any that have ever existed, like finding shelter, or food, or water. The truth is, Jesus Christ Himself may very well have made room for the Gay-Lesbian community when in His one discourse on divorce and remarriage in Mathew nineteen, He spoke of the different types of eunuchs. Let’s look at that, shall we?
Matthew 19:10-12
10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
Here the Lord is clearly stating that a eunuch is not merely one who has been castrated for the purpose of serving a sovereign in the chambers of his wives, daughters, or concubines. According to the Lord, some eunuchs are simply born eunuchs and others have chosen to become eunuchs for heaven’s sake. But what exactly would He mean by this statement?
In the Old Testament, there is one definition for the term “eunuch.” The Hebrew word,, “cariyc” (saw-reece’) means; to castrate; a eunuch; by implication, valet (especially of the female apartments), and thus, a minister of state. (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Hebrew Dictionary, #5631)
The New testament word for “eunuch” is eunouchos (yoo-noo’-khos) which means; from eune (a bed) and #2192; a castrated person (such being employed in Oriental bedchambers); by extension an impotent or unmarried man; by implication, a chamberlain (state officer). (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Hebrew Dictionary, #2135)
While, for the most part, a eunuch speaks of a castrated male, it also clearly speaks of one who may be trusted to hold or guard the bedchamber of a monarch’s wife or harem. The man given this responsibility would have to be trustworthy around the women. It is perfectly plausible that castrated or not, the man chosen for this position could possibly be homosexual just as easily as he could be heterosexual in orientation. According to my friend Sam Kader’s book, “Openly Gay, Openly Christian;” “A eunuch can be an impotent male, an unmarried male, or one who voluntarily abstains from marriage with someone of the opposite sex.”
Other sources have indicated that a eunuch may be one who is incapable of marriage or impregnating a woman. By this definition we can see that some within the Gay community qualify as a eunuch based upon this definition simply by reason of their natural inability or desire to marry or reproduce with a member of the opposite sex. We saw in the definition of the Greek term “eunouchos” that it can also mean simply one who is unmarried or abstains from marriage. A eunuch, in Biblical times, did not all have to be a castrated male. The Lord Himself made it clear that eunuchs were comprised of more than merely castrated men. In His discourse, in Matthew 19:10-12, the Lord Himself states that there exist three kinds of eunuchs: There are those who 1) were born that way (surely he did not mean they were born castrated), 2) others were made that way by men (like conquering kings who would castrate some of the men from the nation they had conquered and then use them to care for and guard the women belonging to that monarch), 3) others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven.
Again quoting my friend Sam Kader’s book; “So the Lord Himself has expanded the meaning of eunuch to include the unmarried for a variety of situations. Some were made this way by others. Some are born this way. They are unable to get married because they have no natural inclination to have sexual relations with the opposite sex. They are born that way. Others were made unable to have sexual relationships with a mate of the opposite sex because of sexual traumas (abuse, etc) in their past. For some it is not an anticipated option. For others it is not an option at all. The hurts and scars are too deep. For whatever reason, and there are many, eunuch means anyone not likely to get heterosexually involved. At any rate, this list expanded by Jesus certainly includes Gay people and others of either sex.
The Bible actually tells us one story which involves a Gay eunuch.
Daniel 1:1-9
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;
4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.
6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
The King James Version, which I have quoted above, clearly states that God had brought Daniel into “favour” and “tender love” with the prince of the eunuchs. The original Hebrew for the English word “favor” bears out the fact that these terms clearly imply “everlasting love, an attitude of love which contains mercy, unfailing love, beauty, and another meaning is lovely appearance.” The Hebrew term translated “tender love” means “to fondle.”
God Himself takes credit for causing this Eunuch to fall in love with Daniel. And the Lord uses the love of the Eunuch to motivate him in assisting Daniel and his friends in keeping their diet kosher so as not to defile themselves according to the Jewish law. This eunuch was putting his life on the line by making certain that Daniel and his friends received a special diet, different than the diet ordered by the king himself. But God alone knows what a man will do for love.
Throughout God’s Word special provisions were made for eunuchs. God never excluded them from His plan.
Isaiah 56:3-8
3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
The promise is today to every Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgendered person! God makes provision even for those whom the law would have labeled hopeless and lost. God’s heart is with all who will embrace Him and believe His Gospel. His grace will not fail anyone who places their full faith squarely in Him.
While there may be those today who easily strain at a gnat while swallowing camels, arguing small points while all the while missing the bigger issues, I chose to pass on the camels and accept only God’s truth, love, and grace. So the next someone tries to offer you a camel, to make you slip in your faith and question your ability as a GLBT believer to be saved… just say “No Thank You!” “I gave up camels for the grace of God!”
John 11:26
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
