Did Jesus forbid remarriage?

In the Gospel of Mark, Pharisees come to Jesus and ask him: “Can a man divorce a woman?” (Mark 10:1-12) In summing up his answer, Jesus states: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10:12) This seems to be a statement that completely denies any legitimacy to divorce and remarriage altogether. But the Gospel of Matthew clarifies that this was not exactly the question asked.

Literally, no Israelite at the time of Jesus thought it possible that the Word of God given through Moses was completely wrong in permitting divorce at all (and they were right!). In fact, no one was debating if divorce was allowed, but rather how liberally (or not) it could be practiced. The Gospel of Mathew provides a fuller version of this question and therefore sets Jesus’ answer in its proper context. According to Mathew’s gospel, some Pharisees tested Jesus by asking him: “Can a man divorce a woman for any reason?” (Mathew 19:3-9)

The conservative Jewish approach understood “unfaithfulness”, “abuse”, or “abandonment” as the only valid grounds for divorce (Deut. 24:1-4; Exod. 21:10-11). This view was represented by the Pharisaic Rabbi Shammai, while various more progressive Jewish interpreters argued that a man had the right to divorce his wife for any reason at all (Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 90a). The later view was represented by another Pharisaic rabbi named Hillel.

In other words, there were many illegitimate divorces granted in the Jewish community in the time of Jesus that was not consistent with God’s instructions in the Torah. It is in this divorce-for-any-reason environment Jesus is quoted as saying, “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.” (Luke 16:18, Mark 10:12)

The Meaning of Numbers in the Bible: The Number 7

Used 735 times (54 times in the book of Revelation alone), the number 7 is the foundation of God's word. If we include with this count how many times 'sevenfold' (6) and 'seventh' (119) is used, our total jumps to 860 references.

Seven is the number of completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). It derives much of its meaning from being tied directly to God's creation of all things. According to some Jewish traditions, the creation of Adam occurred on September 26, 3760 B.C. (or the first day of Tishri, which is the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar). The word 'created' is used 7 times describing God's creative work (Genesis 1:1, 21, 27 three times; 2:3; 2:4). There are 7 days in a week and God's Sabbath is on the 7th day.

The Bible, as a whole, was originally divided into 7 major divisions. They are

1) the Law; 

2) the Prophets; 

3) the Writings, or Psalms; 

4) the Gospels and Acts; 

5) the General Epistles; 

6) the Epistles of Paul, and 

7) the book of Revelation. 

Appearances of the number seven

There are at least seven men in the Old Testament who are specifically mentioned as a man of God. They are Moses (Joshua 14:6), David(2Chronicles 8:14), Samuel (1Samuel 9:6, 14), Shemaiah (1Kings 12:22), Elijah (1Kings 17:18), Elisha (2Kings 5:8) and Igdaliah (Jeremiah 35:4).

In the book of Hebrews, the writer uses seven titles to refer to Christ. The titles are 'Heir of all things' (Hebrews 1:2), 'Captain of our salvation' (2:10), 'Apostle' (3:1), 'Author of salvation' (5:9), 'Forerunner' (6:20), 'High Priest' (10:21) and the 'Author and finisher of our faith' (12:2).

In Matthew 13 Jesus is quoted as giving seven parables (Matthew 13:3 - 9, 24 - 30, 31 - 32, 33, 44, 45 - 46, 47). Seven Psalms are ascribed to David in the New Testament (Psalm 2, 16, 32, 41, 69, 95 and 109).

In the book of Revelation, there are seven churches, seven angels to the seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpet plagues, seven thunders, and the seven last plagues. The first resurrection of the dead takes place at the 7th trumpet, completing salvation for the Church.

How is number seven linked with God's annual Feast Days?

There are 7 annual Holy Days, beginning with Passover and ending with the Last Great Day (the day after the Feast of Tabernacles ends in the fall). The cycle of the holy days is completed in 3 festival seasons by the 7th month of the sacred calendar: Passover and Unleavened Bread, 1st month; Pentecost, 3rd month; and Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and Last Great Day, 7th month.

Additional info on the Biblical Meaning of 7

Jesus performed seven miracles on God's holy Sabbath Day (which ran from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), thus affirming its continued sacredness to God and necessity in the life of the believer.

1. Jesus healed the withered hand of a man attending synagogue services (Matthew 12:9)
2. At a Capernaum synagogue, he casts out an unclean spirit that possessed a man (Mark 1:21)
3. Right after the above miracle, Jesus heals Peter's wife's mother of a fever (Mark 1:29)
4. A woman attending synagogue, who was made sick by a demon for eighteen years, is released from her bondage (Luke 13:11)
5. At a Pharisee's house eating a meal with the host and several lawyers, Jesus heals a man with dropsy (Luke 14:2)
6. A man who is disabled and unable to walk is healed at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:8 - 9)
7. Jesus heals a man born blind at the pool of Siloam (John 9:14)

The meaning of Numbers in the Bible: The Number 5

The number 5 symbolizes God's grace, goodness and favor toward humans and is mentioned 318 times in Scripture. Five is the number of grace, and multiplied by itself, which is 25, is 'grace upon grace' (John 1:16). The Ten Commandments contains two sets of 5 commandments. The first five commandments are related to our treatment and relationship with God, and the last five concern our relationship with other humans.

Appearances of the number five:

There are 5 primary types of offerings God commanded Israel to bring to him. They are the Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1; 8:18 - 21; 16:24), Sin (Leviticus 4; 16:3 - 22), Trespass (Leviticus 5:14 - 19; 6:1 - 7; 7:1 - 6), Grain (Leviticus 2) and Peace Offering (Leviticus 3; 7:11- 34).

The Book of Psalms is divided into 5 major sections. 

Section 1: (Psalm 1 to 41) refers to the Passover, Israel's beginning, and the start of God's plan of salvation that centers around Christ. 

Section 2: (42 to 72) sings about a unified Israel in the land and pictures the creation of the New Testament Church.

Section 3: (73 to 89) bemoans the destruction of both God's Temple and Jerusalem. This section also hints at prophecies regarding the End Time Great Tribulation. 

Section 4: (90 to 106) rejoices over the 1,000 reign of Jesus and shows Israel gathered again. 

Section 5: (107 to 150) pictures a time when Judah (representing all Israel) shall again be delivered.

There are five books of God's Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) commonly referred to as the Pentateuch ('Penta' means five).

The 4 Gospels plus Acts equals five books which, as a set, can be designated as "the New Testament Pentateuch." They reveal Jesus' teachings concerning the Law and the Prophets. 

The apostle John wrote 5 books centered on the grace of God and eternal life (the gospel of John, 1John, 2John, 3John, and Revelation). Jesus multiplied five loaves of barely to feed 5,000 (Matthew 14:17).

The number 5 in God's tabernacle:

The 'tabernacle in the wilderness' profoundly reflects God's grace in its use of the number 5. This tabernacle, whose design was given directly by God, contained five curtains (Exodus 26:3), five bars (Exodus 26:26 - 27), five pillars and five sockets (Exodus 26:37) and an altar made of wood that was five cubits long and five cubits wide (Exodus 27:1). The height of the court within the tabernacle was five cubits (Exodus 27:18).

The Holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23 - 25), the ingredients of which were given directly by God, was used to consecrate the furniture of the tabernacle. It was comprised of 5 parts, for it was a revelation of pure grace. The proportion of spices used in making the oil were a multiple of five, which then had a Hin of olive oil added to it.

• Pure Myrrh, 500 shekels
• Sweet cinnamon, 250 shekels
• Sweet calamus, 250 shekels
• Cassia, 500 shekels

Additional info on the Biblical Meaning of 5

There are five books in the Bible that contain only one chapter (2John, 3John, Philemon, Jude, and Obadiah). Moses wrote 5 books, the most of any Old Testament writer. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote fourteen books.

Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar was given, by God, a dream where he saw a giant statue of a man. This statue, according to the interpretation given by the Eternal to Daniel, represented 5 periods of world-ruling empires.

• The statue's head of gold represented Babylon (Daniel 2:32, 38).
• The Chest and Arms of Silver symbolized the Persian Empire (Daniel 2:32, 39).
• The Belly and Thighs of Bronze (brass) represented the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great.
• The Two Legs of Iron symbolized Rome's Empire (Daniel 2:33, 40 - 43).
• Period 5 - the Ten Toes of Iron mixed with Clay that are the successors to the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:41 - 44).