Lobo:
Glad that you enjoyed the post. The Nazarite vow is one of those sections of Scripture that we haven't made much head way on but I have a study to share with you if you are interested in it. I thought I had posted it on this board but it may have been someplace else. Daryl do you know if it is here?

Mike:
I think the issue with the post exhilic Jews is that they had made a covenant with the heathen. They had committed divorce when they did that. I believe that Jesus came in through His prophet and cut the heathen off. If the Jews had stayed united they to should have been cut off. The difficult part is how to apply it to now. Just like in the destruction of Jericho Jesus asked His people to do things outside of the norm. For example in the marching around the city Jesus had them do things on Sabbath that we do not normally do. He had them march 7 times around on Sabbath and then literally kill every man, woman, and child on Sabbath. This is not the norm but when the Most Holy God asks you to do this kind of work on Sabbath it is right to do. But how to apply that to our normal Sabbath is a stretch that we would need the next prophet to help us with.

I will restudy the I cor counsel on Paul and give you my thought on it.

FYI

Numbers 6
2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to the LORD, 5 'All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long. 9 'But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his dedicated head of hair, then he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day. 18 The Nazirite shall then shave his dedicated head of hair at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.

Paul and other are examples; Acts 18:18; 21:24

I started a new thread on the Nazarite Vow for Today. I would appreciate your thoughts. I had to revise it because it would not take the information in a table form. So used OT - Old Testament and NT - New Testament to show the comparisons.

Greg, how do you know the Jews marched 7 times around Jericho on the Sabbath? was the 7th day the sabbath or some other day? when did they start? Your point is well taken though - sometimes God works out of the ordinary.

I look forward to your thoughts on 1 Cor.

I am still trying to understand this abandonmant theology of 1 Cor. 7.

How would it work in the practical sense?

Does it mean that, if my wife, a believer, were to leave or abandon me, also a believer, that I would be free to divorce her and marry somebody else?

Yes. The underlying principle of abandonment is unfaithfulness. If someone abandons their spouse they are unfaithful, they have violated the vows of marriage. Abandonment is merely a symptom, the root cause is unfaithfulness.

There are many ways people can be unfaithful, not all of them involve physical adultery. When extensive counseling and guidance yield unfavorable results the abandoned spouse is free to divorce and remarry.

Remember, abandonment and neglectful indifference are not the same thing. Couples can neglect one another and still live together. But abandonment means they are no longer cohabitating. In some cases the offending spouse disappears altogether never to be seen or heard from again. Under such circumstances proving adultery is impossible.

It is unlike our loving heavenly Father to require an abandoned person to remain unloved, unwanted and unmarried. God's desire is for men and women to be happily married to the right person. Few things demonstrate heavenly bliss better than happily married couples and families.

Is sexual perversion grounds for divorce? Well, certainly adultery is, but as for other forms of perversion I suppose each case must be considered individually. Even adultery can be forgiven and marital bliss restored without pursuing divorce. All things are possible with God. So long as the offending spouse is genuinely repentant and willing to remain married the offended partner should be agreeable. Look how many times God took the Jews back (as demonstrated in the case of Hosea and Gomer).

But if the offended party is looking for excuses to get divorced I believe they are being just as unfaithful. Using adultery as an excuse to get divorced is not the intent of the law. As I see it, legitimate grounds for divorce boils down to abandonment. If a spouse abandons their partner, with intentions of never getting back together, the root cause of their unfaithfulness doesn't really matter - it can be any reason not just physical adultery. In such cases the abandoned spouse is free to divorce and remarry.

In cases where literal, physical adultery is impossible to prove abandonment is just cause for divorce and remarriage. There are many reasons why adultery would be impossible to prove - the offending party totally disappears and is never seen again or they makes vows of celibacy or they are incapable of having sexual relations, etc. But whether physical or spiritual adultery it doesn't matter because any form of unfaithfulness that results in permanent abandonment is just cause for divorce and remarriage. Of course a reasonable amount of time should be allowed to determine whether or not the abandonment is permanent or just temporary.

To suggest that Jesus meant physical fornication is the only just cause for divorce and remarriage, and that all other causes results in adultery, ignores the fact that God Himself required the post-exilic Jews to divorce their wives for causes other than fornication or adultery (see Ezra 10) and that He also made allowances for divorce and remarriage in cases of abandonment (see 1 Cor 7). Obviously, Jesus' counsel on divorce and remarriage is not limited to literal fornication (pre-marital sexual intercourse) or adultery (post-marital sexual intercourse).

Matthew
5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

1 Corinthians
7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such [cases]: but God hath called us to peace.

Mike, I agree with you, but still, how do you reconcile Paul saying that that statement came from him as apposed to it coming from Jesus?