Chapter III
The Sources of the Gospels and the Way of Writing Them
Section V
The Texts of the Old Testament, which were quoted during the Debates and the Arguments and the Dialogues in the Gospels
In this section we will examine some texts in the Gospels that contain debates and dialogues and arguments, in which the Gospels authors have cited texts from the Old Testament; to find out if these texts consistent with the Gospels and not contradicting with them, nor with the principles and the concepts and the texts of the Old Testament, and if the Gospels authors did not distort and manipulate them to serve what they believe, as we have seen in the previous sections how they have used the texts of the Old Testament to write their narratives to bestow a state of holiness and credibility and reliability on what they have written, away from the revelation and the Holy Spirit, or even the historical events; for this they have distorted and manipulated the texts of the Old Testament, whether by changing the meaning of them, or by adding some paragraphs, or by deleting others, or by writing some paragraphs that were not written in the Old Testament, or by writing some names and numbers that are inconsistent with what is written in the Old Testament, etc.
10 - The Source of the Saying of Jesus that the Divorce is not Lawful
Matthew 19:3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"
Matthew 19:4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female’,
Matthew 19:5 "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’?
Matthew 19:6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
Matthew 19:7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"
Matthew 19:8 He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
Matthew 19:9 "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."
Matthew 19:10 His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."
Matthew 19:11 But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:
Matthew 19:12 "For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."
Mark 10:2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.
Mark 10:3 And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"
Mark 10:4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."
Mark 10:5 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
Mark 10:6 "But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female’.
Mark 10:7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
Mark 10:8 ‘and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Mark 10:9 "Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
In these texts, as well as in some other texts, Jesus prevented divorce, and later the churches have prevented polygamy, and have made the ritual of consecration of the marriage, which means that the man and woman will be filled with the Holy Spirit to become one flesh!
The important thing here is that the two texts are a dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees, and Matthew and Mark have cited the text of the Old Testament; for this we have to find out the reality of this quotation. Before talking about the quotation I have to record some comments on these texts.
The first comment is on the paragraphs that saying, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives" and "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept". And this is an attempt by Matthew and Mark to reduce the value and the status of the Law; to say that the laws are not all from the Lord, which also indicates that Moses had written some laws of his own, and this is not acceptable nor reasonable, because Moses could not write or impose any laws that have not been ordered by the Lord without fearing the punishment of the Lord for adding some laws, as shown previously in the first chapter.
The second comment is on the saying "and the two shall become one flesh", and this is wrong, because it is well-known that man and woman are not one flesh, both in reality or in their physical functions such as pregnancy and lactation, etc., so, if he had said "and the two shall become one soul" will be closer to the truth and reality!
The third comment is on the saying "there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake", this is one of the most surprising and striking of words that has been written on the lips of Jesus in the Gospels, because he exhorts his followers to make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake, which is the final aim that the Gospels authors were seeking to reaching it through preventing divorce, and the most famous man whom he had implemented this commandment and made himself eunuch is Origen, one of the Fathers of the Church in the third century!
The fourth comment is on the position of the disciples on these words, they said "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry", So if Jesus' disciples have objected on the prevention of divorce; is this teaching compatible with the human nature?
Despite all the efforts and all preaching campaigns, counseling and threatening by the churches throughout history, this teaching was not acceptable by human nature, for this we find millions in the worldwide are seeking to divorce, and screaming that what God has joined together, let not man separate is not true, otherwise those millions would not be separated!
Now let's read the text that had been cited by Matthew and Mark on the lips of Jesus to prevent divorce, and accused Moses that he has permitted the children of Israel to divorce their wives, or he wrote them this precept, because of the hardness of their hearts, away from the Lord's commandments and revelation.
Genesis 2:23 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."
Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
This is the text that has been quoted by the Gospels authors on the lips of Jesus to prevent divorce, and then the various churches cited it to prevent polygamy.
So, are Matthew and Mark trying to convince us that no one of the former prophets have understood this text as a proof to prevent divorce and polygamy; from Adam to the last prophet of the children of Israel until they came up and understood the text and wrote it on the lips of Jesus?!
Reading this text by all the Prophets of Israel over centuries and none of them have understood that it calls to prevent a divorce and polygamy raises a lot of doubts about the understanding of Matthew and Mark to it; particularly that Matthew has written on the lips of Jesus himself that he said "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets, I did not come to destroy but to fulfill" and "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.", (Matthew 5:17-18)!
Moreover, there are dozens of stories that talking about polygamy by the prophets; from Abraham to David and Solomon, including the following texts:
1 Samuel 25:43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives.
1Kings 11:1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites —
1Kings 11:2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.
1Kings 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
1Kings 11:4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.
So, are all these prophets adulterers, because He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female’, according to Jesus' understanding, or more precisely Matthew and Mark’s understanding?!
Furthermore, there are two texts, one in the Book of Isaiah and the other in the Gospel of Matthew had pointed out that the polygamy is lawful, which are as follows:
Isaiah 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, "We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; Only let us be called by your name, To take away our reproach."
This text talks about the future at the End of the Age!
Matthew 25:1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:2 "Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Matthew 25:3 "Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
Matthew 25:4 "but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Matthew 25:5 "But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
Matthew 25:6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him’!
Matthew 25:7 "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
Matthew 25:8 "And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out’.
Matthew 25:9 "But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves’.
Matthew 25:10 "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
Matthew 25:11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us’!
Matthew 25:12 "But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you’.
Matthew 25:13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
In this parable, Jesus likens his kingdom as a very strong man who has ten women, five of them are wise, and five are foolish, and went with the wise women to the wedding in one night, so what is the opinion of the churches concerning this parable, and are those eleven people, or at least six people, one flesh?
From all of the above, we see how the Gospels authors were using the Old Testament texts to write their narratives, regardless of whether they distort the true meaning of the texts, or if they accuse the former prophets of adultery, or accuse Moses that he has added some commandments of his own; away from the revelation and the word of the LORD, or even if they wrote some things that contradict what they have already written in other places, as Matthew did in this text, and this shows the method and the approach of writing the Gospels, which is the quoting from the texts of the Old Testament and reformulating them in their narratives to bestow a state of holiness and credibility and reliability on what they have written, which means that the law "do not accept the lying and false" applies to these texts.
11 - The Source of the Saying of Jesus that the Jews transgressed the Commandment of God because of their Tradition
Matthew 15:2 "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
Matthew 15:3 He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
Matthew 15:4 "For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death’.
Matthew 15:5 "But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God" —
Matthew 15:6 ‘then he need not honor his father or mother’. Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
Matthew 15:7 "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
Matthew 15:8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
Matthew 15:9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’."
Mark 7:1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.
Mark 7:2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.
Mark 7:3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.
Mark 7:4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"
Mark 7:6 He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
Mark 7:7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’.
Mark 7:8 "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men — the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."
Before reviewing the text in the book of Isaiah I would like to record some notes.
The first note is on the way of Jesus' citation of the prophecy or the text of Isaiah, we find that he has spoken to them as a one who tries to convince them by what is written in Isaiah, not as the second person of the three Hypostases, who are one and have the same nature and essence, and who is supposed to be the one who has inspired Isaiah as say the churches, and this way is acceptable from preachers, or even from prophets, but not from him, if what the churches say is true!
The second note is on the paragraphs "And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" and "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men", and here I'm wondering if prevent the circumcision is the commandment of the LORD, or is it the tradition and the commandment of men, which applies to it in vain they worship the LORD, especially that Jesus himself was circumcised after his birth, and who prevented circumcision were Paul and some other disciples not Jesus?!
Galatians 5:2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
Act 15:24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law" — to whom we gave no such commandment.
Moreover, the rites and ceremonies, which have never been mentioned in the Old Testament, such as bowing down to the statues, or the carved images, or the cross, and glorifying dead saints, incense, Oil lamps, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure of priests and monks and nuns, the Rosary or prayer beads, etc., are they from the commandments of the LORD or from the tradition of men?!
Now let’s review the text that cited by both Matthew and Mark to prove that Isaiah had prophesied about the Jews in Jesus' time to see the reality of what it was speaking about, which is as follows:
Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
Comparing this paragraph with the two texts of Matthew and Mark; we find that they quoted this text from the Septuagint Version, while this translation of the Old Testament relied upon the Hebrew Version, as in the following texts:
Hebrew Version
Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near, and with their mouth and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment of men learned by rote;
Septuagint Version
Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.
This way of quoting; some from the Hebrew Version and some from the Septuagint Version, and sometimes from both of them, Hebrew Version and Septuagint Version at the same time, as we have read earlier, and sometimes neither from the Septuagint nor the Hebrew, but they have written some paragraphs and attributed them to the Old Testament, while they were not written in it, all these things indicate to the method and the approach of the Gospels authors to write their books, which is the quoting from the texts of the Old Testament and reformulating them in their stories to bestow a state of holiness and credibility and reliability on what they have written.
So, if the children of Israel worship the Lord in vain, is the worship of three gods a real worship of the LORD the Creator of the heavens and the earth, which is no true god beside Him or with Him?!
Isaiah 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."
Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, And their works are in the dark; They say, "Who sees us?" and, "Who knows us?"
Isaiah 29:16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, "He did not make me"? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?
Surely you have things turned around! Do you believe that the potter shall be considered as equal with the clay?
Surely you turn things upside down, do you believe that Jesus who born of a woman will be like the LORD the Creator of the heavens and the earth?!
Surely you turn things upside down, how can you think or imagine that a handful of people have crucified the Lord Creator of the heavens and the earth?!
Surely you turn things upside down!
Isaiah 29:22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Nor shall his face now grow pale;
Isaiah 29:23 But when he sees his children, The work of My hands, in his midst, They will hallow My name, And hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And fear the God of Israel.
Isaiah 29:24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine."
So when will those who erred in spirit know, and come to understanding?
I hope soon. Amen.
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