The deeper we get into the Sermon on the mount – the constitution of the kingdom of heaven, the more we realize that Jesus is giving the Jews a whole new understanding of the law of Moses. This new understanding will be the law of the kingdom age, which will be a much higher standard than the law God gave to Moses. V.27-28, 31-32: The moral standard concerning adultery will be elevated from the act of sexual immorality to thinking about it. The standard of marriage and divorce will be narrowed from the general terms given in the law to the specific term of fornication. In Moses law, anyone given the bill of divorce can marry again. In the kingdom law, no one is allowed to divorce except for fornication, and the perpetrator is not allowed to be remarried. As we saw in Deuteronomy 24:1-2 and Jeremiah 3:8 & 14, these issues are clearly explained. God holds himself to the higher standard of divorce concerning his wife, Israel. He is now waiting for her to repent and be restored, which will happen in the tribulation. Once she repents (Romans 11:25-27. Matthew 24:13-15), he will be her champion and protect her throughout the final 3½ years of Daniel's 70th week, also known as the time of Jacob's trouble. Please read Revelation 12 and Revelation 19 to get the full picture of God's protection of his estranged wife, and the return of the King of kings messiah King Jesus to establish his kingdom of righteousness. V.29-30: We just began to unpack these verses, and will be continuing to look at these strange and powerful verses concerning entrance to the kingdom of heaven, the literal, physical kingdom of Messiah King Jesus. Please feel free to read the following verses to prepare for our discussion in two weeks. Mark 9:43-48, Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 13:24-30, 38-43, 47-50, Matthew 25:31-46 Isaiah 34:1-10, Isaiah 61:1-6, Isaiah 63:1-4 These are hard sayings, but we need to adjust our belief system to meet the demands of the Bible, and not adjust the Bible to meet the demands of our belief system.
