Books of the Bible – Rachel N. Stephens

Is a Christian free to remarry if their ex-spouse marries someone new?

June 11, 2018June 11, 2018 by Rachel S, posted in 05. Deuteronomy, 24. Jeremiah, Commonly Misunderstood Theology, Crack Your Bible Video, Divorce, Sex

We’re diving right in to today’s Q&A – does God allow for a Christian to remarry after their ex-spouse remarries somebody else?

QUESTION: If two Christians divorce and then one of them pursues a relationship with another, is that Biblical adultery and therefore justifying the divorce after the fact and thus freeing the person from the marriage?

Answer: I didn’t make the rules, so don’t shoot the messenger. You’re asking a religious question while seeking a religious answer.

The key to this question is what was the reason for the divorce?

Adultery, including pornography?
Physical abuse that could lead to your death or could physically contribute to your death? (Ex: repeated concussion could lead to death.)
Abandonment – as in the person literally disappears from your life to fake their own death and you honestly assume they’re dead, or conversely, throws you out onto the street in an attempt to cause you to die?

Nobody is allowed to try to cause their spouse to die to circumvent the Biblical prohibition against remarriage except in the case of the death of your spouse. Using murder as a loophole to have “permissible” sex with a new partner is in the running for the worst kind of sexual immorality.

Those aforementioned reasons are justifiable and Biblically sound reasons for divorce.

Now onto the second part of your question, is it adultery after-the-fact once two people are already divorced? For non-Christians, this question absolutely makes zero sense, but again, you’re asking a religious question while seeking a religious answer.

Let me guess, you got divorced for a non-Biblically permitted reason. Your ex-wife has gone and married another, so now you believe that you should be free from your marital bonds.

“But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” – Matthew 5:32

Women had to be married if she was going to survive in society. Life was a group effort before the industrial age, and still is in many parts of the world today. Women needed to get remarried, even though this divorce would cause them to be adulterous.

Jesus was speaking to Pharisees – men. These “super extra ‘righteous’” Pharisees were forcing women into adultery because these men and women were trying to find loopholes in Jewish law that allowed them to sleep around. You’d “get married” to a woman on paper, sleep with her, then divorce her, rinse, repeat. This concept of a temporary marriage to circumvent what is really just premarital sex exists today in Islam and is called “Nikah mut’ah.”

There is no such thing as justification after-the-fact for your divorce. This is why even the apostles were taken aback by how strict Jesus was when it came to marriage and divorce.

“9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” – Matthew 19:9-10

Did you marry a crazy person? Too bad. Is the person no longer attractive? Too bad. Did this person ask for a divorce even though you didn’t want one? Still too bad, which is why the apostles were so aghast!

Unless you reconciled with your spouse before either of you “became one flesh” with another (including through pornography) you must stay single or it will Biblically be considered adultery on your part. Once one spouse has been joined to another, you are never allowed to remarry that ex-spouse.

“then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.” – Deuteronomy 24:4

Marriage and divorce are SERIOUS undertakings to God. It doesn’t matter what falliable human beings are doing, their sin doesn’t justify your sin. This is why you better know who you’re marrying and you better have a life and death reason for getting divorced, because God doesn’t play around.

God Himself is divorced, and is awaiting His new bride, the church. Did God divorce Israel every time she upset Him and didn’t uphold her part of the marriage covenant? No. God was long-suffering. That’s what Biblical marriage is a picture of today – God’s covenant with His people.

When did God get divorced? When Israel committed adultery.

“She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.” – Jeremiah 3:8

This is why God can’t rejoin Himself to His former bride Israel, but can only await for the Bride of Christ, the church, because the blood covenant, the engagement, was already made with us when Jesus went to the cross.

Unless you had a Biblically sound reason for divorce, even if your spouse left you high and dry, you are NOT allowed to remarry without it being adulterous on your part before God.

If you have already remarried after getting a Biblically unsound divorce, you are not to divorce your new spouse. You can’t undo adultery.

I didn’t make the rules, so don’t shoot the messenger.

Originally posted to Quora on June 11, 2018

🌴 Did Abraham marry his sister Sarah?!

May 8, 2018May 8, 2018 by Rachel S, posted in 01. Genesis, Commonly Misunderstood Theology, Crack Your Bible Video, Incest in the OT

This question seems to come up fairly regularly for some reason – I assume most people believe that Abraham was committing incest by marrying his half sister. With something so disgusting and revolting as incest, it’s important to study the scripture to see what the Bible actually tells us what the relationship was between Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah.)

“27 Now these are the family records of Terah: Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.

28 Haran died during his father’s lifetime in the land of his birth, that is, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of Milcah and Iscah.” –Genesis 11:27-29

Haran most likely had 4 kids: Lot, Sarai, Milcah and Iscah. The Bible does not tell us their mom’s name.

Terah was the father of both Sarai and Abram in that he was the patriarch of the family. He was Abram’s father and Sarai’s grandfather.

It’s important to note that “In Ancient times, the word for ‘sister’ also means ‘cousin’ in Semitic languages. Aramaic word ‘Khtha’ can mean sister or cousin. I believe the intended meaning here was Cousin.” – Was the marriage between Abraham and Sarah incestuous?

For a complete explanation, check out:

This content was originally posted to Quora April 2018.

Man ignores requests for address confirmation then complains when he doesn’t receive his prize.

April 10, 2018June 11, 2018 by Rachel S, posted in 27. Revelation, Commonly Misunderstood Theology, Explaining Your Faith, Unbelievers in Hell

You don’t receive prizes if you don’t answer your phone. The prize of salvation is no different.

“Is it fair that God forgives the worst criminals as long as they repent at the very end of life but condemns a good and moral person who lives charitably toward others yet dies an unbeliever?”

Look at it like this:

There was a drawing for a giveaway and there are two winners. You just won one of the prizes. All you have to do is confirm your shipping address to receive your prize. By the way, you’re super fantastic, kind and charitable.

Now there’s also a criminal who also entered the giveaway. He also won. He also has to confirm his shipping address to receive his prize. It’s really an easy address – death row at the worst prison in the world.

As soon as the criminal receives the call, he stays on the line to confirm his shipping address, and it ships to him the same day (they’re using Amazon Prime apparently in this scenario.) Eventually he dies, but he still received his prize because he responded to and answered the call. He accepted his prize.

Once you’re informed that you won your prize, you hung up on the caller. They’ve called you back daily and you keep letting it go to voicemail because you’re not sure if the prize suits you and other days you just don’t care. One day, those calls will stop and it will be too late to claim your prize.

When the daily calls stop after years of ignoring the calls, texts and voicemails, you have the audacity to say the one who is trying to contact you is so unfair. Why? Because a criminal got a prize and you didn’t – nevermind he accepted his prize immediately and you ignored the daily calls to accept your gift, so it was left unclaimed when you suddenly died.

The prize of salvation has nothing to do with how good you are and 100% has to do with if you’re willing to answer the call and trust the one who calls you to receive your prize.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” – Revelation 3:20

Originally posted to Quora on April 10, 2018

Man complains God is too nice to dead babies

April 9, 2018June 11, 2018 by Rachel S, posted in 01. Matthew, 06. Romans, 10. Ephesians, 22. 2 Peter, Commonly Misunderstood Theology, God's Justice, Life After Death

“But… but… that’s not fair! God is giving dead babies an unfair advantage over me!”

I can only imagine the eye-rolling going on in Heaven when God hears some of the absurd things that come from mens’ hearts in their ignorance.

I’ve noticed a strange trend – skeptics arguing not that God doesn’t exist, but that God is mean and unfair, one who doles out punishments and blessings on a whim. Interesting how a God who supposedly doesn’t exist is just a monster, supposedly, for letting too many dead babies into Heaven while we’re having to rep Jesus in enemy territory here on Earth. God is apparently the God of raw deals now.

This attitude is nothing new, and in fact, Jesus was dealing with people’s jealous foolery when He walked the earth. So let’s get in to today’s post:

“Question for Christians: why do babies that die at birth get to enjoy heaven for eternity without having to do anything while the rest of us have to prove our worthiness for almost 100 years? It doesn’t sound to me like God treats everyone equally.”

Nobody is worthy of being in God’s presence. Ever.

“10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” – Romans 3:10-12

2. You don’t earn your salvation.

“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

But now onto the heart of your question, which is summed up as such:

“Why do dead babies get to kick back with God while I’m busting my back in the daily grind of life?”

You reason that these dead babies have a God-given unfair advantage over you. Morbid, but the Bible actually addressed this line of human reasoning.

You see, some believed that it was unfair that while they may have had to live that Christian life and deal with all the drama of not being apart of the pagan or secular or Jewish crowd, it was straight NONSENSE that other people could convert and be saved up unto the point of their last breath. Basically, these Christians thought, “How dare those lazy tricks get to go to Heaven too! Can’t God see how much more I’ve toiled for Him? They’re not worthy of God like I am.”

Per usual, rather than being after God’s own heart, man points to his works to justify himself before God, rather than pointing to the work of the cross.

God’s heart:

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9

Man’s heart:

“21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matthew 7:21-23

So anyway, back to Jesus. Jesus addressed these people, these so-called Christians, who were beside themselves with jealous rage that… other people were getting to spend eternity with God. Yeah. Let that sink in – Christians are mad that other people aren’t going to be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Jesus’ response:

Jesus’ face when Christians are mad that other Christians get to go to Heaven.

Jesus responded to this attitude with a parable. We’ll jump into the middle of this parable for time’s sake:

“6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” –Matthew 20:6-16

We serve a generous God. God absolutely treats you equal in that if you had died a baby, you too would have immediately gone to Heaven. Your accusation against God is akin to this:

Let’s say you were gifted a pair of shoes and another person also receives the exact same style, brand and size shoes that you were given. You wear your shoes and they become worn from years of daily use.

Now the other person returns the shoes to exchange them for a different, better pair within the store’s window of time for returns and exchanges, with the gift receipt.

Years later, when it comes time for new shoes, you can’t return or exchange your worn out shoes. The return and exchange period ended years ago for your shoes. You accuse the store of giving the other customer unfair, preferential treatment because they were able to exchange their shoes and you can’t.

Now that your return and exchange period has passed and you’re at the point where it would cost you to receive new, better shoes, you are angry. Nevermind that if you had exchanged your shoes during that window of time, you would have also received the better pair.

Those shoes are our bodies and the better pair are our glorified bodies. Both are a gift to you. If you haven’t reached the age of accountability at the time of your death, you are within the return and exchange period, so to speak. God applies this equally – it’s not as if babies born of only Christian parents go to heaven – all babies go to Heaven.

God has given you the gift of life and you have received what was promised to you. Don’t falsely accuse God of favortism for His goodness and generosity towards… dead babies.

Originally posted to Quora on April 9, 2018

Satan is KILLING the spreading of the gospel with this 1 lie! (Ladies, listen up!)

December 28, 2017February 13, 2018 by Rachel S, posted in 07. 1 Corinthians, 15. 1 Timothy, 28. Hosea, Books of the Bible, Commonly Misunderstood Theology, Crack Your Bible Video, Women in Ministry

When going to fight against your enemy, is it better to fight on your own, or is it better to have one person who fights alongside you against your mutual enemy? Obviously, there is strength in numbers!

When it comes to fighting against Satan, Christians have gone into battle with a self-imposed handicap – women are being told that the Bible says that women are not allowed to teach the Gospel. Armed with the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit and the breastplate of righteousness, godly women are told to stay silent when it comes to the realm of teaching or preaching the gospel.

Like Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Christians are needlessly going into spiritual battle at a disadvantage due to their own lack of knowledge. . Unfortunately, due to a lack of historical knowledge, Christians are wasting precious time trying to follow rules that either never existed or are misapplied to their lives.

Satan, the author of confusion, has people within the church arguing about whether a woman should be allowed to teach even Sunday School, as that would be akin to “having authority over a man.” Many ungodly men are eager to shut down godly women who are on fire for Christ by misquoting 1 Timothy 2:11-15, and 1 Corinthians 14:34–35.

What did the Apostle Paul mean in his letters to both the Church at Corinth and the Church at Ephesus? Is there any way to figure out what Paul truly meant? There is!

Paul didn’t exist in a vacuum; both he and the people that made up both churches lived amongst Greek and Roman pagans, who had their own cultural and religious practices. To understand Paul’s letters, we cannot overlook the historical and cultural context of both the cities of Corinth and Ephesus.

In this three part series, Crack Your Bible is tackling the question, “Can Women Teach (or must they stay silent?)”

Part 1 is an overview of Paul’s teachings and the many women who taught with Paul to spread the gospel all over the Roman Empire.

Part 2 is an in-depth look at the Church at Corinth.

Due to the fact that men and women of all social standings were freely associating, Paul gave special instructions on covering their heads. While men today have zero qualms about wearing hats, Christian women are beginning to wonder if they’ve missed the mark by not covering their heads. Not only that, but unbelievers and new believers were fighting to have the floor when it came to these newly formed church meetings – and Paul had to restore order out of the chaos

Part 3 is an in-depth look at the Church at Ephesus.

Due to the fact that Gnostic and pagan practices from the cult of Artemis were familiar to the new members of the Church at Ephesus, many false doctrines were being preached as if they were the gospel of Jesus Christ. Groups of women were afraid that they were risking their salvation by getting married and having children, while other false teachers were sure of speech, but completely wrong in their doctrine. Paul had to restore order and stop the promotion of doctrines of demons coming out of the Church at Ephesus.

It’s not good for man to be alone! Don’t handicap yourself in this spiritual battle. Armed with this knowledge, Christians can strengthen their witness, stop wasting time and they can become successful against the schemes of the devil.

Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash

The Rapture Won’t Happen Today – False End Time Predictions

September 21, 2017February 13, 2018 by Rachel S, posted in 01. Matthew, End Time Events, Hot Topic Issues

Today is my 30^th birthday. As I sit starring out at the clouds that seem to float faster than usual, I can’t help but remember that while I sit here relaxing, Christians around the world are worried that Jesus is coming back in two short days, on September 23.

For at least the past 5 years, pastors and people in the prophecy community have been counting down to this date. First it was the tetrad blood moons in 2015 which would definitely be the hallmark of Jesus’ return, despite the fact that these tetrads aren’t rare.

As those dates came and went, other heavenly “signs” were supposed proof that Jesus’ return is imminent. Now with the August eclipse, the multitude of hurricanes (during hurricane season) and North Korea, an enemy the US has been engaged with for more than 50 years, these are supposed to be the obvious hallmarks of Jesus’ return.

It frustrates me because the Bible is clear:

“⁶You’ll begin to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you don’t panic. These things must take place, but the end won’t have come yet, ⁷because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸But all these things are only a beginning of agonies.” – Matthew 24:6-8 ISV

While of course some claim that this was only speaking of the destruction of the 2^nd Jewish Temple in 70AD, we see that the Roman campaign wasn’t known for “famines and earthquakes in various places.” Likewise, the 2^nd coming of Jesus won’t simply come because of war and natural disasters.

It seems as if the pre-tribulation crowd, the most common theology in Western Christianity, has simply forgotten the other things that must happen before Jesus’ return.

“⁹“Then they’ll hand you over to suffer and will kill you, and you’ll be hated by all the nations on account of my name. ¹⁰Then many people will fall away, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people, ¹²and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many people will grow cold. ¹³But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the inhabited world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” – Matthew 24:9-14 ISV

While outside of the Western world, Christians face severe persecution, in Israel, Europe, most of North and South America, Australia, Russia, South Korea, the Philippines and South Africa, Christians are able to practice their religion as one of the majority faiths in their countries. We haven’t reached the point where Christians are hated by ALL nations. Christian families aren’t betraying each other as members of their family fall away from the faith. Likewise, there are major areas of the world where the Gospel hasn’t been proclaimed, such as the countries strangled by Islam and/or communism.

“¹⁵So when you see the destructive desecration, mentioned by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader take note),¹⁶then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁷Anyone who’s on the housetop must not come down to get what is in his house,¹⁸and anyone who’s in the field must not turn back to get his coat.

¹⁹“How terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰Pray that it may not be in winter or on a Sabbath when you flee, ²¹because at that time there will be great suffering, the kind that hasn’t happened from the beginning of the world until now and certainly won’t ever happen again. ²²If those days hadn’t been shortened, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.”

Has the 3^rd Jewish Temple been rebuilt where there’s a possibility that a desecration in the Holy Place could even take place? Have those in Judea fled? Have Sabbath laws become the law of the land, so the city gates will trap believers inside the city of Jerusalem, when it’s time to flee? NO!

Too many churches erroneously teach that Christians won’t face hard times and Jesus will rapture us before things on earth get tough. The Bible teaches us otherwise. Throughout the Bible, both men and women of God faced trials, tribulation, uncertainty, yet God still had His hand over them. So while they had to go through hard times, they were never alone. Likewise, when we face trials and tribulations as Jesus’ return comes nearer, we can be confident that while God won’t remove these trials, He will be with us always. We will never face these persecutions alone. God will remember us as He cuts those trying days short.

Churches are doing a great disservice by teaching the erroneous doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture and devoting countless hours to working out the days or the times of Christ’s return. When people aren’t raptured and rather face persecution, the Church will experience the “great falling away” and the Church will have no one to blame but themselves.

It’s easy to hold people’s attention when you play into their fears – and their hopes – that Jesus will return on X date. It’s difficult to hold people’s attention when you tell them about the trials they’ll face and how they will need to hold fast to their faith. It’s hard to teach others about who Jesus is and how to defend their faith when most people want simple, inoffensive, non-committal answers. People want to feel safe without having to do anything, which… well, that’s not how God works. We’ll have to give up everything to follow Jesus – and that’s not always simple, inoffensive and it definitely requires commitment.

While the world may seem like a scary place, and the teachings of those who try to predict, to the day, of Jesus’ return may feel comforting, it’s important to remember that we can be strong in our weaknesses because Jesus is with us. We don’t need to be afraid. We don’t need to put our trust in bad theology. God has given us the tools to bravely stand up for our faith, even unto death. We can face this coming storm boldly, because we know that Jesus is with us until the end.

Until the Temple is rebuilt, ignore these fruitless arguments concerning Jesus’ return. Instead, rest in Jesus’ finished work on the Cross and the knowledge that He is with you until the end.

If I’m “saved by Grace,” why shouldn’t I live a sinful life?

July 20, 2017February 13, 2018 by Rachel S, posted in 01. Matthew, 07. 1 Corinthians, 08. 2 Corinthians, 10. Ephesians, Commonly Misunderstood Theology, Crack Your Bible Video, Hot Topic Issues, Sin

One of the larger misconceptions about Christianity is, “why would I stop sinning if Jesus has already died for my sins?” Christians unfortunately have a poor track-record explaining the concept of “salvation apart from works” vs. “heavenly rewards based on our works.”

While of course Christians don’t want to grieve God by sinning, (Ephesians 4:30) many are unaware that Christians will face judgement before God. This judgement doesn’t concern the ultimate salvation that they have in Jesus’ Christ finished work on the Cross, but it is one where they will give an accounting for the works that they did here on earth before God, and will be rewarded, or have their rewards taken away.

(The following was originally posted on July 14, 2017 on Quora.)

People make this a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

To even be considered a “Christian,” a Christian must “bear good fruit” or produce the works that show that one has truly put their faith in Jesus Christ, rather than give Him lip service only. (Matthew 7:15-20)

While Christians are “saved” by putting their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and as such, accept God’s grace, Christians will also face judgement. Now this judgement is not one concerning salvation, but one where our deeds will be judged. (2 Corinthians 5:9–10) We will be rewarded or our rewards removed, based on our works. We aren’t saved by our works, but we are held accountable and rewarded based on our works at this judgement:

“1 Brothers, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as mere infants in the Messiah. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you weren’t ready for it. And you’re still not ready! 3 That’s because you are still worldly. As long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, you are worldly and living by human standards, aren’t you? 4 For when one person says, “I follow Paul,” and another person says, “I follow Apollos,” you’re following your own human nature, aren’t you?

5 Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They’re merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept everything growing. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is significant, but God, who keeps everything growing, is the one who matters. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own action. 9 For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s farmland and God’s building.

10 As an expert builder using the grace that God gave me, I laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. 11 After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that is Jesus the Messiah. 12 Whether a person builds on this foundation with gold, silver, expensive stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s action. 14 If what a person has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If his work is burned up, he will suffer loss. However, he himself will be saved, but it will be like going through fire.” – 1 Corinthians 3:1–15

Photo: Christal Yuen