Luke 16:18

Have you ever thought much about this verse? Have you ever wondered why this verse is where it is in scripture and why Jesus uses the language here just before He goes into the second half of the Parable of the Unjust Steward?

I have and that is why I find this verse so interesting and compelling.

If we think about it this verse almost seems out of place. It really starts as the Pharisees begin to deride Jesus. v. 14. Then Jesus, after being derided, takes His turn and begins dressing down the Pharisees! Jesus chides the Pharisees right after concluding the first half of the parable of the Unjust Steward.

"You like to look good in public, but God knows your evil hearts. What this world honors is an abomination in the sight of God. Until John the Baptist began to preach, the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and eager multitudes are forcing their way in. But that doesn't mean that the law has lost its force in even the smallest point. It is stronger and more permanent than heaven and earth." - v. 15-17

Then comes the "coup de gras" if you will:

"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

I was always somewhat confused about this verse and why it was there in the first place frankly but especially right before the continuation of the parable with the tale of Lazarus and the rich man.

That was until it suddenly dawned on me one day that God always likens going after spiritualism, false religion and false pagan worship as adultery. Spiritual adultery. Now God had laid down some pretty specific rules as to why He didn't want the Children of Israel to go after "strange gods." His advice was for an obviously good reason - He didn't want these people corrupted with paganism. Now coupled with the parable in Luke 16 and the story of Lazarus and the rich man and then the reasons for this verse became much clearer.

Deu 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give [it] in her hand, and send her out of his house.

Even God had to unfortunately grant a "bill of divorce" to Israel and uphold the very law He gave to Israel because through their going after other gods and idols Israel became unclean. They became unclean because of the constant chasing and acceptance of paganism. Thus they were considered engaged in adultery and harlotry.

Jer 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

Isa 50:1 Thus saith the LORD, Where [is] the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors [is it] to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

The books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah are filled to the brim of all the various forms of adultery and harlotry that Israel and Judah committed against the Lord. This adultery and harlotry was a result of accepting all the false gods and false religion and the most grotesque spiritualism of the pagan cultures around her.

Jer 3:6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen [that] which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

Jer 5:19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these [things] unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land [that is] not yours.

Eze 16:28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

Eze 16:31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

It is plain to me now that the reasons Jesus lays into the Pharisees the way He does and why He considers them to be adulterer. Jesus explains what happens in the case of the Pharisees adultery in recounting the tale of Lazarus and the rich man. It is because the Pharisees had accepted another teaching. In Jesus’ recounting this story of Lazarus and the rich man it is clear that He was comparing the Pharisees own understanding of what happens in the afterlife. That understanding was derived from the neighboring pagan cultures – in this case, the Greeks.

It is the Greeks that taught that man had a “dual nature” and that man was a in possession of an immortal soul. Jesus was using the Pharisees own false belief system which was borrowed from the pagans against them. At the same time He is deriding them even further.

That is why verse 18 in Luke 16 will always and forever be to me one of the most fascinating single verses in all of scripture. It is so brilliant in it’s application with regards who it was directed at and in relation to what it concludes about these false beliefs.

"But Abraham said, `If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even if someone rises from the dead.'"

The Pharisees had long before this time given up on seeking the higher meaning of God's character and instead were comfortable being their "own gods" if you will. This is even true of many Christian sects associated with the beliefs of 'modern' pagan Rome. Pagan protestantism has adopted so many of these same false beliefs.Thus both Rome and Protestantism are committing the same "spiritual adultery" that the Pharisees did.

Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.

As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought,the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.

The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium. - Ellen White, The Great Controversy, page 588