Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost and Found
Timmy,
Thanks for your question.
Your question is not new here. It has already been dealt with in earlier posts. But to answer it again, let me ask you to put into context the following things:
1. While being espoused to a man, if a woman is found impregnated by another man, she was to be stoned according to the Law of God.
2. Mary was espoused to Joseph but was found impregnated by (supposedly) another man.
His thinking about putting her away indicates that she had been with another man. Joseph had God’s Word that he was to stone Mary for her infidelity, yet he chose to divorce Mary.
3. The Bible says that Joseph was a “just man.” This means he was one that kept the Law of God. It also says because Joseph kept the Law he chose to divorce Mary secretly and to not make her sin public knowledge.
But is THAT what the Law said to do? Did it? What I am going to ask you next, I ask not in jest, or to bait you, but with sincerity. Here is your question: since Joseph did not stone Mary as God’s Word provided, why did the same Word of God call him “JUST” for his choice?
|
Good question. My answer: Joseph was better than blindly following a law that he saw as too harsh. That Joseph actually disobeyed this law, apparently with God's blessing, is interesting. Joseph was still under the old covenant, so he literally disobeyed that law. Or was the new covenant already beginning to take effect, years before the cross?
But, that's not what I was asking. I wasn't asking about the law -- which OT laws we should obey, which ones we can ignore, etc. I asked about your post saying that Jesus is our example in all things. Is Jesus, even in the OT, our
example in all things? I don't see an OT example for Joseph to follow in deciding to disobey that law. How
did he know it was better to show mercy on Mary than have her killed?
Threaded Mode
