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Jeremiah 3:6: The LORD said also unto me in the was going to divorce Mary DURING BETROTHAL
days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which BEFORE MARRIAGE for the cause of FORNICA-
backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every TION! And LOW AND BEHOLD we are told this in
high mountain and under every green tree, and there MATTHEW'S GOSPEL TO THE JEWISH NATION,
hath played the harlot. where they were REQUIRED to get a legal DIVORCE
to end a POTENTIAL WEDDING for the cause of
Deuteronomy 22:21: Then they shall bring out the FORNICATION, NOT ADULTERY! Adultery ONLY
damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men OCCURS AFTER the betrothed MARRY! NOWHERE
of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: be- is adultery used to describe sexual sin of those BE-
cause she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the FORE marriage, ONLY AFTER MARRIAGE. Adultery
whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away as used in Jeremiah is only used to denote Israel's vio-
from among you. lation of the covenant God made with Israel. Not be-
cause God had actually married Israel yet, but because
This is why God refers to both words, fornication and God WILL marry Israel. In God's mind, because He
adultery, when describing his relationship to Israel. WILL marry Israel, HE HAS married Israel, and in fact
Fornication, because he is not ACTUALLY married to FORGIVES Israel, and TAKES ISRAEL BACK AFTER
Israel yet, and adultery because God declares the END she commits ADULTERY!
from the beginning. NOWHERE will you find it said
that a married person COMMITS FORNICATION in Jeremiah 3:12-15: Go and proclaim these words to-
the entire Bible. ONLY ADULTERY, as adultery is ward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel,
VIOLATING the marriage covenant sexually! Fornica- saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall
tion is a word that defines sexual activity OUT OF upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I
MARRIAGE, but at times can include any type of sex- will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge
ual misconduct. God WILL marry Israel in the end thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the
times, but is presently only betrothed to be married to LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the
Israel. strangers under every green tree, and ye have not
obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backslid-
Hosea 2:16-20: And it shall be at that day, saith the ing children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto
LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi (HUSBAND); and you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a fam-
shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the ily, and I will bring you to Zion:
names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no
more be remembered by their name. And in that day Now if God WAS MARRIED to Israel, and divorced
will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the her for ADULTERY as Mr. Dankenbring says, then
field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creep- why does God say to Israel to RETURN TO HIM be-
ing things of the ground: and I will break the bow and cause he is married to them?
the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make
them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto For the same exact reason that Mr. Dankenbring tries
me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in to say that adultery ENDS the marriage and breaks the
righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, covenant, God plainly says adultery does NOT end the
and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in marriage AT ALL! FORNICATION is an allowable rea-
faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. And it son for divorce BEFORE the marriage covenant is en-
shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the tered into, but NOT AFTERWARDS. God had entered
LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the into a betrothal to marry Israel, and just because He
earth;... WILL marry Israel, He considers the Marriage entered
into already. God declares the end from the beginning,
Now, when Mr. Dankenbring tries to use the example and counts all things though not completed yet in our
where the Pharisees tell Jesus "We be not born of for- understanding of time, God is not confined to our fi-
nication," Mr. Dankenbring does a masterful job at try- nite understanding. So God is both betrothed, and mar-
ing to make fornication mean what he wants it to mean ried to Israel in HIS understanding.
to justify his fatally flawed view that "adultery" and
"fornication" mean the same thing here. This was an at- And God expects the same of our human marriages
tempt to "SLAM" Jesus because of his birth. Joseph also. Once a marriage covenant is entered into

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