Blood covenant / marriage

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MissMystery

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr-8NYMTqg8

I'd like to hear thoughts on the video above. If you would, consider
these questions after you listen (these are what I'd like to hear discussed):

1) If the initial 'act of marriage' was entered into before a person is legally married, is it considered a marital bond in God's eyes? (OT law demanded a raped women be married by her perpetrator, never to be divorced from him).

2) If a non-virgin legally marries, is the marital contract considered a 'covenant' in God's eyes? If a woman is not virgin when she marries, and there is no 'proof' of a blood-covenant, is it considered adultery (since the token of a blood covenant could only be proven once).

In light of the information presented in this video, I"m thinking alot of people will be suffering regrets... but the beauty of the 'sacredness of sex' is profound. Something to strive for.
 

HuntingMan

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1) If the initial 'act of marriage' was entered into before a person is legally married, is it considered a marital bond in God's eyes? (OT law demanded a raped women be married by her perpetrator, never to be divorced from him).
False.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 isnt about rape. Its a repetition of existing laws where a woman was 'enticed' by a man into having sex.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 has nothing to do with 'rape'

2) If a non-virgin legally marries, is the marital contract considered a 'covenant' in God's eyes? If a woman is not virgin when she marries, and there is no 'proof' of a blood-covenant, is it considered adultery (since the token of a blood covenant could only be proven once).
Absolutely.
She is as married as any virgin who has married
 
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Joykins

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I can't usually watch videos online but I've heard this stuff before.

I'd like to hear thoughts on the video above. If you would, consider
these questions after you listen (these are what I'd like to hear discussed):

1) If the initial 'act of marriage' was entered into before a person is legally married, is it considered a marital bond in God's eyes? (OT law demanded a raped women be married by her perpetrator, never to be divorced from him).

No. And it wasn't any raped woman, it was a raped unbetrothed virgin.
2) If a non-virgin legally marries, is the marital contract considered a 'covenant' in God's eyes? If a woman is not virgin when she marries, and there is no 'proof' of a blood-covenant, is it considered adultery (since the token of a blood covenant could only be proven once).
She is married.

This obsession with blood and virginity is barbaric and unhealthy IMO. The reasons the OT uses it is because blood is the *closest* thing to proof of former virginity they could get (it doesn't even get close to the modern standard of proof and its worth as evidence is questionable) and because of patriarchal concern about virginity having to be some man's property to give or receive as well as the obvious concerns about cuckoos in the nest.
 
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Joykins

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Sex in and of itself did not constitute a marriage because when an unmarried man had congress with a prostitute it was not considered to constitute a marriage.

Sex with a virgin was actually NOT considered a marriage--the man had to PAY THE GIRL'S FATHER for the virginity taken, but the FATHER still had the option to withhold consent to the marriage (and God bless the fathers who did). This indicates that it is considered as a sort of property crime.

6 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.
 
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katautumn

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That was actually a little bit absurd. For starters, Christians should not focus their attention on blood covenants, as that was part of the old law for the Jews which were supposedly usurped by Christ's sacrifice. To compare taking a woman's virginity to entering into a blood covenant is sort of creepy to me. There are many women out there who do not bleed when their hymen is broken. There are some women whose hymens are broken due to an accident or rape. There are women who are born with hymens that are partially open or born without one at all. Have these women failed their husbands because they cannot offer him a "blood covenant"?

You cannot have a spirit of virginity either. You are either a virgin or you are not. I have no doubt in my mind that a person can lose their virginity and later make a decision to remain chaste; however, they will never be a virgin again.
 
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HuntingMan

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To compare taking a woman's virginity to entering into a blood covenant is sort of creepy to me.
I agree
There are many women out there who do not bleed when their hymen is broken.
Quite true.
My wife was a virgin when we married and after all this time she never has bled.
She definitely would have failed to provide any evidence of being a virgin (well, other than her prudish attitude about sex which Im very VERY thankful for).

Your post makes some VERY good points.
 
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Miann

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Well, I'll be the first to give my support for what the man is teaching in this video... specifically, how sacred virginity is in marriage. When Jesus referred to the standard of God's intent for marriage in Matthew 19, I think this is what He was referring to.

The video points out that virginity was expected of both men and women. I think if women embraced the sacredness of their virginity, and demanded it from the man they marry, the Body of Christ as a whole, would have a clearer understanding of the 'virgin spirit'.

Jesus is the example of a 'virgin spirit'... as His sole purpose was to fulfill the will of His Father. The heart of a virgin is focussed on it's beloved, sacrificially focused.

I'm a little saddened by the negative response, even denial of the existence of blood covenants. Any who have been regenerated in the new birth, are in a blood covenant... the new covenant Jesus instituted in His death and resurrection. I find it interesting, Jesus connected His covenant, with God's original intent for marriage... that a virgin man leaves his parents to enter into a covenant marriage with a virgin woman.

Which brings up many more questions ;)
KatAutumn said:
To compare taking a woman's virginity to entering into a blood covenant is sort of creepy to me.
I believe the way the author stated it was that the initial sex act of a virgin couple was the offering of the pledge of fidelity, the covenant of fidelity. (not an exact quote).
There are many women out there who do not bleed when their hymen is broken. There are some women whose hymens are broken due to an accident or rape. There are women who are born with hymens that are partially open or born without one at all. Have these women failed their husbands because they cannot offer him a "blood covenant"?
Based on OT teaching of the 'proof of virginity', I think the instances mentioned are more rare than they are prevalent.
 
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Verity.45

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MissMystery said:
In light of the information presented in this video, I"m thinking alot of people will be suffering regrets... but the beauty of the 'sacredness of sex' is profound. Something to strive for.

So true, MissMys.

Regret may also keep people from seeing how valuable a 'virgin spirit' truly is in the marital relationship. I think a person who purposely remained virgin, for the sake of offering this gift of fidelity to their spouse, shows more of a virginal heart than the one who may be virgin by happenstance... without a deliberate choice. By the same token, because of Jesus' covenant, a non-virgin who truly has a virgin's heart, can still be faithful in marriage.
 
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HuntingMan

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I'm a little saddened by the negative response, even denial of the existence of blood covenants.
I find the obsession with virginity to be a bit saddening.
The woman raped...has she no value here?
The woman divorced against her will....is she meaningless?

While I value the CHASTENESS of a person, they can be CHASTE, virgin or not.

No one is denying blood covenants.
For myself I deny that a virgin is ANY more married than the woman who was not a virgin...or that one marriage is somehow better or more sacred than the other.

it is a COVENANT that is the marriage, not sex, not blood.
 
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Joykins

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Time to bring out the Milton again:

I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather; that which purifies us is trial, and trial is by what is contrary. That virtue therefore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank virtue, not a pure; her whiteness is but an excremental whiteness.
 
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Verity.45

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Miann said:
I think if women embraced the sacredness of their virginity, and demanded it from the man they marry, the Body of Christ as a whole, would have a clearer understanding of the 'virgin spirit'.
I agree Miann. It's just not taught in western society. Think of the standard of holiness that would come to the Body of Christ if this one truth was embraced.

Miann said:
Jesus is the example of a 'virgin spirit'... as His sole purpose was to fulfill the will of His Father. The heart of a virgin is focussed on it's beloved, sacrificially focused.
Again, great thought. If married couples adapt this attitude through God's grace, I think the marital relationship would be very fulfilling. And it IS a sacrifice for both the man and wife.
 
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HuntingMan

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I watched a bit of that video....too much irrelevance concerning GODS covenant of marriage. Im not overly interested in what different cultures do or believe, GODS word is the authority as far as marriage being defined.

In that, I have to wonder how one who buys into this marriage being a blood covenant can see Paul as doing much beyond calling for sexual 'sin' by telling widows and widowers to marry (clearly, there will be no blood in this situation)
But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they should remain as I also remain; but if they are not exercising self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
(1Co 7:8-9 EMTV)

A question in the OP asked this;
2) If a non-virgin legally marries, is the marital contract considered a 'covenant' in God's eyes? If a woman is not virgin when she marries, and there is no 'proof' of a blood-covenant, is it considered adultery (since the token of a blood covenant could only be proven once).
*IF* it were adultery, then PAUL is himself coercing this adultery by telling these NON-virgin widows to REmarry.

And if it werent a covenant in Gods eyes, then Paul is tricking these widows into living in fornication.
Someone, somewhere has not harmonized ALL of the relevant details here.

.
 
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Larkise

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Interesting thread. I'd like to respond to this verse~
HuntingMan said:
But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they should remain as I also remain; but if they are not exercising self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
(

In the flow the video presented, I think if a widow and former spouse were virgin when they married, Paul's instruction for her to marry again (in the Lord) is in keeping because death separated the couple. Her faithfulness in the former marriage would carry on into a new one, even though the 'token' no-longer exist. It's the 'virgin' heart that does.
 
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HuntingMan

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Interesting thread. I'd like to respond to this verse~

In the flow the video presented, I think if a widow and former spouse were virgin when they married, Paul's instruction for her to marry again
And *I* think you are taking a LOT of liberties with the texts. ;)
(in the Lord) is in keeping because death separated the couple. Her faithfulness in the former marriage would carry on into a new one, even though the 'token' no-longer exist. It's the 'virgin' heart that does.
Im sorry, Im not going to allow myself the luxury of guessing 'why' Paul tells the widow to remarry, other than to acknowledge that it MUST be entirely lawful and with Gods approval for Paul to instruct it.
The fact is he does and he doesnt say a thing about 'if you were FAITHFUL in your previous marriage.....yadda yadda yadda'

I think some are really INSERTING a LOT of our own ideas into the texts, quite frankly...including the chap on that video.
 
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HuntingMan

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Paul also says this:
1Co 7:39 A wife has been bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband also dies, she is free to be married to whom she desires, only in the Lord.

There isnt a single thing that Ive seen in the scriptures that say "if they were virgins and if they were faithful he/she can remarry"
The texts as a whole show very conclusively that remarriage is simply lawful and assumed (remaining single being the optimal choice) except where the marriage is EXPRESSLY forbidden in the law.

When a spouse dies we are entirely FREE to remarry (obviously a believer), there are no stipulations added.

If someone has SCRIPTURE to provide that confirms any LEGITIMATE restrictions on a NON-virgin widow remarrying Im all eyes today and am willing to consider anything you have to offer AS LONG as it actually states (in context) what is being claimed.

What I find very dangerous about this (yet another erroneous doctrinal view coming about) is NOW we are going to end up with just one more teaching in the church that is trying to DEMEAN and make VOID/nullify GODLY marriages of folks who may not have been virgins when they married.


I find the whole thing detestable and reprobate, personally.
Just one more false, abominable doctrine out there to be used by Satan to destroy marriages .
 
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HuntingMan

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I watched a bit more of the video...its amazing how well this guy ties irrelevance together into what SEEMS to be an argument for his views.

He says that when the woman bleeds during consummation that the blood on the male genitalia is basically what makes it a covenant marriage before God.

The very first and most problematic issue that I can think of off hand immediately is that this means that Jesus Christ was born out of wedlock and would have been illegitimate since Mary and Joseph did not come together physically until after Christ was born in the flesh.

*IF* the shedding of blood is what MAKES the marriage a covenant, then there is no possible way our Lord Jesus was born into a lawful covenant of marriage before the Father.

Im not sure if Ill watch the rest or not since that detail alone is enough to outright reject the whole theory.
 
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Larkise

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How is a widow's heart a "virgin's" heart? :confused:
I made that comment in the flow of the video, Joykins, (which goes something like this, in a paraphrased version):

The woman that makes a deliberate choice to offer her virginity as a token of her fidelity on her wedding night, and continues to make the choice of fidelity throughout her marriage, is most likely going to have this same heart going into a marriage when her husband dies.

The teacher in the video emphasizes this deliberate choice of commitment, which is the essence of a 'virgin' heart. That is what I meant by my statement.

HuntingMan said:
...we are going to end up with just one more teaching in the church that is trying to DEMEAN and make VOID/nullify GODLY marriages of folks who may not have been virgins when they married.
I understand the concern, and wonder if this is on the OP mind as well. I'm going to seek answers in prayer on this too.
 
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