The Commonwealth Theology Teaching of The Law of the Husband

 

The Commonwealth Theology

Teaching of The Law of the Husband

Introduction

Commonwealth Theology (CT) is a renewed form of Two House theology, a primary doctrine of the Hebrew Roots Movement. CT has as one of it's tenets a teaching based on what is called "the law of the husband" in Rom 7:1-6. This teaching is promoted as the solution to the divorce of Israel from God (Jer 3:8, Hos 2:2). This solution is allegedly needed to bring Israel back into covenant relationship with Yahweh.

The video teaching can be found here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch… and the written teaching here >>>"God’s Divorce and Remarriage And The Restoration of Israel Through the New Covenant" - https://www.douglashamp.com/gods-divorce-and-remarriage-and-the-restoration-of-israel-through-the-new-covenant/

Commonwealth Theology Use of the Law of the Husband

First, it has to be stated that the context of the text of Rom 7:1-6 is that of an "example" showing the believers relationship to the law, and has nothing to do with restoring Israel's marriage to Yahweh. This is an extremely poor use of the text from an exegetical standpoint, and yet, this is how Doug develops it's doctrine.

CT teaches that Israel was divorced from Yahweh, and as a result, was out of covenant with Him. This out of covenant Israel was absorbed into the nations during the Assyrian exile, and became the "lost tribes", with no one remaining. As the absorption proceeded, descendants were born, and those descendants carried forth to the present day Gentiles. The present day "descendants of Israel" are those Gentiles who are "awakening" to their "Israeli" ("lost tribe") heritage.

But there is a problem that needed to be solved along the way. And that problem is that the descendants of Israel were still divorced from Yahweh, and still without a covenant. They were "separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world" (Eph 2:12). This was a problem that required a resolution, hence, Doug's interpretation of the "Law of the Husband" from Rom 7:1-6. If Yahweh were to die, that would satisfy the Law of the Husband, and cleanse "Israel" of their defilement, thus allowing Covenant relationship once again.

And by this, we have the teaching that Yahweh came to die as the first husband in order that Jesus the second husband could enter covenant relationship with a cleansed "Israel".

The CT Use of Romans 7:1-6 to Remove the Defilement

Verse 1 - Rom 7:1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?

The law does not govern a dead person. CT applies this to Yahweh and Israel, saying that the Levitical Law only has authority enforcing Israel's defilement while He is alive. Yahweh's death would supposedly remove Israel's defilement according to the Law of the Husband.

"The only way the wife (Northern Kingdom Israel) could be released of her fate of having been put away [shlichah] וְשִׁלְּחָ֖הּ] [Hebrew word] and divorced [kritut כְּרִיתֻת֙] [Hebrew word] by Yahweh was for Yahweh (her husband) to die which would annul and dissolve original marriage contract. Paul understood that when, using the law to explain, he reminded the Jews (who knew the law) that the law only has jurisdiction over a person until their death. When the person dies, any judgments, contracts, or obligations are then dissolved" (God’s Divorce and Remarriage And The Restoration of Israel Through the New Covenant - Douglas Hamp)

Verse 2 - Rom 7:2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.

CT posits this verse to say that Israel, a defiled nation, can be made clean if Yahweh dies since He was the first husband, and, Israel is also free to marry Jesus now, since Jesus is a "new husband" and not subject to Deu 24:4 and Jer 3:1 which states that the first husband is prohibited from remarrying His first wife.

Deu 24:4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Jer 3:1 "If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers-- would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.

Doug writes: "Yeshua’s resurrection, therefore, is the crux of the matter! Without the resurrection, Israel would have been free to marry another, but not to the very one who promised himself to her FOREVER. Now having risen from the dead, the Old Husband was actually a NEW Husband." (Ibid)

Verse 3 - Rom 7:3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

CT posits that this verse says Israel is released from the Levitical Law regarding defilement from sexual immorality and accordingly, her defilement is removed. This free's Israel to marry again.

The key to understanding this verse is that two distinct circumstances are being described, not one continuous one. The first is a woman having sexual relations while her first husband is alive and becoming an adulteress. The second is an alternative scenario where the woman waits to get married until after her first husband has died and remains chaste accordingly. It is only in the case of the already chaste woman that she is freed from the Levitical Law and the Law of the Husband.

Doug writes: "So then if, while her husband [Yahweh] lives, she [Israel] marries another man [Ba’al etc.] , she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. (Rom 7:3)" (Ibid)

This error in interpretation is devastating to this doctrine. According to the CT doctrine, Israel MUST have her defilement removed in order to be eligible to marry Jesus, and that does not happen according to the Levitical Law.

Verse 4 - Rom 7:4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

CT posits that since the Levitical Law no longer applies to Israel, and Israel has had her defilement removed, and she is released from her previous marriage to Yahweh, and is now free to marry a different man, Jesus.

It seems that this interpretations of the Law of the Husband has it conflicting with and overruling the Levitical Law. Levitical Law has no provision allowing for defilement removal based on the death of the first husband, yet CT is teaching here that it is so, and that based on a faulty interpretation of Rom 7:3.

Doug writes: "Following that, Paul reaches crescendo with his exciting conclusion that through Yeshua/Jesus (the incarnate Word of Yahweh), the wife, Israel, can be married to a different man – which is none other than the Risen Yeshua – Wow!

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law [of her husband c.f. Rom 7:2] through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another–to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. (Rom 7:4)" (Ibid)

The reason CT makes a distinction between Yahweh as the first husband and Jesus as the second husband is that regardless of chastity, a man is not permitted to remarry a woman he previously divorced (Deu 24:4, Jer 3:1). So according to CT, the death is actually attributed to Yahweh, not the son, but it is Jesus that was raised from the dead. This blurring of the persons of God and their roles seems quite strained.

"Yeshua’s resurrection, therefore, is the crux of the matter! Without the resurrection, Israel would have been free to marry another, but not to the very one who promised himself to her FOREVER. Now having risen from the dead, the Old Husband was actually a NEW Husband. All of the lawlessness (her adultery) of the first marriage was literally buried with Yeshua (the Husband, Yahweh in the flesh). Now he was free to remarry his former wife without breaking his own instructions. His new marriage would be a NEW COVENANT/TESTAMENT with Israel!" (IBID)

What the Law Actually States

The law states that the man and woman would be defiled if they have sexual relations outside of marriage.

Lev 18:20 "'Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her.

The penalty for this defilement is stoning.

Deu 22:23-24 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death--the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man's wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

A woman once divorced may not remarry the first husband again.

Deu 24:1-4 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, (2) and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, (3) and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, (4) then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Jer 3:1 "If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers-- would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.

There are no contingencies in the Levitical law that allow for the removal of the defilement on the basis of the first husband dying. This conclusion appears to be entirely based on an incorrect reading of Rom 7:3, and as such, the CT interpretation of the Law of the Husband contradicts what the Levitical Law actually states.

To bring Paul's teaching of the Law of the Husband into harmony with the Levitical Law, Rom 7:3 should be understood as two separate circumstances. Either the woman becomes an adulteress and remains so, or she abstains and remains chaste. Levitical Law does not allow for a defiled woman to subsequently become chaste based on the death of a husband.

Conclusion

This CT doctrine has been constructed entirely to get Israel chaste again so she can remarry. The doctrine rises or falls based on whether or not Israel's defilement is removed based on the death of the first husband. If it is not removed on that basis, the entire doctrine falls in error.

Doug has not supported his claim that a defiled woman is made clean by the death of her first husband according to the Levitical Law, which is the Law in place when all this took place, and indeed, such a contingency does not exist.

In the absence of a cleansed Israel, the solution to allow a divorced woman (Israel) to marry a new husband (Jesus) again is superfluous. The woman cannot remarry anyway, since her defilement is not dealt with.