Peacemaker continued 3  
Doctrines of the Millennium

But if you have understood the true cause of divorcement to be adultery; yet you have not formed your laws upon that principle altogether.

You have been compelled by your experience to deviate from it in several of the states. what, although a woman is not known to be an adulteress; yet she may be a perfect devil to her husband, treat him in the most imperious manner, dispise him in her heart, abuse him before his children, drive him like a menial slave where she pleases; and he must tamely submit to the ungodly law of his wife, must hug the serpent to his bosom, and love her as he does his own body! Impossible, and degrading to the nature of man.     It is altogether unlawful and ruinous to the families of the nation.

The means which your ungodly law, puts into the hands of a proud termagant [A quarellsome, scolding woman], and alienated woman of torturing her husband, and ruining all his affairs as well as his soul, and his children to the tenth generation, cannot be written on paper. The evils that this nation now suffer by this erroneous law cannot be enumerated; neither shall we comprehend them until the law of God is restored, and true order, and righteous government is established in the land. Then will we discover the contrast, and not till then. And then will the smoke of the torment of those who now bow to the beast, or false government, ascend up forever and ever. That is, it will be discovered by the contrast, and the remembrance thereof remain forever.

Order and government must, and should exist, and God only knows where the power should be placed to effect it. And he has placed it in the hands of the man. And how is it possible that it ever should be effected, by placing two powers of equal force in direct opposition to each other?

This power of the man over the woman does not consist in the right of abuse and corporal punishment, which does violence to the nature of the marriage relation; but in the true law of divorcement established by God himself for the purpose of righteous government and peace. Neither has any legislature in Christendom a right to alter, amend, or change it in the least; only to appoint the means, and order the execution thereof.

For what God has joined together, let not man put asunder. Bills of divorcement according to our Laws of the Gentiles are therefore unlawful.

They cannot by their acts separate lawfully what God has joined together; he hath forbidden it. And many are now living in fornication and adultery in the sight of God. In which they, and all those who thus cause the violation of the law of God must give an account to him, who is ready to judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and in his kingdom. The ceremony or covenant of marriage should be according to the law of God.                

The officiating officer should say to the man; you hereby take this woman which you hold by the right hand to be your wedded wife according to the law of God. He should answer I do. Then the officer should say to the woman you do hereby agree to become the wedded wife of this man which you hold by the right hand according to the law of God.  She should answer I do. Then the officer should say; according to the law of God I pronounce you husband and wife.

The idea of a woman taking a man to be her husband is not found in the word of God. But the man marries the woman; and the woman is given in marriage. She is therefore the property of the husband in marriage.

But the husband is not the property of the wife in any sense of the word. It is not said even in the holy decalogue when Mount Sinai was all on fire; and trembled at the presence of Jehovah, in that solemn exhibition of the power and glory of God; in the holy decalogue, written with the finger of God himself, it is not said; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's husband, no verily, she has no such property. But thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing thy neighbor possesses. Here the wife is pronounced the husband's property, as much so as his man servant, his maid servant, his ox, or his horse.

Although she is a different kind of property, very precious   near and dear to him as his own body. For she is the glory of a man, and if a virtuous woman, her price is above rubies. A different kind of property, and held. by a different tenure according to law being bound to the husband, and cannot be sold. By the law a man had a right to sell men servants and maid servants. Yet if he took a maid servant to be a concubine; she was under the same law to her master as was the wife; but the master then could not sell her, after she had been thus taken: but he could let her go out free, and she was then a free woman. But the man is in no sense of the word the property of his wife. How can property possess its owner? How can the owner be put under the law and government of his property? When God made the woman he gave her to the man; but he never gave the man to the woman.

Therefore the woman has no power to divorce the man. How can property divorce its owner" Think of these things my countrymen seriously. For Zion shall be redeemed with Judgement, and her converts with righteousness; and the destruction of the transgressors and the sinners shall be together; and they that forsake God shall be consumed. Isaiah 1: 27

Thus you see my countrymen, how the old harlot Rome, the old mother of harlots has committed fornication against Christ, and then has taught our wives to commit fornication against us with impunity. And has thus made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Revelation 13: 3

This, was in the first place most infamously and wickedly done by the Priesthood, by the aid of the old dragon; that is Paganism. The converts to professed Christianity having been brought up in Paganism, were by that means, that is by the power of their education, and the fraud of the priests; deceived, as it is written. The dragon gave the beast his power, and seat, and great authority. Revelation 13: 2

And they worshipped the dragon who gave power to the beast. The authors, the Roman Priesthood knew better than this; hence they FORBID their own class to marry at all: and under the pretence of sanctity.

O shame! And their object was to degrade and enslave the world; while they preserved their own dignity and power by not coming under the unnatural yoke of the woman. For they well knew that putting the man under the woman, would degrade his mind. and that of his posterity in many cases wretchedly: and produce imbecility of mind. disorder and confusion therein, like intoxicating wine; and render them finally their passive slaves. In the mean time to justify their natural wants the nunery was invented; for they chose to degrade and prostitute their bodies rather than their minds. No doubt the whole scheme of the Priests was never carried into full prosecution, which part that failed, was the manner of bringing forward successors to perpetuate their noble order. But poor souls they must now bear their degradation forever. There is no help for them now, as they vainly imagined by the means of purgatory. They turned the grace of God into laciviousness, and their foolish minds became darkened. But heaven smiles on us, a glorious day is now opening. The harvest has come, and in the time of the harvest will the Lord send forth his angels and gather his elect from the four winds; from under the whole heavens; and they shall bear rule over those wicked Priests forever.

In ancient times under the law of God, the permission of a p1urality of wives had a direct tendency, to prevent the possibility of fornication in the wife. For the law of divorcement and all the law on the subject sustained the lawful and independent power of the husband over the wife; and his dignity of character was thereby supported. The interest, the hopes, the prospects of the wife, were all turned in the opposite direction by the law; where indeed her mind always should be. Her main object was to win, and retain the affections of her husband. And there was no means more successful for this purpose, than to bear him many children; for reasons which will hereafter appear.

Hence wives were so grieved at the idea of barrenness. The ruinous evil of a woman's being jealous of her husband, could not then exist under the law, and this is almost the only source of fornication in a wife. This fruitful source of evil was not then in existence. And the wife was perfectly passive, submissive and non-resisting towards her husband.

The existance of fornication in a married woman, that destructive evil, even to her posterity; was then hardly possible. It was not therefore defined or even mentioned in the law. It was improper so to do: as it would have had a tendency to create an unknown evil. As the woman was then perfectly governed in righteousness: nothing as it respected law on this subject was further necessary, but proper laws to govern the man.

But when Christ came they had by being under the Babylonians, and afterwards the Romans, and mingling with the Pagan nations; and from various other causes in many respects corrupted the law. It now became necessary to define the proper cause of divorce, to fit the law to the circumstances of the age and to all future generations, not really to change the law at all; but to illustrate its spirit and real nature.

This is all the Saviour did at that time. A knowledge of the proper cause of divorcement would in this new case, be sufficient when duly appreciated to maintain the proper dignity and authority of the man and submission of the woman, and consequently the natural excellency of the children. The first law ever made upon this subject of marriage is contained in these words, And unto the woman he said, in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children and thy desire shall be unto thy husband; and he shall rule over thee. Genesis 3: 16.

This shows that the desire of wives cannot be maintained towards their husbands; unless they do absolutely reign over them by the strong, and righteous arm of the law. Because these propositions are both pronounced by God himself in connection: and they must be connected, or neither will exist. And it is so, in the nature of things. It is evident that the sovereignty of the husband, over his wife, herein bestowed by God himself; cannot righteously be supported by any other means, than by the law, neither can prosperity attend the human family upon any other principles.

But suppose a married man entice a maid; shall not the wife be entitled to a bill of divorce against him? This is not an offence against his wife; neither is it against the maid; but altogether in the maid's favor. It is not against the wife, for the man is not under the law of marriage to his wife in any sense whatever; neither can he be put under the law of the woman, without disorganizing the whole system of the law of God, and of righteousness.  

If he has addressed the maid without her father's consent, it is against the father, for which the law of God espressly provides. And the wife has no concern, or control in this matter. The wife cannot put away the husband for any cause. As well might a servant put away his master, or a child his father. A divorced man is a creature, NOT KNOWN IN THE WHOLE CANON OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

CLICK HERE PEACEMAKER CONTINUED 4

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