{"id":97228,"date":"2026-08-11T19:51:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T00:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=97228"},"modified":"2026-08-11T19:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T00:52:24","slug":"have-you-not-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/have-you-not-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Have You Not Read"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n<p>Matthew 19 is an important chapter concerning the biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage. However, underlying that whole issue is the issue of the Bible: its reliability and its authority.<\/p>\n<p>The Pharisees came to test Jesus by asking a question concerning what God allows\/approves of. <b>Where <\/b>would Jesus go to find such an answer? Of course, he goes to the written revelation of God.<\/p>\n<p>Is it &#8216;lawful&#8217; must be answered from &#8216;the law&#8217;. First, Jesus simply asks: &#8220;<em>Have you not read?<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>Read what? The written revelation of God. Jesus then follows this question by quoting the text. Although Jesus lived over a thousand years after Moses wrote this, He had confidence that it was still the word of God. The original writing had long ago disappeared, yet quoting the copies was considered as authoritative as the original.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, Jesus shows a confidence that the truth had been preserved.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This was revealed to and written down by Moses.<\/li>\n<li>What was written was an accurate record of what God said.<\/li>\n<li>What was written was accurately preserved through copying.<\/li>\n<li>Such a record could be read.<\/li>\n<li>Such reading could and should provide a correct understanding.<\/li>\n<li>Upon such understanding of God&#8217;s word, one should obey it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Jesus then warned that the real problem is that some would not accept it. They had read and understood, but then refused to apply it in their lives. Often such refusal to apply things is covered up by claiming that truth cannot be understood. However this works out, the bottom line is that they were not obedient unto God.<\/p>\n<p>It is of little wonder then that Jesus said that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees! Let us give all diligence to our reading, understanding, and applying God&#8217;s word to our lives.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Hugh DeLong Matthew 19 is an important chapter concerning the biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage. However, underlying that whole issue is the issue of the Bible: its reliability and its authority. The Pharisees came to test Jesus by asking a question concerning what God allows\/approves of. Where would Jesus go to find such&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,167],"class_list":["post-97228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-divorce"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95669,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/revelation\/","url_meta":{"origin":97228,"position":0},"title":"Revelation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton When something has been unknown and mysterious in the past, and then God reveals a thing that was once unknown, you call that a \"revelation\". The last book of the Bible was not intended to be too secretive and mysterious; else it would not \"reveal\" anything.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/couldnt-jesus-use-of-lord-for-yhwh-be-due-to-later-tampering-of-the-text\/","url_meta":{"origin":97228,"position":1},"title":"Couldn&#8217;t Jesus&#8217; use of Lord for YHWH be due to later tampering of the text?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In \"Why is YHWH translated LORD?\" you said: Some, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, object to using LORD in place of YHWH. However, they are ignoring God's own translation of His name. For example, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 in Matthew 22:37, \"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91371,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-wasnt-the-church-in-thyatira-told-to-withdraw-from-the-jezebel-in-their-midst\/","url_meta":{"origin":97228,"position":2},"title":"Why wasn&#8217;t the church in Thyatira told to withdraw from the Jezebel in their midst?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeffrey, I hope you are well. I have a question concerning the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-29. The letter to the church mentioned a Jezebel. Some compared her with the wife of Ahaz, who instilled and practiced evil. In the Revelation case, Jezebel teaches false doctrines, leading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-the-seven-spirits-of-god-in-revelation\/","url_meta":{"origin":97228,"position":3},"title":"What are the seven spirits of God in Revelation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What are the seven spirits of God in the book of Revelation? Answer: The book of Revelation is written in symbolic or figurative terms according to its author. \"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40846,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-shed-light-on-the-upcoming-four-blood-moons-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":97228,"position":4},"title":"Can you shed light on the upcoming four blood moons prophecy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my question. I've just recently turned my life over to Christ, and I am intentionally trying to read and study His word in the Bible, and I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4751,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-revelation-51-6-contain-changing-symbols\/","url_meta":{"origin":97228,"position":5},"title":"Why does Revelation 5:1-6 contain changing symbols?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please help me with this question? Can you please explain the reversal of images and transformation of symbols, such as a slain Lamb appearing right after the proclamation that a Lion is worthy to open the scroll (Revelation 5:1-6)? Answer: \"And I saw in the right hand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}