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Bible can by no possible interpretation be made to
justify divorce because of incompatibility or temperament
or even because of intolerable situations which may
render separation necessary. The New Testament frowns
on separation and forbids divorce, save for one exception,
immoral conduct.
MEMORY
VERSE: He saith unto them, Moses because
of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put
away your wives: but from the beginning it was not
so (Matthew 19:8).
Take
Heed to Your Spirit
Malachi 2:14-16 God through Malachi
was telling Israel of their faults and exhorting them
to return to the right way. Let none deal
treacherously against the wife of his youth. Falseness
to one's wife or husband is sin in God's sight. (See
also Mark 10:2-12.) Jewish husbands could divorce
their wives for any cause of dislike, such as overcooking
the food, looking at another man, or having offensive
breath. Their hearts had become so hard that they
would divorce their wives for becoming ill or suffering
injury. Because of their hard hearts, Moses suffered
this, and they continued this practice even to the
time of our Lord. For the Lord ... saith that
he hateth putting away—that is, divorce.
Therefore—because He hates
putting away—take heed to your spirit—where
the trouble first begins.
We
need to watch our hearts. What reactions does your
heart feel to things seen and heard? What dreams and
desires are allowed to grow there? What thoughts are
harbored there? God tells us to take heed to our spirit,
watching the heart, and keeping it pure and fit in
His sight. This is the only safeguard against dealing
treacherously with the companion of your youth.
Christ Revoked Divorce Law of Moses
Matthew 19:3-9 The Pharisees asked
Jesus about the lawfulness of divorce. They were not
sincere and attempted to trick Him. However, He gave
them a sincere answer. He pointed back to the establishment
of marriage in the beginning by God—the leaving
of all others, the permanence—cleaving to one
another, and being made one flesh by the transforming
power of God. This is what marriage is. God made it
so.
Whosoever shall put away his wife, except
it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth
adultery. Under Moses' law, because of the
hardness of their hearts, the husband who divorced
his wife for any reason, had to put a bill of divorcement
into the hand of his wife and send her out of the
house. When this was done, she was free to marry another
man as though she had never been married, and she
was not called an adulteress. If she had committed
adultery, her husband did not need to divorce her;
she was stoned to death by the men of the city under
the law of Moses and Israel. So, here in this Scripture,
Jesus was dealing only with divorce obtained for some
reason lesser than fornication (unfaithfulness to
the marriage vow).This man has committed two sins:
(1) putting away his wife and (2) adultery. Notice
the exception. If she has committed fornication, he
is at liberty to put her away since she has broken
the bond. Under Moses' Law, she could be stoned.
When a man under the New Testament law puts away his
wife for any reason except fornication, she can marry
again and not be an adulteress. The offender has already
sinned, and the one who marries him sins also. Keep
in mind that we are teaching on the Christian home.
The sinner is not subject to God's Law. What God joins
together is always joined together. God never joins
a couple together unless they can be Scripturally
joined together. It is necessary that a marriage be
valid at inception for there to be a Scriptural divorce.
This writer cannot agree with those who believe that
God's approval rests upon all marriages. In this day
of marriage by elopement, childhood marriage, and
marriage brought about by lust and not love, there
must be more than a mere ceremony if God's approval
is expected to rest upon it. Women should thank God
for the liberty and freedom brought to them through
Christ. Jesus tells us that the rules apply equally
and with no difference to both wives and husbands
(Mark 10:11-12).
Law of Separation
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 ... I command, yet not
I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from the
husband: But if she depart—if conditions
of cruelty or sin become such that she cannot rightly
remain, as sometimes may be the case—then
let her remain unmarried—to recognize
the marriage bond and be true to it, even though forced
to live separately. Or be reconciled to her husband.
If possible, this is best.
The
separation may wake up the faulty one and bring him
or her to repentance. Thus the marriage may be mended.
Let not the husband put away his wife. Both husband
and wife are under the same rules and have the same
obligations. It is not right for any married person
to keep company with another, even though that one
is not at present living with his or her companion.
Our standard of action should be what is right in
God's sight.
The Pattern
Since marriage can be accompanied by good or evil,
it behooves one to think seriously before taking any
step. Examine well the Scriptures on the subject and
be sure. When in doubt, it is best not to act. As
is said concerning the keeping of days, Let
every man be fully persuaded in his own mind (Romans
14:5). The Bible is our final authority.
Marriage can be broken by the sin of either partner.
The sure remedy for each is salvation through Jesus
Christ.
"Here are five things we should remember if we
would understand the New Testament passages having
to do with this subject: (1) Moses made no provision
for husbands to divorce fornicators. (2) Moses made
no provision for husbands to divorce adulteresses.
(3) Moses made no provision for husbands to divorce
wives who were even suspected of unchastity. (4) Moses'
divorce law permitted husbands to divorce wives for
something LESS than unchastity. (5) Wives who had
been divorced according to the law of Moses were FREE
to marry another man, and they were not called adulteresses
if they married again while the first husband was
living."—C. M. Washington.
JUST
A THOUGHT
A
broken home is the world's greatest wreck.
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