DIVORCE was NEVER intended for MARRIED COUPLES!
October
14 Bible Reading: Matthew Chapters 19-21
DIVORCE was NEVER intended for MARRIED COUPLES!
They
(Pharisees) said to Him (Jesus), "Why then did Moses command to give a
certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" He (Jesus) said to them (Pharisees),
"Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce
your wives, but from the beginning it
was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual
immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who
is divorced commits adultery." (Matt 19:7-9)
It is clear
from the above passage that God’s
original intent for the human family was that a man has only one living wife. The biblical teaching on divorce can only be
understood against the background of Jesus’ view of marriage. Marriage was a
sacred concept to Jesus. The permanence of the contract of marital union is
stressed by the fact that two people have become one flesh. No one would
contemplate severing even a limb, much less half of the torso through a
surgical process. Yet, this is precisely
the emotional and spiritual result of the fracturing of marriage!
Why does God reject divorce? Marriage is a divine institution initiated by express command where two people become one flesh. The first
couple (Adam & Eve) show unbroken unity of lives. Furthermore, there are
evil consequences in separation through divorce. Jesus has made no provision
for divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty, incompatibility, drunkenness,
insanity or neglect.
In fact, Jesus
gave three reasons for why married
people should remain married: (1) God
made one male and one female. If God had intended more than one wife for
Adam, He would have created more. (2) God
ordained marriage as the strongest bond in all human relationships. A man
leaves his parents and is joined to his wife. The most permanent relationship
in society is between husband and wife. (3) The
husband and wife become one flesh
through marriage. The basic element in marriage is a covenant, and part of that
covenant is physical intimacy.
However, Jesus
agreed that Moses had permitted divorce (Deut. 24:1–4), not as God’s best for
mankind, but because of Israel’s backslidden condition. Bible scholars think
that Israelites became familiar of divorce in Egypt. Divorce became so rooted
in their culture that Moses could not overrule it. This will happen if God’s
people will look to imitate the trends and fads of the world rather than stick
to God’s standards through His Word.
Some
practices are lawful but not biblical, so we should follow the principles given
in Scripture. God’s original plan was one
man for one woman for all of life (Gen. 2:18–25), but He made a concession
for Israel and permitted divorce because of the hardness of human heart and the
stubbornness of human will. Divorce is never
the solution to the problems that
arise within a marriage, and it is clear that divorce was never intended for married couples by God!
