Biblical Marriage and Divorce

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SealedEternal

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BIBLICAL MARRIAGE
AND DIVIRCE
OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT
BASIC PRINCIPLES


"What therefore God has joined together,
let no man separate


Malachi 2:13

"This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 "Yet you say, 'For what reason?' Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 "But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 "For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously." 17You have wearied the LORD with your words Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them," or, "Where is the God of justice?"

In reading this passage, there are a couple of principles that emerge, which have been true even in Old Testament times:

1. God hates divorce, and says that no one who has a remnant of His Spirit would engage in it.

2. The marriage covenant itself is binding despite our attempts to “divorce.” You’ll notice that it specifically states that the woman is still his wife by covenant even after he supposedly divorced her, which means that divorce will not dissolve a marriage.
This is true because the marriage covenant itself, joins two into one for as long as they both shall live:

Genesis 2:21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.


Ephesians 5: 22
Wives, be subjectto your own husbands, as to the Lord.23For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself beingthe Savior of the body. 24But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to beto their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.28So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;29for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to itthat she respects her husband.

Mark 10: 6
"But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. 7 "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, 8 AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." 10 In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. 11 And He *said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

Matthew 19:4
And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? 6 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

These passages clearly teach that the marriage covenant is more than just an earthly institution, but involves God joining us together for life, and says that we cannot separate this union. That means that if we “divorce” a spouse, He will not recognize this breaking of His union, and He will still regard us as being married to the person we divorced. We already saw this in the Malachi passage above, where God said that the woman whom the man divorced was still his wife by covenant. That principle is taught in the New Testament as well:

Matthew 5: 31
"It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE'; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19:9
"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Mark 10: 11
And He *said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

Luke 16:18
"Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.

Romans 7: 1
Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

The scriptures teach a clear and consistent message that the marriage bond is joined by God for life, and that only death will break that bond and allow for a remarriage. Therefore, if one is to “divorce” their spouse and attempt to marry someone else, they are actually entering into an adulterous affair, because God will not allow us to separate what He has joined. The Romans passage above is especially profound, because Paul is actually using the concept that marriage cannot be ended except through death as the foundation for an analogy of the Gospel:

Romans 7: 4
Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God…

He goes on to explain how through death we are freed from the Law of God through being joined to Christ, with the pretext of the analogy being that marriage is for life and only death can dissolve the Law of marriage. Therefore Paul is joining together these two concepts to the extent that if marriage for life isn’t true then the Gospel isn’t either, because in order for an analogy to work the pretext must be true or the analogy fails.
Some however read the Matthew passages above and claim that they seem to offer a loophole, but they aren’t reading the entire passage carefully:

Matthew 19: 3
SomePharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawfulfor a manto divorce his wife for any reason at all?" 4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? 6 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

First of all, the entire claim that God allows divorce and remarriage is refuted by Jesus immediately when the Pharisees ask Him the question, because His answer was an unequivocal NO! The Pharisees then go on to question Him about the Old Covenant Law and an apparent “exception” offered there:

Matthew 19: 7
They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?" 8 He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another woman commits adultery."

The obvious fact that many people ignore when reading this passage, is that the context of the “exception” is in the Old Covenant Law for Old Covenant people. It is irrelevant therefore for New Covenant believers regardless of what it was referring to, but when we look at what it actually says, it is clear that even this provision was not for “divorce” as it is practiced today:

Deuteronomy 22: 13
"If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and thenturns against her, 14 and charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her, and says, 'I took this woman, butwhen I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,' 15 then the girl's father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidenceof the girl's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 "The girl's father shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he turned against her; 17 and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, "I did not find your daughter a virgin." But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. 18 "So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekelsof silver and give it to the girl's father, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days. 20 "But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 24: 1
"When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife,3and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and putsitin her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 thenher former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

As you can see, the Law of Moses only allowed a man to divorce his wife if he found indecency in her, “WHEN HE MARRIED HER.” This means that she had fornicated prior to him marrying her, which is why Jesus said that the Old Covenant Law allowed “divorce” for the cause of “fornication.”
In Old Covenant marriages, the family of the man would normally make a covenant with the family of the bride offering a dowry. If it was accepted the two were regarded as husband and wife from that day forward, but they still continued to live separately for a period of time called the “betrothal.” Therefore they were husband and wife because they made a binding covenant, but not yet “married” which means they lived as one flesh.

The Laws we just read stated that he could dissolve this covenant, if when he married her, he found that she had already fornicated with someone else. In other words, she had defrauded him of the virgin bride that he agreed to marry when the covenant was made, so he could dissolve the covenant and marry someone else, but he could not ever take her back if she married again. It also said that if she was a virgin then “
she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days” which shows us that the Law of marriage for life was still in effect back then, unless he proved that she had fornicated prior to the marriage.

We actually have a Biblical example of this Law almost being implemented by Jesus’ earthly father Joseph:

Matthew 1: 18
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

We see that Joseph mistakenly assumed that Mary had fornicated during his betrothal to her, and intended to implement the Old Covenant Law to dissolve the covenant. Obviously he was informed that the child was from God’s Spirit and never carried out the Law, but nevertheless this passage confirms how it was meant to be applied.

Some try to take the exception out of context and apply it to New Covenant Christians, and falsely claim that the fornication actually means adultery, and thus they claim that one can divorce their spouse if they commit adultery, and then they are free to remarry. This is a horrible abuse of the text for many reasons:

1. We already saw that Jesus specifically applied the exception to the Old Covenant and unequivocally refuted the idea that fully married couples could divorce and remarry. In fact, He called everyone who engages in divorce and remarriage as committing the sin of adultery, which by definition means that the person is not in a “marriage” with the second spouse, but is in an unlawful relationship while being married to the original spouse.

2. The word for “fornication” or “unchastity” in Greek is "porneia", while "adultery" is a totally different term "moicheia". Both words are used in the same verses and each have a distinct meaning (Matthew 5:32; 15:19; 19:19; Mark 7:21, 1 Cor.6:9, Gal.5:19, Heb.13:4). These two different words with two different meanings clearly describe two different acts. If Jesus meant adultery, He surely would have used the term for adultery -- “moichao.” He was certainly not using terms carelessly, especially in disputing with legal experts.
We actually have a scriptural example of “porneia” specifically being used to imply that Mary the mother of Jesus had fornicated during her betrothal to Joseph:

John 8: 41
(Jesus said) "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication (porneia); we have one Father: God."

In this text, the Pharisees give a bit of a back handed sneer at Jesus, claiming that the was born of "porneia." This claim could be made by anyone since it is obvious that Mary was pregnant before her and Joseph were married. Therefore they are accusing Jesus of being born by sexual promiscuity before his parents were married (in the betrothal period).




3. The exception clause also cannot be for adultery because it would defy common sense. Adultery cannot be both the sin and the justification for not being in sin at the same time. In other words, if divorce and remarriage is adultery according to Jesus, and adultery were the justification for divorce and remarriage according to Him as well, then any divorce and remarriage automatically becomes legal because it is adulterous. In other words it would be the fact that one commits a sin that would make them not in sin, while if they did not commit the sin of adultery they would be in sin to remarry. Of course according to this absurd logic, the fact that Jesus says the second marriage is adultery makes it legal since they claim adultery is the exception. It is obvious that Jesus Christ would not make such an error in reasoning when teaching on the subject.

4. The final reason that it cannot be referring to adultery is because two of the three Gospels teaching on the topic specifically state there are no exceptions. Therefore either those who make they adultery claim must be misapplying the scriptures, or God contradicts Himself in his Word and the whole thing is useless. Of course the context specifically says it is for fornication and not adultery, and only applied to the Old Covenant as we have already explored.
Here is the other verse offering the supposed exception:

Matthew 5: 31
"It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE'; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

If you look carefully, it is clear that this verse is quoting Deuteronomy 24 (Old Covenant Law), which we have already covered. Some people however, claim that the innocent party of a divorce is free to remarry while the guilty party is not, but this passage clearly refutes that claim as well. First of all, it specifically says that the woman innocent of fornication is made to commit adultery by the treacherous actions of her husband divorcing her unjustly. This woman therefore has not committed the sin which permit’s a divorce, yet being unlawfully divorced by her husband makes her commit adultery. Secondly, it is illogical for one party of a union to be free while the other is bound. Either the marriage is applicable or it isn’t, but it can’t be valid for one party and not the other. Clearly scripture teaches it is binding for them both.

If you look at the second half of the verse, it clearly refutes the concept of remarriage as well, because it states that
whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Now clearly If divorce could end a marriage, it cannot be adultery to marry the divorced woman. Jesus however clearly teaches that it is, which is irrefutable proof that God doesn’t recognize “divorce”, because He joins us together, and we cannot separate. As we read earlier, this concept was taught in Luke 16:18 as well, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”

Next we will examine the apostle Paul’s detailed teaching on marriage to the Corinthians, and show how his position was perfectly consistent with everything else we have studied. This table below shows the four basic categories of his teaching, and his specific commandments to each of them. This is critical to understand because there are many who try to twist the different groups around to create loopholes that aren’t there, and that contradict the rest of scripture.






Vs. 8-9 Spouses died


"Unmarried"(Widowers)

Widows

Vs 10-11 Married considering divorce


Wife

Husband

Vs. 12 Married with non-Christian spouse


any brother has a wife that is an unbeliever

And the womanwho has an unbelieving husband

Vs. 25-38 Virgins

if you (masculine) marry, you have not sinned;

if a virgin (feminine) marries,
she has not sinned.




As you will see from the table, Paul has addresses all of the four possible scenarios, and always is clear to mention both genders so that no one has any excuses to get around it, but of course the hearts of men are wicked and rebellious against God and try to do so anyway. Let’s examine the verses and see how they fit with the ones we have already covered:

I Corinthians 7:6
But this I say by way of concession, not of command. 7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that. 8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

This teaching is directed at the widowers and widows. The word “unmarried” or (Greek “agamas”) here is the proper word of that day for widower. It’s a broad term that literally means unmarried, or “one who is in a negative state of marriage”, but those who try to pervert God’s word assign specific meanings to this word in order to make the verses fit their doctrine. In this verse, the word is in the male sense, and in the context of being with widows, it would be understood to mean widowers.

There are some who try to claim that this word means divorced people, which cannot be true for several reasons. First, there is a word for divorced in Greek, but Paul never uses it in this chapter, because God doesn’t recognize divorce other than the Jews in the betrothal period. The word “unmarried” can be confusing because it is so broad, and refers to different groups of people in different contexts, and often people see “unmarried” in these different verses and assume they’re all referring to one specific group.

Secondly, If these verses were all referring to divorced people, then there is an obvious contradiction. Verse 8 is telling the unmarried to feel free to marry, and verse 10 is telling them to remain unmarried.

Thirdly, if these are all divorced people then Paul forgot the widowers. He covered every other group in both genders, but missed widowers, and taught about the divorced twice, and contradicted himself in the process. Obviously that is not he proper understanding and of course would contradict the rest of the scriptures on the topic.

1 Corinthians 7: 10
But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

Here is Paul’s teaching to all married people. He says first of all, that we should never separate for any reason just as Jesus did. Then He adds that if any separations should occur, we have two options and two only:


1.remain unmarried

2. be reconciled

Could he have stated this any clearer? Next he adds that this applies whether or not the spouse is a believer:

1 Corinthians 7: 12
But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.

Again, this is about as clear as can be, whether or not the spouse is an unbeliever is irrelevant as to whether the believer is to keep their covenant. We are commanded to always adhere to it regardless of the actions of our spouse.

Of course those who try to create loopholes look at the next verse and try to claim that it eliminates everything else Paul just said, as well as the rest of scripture, and gives a provision to divorce an unbeliever and remarry without committing adultery. Of course they are completely adding this to the text, and Paul has never said anything of the sort:

1 Corinthians 7: 15
Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.

If we limit the text to what it actually says, it only permit’s a believer to allow an unbeliever to depart for the sake of peace, if they refuse to dwell with us. We need to remember the context of this statement:


1. she consents to live with him
2. he consents to live with her
3. if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave

The text itself only permits allowing an unbeliever to depart for the sake of peace if they refuse to dwell with the believer. If however they do not refuse then the believer must honor the covenant they made, and if they refuse we still must honor it and remain unmarried or else reconcile with them. The scriptures are consistent throughout when we don’t try to add what is not there.
Beyond that, Paul himself refutes the idea that this bondage is anything but dwelling together, by stating that the marriage bond itself is only dissolvable by death:

I Corinthians 7:39

A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

If those who claim that marriage is dissolved by an unbeliever departing were correct, then Paul would have to be schizophrenic as well as being in direct contradiction to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Obviously they are taking his words out of context and creating a loophole that isn’t there.
The next category that he covers is the male and female virgins:

I Corinthians 7:25

Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. 26 I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

So Paul here is addressing the male and female virgins, and telling them that in view of the present distress (persecution), that it is his opinion that it is better for them to remain as unmarried virgins, but that there is nothing scripturally preventing them from marrying if they choose to do so.


While he is giving this advice to the virgins, he parenthetically speaks to those who have been released from marriage (widowers and widows) and tells them that it is his opinion to follow the same advice, and to those who are bound to a marriage that they should not use this advice as an excuse to seek to be released from the marriage.
He then finishes his statement to the male virgins he was speaking to (remember he said "it is good for a man to remain as he is“) and says that they have not sinned to remarry, and then adds that the female virgin marries she has not sinned” either.

Many try to take these teachings out of context and suggest that Paul is referring to the divorced people when speaking of those who are “released” and then claim it is them who has not sinned, but in fact he specifically said that only death releases one from marriage, and that it is the virgins who are free to marry. This obviously contradicts the context of the passage, as well as the rest of scripture.

We see therefore that Paul’s teachings were consistent, as well as agreeing with those of Jesus Christ. Many will even admit this fact, yet claim that they are permitted to live in adultery because their sins are “under the blood” of Jesus Christ, and therefore they do not have to turn from their adulterous relationship. Of course they are turning God’s grace into licentiousness and denying His Lordship:

Jude 1:4

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

When one denies the need to repent of their sin, they are actually denying that He is their Lord and ensuring that they will not become His child and inherit His Kingdom:

1 John 5:18
WE KNOW that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

1 John 2:3-6
By this WE KNOW that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

1 John 3:7-10
Little children, MAKE SURE NO ONE DECEIVES YOU; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

Hebrews 13:4

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
I Corinthians 6:9-11

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such WERE some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

We WERE born into sin and practiced lawlessness because our father WAS the devil, but If we have been born of God, then His Spirit has cleansed us from our unrighteousness and written His Laws on our hearts and minds through the regeneration of His Spirit. That means that we have repented of all of our sins, including adultery, and no longer practice lawlessness. Those who love their sin more than they love Him will never know Him and have no inheritance in His Kingdom.

[sup]Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is tested;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

6
Do not add to His words
Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar
[/sup]



[sup]20[/sup]
[sup]This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, "I have done no wrong."
[/sup]


"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."
 

aspen

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Egyptians lived long before Moses.
 

7angels

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i see no reason to repost the scriptures when we can go back up to see what is being referred too. now i have not read anywhere divorce will not be dissolved by God. moses wrote about divorce in the old testament. granted it was the effect of man having a hard heart but that is not the point. what you posted is how marriage was supposed to work. but sin came along and changed God's perfect plan. which is where moses comes into this by allowing isreal to allow divorce then Jesus came and corrected our reasons of why divorce was allowed. but with the death and resurrection of Christ, we were given grace. now grace is not a reason to sin but God knows we make mistakes so to help us Grow out of sin God has gifted us with grace in abundance for every situation. so it is as if we have done nothing wrong in God's eyes.

remember we no longer live according to the law but by grace. also by living by grace does not cancel out the law but fulfills it because grace forgives our trespasses of the law and helps us to be able to grow up in Christ(allows us to become like Christ).

you forget that we are sinners and not perfect and we still make mistakes. as such should we be married to a person who is wrong for us and we end up divorcing them is one reason God has gifted us with grace which clears us of the sin as if we had never done it. but remember grace is only for those that are humble.


so without going any further and point out all the errors involved we can instead look at how we should be treating our spouces. how many treat them according to biblical standards? the pronciple what mama wants mama gets is biblical. how many people live by this standard? there are many other prociples that are biblical we are to live by but are we? then we wonder why divorce even happens. if Jesus treated his bride the way we treat a lot of our spouces then i would not be surprised if people divorced Jesus. but thank God Jesus is not like that.
 

SealedEternal

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That's a long post. Can I get Cliffs-notes?

Sure:

Mark 10: 6-12 "But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. And He *said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

Luke 16:18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”

Romans 7:2-3 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

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SealedEternal

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now i have not read anywhere divorce will not be dissolved by God.


There is no divorce, as we know it, in the Bible.


moses wrote about divorce in the old testament.

First of all, unless you're under the Old Covenant that Moses proclaimed, that has no application to you. Secondly, the "divorce" he permitted was for a wife who was discovered to not be a virgin when her husband married her. The details are covered in detail in the op. No "divorce", as you are using the term, has been permitted by God at any time.

what you posted is how marriage was supposed to work.

No. What I posted is God's commandments for how it will work. To go against them is to be in rebellion against God, and to remarry is to enter into an adulterous relationship according to Him.

but sin came along and changed God's perfect plan.

God never changed His plans to accomodate sin. His only plan was to free us from our enslavement to sin, but never to change His standards for what is or isn't sin.

which is where moses comes into this by allowing isreal to allow divorce then Jesus came and corrected our reasons of why divorce was allowed.

That's not even close to what Jesus taught, which is explained in great detail in the op:

Matthew 19:4-6 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

Mark 10: 6-12 "But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. And He *said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

Luke 16:18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery."


but with the death and resurrection of Christ, we were given grace.

Jude :4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

you forget that we are sinners and not perfect and we still make mistakes. as such should we be married to a person who is wrong for us and we end up divorcing them is one reason God has gifted us with grace which clears us of the sin as if we had never done it. but remember grace is only for those that are humble.

God gives His grace to THOSE WHO REPENT! You're not being humble if you continue in your rebellian against Him. He said that "everyone" who divorced and remarried "is committing adultery." That means they are still joined to their original spouse, and are now having extramarital relations with someone who is not his or her spouse. He doesn't give us grace to continue in adultery, but commands us to turn from it, and make Him our Lord.

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lawrance

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God is a divorcee, He divorced Israel!
He never did divorce Israel, how can he, as to be an 'Israel' is to be ?
Do you know what Israel means bro?
The fools divorced themselves of him! and they were not Israel at all because they could not be in the first place now could they.
 

7angels

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God divorced isreal
jer 3:8
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.



SealedEternalwhy can't you understand grace? You are going to be judged by what standards you hold others too. do you no longer understand that we are not held accountable to the law anymore but are given grace? you speak like a pharesee or sadducee. do you not understand that as we grow in the Lord that he will convict us of our sins? do you not understand what happens when God grants us grace? do you understand what the requirement is in order to get grace?



7angels Quote

you forget that we are sinners and not perfect and we still make mistakes. as such should we be married to a person who is wrong for us and we end up divorcing them is one reason God has gifted us with grace which clears us of the sin as if we had never done it. but remember grace is only for those that are humble.


SealedEternal says

God gives His grace to THOSE WHO REPENT! You're not being humble if you continue in your rebellian against Him. He said that "everyone" who divorced and remarried "is committing adultery." That means they are still joined to their original spouse, and are now having extramarital relations with someone who is not his or her spouse. He doesn't give us grace to continue in adultery, but commands us to turn from it, and make Him our Lord.

when you humble yourself before God and ask for his grace and mercy upon you you make it sound like once you do something wrong that you must constantly ask God for repentance concerning divorce. this is wrong according to the covenant of grace we are now under.

we now that the bible does not conflict with itself so i need to do some research on the history of rome and corenith. this will help to give more detail into why paul may of put things the way he did.

i know where you are coming from about divorce being wrong. i agree that divorce is frowned upon by God but things happen. as long as there is true repentance then the sin goes away. it is our Job afterwards to forget about it and not carry the burden of whether or not we are forgiven. the word shows that once we ask for forgiveness that God forgets about it. if God forgets it then so should we. God works with us at where we are. God does not deal with us in areas that we cannot handle.
 

SealedEternal

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God divorced isreal
jer 3:8
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

First of all, this passage is using marriage symbolically, so it would be foolish to use it as the foundation of one's doctrine when we have such clear commandments from Jesus Himself in the New Testament:

Mark 10: 6-12 "But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. And He *said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

Luke 16:18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”


Secondly, God was divorcing Israel here and not Judah, so He was still married. Thirdly, we are told in Bible prophecy that God has not abandoned Israel, and fully plans to consummate His marriage in the future, so the whole point is moot.

SealedEternalwhy can't you understand grace? You are going to be judged by what standards you hold others too. do you no longer understand that we are not held accountable to the law anymore but are given grace?

But you don't have a proper understanding of what God's grace is. It is not a license to live in adultery:

Jude :4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

Being born of God means being freed from our enslavement to sin, and not free to live in it:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? DO NOT BE DECEIVED; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Romans 6:17-18 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

1 John 3:4-10 Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that that One was revealed that He might take away our sins, and sin is not in Him. Everyone remaining in Him does not sin. Everyone practicing sin has not seen Him, nor known Him. Little children, MAKE SURE NO ONE DECEIVES YOU; the one practicing righteousness is righteous, even as that One is righteous. The one practicing sin is of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. For this the Son of God was revealed, that He might undo the works of the devil. No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone not practicing righteousness is not of God; also the one not loving his brother.

you speak like a pharesee or sadducee.

As I showed in the original post, It was the Pharisees that were making excuses for divorce, while Jesus condemned them as adulterers for their remarriages, which He said were actually adultery. This is because they were still bound to their original wives despite the divorce.

do you not understand that as we grow in the Lord that he will convict us of our sins?

And you don't think He ever uses messengers to do this? Why would the truth bother you anyway?

do you not understand what happens when God grants us grace? do you understand what the requirement is in order to get grace?

Through our faith, God's Spirit regenerates our wicked hearts and cleanses us from our unrighteousness. That means we no longer practice sins like adultery, because we are a new creation that love His commandments:

1 John 5:2-3 By this WE KNOW that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

1 John 2:3-6 By this WE KNOW that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

When He grants us His grace we are free from our enslavement to unrighteousness. We are not free to live in it without consequence.

when you humble yourself before God and ask for his grace and mercy upon you you make it sound like once you do something wrong that you must constantly ask God for repentance concerning divorce. this is wrong according to the covenant of grace we are now under.

I never said that. What I pointed out is that Jesus said the marriage covenant is bound by God for life, and we cannot separate it. Therefore if we try to and remarry we aren't actually remarried, but are having relations with someone who is not our spouse while married to another (ie committing adultery). The Spirit of God can free us from our adulterous relationships, but He certainly doesn't free us to continue having unlawful relations with someone we are not legally married to. Therefore we must repent of the unlawful so-called "marriage" and return to our true spouse.

i know where you are coming from about divorce being wrong. i agree that divorce is frowned upon by God but things happen. as long as there is true repentance then the sin goes away.

Repenting means to turn away from the way you are going and go the other direction. If Jesus says your relationship is adultery, by definition "repentance" involves ending the extramarital relationship. The sin doesn't "go away" until you stop engaging in it.

it is our Job afterwards to forget about it and not carry the burden of whether or not we are forgiven. the word shows that once we ask for forgiveness that God forgets about it.

Where are you getting this from? We can live in adultery, and if we ask for forgiveness we have the freedom to continue in it? I don't see that principle anywhere in scripture. Nowhere does it say that God will forgive a sin that we continue to practice. If divorcing and remarrying is entering into an unlawful extramarital affair as Jesus said, then we must end the adulterous relationship:

Matthew 19:4-6 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

Mark 10: 6-12 "But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. And He *said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

Luke 16:18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”

Romans 7:2-3 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

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Selene

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God divorced isreal
jer 3:8
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

God did not divorce Israel. The language of divorce in Jeremiah is used precisely to take it back. In other words, when he writes his wayward wife a "bill of divorcement" and sends her away into exile, he goes to get her. Therefore, it was a legal separation. If you read further in Jeremiah, God still considered Himself Israel's husband and is even asking Israel to return to Him; therefore, it was not a divorce, but a separation because Israel committed adultery by worshipping other gods.

Jeremiah 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
 

tomwebster

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God did not divorce Israel. The language of divorce in Jeremiah is used precisely to take it back. In other words, when he writes his wayward wife a "bill of divorcement" and sends her away into exile, he goes to get her. Therefore, it was a legal separation. If you read further in Jeremiah, God still considered Himself Israel's husband and is even asking Israel to return to Him; therefore, it was not a divorce, but a separation because Israel committed adultery by worshipping other gods.

Jeremiah 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:


Judah came back from exile not the Northern tribes, Israel.
 

tomwebster

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Still, God never divorced Israel. Divorce is actually against God's commandment, and God doesn't break His own commandment.

Jer 3: 8 says differently, but you can believe anything you want. You are just missing out on some of the great lessons in Scripture.
 

Selene

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Jer 3: 8 says differently, but you can believe anything you want. You are just missing out on some of the great lessons in Scripture.

No, it doesn't. As I said, if you read further into Jeremiah, it tells you that God is still married to Israel; therefore, that means that it was a legal separation rather than a divorce. Below is what Scripture says:

Jeremiah 3:8-14 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; [and] I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I [am] merciful, saith the LORD, [and] I will not keep [anger] for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:


If God had given Israel a divorce as it says in Jer. 3:8, then why does it say that God is still married to Israel in Jer. 3:14, which is just 6 verses away? The answer is it was never a divorce. It was a legal separation. God would not go against His own commandments.
 

7angels

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this is the last time i plan on responding to this thread. sealedeteranal i have already told you that i agree to most of what you say. divorce is wrong but we do not live in a perfect world. what you are not understanding is that there are famous ministers and preachers out there today that have been divorced and God blesses their ministries, if what you say is true about marriage that once you are married you are always married and divorcing that person and getting remarried is adultery then that would be called willful sin, once God convicts us of willful sin then we need to correct ourselves or God will not bless us because we are living in sin. i can guarantee you that if these ministers and preachers were in willful sin that God would give them time to repent and if they do not that god will remove his anointing from them. since this has not happened then this shows that they must have made their peace with God. so if these people did repent then why are they still with their newly married spouse instead of having gone back to their old spouse? it is because they repented and God gave them grace and from that point on they are made righteous as if they has done nothing wrong. by the way willful sin is sin that we are keep doing even though we know it is wrong(for example pornography, stealing, lying, and ect).

now what you are doing is interpreting the law of God as higher then grace. we no longer live according to the law but by grace. you cannot hold the law of God over the heads of christians. when you do this then God will hold you to the same standard that you judge others by. even if you have your life together in the marriage area i know you don't have every area of your life perfect. so if you judge people by there actions then you are going to be in for a surprise when you get to heaven and God judges you by those same standards you judged others by. i will be praying for God to open your eyes because at the judgement of Christ you will be in for a rude awakening. just because the bible says this is how we are to be is a guideline for us to strive to obey. to my knowledge there is no one but Jesus who is sinless from birth to their death. so in other words we have all failed in the keeping of the law. so all we can do is strive to achieve what the word tells us perfection is. through our striving we all make mistakes and need to to cleanse us and make us holy again and keep striving to uphold the perfection the bible speaks of.
 

sdcougar

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That's a long post. Can I get Cliffs-notes?
LOL

Just a few notes:

Starting with the OT it is clear that the spouse of an adulterer/ous was free to re-marry. This is the clear background of all NT teaching.

In the OT they only stoned the adluterer, not the spouse who was sinned against.

Some Christians/churches did not believe that Christians who were deserted by adulterous spouses were free to remarry.

Some Christians, stoned both spouses with gossip.

As an over-reaction in our day, many churches allow anything.

The only exception to "no divorce" that Jesus gave was adultery.
 

SealedEternal

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LOL

Just a few notes:

Starting with the OT it is clear that the spouse of an adulterer/ous was free to re-marry. This is the clear background of all NT teaching.

Under the Old Covenant an adulterer was stoned to death, so yes the surviving spouse was free to remarry. Death is the only thing that ends a marriage covenant:

Genesis 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Matthew 19:4-6 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate!"

Romans 7:2-3 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

1 Corinthians 7:39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

In the OT they only stoned the adluterer, not the spouse who was sinned against.

Obviously.

Some Christians/churches did not believe that Christians who were deserted by adulterous spouses were free to remarry.

That's because Jesus said they were not:

Mark 10: 6-12 "But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. And He *said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

Luke 16:18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”

Jesus specifically said that because a marriage is bound by God, and no man can separate it; both parties would be engaging in unlawful extramarial relationships if they attempt to remarry after a divorce.

Some Christians, stoned both spouses with gossip.

What would that have to do with anything?

As an over-reaction in our day, many churches allow anything.

Again, that has nothing to do with anything.

The only exception to "no divorce" that Jesus gave was adultery.

That is a complete misunderstanding of the context of Jesus' statements as I had explained in the op:


Matthew 19:3
Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" 4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? 6 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

First of all, the entire claim that God allows divorce and remarriage is refuted by Jesus immediately when the Pharisees ask Him the question, because His answer was an unequivocal NO! The Pharisees then go on to question Him about the Old Covenant Law and an apparent “exception” offered there:

Matthew 19:7
They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?" 8 He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another woman commits adultery."

The obvious fact that many people ignore when reading this passage, is that the context of the “exception” is in the Old Covenant Law for Old Covenant people. It is irrelevant therefore for New Covenant believers regardless of what it was referring to, but when we look at what it actually says, it is clear that even this provision was not for “divorce” as it is practiced today:

Deuteronomy 22: 13
"If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and thenturns against her, 14 and charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her, and says, 'I took this woman, butwhen I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,' 15 then the girl's father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidenceof the girl's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 "The girl's father shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he turned against her; 17 and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, "I did not find your daughter a virgin." But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. 18 "So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekelsof silver and give it to the girl's father, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days. 20 "But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 24: 1
"When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife,3and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and putsitin her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 thenher former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

As you can see, the Law of Moses only allowed a man to divorce his wife if he found indecency in her, “WHEN HE MARRIED HER.” This means that she had fornicated prior to him marrying her, which is why Jesus said that the Old Covenant Law allowed “divorce” for the cause of “fornication.”

In Old Covenant marriages, the family of the man would normally make a covenant with the family of the bride offering a dowry. If it was accepted the two were regarded as husband and wife from that day forward, but they still continued to live separately for a period of time called the “betrothal.” Therefore they were husband and wife because they made a binding covenant, but not yet “married” which means they lived as one flesh.
The Laws we just read stated that he could dissolve this covenant, if when he married her, he found that she had already fornicated with someone else. In other words, she had defrauded him of the virgin bride that he agreed to marry when the covenant was made, so he could dissolve the covenant and marry someone else, but he could not ever take her back if she married again. It also said that if she was a virgin then “
she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days” which shows us that the Law of marriage for life was still in effect back then, unless he proved that she had fornicated prior to the marriage.

We actually have a Biblical example of this Law almost being implemented by Jesus’ earthly father Joseph:

Matthew 1: 18
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

We see that Joseph mistakenly assumed that Mary had fornicated during his betrothal to her, and intended to implement the Old Covenant Law to dissolve the covenant. Obviously he was informed that the child was from God’s Spirit and never carried out the Law, but nevertheless this passage confirms how it was meant to be applied.

Some try to take the exception out of context and apply it to New Covenant Christians, and falsely claim that the fornication actually means adultery, and thus they claim that one can divorce their spouse if they commit adultery, and then they are free to remarry. This is a horrible abuse of the text for many reasons:

1. We already saw that Jesus specifically applied the exception to the Old Covenant and unequivocally refuted the idea that fully married couples could divorce and remarry. In fact, He called everyone who engages in divorce and remarriage as committing the sin of adultery, which by definition means that the person is not in a “marriage” with the second spouse, but is in an unlawful relationship while being married to the original spouse.

2. The word for “fornication” or “unchastity” in Greek is "porneia", while "adultery" is a totally different term "moicheia". Both words are used in the same verses and each have a distinct meaning (Matthew 5:32; 15:19; 19:19; Mark 7:21, 1 Cor.6:9, Gal.5:19, Heb.13:4). These two different words with two different meanings clearly describe two different acts. If Jesus meant adultery, He surely would have used the term for adultery -- “moichao.” He was certainly not using terms carelessly, especially in disputing with legal experts.

We actually have a scriptural example of “porneia” specifically being used to imply that Mary the mother of Jesus had fornicated during her betrothal to Joseph:

John 8: 41
(Jesus said) "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication (porneia); we have one Father: God."

In this text, the Pharisees give a bit of a back handed sneer at Jesus, claiming that the was born of "porneia." This claim could be made by anyone since it is obvious that Mary was pregnant before her and Joseph were married. Therefore they are accusing Jesus of being born by sexual promiscuity before his parents were married (in the betrothal period).





3. The exception clause also cannot be for adultery because it would defy common sense. Adultery cannot be both the sin and the justification for not being in sin at the same time. In other words, if divorce and remarriage is adultery according to Jesus, and adultery were the justification for divorce and remarriage according to Him as well, then any divorce and remarriage automatically becomes legal because it is adulterous. In other words it would be the fact that one commits a sin that would make them not in sin, while if they did not commit the sin of adultery they would be in sin to remarry. Of course according to this absurd logic, the fact that Jesus says the second marriage is adultery makes it legal since they claim adultery is the exception. It is obvious that Jesus Christ would not make such an error in reasoning when teaching on the subject.

4. The final reason that it cannot be referring to adultery is because two of the three Gospels teaching on the topic specifically state there are no exceptions. Therefore either those who make they adultery claim must be misapplying the scriptures, or God contradicts Himself in his Word and the whole thing is useless. Of course the context specifically says it is for fornication and not adultery, and only applied to the Old Covenant as we have already explored.

Here is the other verse offering the supposed exception:

Matthew 5: 31
"It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE'; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

If you look carefully, it is clear that this verse is quoting Deuteronomy 24 (Old Covenant Law), which we have already covered. Some people however, claim that the innocent party of a divorce is free to remarry while the guilty party is not, but this passage clearly refutes that claim as well. First of all, it specifically says that the woman innocent of fornication is made to commit adultery by the treacherous actions of her husband divorcing her unjustly. This woman therefore has not committed the sin which permit’s a divorce, yet being unlawfully divorced by her husband makes her commit adultery. Secondly, it is illogical for one party of a union to be free while the other is bound. Either the marriage is applicable or it isn’t, but it can’t be valid for one party and not the other. Clearly scripture teaches it is binding for them both.

If you look at the second half of the verse, it clearly refutes the concept of remarriage as well, because it states that
whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Now clearly If divorce could end a marriage, it cannot be adultery to marry the divorced woman. Jesus however clearly teaches that it is, which is irrefutable proof that God doesn’t recognize “divorce”, because He joins us together, and we cannot separate. As we read earlier, this concept was taught in Luke 16:18 as well, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”



SealedEternal
 

Selene

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Apr 12, 2010
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There are actually marriages that are not bound by God. For example, if a woman is forced to marry, that is not a marriage bound by God, and this marriage can be null and void. In a marriage, the couple must freely agree to wed without any outside influence or force. If one person lies to their partner and enters the marriage with a lie, that is a marriage also not bound by God.