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DIVORCE IS AUTHORIZED
UNDER BOTH TESTAMENTS
It is generally conceded by all Bible students that
the original purpose of marriage is recorded in Genesis where God creates
both male and female. “Therefore shall
a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”
(Genesis 2: 24). This was the original intent of God in creation.Jesus emphasized this.And then, sin entered the world.
BUT DIVORCE IS AUTHORIZED DUE TO “HARDNESS OF HEARTS.” Jesus' explanation of the nature of
marriage in, e.g., Matthew 19, is from the Greek translation of
Genesis: man shall cleave to (literally, “be glued” [Mounce,
#G4347] but figuratively, “abide with”, his wife and they two are to be “one
flesh.” This was God's designed intent for marriage. But sin
coming into the world caused God to permit divorce. For example,
Jesus said (Matthew 19:5), “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts
suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.”
Jesus referred to Moses as God's prophet who gave God's law that suffered,
i.e., "permitted",[i] divorce. "From the first" (commencement through
now including the period of the Mosaic Law) emphasizes God's original design
and His continued current intention for marriage. But sin (originating in the
Garden) brought in hardening of man's heart. Some Israelites provoked
and grieved God in the wilderness because of their hardness of hearts of
unbelief (Hebrews 3:15-17). They stubbornly
resisted God. Jesus even "upbraided" His close
apostles because they had initially "hardness of hearts" in refusing
(believing) His resurrection (Mark 16:14).
SOME COMMANDS AND ALLOWANCES ARE IN BOTH the OLD AND the NEW
TESTAMENTS. After His
crucifixion and resurrection The Law (OT) has been replaced
for the Lord's Kingdom by His New
Testament. His death not only saves the faithful ones under the Old (Hebrews
9:15) but it replaces its authority. Jesus' New Testament Kingdom is
compared to “an householder,
which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew
13:57). Some “old” things are brought “forth” into the
“new”, but some are not. For example, some things “brought forth”
are from the Ten Commandments which are included in “love God” and “love your
neighbor” (Romans 13:9).
An exception “not” brought forth is the fourth COMMANDMENT, the
“seventh day sabbath.” Colossians 2:16, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath G4521 days.” Some negative ordinances,
such as “eating of meats” (including pork, 1 Timothy 4:3) are now allowed. There now is a new
declared “sabbath” rest but awaits us at death. “Then there is left a Sabbath rest G4520 to
the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9, ABP+) “when they shall
rest from their works like God did His” (v. 10, ABP+).
The same thing occurs with the
marriage commands. Some rules are “brought forth” over into the
New. The original commands for man was to be married because it included
“Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28; it
was repeated to Noah after the flood, 9:1, 7).[ii] But this specific
law is apparently modified in the New Testament [iii] by Jesus who
taught in Matthew 19:12 that one did not have to marry if “for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake.” This
coincides with Paul's statement of his being gifted by being able to contain without seeking marriage (1
Corinthians 7:7-9).
DIVORCE WAS AUTHORIZED IN THE OT BECAUSE OF da^ba^r ervah
(Hebrew H1697, H6172). The King James Version
[iv]
translates “some uncleanness” (for Hebrew dabarH1697 ervah #H6172)
in Deuteronomy 24:1-3 as the reason for divorce. There is a debate
on what this actually was. Even back in Jesus' day. It wasn't adultery because
death was the penalty for adultery. But
this rule for divorce (from Deuteronomy 24:1ff) was “brought forth” by
Jesus (e.g., in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:31, 32, plus Matthew 19:9,
and later by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 & 7 [v]). Of course, Jesus would not have
repudiated or changed Moses prior to the cross (He condemned such in that sermon: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments (of the Law of Moses), and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven”). Jesus rather references the
Deuteronomy 24's “divorce law” but uses the Greek word for “fornication” (porneia#G4202)
as the authorized reason for divorce.
The New Testament then uses the Greek porneia#G4202,
in English, “fornication”, for the OT Hebrew word ervah#H6172.
For example, 1 Corinthians 5:1 also uses this Greek word, pornea
“fornication” for one having his father's wife: “which is pornea (fornication).” This referred to Leviticus
18:6; 22:11's KJV's “nakedness” (Hebrew ervah,
Strong's #H6172 ). In other words, the NT word
“fornication” is equivalent to the Old Testament word “ervah” translated
in KJV'S OT as “nakedness, shame, unclean, uncleanness” (King James
Concordance). Acts 15 lists pornea (for ervah)
among the four prohibitions brought over from the Old Testament.This includes various illicit sexual
practices from Leviticus 18.[vi] When Jesus gave
the exception cause for divorce in the New Testament, He quoted this Moses'
exception of ervah in Deuteronomy 24:1 and called it pornea, i.e., fornication!
The hardness of heart would be the one obstinately breaking
the promised bond and thus giving the injured party authority to sever the
binding contract. There was no need to
murder the partner in order to get relief from the
problematic union.
Divorce under Moses was denied two classes of husbands:
(1) The man who had falsely accused his wife of antenuptial infidelity (Deuteronomy 22:13), and
(2) a person who had seduced a virgin (Deuteronomy 22:28).
A divorced wife who had not contracted a second marriage might be reunited to her husband.
But in case she had married the second time she was forever barred from returning to her first husband, even if the second husband had divorced her or had died (Deuteronomy 24:3).
2 According to the laws of Moses, a husband, under unfortunate
circumstances, might then divorce his wife. And even add a wife; the marriage was a
financial asset to the man during these ancient times. If a wife is physically harmed by someone,
compensation is paid to her husband. The husband is not only the owner of his wife, he is also the
owner of her pregnancy (Exodus 21:22).
THE RIGHTS OF THE WIFE.
Fundamentally, it was impossible for a wife to put
away her husband in ancient times. Unfortunately, a double standard of
morality existed in matters pertaining to the sexes. Meanwhile the Law of
Moses protected the wife's three (3) rights (Exodus 21:10) in a marriage. The rights of a
wife are given incidentally in the Law of Moses via the listed rights of a
slave wife (in Exodus 21). That is, it is stated that a married slave must be
dealt with "after the manner of free daughters." And then, the basic rights
of the wife were listed; according to Exodus 21:10: she had three, (1) her
food, (2) her raiment, and (3) the duty of marriage (homiliaH5772 &
G3657--"cohabitation"), any of which "shall not be
diminished." In the absence of
any of these rights meant that the wife was free to leave, period. The court of rabbis apparently in actuality still
determined that the wife must receive a bill of divorcement from the husband as
a practicality as stated in Deuteronomy 24:1-3.[vii]
3 GOD COMMANDED DIVORCE. MARRYING OUTSIDE OF THE COVENANT was a
sin under the Old Testament Law and considered being treacherous
to God.
As Israel came into Canaan they were forbidden to
intermarry with the idolatrous nations of Canaan. “Furthermore,
you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to
their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from
following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled
against you and He will quickly destroy you” (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). Israel violated this precept.
The kingdom of Judah “had married
the daughter of a strange god” which brought him into close relation with
their idols and with devils (Malachi 2:11; Ezra 9:1-2; Joshua 23:12; Exodus
34:10, 16) which broke the Hebrew covenant by that person/s. It was an
abomination and was said to be dealing treacherously (unfaithfully,
Malachi 2:11). “ Judah
hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in
Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved,
and hath married the daughter of a strange god.” The man doing this
would be “cut off” by God for profaning the holiness of the Lord.
A solution. “Strange
wives” were worshippers of idols. God's command was to divorce
these strange wives. Ezra 9-12, “And
Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, ‘You have broken faith and married
foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. Now
then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do
his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and
from the foreign wives.' Then all the assembly
answered with a loud voice, 'It is so; we must do as you have said.'”
Separate: divorce.
“Now therefore let us make a covenant
with our God to put away all the wives,
and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of
those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be
done according to the law” (Ezra 10:2,3). “Put away”
= divorce. Repentance by divorcing in
this case would solve such an error.
This was
therefore a commandment in the Old Testament. The Septuagint uses allotriosG245 for “strange” wives
[meaning “not one's own; foreign; not akin, hostile” - Strong's].
Repentance
under the Law required divorce (Ezra 10:3).
The “strange” wives were those that would not covenant with Israel's God. The
lineage of Jesus includes Ruth who was a Moabitess and Rahab the harlot of
Jericho (Matthew 1:5). But these two had converted; Ruth promised
Naomi, for example, “thy
people shall be my
people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
Under the New
Testament, divorce for the cause of being married to an unbelieving spouse is
permitted but only if the unbelieving spouse does not want to stay (1
Corinthians 7:12).
4 & 5 GOD HIMSELF HAD TO “DIVORCE”: HE DIVORCED
ISRAEL AND LATER, JUDAH.
“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of
divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries” (Jeremiah 3:8-10; cf. Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah
3:14; 31:32). God divorced
(northern) Israel for
cause and yet Judah did the same thing. We can reason that since
the Lord “married” the church (Ephesians 5:23,24) then God (had) divorced Judah
as well (2 Corinthians 11:2). “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby
backsliding [viii] 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” (Jeremiah 3:8).
The Targum[ix] records, "I caused them to go into captivity, as
those that give a bill of divorce (to their wives) and dismiss them.''[x] Deuteronomy
24:1-3 authorized such divorces for “uncleanness” (KJV) that Jesus labeled
“fornication” in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9.
APPLICATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?
THE NEW TESTAMENT “CHANGES” SOME THINGS relative to
the Old Testament Law. The New Testament changed the Law of this “intermarrying”.
The unbeliever's willingness to dwell with a believer determines the
sacred validity of the marriage. “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the
unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children
unclean; but now are they holy” (1 Corinthians 7:14). Whereas the Jew was required to divorce an alien, there is a
change “brought over” where divorcing an “unbeliever” is not commanded but allows
an intermarriage to an “alien” to continue if the unbeliever is
willing. That is, the alien must consent (suneudokeōG4909: “to think well of in common; be gratified
with”) to dwell with, “by
implication to cohabit” (Strong's). Since Paul
was writing by inspiration, the refusal of the
alien to be satisfied in this matter permitted a divorce. Other than
this rule one should consider the wise injunction of a widow to "marry
only in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:39).
6 I appreciated Brian Kenyon's article entitled “Which Divorce Does God Hate?”[xi] It referred to
this passage in Malachi: Malachi 2:16, KJV, “For the LORD, the God
of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away [divorce-gw]: for one covereth violence
with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your
spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. H898” [xii] This was dealing
treacherously with one's spouse.
Another translation has the prophet Malachi writing
this about divorce: “I hate divorce, says the LORD God of Israel. I hate
it when one of you does such a cruel thing to his wife. Make sure that
you do not break your promise to be faithful to your wife.” (Malachi
2:16, GNB)
The prophet does say that God “hates” if a
person divorces a Scriptural spouse which results in tears upon His altar.
Malachi
2:13 (KJV), “And this have ye
done again, covering the
altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch
that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.”
Malachi
2:14-16 (CEV), “And why isn't God pleased? It's because he knows that each
of you men has been unfaithful to the wife you married when you were young.
You promised that she would be your partner, but now you have broken that
promise. God create you to become like one person with your wife? And
why did he do this? It was so you would have children, and then lead them to
become God's people. Don't ever be unfaithful to your wife. The LORD
God All-Powerful of Israel hates anyone who is cruel enough to divorce his
wife. So take care never to be unfaithful!”
Malachi 2:16, NIV, “'The man who hates and divorces his wife,' says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'does violence to the one he should protect,' says the Lord Almighty.”
Ezekiel 16:8, "Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness:
yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.”
The expression “covering someone with your garment,” was a metaphor for protection. Husbands were to protect and provide for their wives.
The hateful
thing was getting rid of a wife the man
didn't want anymore. The wife was left
without support in a society that was man-centered. Jesus demonstrates at the cross the need to
take care of His earthly mother Mary. Apparently, her husband was deceased. The woman abandoned by divorce would be shedding tears on the altar of
the Lord.
This Scripture on God's attitude towards divorce is
abused by various opinions and “law makers.”[xiii][ii] Malachi 2:16
does say that God hates “putting away” (divorce). But the context also
tells us what specific kind of "putting away" (i.e., divorce) the
prophet is speaking about. It is not
talking about just any divorce.
GOD HATES THE TREACHEROUS
DIVORCE IN THE CONTEXT OF MALACHI 2.
BUT God hated the divorcing of a covenanted wife, i.e., a Scriptural
spouse. Old Testament Judah not only had married idolatrous women but they had members who were guilty of causing
“tears with weeping and crying out” at His altar. “Covenant” in the
context refers to the legitimate Law of Moses. These tears were
shed because the husband was divorcing them, the “wife of his youth”, “the
wife of his covenant” (i.e., legitimately an Israelite or convert)
against whom he is dealing treacherously by putting her (the innocent wife)
away. Such an act God hated. According to Jesus to divorce a
legitimate spouse causes her to commit adultery just like it did under the
Old Testament. Paul recomfirms this
in 1 Corinthians 6 and 7. To prevent fornication (uncleanness, ervah) both husband and wife must faithfully cohabit with
(and only with) the legitimate spouse.
Finally, divorce is not fun for anyone. The best we can
hope for is to strive to fulfil God's intended fultilment of love and respect. Ephesian 5 gives God's solution for a
happy and fulfilling marriage. Ephesians 5:33, “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself;
and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”
God did
not enjoy divorcing Israel and eventually the kingdom of Judah. But God's
justice demanded it. For a divorce to be excepted
and initiated, fornication must have occurred. Fornication is a sin (1
Corinthians 6:18). Vows are broken which is condemned (Ecclesiastes 5:5). For
the best scenario, all free participants must ponder seriously beforehand if
marrying is for them and if so, both must determine to
work with one another and stick with their companion according to God's sacred design.
Gaylon West
Checked
by J. W. Ward
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