Last Sunday, Jesus taught the real meaning of righteousness in the area of marital fidelity and sexual purity.
Exodus 20:4;17
“You shall not commit adultery.
17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Today we continue with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 as he speaks to us about the meaning of righteousness when it comes to marriage and divorce.
Divorce Leads To Adultery.
Matthew 5:31-32
“It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; 32but 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 19:3-12
Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5and 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.” 7They said* to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” 8He 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 immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10The disciples said* to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12“For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
By the time Jesus came on to the scene, divorce had become so easy and casual that a man could dismiss his wife for such trivial things as burning his meal or embarrassing him in front of his friends. It was not uncommon for a husband to give no reason at all. It was not required.
Rabbinic justification of this practice arose from an erroneous interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4
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, 2and 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 puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4then her 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.
When you read the passage with understanding you see that it is not a passage that is written to condone or sanction divorce. It provides for a certificate of divorce that can be given in the case of adultery but it goes on to teach the ruinous nature of divorce and that divorce actually leads to the sin of adultery.
Divorce Destroys A Divine Union.
To understand what the Bible teaches about divorce, we must first understand what it teaches about marriage.
Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Every person who has ever been married (believer or non-believers) participates in a “union” established by the Creator Himself. Marriage is God’s institution.
God’s intent in marriage is monogamous and life-long to one person.
When men fell into sin, that perfect relationship was distorted and perverted.
Genesis 3:16
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”
Divorce is an attempt to sever the union that God has made.
The same thing as having a splinter in your finger and taking a knife and cutting off your hand or your arm. Rather than dealing with the problem.
Matthew 19:6
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.
Now in the Old Testament, the only thing that could break the marriage bond was adultery. However, its important to realize that in the Old Testament, adultery was punished by death which would thereby dissolve the marriage bond.
Leviticus 20:10
If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
In mercy, divorce was allowed as an alternative to death in the case of adultery.
God hates divorce.
Malachi 2:13-16
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.”
God Only Allows Divorce For Adultery
Researchers say that 86% of problem marriages in which there is not a third person involved can be fixed.
Jesus clearly taught against the practice of quick and easy dissolution of marriage.
The point is that the commitment must transcend most problems and issues. Even difficult marriages can be worth saving.
Before the services started, the townspeople were sitting in their pews and talking with one another when suddenly the Devil himself appeared at the front of the congregation. Everyone started screaming and running for the back door, trampling each other in an effort to get away from evil incarnate. Soon everyone had evacuated except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew, seemingly oblivious to the enemy in front of him. The devil walked up to the man and said, "Don’t you know who I am?" The man quietly replied, "Yep, sure do." Satan asked, "Aren’t you afraid of me?" "Nope, sure ain’t," said the man. A perturbed Satan, asked, "Why aren’t you afraid of me? “The man calmly replied, “Been married to your sister for over 46 years.”
Walter Davis at the age of 33 decide that divorce was the only solution for his marriage. A few months after getting a divorce Walter Davis signed up for a computer dating service. He filled out the exhaustive questionnaire and paid a pretty high fee and then waited for the results. Out of 30,000 prospective mates the computer picked out four people who would be compatible with him. On the very top of the list was his exwife.
