Divorce and Remarriage

1 Moses wrote the first laws concerning divorce that are mentioned in the Bible.

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 uncleanness (literally: "nakedness of a thing"), in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house... Deuteronomy 24:1

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Moses wrote the first laws concerning divorce.   The law was plain and simple.  Moses did not explain or amplify.  But Jesus did.  Just like His Father, Jesus hated divorce. 

Jesus made it plain that He had not come to destroy (annul) the law, (by any misinterpretation or misapplication), but to fulfill it (completely uphold it and make it replete [more than full], by properly interpreting it, and then living correctly according to it).  He expected His followers to do the same.  The law was meant to be kept -- but it takes grace to do so.

The Jews of Jesus' day permitted a very loose interpretation of Moses' law which allowed a man to divorce his wife for almost any reason.  By doing so they were annulling (destroying) the law.  The result was misery.  Divorced women had a difficult life -- to say nothing of the children.  Jesus desired to correct that injustice.

2  It seems that the Jews of Jesus' day had misinterpreted Moses' law to read something like this...

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes, ... and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house...  Deuteronomy 24:1

Thus Moses' law was annulled  (destroyed), by the omission of the phrase "because he has found some uncleanness (nakedness of a thing), in her."

3  So Jesus immediately corrected this miserable misinterpretation by saying,

Furthermore it has been said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce."  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality (nakedness of a thing), causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. Matthew 5:31-32

4  If Matthew 5:31-32 was all God had to say about divorce and remarriage it would not be enough.  Questions would arise:

5  But Jesus had much more to say.

Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery: and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.   Luke 16:18

Jesus' sayings concerning divorce have sparked more controversy than anything else He ever said..  There has been much debate and much has been written in an effort to clear up misunderstanding, but the confusion has only grown.  We can finally arrive at the truth by studying Hebrew.

Jesus spoke in Hebrew, and the early church historian Eusebius tells us that Matthew first wrote his gospel in Hebrew.  Nevertheless we do not have a copy of the Hebrew text.  All we have is Greek. 

What did Jesus really say?  That is always the question.  Would it be possible to translate backwards from Greek to Hebrew to make a guess?  Scholars have tried and have come up with some interesting results which I think are accurate -- based upon other Hebrew texts of Jesus' day.

Luke 16:18 rendered in Hebrew would link the two verbs "divorce" and "marry" together as one action; "kol hasholeach et eshto venose acheret noef" or in English "Anyone who divorces his wife in order to marry another commits adultery."

The reverse is also true.  A woman who divorces her husband to marry another also commits adultery. In the Jewish legal code (Mishnah, Sotah 5.1), a woman divorced because she had an adulterous relationship is not permitted to marry her lover.

6  Much later in His ministry Jesus returned to Judea and was confronted again by some Pharisees who had questions concerning divorce:

The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"

And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at 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 then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  Matthew 19 3-6

7   They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  Matthew 19:7

Notice that they had once again skillfully omitted the phrase "because he has found some nakedness of a thing in her." 

8 Jesus had God's answer.

He said to them,  "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts; permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.   And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." Matthew 19:8-9

Jesus was seeking to correct an injustice.  The Pharisees felt a woman could be divorced for any reason.  This would result in great hardship for the woman -- to say nothing of the children.  Many of the divorces in Jesus' day were happening just because the man really wanted to marry someone else.   The same is true in our day.

9  Jesus' interpretation of Moses' law was the proper interpretation.   While the Pharisees were only looking at the letter of the law (and obviously trying to find loopholes), Jesus was looking at the intent of God as revealed in all of Scripture. Before Moses had written anything, God had 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."  Genesis 2:24  A person who had the right heart towards God would be looking for God's intent -- not loopholes.

10  It seems to me that the question of remarriage is also answered.  If a person divorces his spouse because of sexual immorality, he is free to remarry -- otherwise not.

11  But what about abuse or abandonment?   What then?  Well, if we were to follow the intent of God rather than look for loopholes, legal separation (followed with counseling with a view toward reconciliation), not divorce, would be the answer.  Yet Paul, who had the Spirit of Christ, permitted divorce if an unbelieving partner had abandoned his spouse.   Nevertheless in all of these questions -- see your pastor.

12 What if the intent of God has not   been kept? 

There is forgiveness!

* Grace is the real issue here.  The intent of God as revealed in His law can never be kept apart from grace.  Human hearts are hard, (unwilling to forgive?), as Jesus pointed out, and just cannot follow God's law without first knowing His grace.  Sin happens.  That is why Jesus came and died for us on the cross at Calvary -- to wash away our sins -- completely -- and they will be remembered no more.

Jesus' strict interpretation of the law (according to God's intent), in the Sermon on the Mount shows just how far the human race has strayed from God, and how much we need His grace.  Marriage in particular seems to be impossible without it.   Those who know grace can give grace.  Grace heals -- and thereby changes people.  That's why grace can heal and change marriages.  Grace is needed, without it marriage the way God intended it is impossible.  Apart from grace the intent of God's law (that people should stay married), can never be kept.  I think that was Jesus' point, for He had said, "Unless your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees... and that is only possible through grace.

Discussion:

Memory verse:  "What God has joined together; let not man separate."  Mark 10:9

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