Genesis 2:23-25 ( ESV )
23Then the man said, “This
at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my
flesh; she shall be called
Woman, because she was taken out of Man.ӣ
24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his
mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
·
She had been taken from Adam’s rib and created
by God. She was truly bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.
·
Now as it was in the past a man was to leave his
father and mother and to make a home with his wife. They were to become one
flesh not only physically, but mentally, and spiritually one. They are to be
cemented together.
·
The words hold fast has the idea of marriage was
to be a permanent union. This was God’s ultimate desire and plan. This kind of
unity was to be an example to the world of how Jesus loves the church in Eph.
5:22-33. esp. v. 29-33
·
Marriage is not some simple thing to be tossed
into the wind based upon our emotions or how we feel about our partner on a
certain day. It is a covenant between us and our God.
·
This is where we must begin in our study.
Marriage is important to our God and because of that the union should be
important to us. We should give high esteem to the longevity of marriage and
not play with it as a small replaceable thing.
·
There are reasons for divorce as we will see in
our passages in Matthew and esp. in Matthew 5:31-32 but we must be reminded of
why as a whole a marriage is to remain if at all possible intact.
Matthew 5:31-32 ( ESV )
32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his
wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And
whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
o
Some background to this passage; BKC
Commentary-“Among the Jewish leaders there were two schools of thought
regarding the matter of Divorce from Dt. 24. Those
who followed Hillel said it was permissible for a husband to divorce his wife
for any reason at all, but the other group (those following Shammai) said
divorce was permissible only for a major offense. (Sexual immorality)” These
were the 2 major views during the time of Jesus. During these days divorce was
rampant among many of the religious leaders of the day as well as others. Text
from Bible were violated as men would even say that their wives were impure
because of how they kept house or other such nonsense. Marriage among some had
become a frivolous thing. Jesus now addresses this whole issue.
o
It was also said-As in the earlier passages
Jesus is now dealing with scriptures that the Pharisees and others had
corrupted by changing them and adding their own laws and perverted interpretations
of the Law of God. He will now deal with the argument of Divorce.
o
Divorces his wife, let him give her a
certificate of divorce. This is taken from Dt. 24:1 which says the following:
Deuteronomy 24:1 ( ESV )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1“When a man takes a wife and marries her,
if then 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 of his house, and she departs out of his house,
o
The man has taken for himself a wife and he has
found some indecency about her. The Hebrew word for indecency here is the word
for unclean and shameful and its root has the idea of to make naked or uncover
oneself. Therefore, it had the idea of if the mate found that his/hers mate had
been sexually impure during their marriage they had the right to divorce them.
o
The teachings of their day misinterpreted this
passage and would say that anything could make them unclean. Jesus now will
clarify this statement. By the next verse in 5:32.
o
But I say unto you-His authority and the clear
teaching of the Bible in contrast to what many were practicing and teaching.
o
Everyone-Not just a special class but all who
would go down this road.
o
Who divorces his wife except on the ground of
sexual immorality. The words that are used here is that of to release or to put
at liberty. They were allowed to divorce but the exception clause used here is
that of sexual immorality. Not just for any excuse that they wanted to put out
there or by redefining the word Indecency in Dt. 24:1.
o
Makes her to commit adultery and whoever marries
a divorced woman commits adultery. When
someone divorces his wife or husband under other issues he makes the woman to
commit adultery and he himself commits adultery when they remarry. He does not
deal in this verse though with someone who is innocent in this divorce. They
would be free to remarry.
o
To understand this passage better though we must
also look at Matthew 19 where Jesus deals with this issue again.
Matthew 19:3-9 ( ESV )
3And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by
asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
4He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them
male and female,
5and said,£‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast
to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’?
6So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore
God has joined together, let not man separate.”
7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command
one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”
8He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed
you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
9And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife,
except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.ӣ
Ø
Verse 3 once again the question is asked for any
cause. They are still trying to excuse their practice on divorce.
Ø
In verses 4-6 Jesus once again tells them that
the purpose of marriage was to be a lifetime commitment and uses the O.T.
passage from Genesis to prove the point. God ordained it for man and woman to
be one and it was not His intention to allow this bond to be separated.
Ø
Verse 7 The question is now asked by them then
why would Moses allow a certificate of divorce?
Ø
The reason why Moses allowed this though was
because the hardness of men’s hearts. (Many were stoned for adultery or falsely
accused and because of man’s sin it was allowed.)
Ø
Now in verse 9 Jesus once again states the
reason for divorce should be that of adultery or sexual immorality on one of
the mates part. In looking at the context he is trying to deal with those who
would divorce for just any reason and Jesus says, you want to marry again and
this is not the case then in my eyes it is adultery. MacArthur, “Moses did not
command a divorce to happen in case of adultery, but it was permissible to take
place. Divorce was to be only a last resort response. Jesus clearly allowed the
exception clause which would allow the innocent party to remarry without them
having the stigma of one who commits adultery.”
Here are some other important passage concerning this
subject:
1.
I Corinthians 7:15
1 Corinthians 7:15-16 ( ESV )
15But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it
be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you£ to peace.
16Wife, how do you know whether you will save your
husband? Husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
§
Unbelieving partner separates-If as a believer,
(brother or sister) you have an unsaved mate who divorces you. You are not
bound to that marriage and you may remarry again.
§
If the unbelieving partner wishes to remain with
you though remain as you may win their hearts to the Lord. (I Cor. 7:12-14)
A word of warning in Malachi 2:14-16
Malachi 2:14-16 ( ESV )
14But you say, “Why does he not?” Because
the Lord was witness between
you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is
your companion and your wife by covenant.
15Did he not make them one, with a portion of the
Spirit in their union?£ And what was the one God£ seeking?£ Godly offspring. So guard yourselves£ in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of
your youth.
16“For the man who hates and divorces, says
the Lord, the God of Israel,
covers£ his garment with
violence, says the Lord of
hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
Words
of warning to the one who is or wants to be unfaithful.
1.
Remember she has been with you since your youth.
(14)
2.
She is your companion. (14) Your partner or
completion of the whole.
3.
You have made a promise to God to be one with
her alone. (14)
4.
You are made one not just physically but the
Spirit is involved. (15)
5.
You were to produce a Godly offspring. (15) What
kind of example do you leave if you divorce? Our duty as not only women but men
to produce Godly children influenced by our lifestyle.
6.
Be on Guard for your marriage. Be watchful
because your adversary the Devil is seeking whom he may devour. (15)
7.
Unwarranted divorce is like a mindless blood
splattering murder. (16)
Will we not take on the lifestyle of Hosea? This is a man
who did everything to win back his Bride even at great personal lost. Hosea 1:1-3:5 Remember our marriages are to
be an example of how Christ loved the church and this is exactly what Hosea
lived out before the people.
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