Christ was speaking to the Jewish custom of divorcing for unfaithfulness during the betrothal (engagement) here in the Matthew 5 passage. None of the other gospels speaks to this because they were written to Gentiles who had no such custom of divorcing from engagement. Christ did not address divorce and remarriage as an option for married couples.
In the Jewish culture the engagement was nearly as binding as the marriage except in unfaithfulness. The couple had not lived together nor had they had relations with one another. They were called "husband and wife" during the betrothal period even though they had never lived together as man and wife. There was required a certificate of divorce from an engagement for those who were Jewish.
Matthew 5:31-32
"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 (fornication before marriage in the engagement period), makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
There is a provision in American law that allows for permanent separation in which a couple can apply for this so that there is allowance for financial responsibility but no liability in cases of taxes or debt.
There are very difficult situations in cases of abuse or danger from a spouse that allows for separation but never remarriage.
In the law to allow for a legal permanent separation the couple is still considered married but are not responsible to one another in anything else. There would be no allowance under this law for remarriage. This is much more in line with the Biblical mandate that one is not to remarry if there is a divorce, except there is no divorce here, only permanent separation.
Luke 16:18
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
God is very clear in the gospels that He does not allow for divorce and remarriage. The only exception we find does not pertain to marriage but the betrothal period as it was practiced by the Jewish law for unfaithfulness during the engagement.
For many years all Christians agreed that divorce and remarriage was not permitted by God. This is the reason the old law was on the books about legal separation.
So what changed? It was simple, the culture changed as the church began to attempt to fit with the culture rather than the Bible. Now we have angry "Christians" who refuse to accept that divorce and remarriage is not condoned or endorsed by God. They managed to snatch out of the context of the Bible a short verse that was misunderstood and assign it endorsement and acceptance of something that God said He hates.
Malachi 2:16
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.”
It is an act of hopelessness and hatred that will endorse divorce and remarriage. It is not possible to throw away someone we love simply because they do not act perfectly. To do this is to believe we have no sin of our own that our spouse must endure.
Let's set aside all the extreme arguments of abuse and focus on those divorce situations that are the most common. Most of the people I know who have been divorced and remarried were not dealing with extreme abuse. These people were just adult human beings who refused to make the other spouse more important than themselves.
Instead of praying, fasting and enduring until the Lord worked on the marriage, the people involved bailed out to save their own skin with little regard to the impact on the children involved and the church as a whole. Yes I really said that.......everything we do impacts the family, the churches, the schools and every other human institution around us.
One of the reasons we have "fads" is because one person decides to make a show of something they like to do and another person is influenced and follows. Before we know it the entire community is endorsing the act even if not all are doing it.
We see this all the time, the media promotes things and it grows like wildfire, before we realize what has happened everyone around us is indulging in that practice, clothing or hairstyle.
Divorce and remarriage grew because many coming out of seminaries in recent years were taught wrong things about what God said. To make things worse those trained in seminaries were encouraged to focus on marketing techniques instead of truth. It makes a whole lot of sense that one would ignore or endorse the practice of divorce and remarriage when half the people attending the gathering were in this condition.
After all, its not profitable for a preacher to preach the truth when his salary would be threatened by fewer bodies in the pews. The seminaries for the most part now are ignoring scripture all together or twisting it to make is say something more palatable to the attendees, bringing the numbers up to fill the pews.
Now the culture has been so intensely indoctrinated to accept divorce and remarriage that those who know the truth are treated with contempt and minimized for their decision to follow Christ rather than false preachers.
Even if someone believes that divorce is allowed for special circumstances why would they want to allow for something they know God hates.
Instead of seeking prayer, fasting and Bible for truth to be able to get through rough situations the masses are rejecting the hard things that are the real fixes in favor of the easy way. But sadly the easy way of divorce does not show the love of Christ but rather destroys the institution of marriage created by God.
If God were a god who believed bailing out of trouble were the way of happiness He never would have gone to the cross to pay for the sins of others.
Next time anyone uses that silly phrase, "God wouldn't want me to go through that", just remind them what Christ went through for them. God the Father send His only Son to go through terrible things for others, perhaps we can learn from this!!!!
James 1:2-8
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
When a couple attempts to bail out of marriage, even though they are not able to undo the bond, they are saying they do not care what God thinks or who they ruin by their selfishness.
No man can undo the bond of "Oneness" God created in the two people in marriage. It was a spiritual bond created by God and no man can undo it.
When Christ makes us into a new creation we cannot undo that, its sealed permanently. The marriage bond is a picture of the bond we have with Christ when we become born again.
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."
Anything God does in us cannot be undone by us. Hallelujah!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment