Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage                                   August 28, 2003

 

Here we approach unto one of the most difficult portions of Scripture:

Matthew 19:1-9,

    And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; [2] And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.

(You clearly see a contrast between the to groups: one group are followers the other group are faithless)

    [3] The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? [4] And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, [5] And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? [6] Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. [7] They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? [8] He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. [9] And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

 

Regarding the definition of marriage:

v.5, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

 

Joseph and Mary,

Matthew 1:18-20,

    Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. [19] Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. [20] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

 

 

Luke 1:27

    To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

 

Luke 2:5,

    To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

 

    We see from these Scriptures, that during the betrothal period the couple were considered to be in a binding relationship.

     There is historical evidence that in the Jewish economy there was a betrothal period (usually one year) which could be broken if one of the spouses committed fornication before the marriage was consummated. This helps us understand Joseph’s intentions:

was minded to put her away privily.

 

Regarding the bill of divorcement:

Deut. 24:1,

    When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

 

(This was given because of their hard hearts. What is meant by this? Those who will divorce are hard hearted. Why a bill of divorcement? This was to protect the rights of the woman who had been divorced. She could no longer count on her husband to provide and had a right to earn a living. She was also permitted, under the Law, to remarry. She was never permitted to return to her former husband. This was to guard against wife swapping.)

 

Regarding the definition of fornication:

Leviticus 20:11-15,

    And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. [12] And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them. [13] If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. [14] And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you. [15] And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.

And,

1 Cor. 5:1,

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

 

Jesus did not say, “except it be for adultery” but fornication. The word fornication as used in the Bible has a broader meaning than is commonly meant today. The word fornication as used by Jesus in Matt.19:9 has reference to the unlawful unions listed in Leviticus and in other places in the Bible. The unscriptural marriage of I Cor. 5:1-5 is an example in the New Testament of a situation that had to be stopped by a divorce or a ‘putting away’.

Another example of a divorce is in Ezra. This was mandatory as these were unlawful marriages:

Ezra 10:3,

    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 10:44,

    All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

 

More on divorce:

Mark 10:2-12,

    [2] And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Tempting him. [3] And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? [4] And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. [5] And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. [6] But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. [7] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; [8] And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. [9] What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. [10] And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. [11] And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. [12] And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

 

Luke 16:18,

    Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.     

 

Romans 7:1-3,

    Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? [2] For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. [3] So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

 

1 Cor. 7:10-17,

    And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: [11] But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. [12] But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. [13] And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. [14] 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. [15] But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. [16] For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? [17] But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

 

   Remarriage is only permitted when the spouse dies and then “only in the Lord.” I Cor. 7:39c.

 

Now, we are living in the 21^st century. How do we apply this?

Marriage is for life with no provision for divorce. Those who are divorced can never marry unless they reconcile or their spouse dies.

What about those who are divorced and remarried? I have struggled with this for years. How to be consistent? Do I council divorce or are they treated as those who have more than one wife?