Divorce and Remarriage

Divorce and Remarriage

I. The PATTERN

Genesis 2:18-25 18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. It is clear that the pattern God established with the first marriage, the union of Adam and Eve is one that is an indivisible joining of the two. This is a union of much more than a fleeting emotional response to an attraction based on a physical attraction. It is a total union of the two, physical, mental and emotional. It is permanent and cannot be broken except by death. The two literally become one flesh joined in a union that cannot be explained in only human and earthly terms. Because man is more than just body and soul, he is also spirit, this union is also spiritual and must be understood in spiritual terms. We can see the reality of this in the cases of divorce and remarriage. In some cases it can be made to work, but the past relationship and its failure always leaves scars that complicate the new marriage. God’s plan for man is much better than anything that the world with its changing fashion and degrading morality can conceive. The two become one flesh until death do they part!

II. The PENALTY for adultery or fornication Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. This may seem extreme to our modern sensibilities, but it shows how seriously God takes the matter of marriage. Today’s attitude toward marriage can be best described as apathetic, at worse completely hostile. God ordained marriage is under attack by the popular culture, comedians make jokes about it all the time. It is portrayed in film and TV as a dysfunctional and evil institution. It is perceived to be a vestige of a bygone era. The reality is that the family made up of a father, a mother and the children is the foundation of all human society. The culture that depreciates marriage and denigrates those that adhere to biblical standards and morals cannot long endure. God has not changed nor will He. A nation cannot scrap all that God has given and continue to receive His blessings. Galatians 6:7 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. This principle is true and certain. It can’t be annulled or avoided. We are experiencing the fruit of the seeds sown in our society for the past century or so.

III. The PICTURE of salvation John 3:27-29 27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. Revelation 21:1-2 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:9 9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. The picture of the church as the bride or Christ is important because it shows some vital aspects of salvation. Notice:

A. The Saved are Chosen by God. I want to say first of all that because we are chosen it does not support the doctrine of predestination for salvation. In Jewish custom the bride was chosen for the son by the father. We see this in the account of Abraham selecting, with God’s guidance, Rebekah as the bride for Issac. Those who are saved have been chosen by God. He established the criterion as “whosoever will.” We can see that the bride of Christ are those who have been given to Him by the Father. John 6:37 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. We are chosen by the will of God because we believed and received Jesus as our personal Saviour.

B. Another aspect of our relationship to the Lord in salvation is that it is an eternal relationship. The Scriptures are clear that we being born into the family of God are secured by His perfect sacrifice. Our sins are cancelled by the power of Christ’s blood. John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If we simply accept God at His word we need no more than this verse to show that salvation is eternal. There are many other verses that teach the same truth and none that show that salvation is somehow probationary, contingent upon good behaviour.

IV. The PROCLAMATION of Jesus Matthew 19:3-9 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. This passage clearly teaches that it not God’s will that anything other than death would end a marriage. The bride of Christ being a picture of the church shows that our salvation is eternally secure in God’s will and power. Praise God that it doesn’t depend on our power because we are still weak. Consult Romans chapter 7. If the Apostle Paul could cry out about his own weakness, I must confess that I can only cast myself and my burdens on the mercy, power and grace of God! The lesson to be learned is that just as our salvation is eternal, it is God’s will and plan that marriage should be lifelong until death.

V. The PERCEIVED Exception Matthew 19:9 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. Many make the mistake of interpreting this passage with our present day laws and customs in view. One must take into account the customs of the Jews at the time of the writing. I will refer to the marriage of Mary and Joesph. Matthew 1:18-20 18 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 public 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. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. The construction of the language indicates that upon the betrothal Mary was, in a legal sense, already the wife of Joseph. If he had broken the engagement it would have required a legal proceeding. I’m old enough to remember when people were sued for ‘breach of promise’ when an engagement to marry was broken without proper cause. The time of betrothal was a time of testing. It was to prove the purity of the couple. Once the marriage was consummated the two were then one flesh and there remained no exception for divorce. Time fails me to do a more complete study. But the conclusion is that marriage is to be unbroken by the actions of men.