Christ Speaks About Divorce
By
Shelby G. Floyd
The Bible is not only a book which reveals God to man, but it also reveals man to himself. If a man would understand his constitution, he must study the Bible to understand himself, as well as to know God. In the beginning, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1: 27.)
Cleave, Not Leave
After God had made a woman from
the rib which he took from Adam’s side, he presented her to Adam, who 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 and woman compliment each other. The woman was a helper which was appropriate for man’s nature. Because God made man and woman with this nature, the Bible says, a man will leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife. The word cleave indicates steadfastness. In the beginning therefore, God made no provision for divorce, because it was not his intention for the man and woman to leave each other.
Mosaic Legislation on Divorce
In the generations following Adam and Eve, men departed from God’s original law concerning the home and marriage. Men divorced their wives, and married other wives, for just about every cause which one can imagine. This state of things continued for 2,500 years and then Moses gave laws regulating the evils of divorce until such time that mankind would be ready to receive again God’s original law concerning marriage. His legislation concerning divorce is found in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. In this legislation, Moses states,
“If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he
finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce,
gives it to her and sends her from his house,
and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another
man, and her second husband dislikes her
and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his
house, or if he dies, then her first
husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been
defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin
upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy
24:1-4.)
Christ Speaks About Marriage and Divorce
For the next 1500 years, the
Jews, generation by generation, added their traditions to God’s Word and
ultimately made it of no effect upon their homes and their lives. When Christ came into the world, he found men
putting away their wives for about every cause which one can imagine. Therefore, in the Sermon on the Mount, he countered
such a state of things by authoritatively teaching God’s law concerning
divorce. He said, “It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give
her a certificate of divorce. But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife,
except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and
anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 5: 31-32.)
Definition of Terms
In the days of Christ, the Jews were teaching that a man could put away his wife for any cause whatsoever, so long as he gave her a writing of divorcement, but Christ taught otherwise. In order to better understand his teaching, let us define several of the terms which are used in his statement. First, the phrase “divorces” means “to lose from, sever by loosening, undo.” The object of the verb “divorces,” is the wife. Therefore, to divorce the wife, as it is used here, is to dismiss one’s wife from the house, to repudiate her. (cf. Thayer page 66.) Therefore, “divorce” or “put away” is used in the sense of divorce. Secondly, the phrase “a certificate of divorcement” is simply a legal bill of divorce which was required by the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 24:1), and which is required by all governments in all civilized lands today. It was designed to protect society in general and the wife in particular. Third, the word “except,” means that “marital unfaithfulness” is an exception to the general rule for divorce. (Thayer, page 487.) Fourth, the term “marital unfaithfulness” means any illicit sexual act and it is used interchangeably with the term adultery.
With these definitions in mind let us now take a closer look at what Christ said concerning divorce. Christ said that whosoever shall put away his wife except for fornication causes her to commit adultery. This simply means that if a man puts away his wife for mental cruelty, or for any other reason than fornication, he causes her to commit adultery. How does he cause her to commit adultery? If he divorces her for any other reason except fornication, he repudiates her unlawfully. He has no just reason in the sight of God to repudiate her, and therefore he places her back in a single state where she naturally will seek a new marriage partner. When she enters into another marriage, not having been divorced for fornication, she thereby commits adultery. The husband then who has put her away without a just cause indirectly causes her to commit adultery for he has repudiated her without a lawful cause. When a husband puts away his wife for any other cause except fornication, and she marries another man, the man that marries her that is divorced commits adultery. Therefore it is wrong for one to divorce his wife and put her away unless it is for fornication.
Christ Allows the Exception
However, Jesus does allow the exception. He who puts away his wife for the cause of fornication does not cause her to commit adultery; she has already committed adultery and therefore one may divorce or put away his mate because of unfaithfulness in the marriage relationship. The laws of our land today, instead of making it more difficult for marriages to break up, are now making it easier than ever, and this presages much sorrow and trouble for the generations to follow.
As someone has well said,
“Then by affording an easy way out of the troubles of married life we are inviting carelessness about entering marriage. We say by divorce statutes to a young woman. If your husband is deserts you, you may have another. If he is cruel, you may have another. If he fails to support you, you may have another. If he is drunken, you may have another. If he is incompatible or makes you unhappy, you may have another—and yet others beyond these. When an easy road is thus made out of marriage, will there be proper caution about entering into marriage? By just as much as a crevice for the relief of the miseries of married life is open by divorce, by so much the flood gates are opened into those miseries. The more solemnly society is impressed that the door of marriage does not swing outward as well inward the more of happiness and blessing will it find in the institution.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, page 866.)
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