Questions and Answers

How Does God View Divorce And Remarriage?
By Adam Bartlett

Marriage was created and ordained by God with the first humans that ever existed. It is therefore easy to say that it was marriage between man and woman that God intended and endorsed. God shows His original intention of marriage as well as indicating it was to be a lifelong commitment.

Genesis 2
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 true that there are many instances in our Bible in which many of the kings and men of the Old Testament era had more than one wife and concubines. You will also notice that nowhere does God endorse this act. In many of the cases you will find that in these situations there were a lot of bad decisions made and a lot of heartache and trials in their lives. I believe God allowed them to disobey in this area just as we are given the freedom to disobey and sin in any area we choose. God does not force us to serve Him; it is a willing act on our parts. I also have to believe that they knew what God expected and what His standards were regarding this. This is an area that as Christians creates a lot of problems because we try to justify our actions by what others done in the scriptures. What we must remember is to look at the facts. There are scriptures that speak very clearly on this topic and to use examples of people that did not follow these scriptures and then justify our actions by them is unacceptable.

We can find all kinds of examples in the Bible and try to use them as justification to sin. However, when we compare scripture with scripture as Jesus instructed we soon find that our justifications fall short. Divorce and affairs are as rampant in the church as they are in the world and for some reason ministers and pastors have amnesia when it comes to scriptures regarding this matter. I know the reason, but it is not sufficient. They do not want to "rock the boat" as it is said. It would be bad for attendance and offering plate revenues to tell the truth that would affect a large portion of the congregation. There is a whole chapter devoted to this topic but you really don't need to go much farther than what Jesus had to say about it.

Matthew 19
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.


Jesus made it pretty clear that only in the case of fornication is it justified to divorce. Fornication is defined as; adultery, harlotry, incest, and even practicing idolatry. The word is "porneia" and is where our modern day word "porno" comes from. Jesus also made a few statements that we should think about. He said that what God put together let no man separate. He also said that in the beginning divorce was not intended. Then He listed the "only" condition He considered it justified to divorce. Notice, He did not say you should, or it was desired. He simply said that it was the only condition justifiable.

In the New Testament there are many scriptures in which our relationship with Jesus as born-again believers is compared to a marriage. I believe this is also further proof that God intended it to be a life-time commitment as well as a monogamous unity. By Him comparing our spiritual unity with Him with the marriage He is indicating the sanctity of this relationship. In Matthew 25 Jesus gave a parable of ten virgins who went forth to meet the "bridegroom." In Luke 12 Jesus talks of His servants waiting for Him to return from the "wedding." Another scripture clarifies this even better.

Romans 7
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.
4: Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.


According to this scripture it is clear that the commitment is binding as long as the married persons are alive. Once one dies it then clears the way should they decide to marry again. The most comprehensive scripture regarding marriage in the Bible is by Paul.

1 Corinthians 7
1: Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2: Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
3: Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
4: The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5: Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
10: 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?

Any person with common sense reading these scriptures should not have any questions regarding this topic. It is so crystal clear that it is absurd how much divorce and remarriage is occurring in churches today. Christians are clearly ignoring the commands of scripture and doing what is convenient for them. I would like to list some other verses that compare our spiritual relationship with marriage to Jesus.

2 Corinthians 11
2: For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Ephesians 5
22: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24: Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28: So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29: For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32: This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33: Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Revelation 19
7: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8: And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9: And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.


Revelation 21 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. 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.

Summary

I believe it is extremely clear from scripture that divorce and remarriage are only permissible under two circumstances. One, a spouse commits adultery and two, a spouse dies. Other than those two circumstances there is no Biblical support for what we see happening in churches and among Christians today. We are witnessing Christians today doing exactly the same thing they did throughout the Old Testament. They are ignoring God's commands because it is not convenient or what they want to do. Pastors and ministers need to stop this vicious cycle that they have allowed for so many years and do what is right according to what the scriptures say, not what is pleasant to people.

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