
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” —Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Some Pharisees came to Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” —Matthew 19:3
“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” —Matthew 19:4-6
“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” —Matthew 19:7
“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.” —Deuteronomy 24:1-4
Old Testament Grounds for Divorce
- Moses: “displeasing”
- Rabbi Shammai: adultery
- Rabbi Hillel: anything wrong
- Rabbi Akiba: another woman
“Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was
not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except
for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” —Matthew 19:8-9“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 sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” —Jesus, Matthew 5:31-32
“You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, ‘Why?’ It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not [the LORD] made them one? In flesh and spirit, they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So, guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ‘I hate divorce,’ says the LORD God of Israel… So, guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.” —Malachi 2:13-16
God hates divorce. God doesn’t hate divorced people.
“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.” —Jeremiah 3:8
“Woman, don’t you know what it says in Malachi 2? “God hates divorce!” Didn’t you hear about what I said in my Sermon on the Mount; that to marry a divorced woman was to commit the sin of adultery?” – Nowhere in the Bible
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” —Jesus, John 4:10
- Considering Marriage: Don’t enter lightly.
- Good Marriage: Keep working at it.
- Struggling Marriage: Don’t give up.
- Divorced: Jesus forgives and brings new life.