A Fresh Look at Divorce and Remarriage, Part 7

Before diving into the passages on divorce and remarriage, let’s pause again and see the seriousness of marriage as it is taught in the Bible.   Remember, if we are going understand the seriousness of divorce and remarriage, then we need to come to see the sanctity of marriage and how God views it.

Over in the last book of the Old Testament (Malachi), God tells the people how He has rejected their worship (sacrifices and offerings).  God “no longer regards their offering or accepts it with favor from their hands” (2:13). 

So the people respond sarcastically, “For what reason?  What did we do?” (v. 14).

God responds:  “I have been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously though she is your companion and your wife by covenant” (v. 15). 

Again, the same response by God is repeated in the next verse:  “Take heed then, to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth” (v. 15). 

Why does God say this? Why is God rejecting the peoples’ worship? Verse 16: God says, “I hate divorce. . .and him who covers his garments with wrong.”

God is not saying here, “I hate some divorce and some I like.” This verse is teaching that God hates ALL divorce!  To divorce oneself from a spouse or to break apart a marriage was never God’s intention in the beginning (cf. Matt. 19:8). 

So while the people and priests in Malachi days were busy divorcing their spouses, especially the men, they were still carrying on in worship as if nothing bad had just taken place. It’s all good!  Divorce the spouse, but continue right on performing acts of worship.

And notice what else God says He hates: “I hate . . .him who covers his garments with wrong” (v. 16). Those who justify their choice to divorce and go right on pretending nothing serious before the eyes of God has occurred, are “covering their garments with wrong.”  In other words, they are merely trying to justify their actions.

So God, through the prophet, Malachi, says, “I have no regard for your worship or your offerings to Me.”  The people respond:  “Why, what did we do?”  And God tells them: “You are doing the very thing I hate – you are dealing with your wives treacherously, which amounts to having a divorce.”

And so again, the third time, God says to the people: How “treacherously” they had had dealt with their spouses (see vv. 14, 15, 16).

From God perspective, can you see how serious a marriage is? How important it is to live and stay married? And when divorce does occur, it is not to be viewed or taken lightly. God “hates divorce” and calls it dealing “treacherously” with your spouse. 

Divorce is so serious, that it has the capability of cutting off the flow of worship to God. It's like God saying, “You have rejected Me and my Word, by dealing treacherously with your spouse, I, therefore, reject your worship.  I find no favor in your so-called worship of Me.”

Even though there may be grounds for divorce (which will be examine shortly), divorce was never God’s plan from the beginning. When it is performed, God hates it!

Thank God there is plenty of forgiveness from the heart of God to the sinner.  But in order to receive God’s forgiveness, this much is true: One cannot merely justify his choice of divorce and move on as if nothing wrong happened. God hates all divorce, even those He has allowed to be permitted.

End of Part 7