God Hates Divorce? Not True!
It's a half-truth that "God hates (ALL) divorce." God Himself calls for divorces. God does not desire His people to be in a bad or wrong marriage. If the couple will do what is necessary to have a godly marriage and friendship, great! Otherwise, divorce and remarriage is a way to get a new start. |
God Hates Marriage?
Have you ever heard anyone say, “God hates marriage”? Of course not! Have you ever heard anyone say, “God hates divorce”? Sure we have, especially when they are not the ones faced with that dilemma. The phrase, “God hates divorce” has been used against married couples as a blanket answer to cover all types of marriage problems. As we will find out from God’s Word, that is just not true. Neither is it true that “God hates marriage.” On the contrary, God is the one who instituted marriage between a man and a woman. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
Even though God instituted marriage, He does not approve of ALL marriages. This can be clearly seen in the lives of the people of Israel written in Ezra, chapter 9 and 10, and Deuteronomy 7:15. In Ezra, God disapproved of the marriages and His judgment was on them until they corrected the situation by divorcing their spouses and even separating from their children that were born from those marriages. In Deuteronomy, God said, “NOR SHALL YOU MAKE MARRIAGES WITH THEM. For they will turn your sons away from following Me” (Deuteronomy 7:3,4). In this situation, God hated these kind of marriages!
When people say, “God hates divorce” as quoted from Malachi 2:16, normally that has been taught to mean that divorce is not allowed AT ALL. We shall see that this is only a half-truth.
In Jeremiah the eighth chapter, Jeremiah mourns over the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Lord gave them a warning through the prophet in verses 4-22. In verse 5, it says that they were “...in a perpetual backsliding [condition]” and in verse 9 that “...they have rejected the Word of the Lord.” Our wrong motives and attitudes will always reject “the Word of the Lord.”
Because their motives and attitudes toward God and people were so bad, God said in verse 10, “Therefore I WILL GIVE THEIR WIVES TO OTHERS, AND THEIR FIELDS TO THOSE WHO WILL INHERIT THEM.” Notice God’s attitude concerning the marriage. The marriage itself was not first priority, but second. God did not save the marriage, but broke it up because of their continual disobedience. There is a curse that actually comes upon the marriage relationship because of continual disobedience to God (See Deuteronomy 28:30).
DIVORCE ITSELF IS NOT WHAT GOD HATES, BUT THE “WHY,” AND “HOW COME” BEHIND THE DIVORCE.
There are many critical keys in this book regarding divorce, remarriage, submission, interracial marriage and relationships. Click on Divorce: God's Will? to order.
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