Matthew 19:7-8 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
This law is found in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. In Moses’ day, as well as in Jesus’ day, the practice of marriage fell far short of God’s intention. The same is true today. Jesus said that Moses gave this law only because of the people’s hard hearts – permanent marriage was God’s intention. But because sinful human nature made divorce inevitable, Moses instituted some laws to help its victims. These were civil laws designed especially to protect the women who, in that culture, were quite vulnerable when living alone. Because of Moses’ law, a man could no longer just throw his wife out – he had to write a formal letter of dismissal. This was a radical step toward civil rights, for it made men think twice about divorce. God designed marriage to be indissoluble. Jesus taught that instead of looking for reasons to get out of the marriage, the husband should focus on how to make it work.
This Wednesday in our fourth lesson on Jesus’ confrontations with the Pharisees, we will take a closer look at two passages on divorce: Matthew 19:1-12 and Mark 10:1-12. Looking forward to being back with you this week.
In Christ,
Gary T. and family
