Chapter 3 GOD'S MARRIAGE TO ISRAEL Patiently we are carefully searching the Bible to find what it has to say about the institution of marriage. We are particularly seeking to know if under any circumstances a divorce may occur. So far we have examined two sets of laws found in the Bible that relate directly to the questions we are studying. And thus far, we have found no statement that condones divorce for any reason whatsoever. But now we shall look at a third ceremonial law that relates to marriage and divorce. It was introduced into the Bible because there existed a second spiritual marriage, entirely different from the marriage of the law of God to the human race. It was the marriage wherein God took as His wife a nation, ancient national Israel. Israel, as a corporate, external body, was the representation of the kingdom of God on earth during the historical period from Abraham to Jesus. This marriage relationship was established by God because national Israel as a whole typified and foreshadowed the spiritual Israel of God which was to become the eternal bride of Christ. We know this spiritual marriage between God and national Israel existed because of God's complaint recorded in Jeremiah 3:14 concerning the spiritual fornication practiced by His wife: Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you:... He was not married to them as individuals; as individuals they were spiritually married to the law of God. Rather, He was married to them as a corporate entity. But God faced a real problem. At no time in national Israel's history were they faithful. Repeatedly they lusted after other gods. What was God to do with His fornicating wife? According to God's eternal law, death is required for the adulterous wife. But God could not utterly destroy Israel as a nation, for it was out of national Israel that Christ was to come. Moreover, national Israel was to be the seedbed from which the whole New Testament church would spring forth. Furthermore, God's plan was to use national Israel as an example of His patience and mercy. Remember, in the parable of Luke 13 the fig tree that repeatedly had not borne fruit was to be cut down. But then it was to be given one more opportunity. If there still was no fruit, it was to be cut down. So today we see national Israel as a viable nation amongst the nations of the world. Only if it ceases to bear spiritual fruit will it be destroyed. For all of these reasons, and possibly others, God chose not to have his spiritual wife, national Israel, killed. And yet it was God's plan to break His spiritual marriage with national Israel. Once Christ went to the cross, God had purposed to forever end any spiritual relationship He had ever had with Israel as a nation. To accomplish this goal, God introduced another law into the body of ceremonial laws. In order to divorce Israel God had to introduce a law that would permit divorce. God, as the giver and maker of the law, may introduce any law He disires. But whatever law He sets forth, God in His perfect righteousness obligates Himself to obey. And so in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 God placed into the Word of God a law that permitted divorce for fornication. There we read: When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. This law permitted a husband to divorce his wife in whom he had found some matter of uncleanness. (Later we will go into detail to show that this related to fornication.) The inclusion of this law permitted God to divorce national Israel. We are told this in Isaiah 50:1. Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. Likewise, in Jeremiah 3:8 we read: And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. Further on, in verse 20 of Jeremiah 3, God continues revealing the sinful nature of the wife He had married. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. So we have seen that within the ceremonial law God introduced two dominant laws concerning adultery within a marriage. These two laws were quite different from each other. In the case of Deuteronomy 22:22 both a man and a woman engaging in the act of adultery were to be put to death. In the case of Deuteronomy 24:1-4, only the wife could be divorced for fornication. No language is employed here or anywhere else in the Bible that even suggests that a wife could ever divorce an adulterous husband. Because these laws were a part of the ceremonial laws, the citizens of the nation of Israel were to obey them. If a husband found his wife in an open act of adultery, he was to have her stoned to death along with the man with whom she was caught. If there were some act of obvious fornication, but the wife was not actually caught in the act of adultery, the husband still had the right to divorce her. This ceremonial law of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 had an earthly, physical application and a spiritual, or heavenly application. As we have seen, the earthly application permitted the husband to divorce his wife if it appeared she had engaged in fornication. The heavenly application was intended to make it possible for God to divorce national Israel because of its continuing spiritual fornication. Jesus made several references to this law in the New Testament. He did so to show that this law was rescinded with His coming as the Christ, as well as to show that Israel had grossly misappled this law. Remarkably, it is still grossly misapplied by the church as a biblical basis for divorce. We will look into this as we continue our study. Israel's Misuse Of Deuteronomy 24 The language of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 was sufficiently unclear so that the men of national Israel used it as a basis for divorcing their wives for any reason whatsoever. Let us see why this is so, because this will help us understand Matthew 5:32, a verse some people use to justify divorce for fornication. The key words of Deuteronomy 24:1 are "some uncleanness." For "some uncleanness" found in a wife the husband had biblical cause for divorce. What exactly was this sin? The Hebrew word "dabar," which is translated as "some" in the phrase "some uncleanness," normally means "word" or "matter." Out of about 2400 usages in the Bible, it is translated in a least 1000 verses "speak" or "talk" or something similar. In other verses it is translated "word" at least 770 times. Thus, "word" or "talk" are the dominant meanings of the word "dabar." Less often, but with considerable frequency, "dabar" is translated as "act" (52 times), "matter" (63 times) and "thing" (215 times). Thus, we can safely say that in Deuteronomy 24:1 "dabar" should be translated as "act," "matter," "thing," or "word." The Hebrew word which is translated as "uncleanness" in this same phrase "ervah." It is a word that is found 54 times in the King James Bible. In more than 50 of these places it is translated "nakedness." When we examine the places where it is translated "nakedness" we find that it usually relates to gross sexual impurity. For example, in Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20 where God is setting forth commands prohibiting incest, God employs the word "nakedness" ("ervah") at least 30 times. Thus, the word "ervah" takes on the meaning "fornication." Fact is, in Leviticus 18:8 God warns, "The nakedness (ervah) of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover." A commentary on this warning is found in I Corinthians 5:1 where we read: It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. In this verse God uses the word "fornication" in connection with sexual impurity between a man and his father's wife. But in Leviticus 18:8 God speaks of this kind of sexual impurity as uncovering the nakedness. Therefore, we can see that "nakedness" or "uncleanness" is synonymous with "fornication." Binging these facts together, we can know that in Deuteronomy 24:1 God is teaching that if a man found a "word" or a "matter" of fornication in his wife, he could write a bill of divorcement and divorce her. True, certain acts of fornication were punishable by death. But if the particular act or word of fornication did not require the death of the fornicating wife, the husband had the right to divorce her. But there was another understanding of the meaning of "ervah" that was possible. And it was this understanding that opened the door for the Israelite husband to divorce his wife under almost any circunstance. Divorce For Any Cause In Deuteronomy 23:12-14 God used the identical phrase, "ervah dabar," which is used as the key phrase of Deuteronomy 24:1. "Ervah dabar" did not refer to fornication; rather, it referred to ceremonial uncleanness. Verses 12-14 inform us: Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee. The phrase "unclean thing" near the end of this quotation is "ervah dabar." But what was this "unclean thing"? In this context it was nothing more than the discharge from a person's body when he or she felt the "call of nature." When a person felt the urge, he was to go outside the camp, dig a hole to receive his body's discharge, and then he was to cover it so that the surface of the ground would be clean. Actually, any discharge from the body made a person unclean. According to the ceremonial laws of Leviticus 15, any running issue, any kind of discharge from the body, made a person unclean. A woman menstruating was unclean. Someone experiencing diarrhea that spotted his garments was unclean. Therefore, the use of "ervah dabar" in Deuteronomy 23:14 gave the men of Israel tremendous leverage in their marriages. All one had to do was to spot menstrual blood on his wife's garments; or any other discharge that touched her or her garments would serve the hardhearted husband's purpose. In the intimacy of marriage the opportunities to see "some uncleanness" in one's wife were numerous. Thus the men could divorce their wives quite easily. The wife had no security whatsoever. Even though she may have never been guilty of fornication, the husband could still find plenty of "biblical" reason to divorce her if this was his desire. Jesus Sets The Matter Straight Significantly, Jesus took serious issue with this understanding of Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Jesus clarified the law by showing that these verses of Deuteronomy 24 had in view only fornication as a ground for divorce. We see this when we read Matthew 5:31-32. These verses declare: It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. The language of verse 31 relates back to Deuteronomy 24:1-4. This is the only passage of the Old Testament that relates in a clear way to the statement of Jesus found in Matthew 5:31. But Jesus pointed out that ancient Israel had widened the application of cause for divorce far beyond the scope intended by Deuteronomy 24:1 where the cause had to be a specific word or matter of fornication. Most likely, by applying the words of Deuteronomy 23:12-14, they had decided that they could divorce their wives for any reason. That is why Matthew 5:31 states that all that was required for divorce at that time was the writing of divorcement. Jesus, therefore, made a point of restating Deuteronomy 24:1-4 in verse 32. We will see that Jesus is accomplishing three things by this restatement. First of all, He is underscoring the Jews' total disregard for the sanctity of marriage. He is getting ready to show that the cause for divorce was to have been something quite adulterous. Secondly, He is revealing the awful sinfulness of divorce in that it causes the divorced wife to commit adultery even though she, by her own action, might be innocent of adultery. Thirdly, He restates the language of Deuteronomy 24:2-4 to show that the wife who was divorced should not remarry. Let us look at Matthew 5:32 very carefully to discover these three things that Christ is emphasizing. Deuteronomy 24 Allows Divorce Only For Fornication The first phrase we must understand in verse 32 is, "saving for the cause of fornication." Let us examine that phrase. We will see that it relates very closely to Deuteronomy 24:1. The word "saving" is the Greek word "parektos." It is used in only two other places in the Bible. In Acts 26:29 it is translated "except": And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. In this verse "parektos" carries the meaning "without"--"without these bonds." The other place this word is found is in II Corinthians 11:28 where "parektos" is translated "without." Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Here we see that the biblical meaning of "parektos" is "without." Returning to Matthew 5:32, we discover that the English phrase "for the cause" is the Greek word "logos." But "logos' is normally translated "word." It is translated as "word" more than 200 times in the Bible. It is also translated in a few instances as "matter" or "thing." Thus "logos" can mean either "word" or "matter" or "thing." And so we find that it actually is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word "dabar" used in Deuteronomy 24:1. The word "fornication" used in Matthew 5:32 is the Greek word "porneias" which is always translated "fornication." Therefore, we learn that the phrase "saving for the cause of fornication" can be accurately translated "without a word or matter of fornication." This is surprisingly close to the literal rendering of the Hebrew "ervah dabar" of Deuteronomy 24:1. Remember, the usual translation of "dabar" was "word" or "talk" or "matter;" and the usual translation of "ervah" was "nakedness" in the context of fornication. Thus, we evidence that Jesus was focusing in on Deuteronomy 24:1 by the specific language He used in Matthew 5:32. He was teaching that the "uncleanness" of Deuteronomy 24:1 was not meant to be understood as some ceremonial uncleanness such as menstrual blood or a diarrhea discharge. Rather, it was meant to present fornication as the only cause for which a man could divorce his wife. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 was never intended to give a man an excuse to divorce his wife for any cause. Divorce Causes An Innocent Spouse To Be Adulterous As we continue to examine verse 32, we discover that Christ has introduced an additional principle to be kept in mind in the matter of marriage and divorce. The next phrase in verse 32 is: "causeth her to commit adultery." How are we to understand this? Let's begin by reading verse 32 without the phrase "saving for the cause of fornication." It now reads "whosoever shall put away his wife...causeth her to commit adultery. Does this merely mean that the divorced wife becomes prone to adultery because, if she should marry someone else, that marriage would be adulterous as Romans 7:2-3 teaches? No. There is no evidence that Jesus is teaching this. He is simply saying that if a man divorces his wife, regardless of how holy or pure she might be in herself, she has been forced by divorce itself to commit adultery. That is, the very act of the divorce caused her marriage to become adulterated and in that sense she has been caused to commit adultery. Jesus is underscoring how terrible the sin of divorce is. Not only does the husband who desires the divorce sin, but he also causes his wife to sin, even though she does not want the divorce. This becomes understandable when we remember that those who have married have become fused by God into one flesh, a divine union which no man can break apart. Remember, we saw earlier in Romans 7:1-4 that the wife is bound to her husband as long as she lives. Therefore, if a man breaks apart that which God has joined together, the union has been adulterated. Even though the wife may be perfectly innocent in the divorce, she has been forced to commit adultery because the union with her husband has been adulterated. This is one of the important teachings of this verse. Jesus is emphasizing the fact that divorcing a wife for any reason was a dreadful sin. However, if the wife had committed fornication before the divorce, then she herself committed adultery. Based on Deuteronomy 24:1, the man had a right to divorce his wife in such a case. So, since she was adulterous before she was divorced, the husband's act of divorcing her was not the cause of her sinful state of adultery. But Jesus is not calling attention to Deuteronomy 24:1 in order to indicate that this command is to continue in force throughout time. That is not the purpose of Jesus' reference to it. He is simply showing that while Deuteronomy 24:1 was in force, a man had to discover actual fornication in his wife. To put her away for any lesser cause was a violation of that command. And the Jews had grossly violated that command by perverting it into a command wherein they could divorce their wives for any cause. But since that command was repealed (as we shall see when we study Mark 10 and Matthew 19), Jesus definitely is not teaching that fornication is a cause for divorce. Therefore, this verse is not dealing with the question of whether or not there is any cause for divorce. That question is not at issue. Rather, Jesus is emphasizing the seriousness of the sin of divorce. Divorce causes even the husband's spouse to commit adultery because the union between herself and her husband has become adulterated by this divorce. The Woman Who Is Divorced Becomes Defiled If She Marries Again The third point that Jesus makes involves a restatement and clarification of Deuteronomy 24:2-4 which reads: And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. In our King James Bible it appears (by the use of the word "may " in the phrase "she may go") to say that the fornicating wife who was divorced was free to remarry. However, in the original Hebrew the word "may" is not included. So the Bible is not teaching she may go and be another's. This can be seen by the language found in verse 4 where God indicates she will have become defiled if she remarries. Effectively, God is teaching that if the divorced wife goes and becomes another man's wife, she will be defiled so that she can never return to her first husband. This principle is reiterated and expanded in the last phrase of Matthew 5:32 where Jesus declares the "whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." Because the divorced wife who has remarried has become defiled as a result of this remarriage, it logically follows that the man who married her has entered into an adulterous marriage. Jesus is emphasizing the fact that such a man has indeed committed adultery. But in Matthew 5:32 Jesus is further indicating that anyone who marries a divorced wife is committing adultery. That is, if a wife is divorced for any reason, the man who marries her commits adultery. We see, therfore, that even as Romans 7:2-3 taught that the woman who remarried while her first husband was still living became as adulteress, so too, the man who married such a woman has become an adulterer. Deuteronomy 24:1 Allowed Only One Half Of Israel To Divorce Significantly, the law that permitted a man to divorce his wife for fornication only applied to half of Israel. Let us see why this was so. As we have seen, Deuteronomy 24:1 was a law that only permitted the husband to divorce his wife. This was so because, in its ceremonial nature, it was pointing to the coming divorce of national Israel. But no provision of any kind was made for the wife to divorce the husband. This was because there was no aspect of God's salvation plan or of God's dealing with national Israel that included the possibility of national Israel divorcing God. Therefore, as national Israel obeyed that law, a wife could never divorce a fornicating husband. In her relationship to her husband she was under the universal law given from the beginning of creation that there was not to be divorce for any reason whatsoever. We thus see that in the case of the law of God (the husband) being spiritually married to the individual (the wife) there never was a time when divorce for fornication of for any other reason was allowed. Also we have seen that in the nation of Israel the wife could never divorce the husband for his fornication. Only the husband could divorce the wife for fornication because that was part of the ceremonial law pointing to God's coming divorce of corporate, national Israel. This was to occur because of their many spiritual fornications. It would come about when God no longer planned for national Israel to serve as a type or figure of His salvation program. In summary, we see the Deuteronomy 24:1-4 taught the following principles: l. A husband could divorce his wife only if she were found guilty of fornication. 2. The wife, who was guilty of fornication and, as a result, was divorced, would become defiled if she married someone else. Thus she was to remain single. 3. No permission was given to the wife to divorce her husband for any reason whatsoever. In Matthew 5:32 Jesus reiterated the basic principles of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and expanded them to teach: l. A husband who divorced his wife for any reason other than fornication caused her to commit adultery. 2. Any man who married a divorced woman committed adultery. Now we must face the next question. When we looked at Deuteronomy 7:2-4 and Deuteronomy 22:22 we saw that once Christ went to the cross the earthly, physical applications of the laws no longer were to be observed. Only the spiritual or heavenly meanings of these commands were to continue. But what about Deuteronomy 24:1-4? What does the Bible teach concerning the continuation of this law? Insofar as the spiritual, heavenly meaning of these verses is concerned, we know that it came to an end when Jesus hung on the cross. When the veil of the temple was rent asunder, it signaled the finality of God's divorce from national Israel. Never again would He have any spiritual relationship with national Israel as a corporate body. Therefore, in its spiritual dimension, Deuteronomy 24:1-4 has no application after the cross. Because it was written into Old Testament law in order that God might divorce national Israel for its spiritual fornication, we have reason to suspect that it (like other ceremonial laws) ceased to have any physical application after the crucifixion. It was at that time that God officially ended His special spiritual relationship with national Israel. The Bible clearly shows that this law was rescinded by the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 10:2-12. Let us look at these verses. In Mark 10:2 we read of the Pharisees coming to Jesus with a question concerning divorce. This verse informs us: And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. Their question must relate to Deuteronomy 24:1-4 for it is the only Old Testament passage that speaks of the possibility of a man divorcing his wife. This can be seen in Jesus' answer in verses 3 and 4: And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. These verses plainly show that Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is in view. It is clearly the passage that Jesus is addressing as He continues to teach. In verse 5 Jesus explains why this command had been inserted into Old Testament law; And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. Here He declares that it was because of the hardness of the hearts of ancient Israel that the law was given to allow divorce for fornication. Can we assume by this that God saw how adulterous the wives in the nation of Israel would be? Did He want to provide some relief to the husbands by setting forth a law that permitted them to divorce if their wives were involved in fornication? Or did He give the law because the husbands would be so unforgiving of their fornicating wives that, because of the hardness of their hearts, these unforgiving husbands were allowed to divorce their wives? Neither of these possibilities make sense. God lays down laws that help us to live more holy before Him rather than to allow us to live sinfully. It is only when we realize the truth as to why God inserted this law into the ceremonial laws of the Bible that this verse can be understood. The phrase "hardness of heart" relates to that which is rebellious. And rebellion against God is spiritual fornication. God gave this law so that He, as the husband of national Israel, could divorce His fornicating wife. It was because of the hardness of heart, or spiritual fornication of national Israel that his law was given. And so, once God had divorced national Israel, this law had no further purpose. Therefore, we find in verses 6-9 of Mark 10 that Jesus very directly, very plainly rescinds this command by stating: But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. In this answer Jesus indicates that it was never God's intention for divorce to be permitted. True, temporarily, God did open a very narrow window permitting a man to divorce his fornicating wife. But this was only so that God could divorce fornicating national Israel. In Jesus' answer in Mark 10:9 He restates God's intention for marriage with the words: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." In other words, there is not to be divorce for any reason whatsoever. Two people who have been joined together in marriage have been fused by God into one flesh. And that which has been bound together by God, no man is to try to break apart. To underscore this truth Jesus added in Mark 10:11-12: And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 only allowed a husband to divorce a fornicating wife. A wife was given no right whatsoever to divorce a fornicating husband. But now that Jesus has rescinded the husband's right to divorce a fornicating wife, He emphasizes the impossibility of biblical divorce from both directions - that of the husband divorcing the wife, and that of the wife divorcing the husband. We see, therfore, that Jesus has clearly re-established the principle laid down from the beginning of time that there is not to be divorce. He is emphasizing what the Bible continues to declare in later verses. Moreover, in Mark 10:11-12 God is underscoring another vital principle. It is the law that a divorced man or woman cannot become remarried. According to verse 11, if a man remarries, he commites adultery against his first wife. Why is this so? Remember, we learned in Romans 7:1-4 that the wife is bound to her husband as long as they both live. Therefore, even though a divorce may have seemingly broken the marriage relationship, from God's vantage point the man and wife are still bound to each other. Therefore, if the man takes another wife while his first wife is still living, he is committing adultery. He is adulterating the lifelong union God has made between this man and his first wife. Likewise, verse 12 emphasizes that the wife may not marry someone else after divorce. Even though she is legally divorced, in God's sight she is still bound to her first husband. Therefore, she commits adultery if she marries another while her first husband is still living. Again, when we looked at Romans 7:1-4 we saw how God clearly teaches that the wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. Remember, this statement was in the context of a wife living in constant fornication against her husband. The principle of this binding relationship of the wife to the husband is repeated in I Corinthians 7:39. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. Moreover, in I Corinthians 7:10 we are instructed, "Let not the wife depart from (that is, divorce) her husband." Likewise, in I Corinthians 7:11 God adds, "...and let not the husband put away his wife." All of the Bible's teachings are consistent and in agreement. There is not to be divorce for any reason whatsoever. Significantly, in Luke 16:17 Jesus made reference to the eternal nature of the law of God as He declared: And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. Having indicated the perpetual nature of the law of God, Jesus immediately addresses the question of a man divorcing his wife. He exhorts in Luke 16:18: Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. In this statement we find a repetition of the same exact truth we have already learned from Mark 10:2-12, Romans 7:1-4, and I Corinthians 7. There is not to be divorce! No exceptions are to be made! We also find in Luke 16:18 the truth of Mark 10:11 repeated. God is again declaring a man is not to marry another after being divorced. Here in Luke we also find the last phrase of Matthew 5:32 re-emphasized. God is again teaching that anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. At this point, it is very clear that God does not countenance divorce for any reason whatsoever. In order to divorce national Israel (whom God had corporately married), He had temporarily put a law on the books allowing a husband to divorce his wife for fornication. But when Jesus came on the scene, He very deliberately and very clearly rescinded that special law. We have further learned that there is not to be remarriage while a former spouse still lives. This truth also may be seen very clearly. But you may ask, doesn't Matthew 19:9 teach that there still can be divorce for fornication? To answer this fair question, we will examine that verse in detail in the next chapter. Chapter 4 MATTHEW 19:9 As we get more deeply involved with the biblical teachings on divorce, we want to look carefully at the one verse that has been abused most consistently in man's efforts to find a biblical basis for divorce. Because this verse intimately relates to this Deuteronomy 24:1-4, which we studied at length in our last chapter, we are now prepared to understand Matthew 19:9. This verse has the appearance of allowing divorce for fornication. It reads: 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. Many theologians read this verse and quickly conclude that it is teaching there can be no divorce except in the one case of fornication. Surely this verse appears to teach that fornication is cause for divorce. But we have already seen in our study that there is no biblical cause for divorce. Neither fornication, nor any other sin on the part of either the husband or the wife provides any reason whatsoever for divorce. Therefore, we can be sure that this one verse, Matthew 19:9, cannot allow divorce for fornication, or for any other reason. If we concluded otherwise, we would have before us a major contradiction. But the Bible is one harmonious whole. While it may have statements within its text that appear contradictory, we can know that these are not actual contradictions. They only appear to be contradications while our understanding of the questionable passages remains incomplete. But when we have come to correct understanding, we will no longer find contradictions. This is so because the Bible is one harmonious whole. But let us assume for a moment that we must base our whole understanding of divorce and remarriage on this one verse, Matthew 19:9. What would we learn? Matthew 19:9 apparently teaches that a man may divorce his wife for fornication. But notice: there is no suggestion that the wife may divorce the husband for fornication. There is not even the slightest implication or indication that the wife can divorce the husband. In fact, nowhere in the Bible is there any statement that teaches that the wife can divorce the husband for any reason. We also notice that the verse does not justify the husband for divorcing his wife for any reason except fornication. According to this verse, as it stands alone, the only possible cause for divorce is fornication. Additionally, Matthew 19:8, which immediately precedes the verse we are studying, tells us that Moses allowed the husband to divorce his wife for the cause of fornication only because of the hardness of the husband's heart. The verse declares: 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. The term "hardness of heart" refers to someone who is unsaved, someone who is in rebellion against God. Thus, if anyone insisted on understanding Matthew 19:9 without regard to any other teachings of the Bible, the most that he could see in this one verse would be that a husband could only divorce his wife in the case of fornication. And such a divorce would be an indication of the husband's unsaved, rebellious spiritual condition. Therefore, even on the basis of Matthew 19:9, no true child of God would ever countenance the thought of divorce. Rather, he would realize that he is called upon to repeatedly forgive his wife for the sin of fornication just like any other sin. When we consider what modern day theologians have done with this verse, we should become very skeptical of their conclusions, for when they have decided there can be divorce for the cause of fornication, they immediately conclude that, not only can the husband divorce the fornicating wife, but the wife also can divorce the fornicating husband. Yet neither this verse nor any other in the whole Bible allows a wife to divorce her husband. Thus when we hear such teachings, we should suspect that gross violation has been done to a true understanding of this verse. To the question, "Does the Bible teach that fornication is a ground for divorce?" the answer is emphatically "No!" We have just seen that in Deuteronomy 24:1 God, as part of the temporary ceremonial law, had made fornication a cause for a man to put away his wife. Then we saw, as we looked at Mark 10, that through Christ that command was rescinded. Now we shall see that right in the context of Matthew 19:9, as Jesus makes reference to Deuteronomy 24:1, He is indicating the same teaching we discovered in Mark 10:2-12. That teaching was that Deuteronomy 24:1 was rescinded. Let us see how this develops in Matthew 19. Again, we read in Matthew 19:8: 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. Here Jesus is emphasizing two important truths. First, this command was inserted into the law book primarily to give God a way to divorce national Israel because of their spiritual rebellion, their hardness of heart. Secondly, He is indicating that this was not God's eternal plan for human marriage -- "from the beginning it was not so." And as we discover from other passages that God's divorce of national Israel was finalized at the cross, we come to see that this law no longer applies. So by the language of verse 8 we see that He was effectively rescinding this law. That Jesus is bringing to an end the Deuteronomy 24:1 basis for divorce for fornication is in total agreement with the statement of Matthew 19:8. It is also in complete harmony with the other passages we have looked at which emphatically prohibit divorce for fornication or for any other reason. Since Jesus has just emphasized in Matthew 19:8 that a man was no longer to put away his wife for fornication, it doesn't make any sense at all that our Lord would reintroduce in the very next verse the command He has just rescinded. No Divorce For Any Reason Whatsoever We know, therefore, that we have to re-read Matthew 19:9 to attempt to discover what Jesus was actually saying in this verse. Certainly He was not teaching that fornication was a cause for divorce. A correct understanding of Matthew 19:9 is forthcoming if we go back to the opening sentence of the paragraph in which Matthew 19:9 is found. In verse 3 of that chapter we read: 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? The question the Pharisees are asking is whether a man can put away his wife for every cause. Jesus answered them in verses 4-6 by indicating there is not to be divorce for any reason whatsoever: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Then in verse 7 the Pharisees asked about Deuteronomy 24:1, which permitted divorce for fornication. Jesus answered their question in verse 8, indicating that Deuteronomy 24:1 was rescinded. It could no longer apply. In verse 9 Jesus returned to the Pharisees' original question: "Can a man put away his wife for every cause?" In verse 8 He had indicated that fornication was no longer to be a cause for divorce. So in verse 9 He covers every possible reason other than fornication, indicating that any other reason was also an invalid cause for divorce. Effectively He is saying in verse 9, "whosoever puts away his wife for any reason `in addition to' or `other than' or `except' for fornication (which we have just seen in verse 8 to be an invalid cause for divorce) and marries another commits adultery." In other words, the word "except" (the Greek "ei me") takes on the sense or meaning of "in additon to" or "other than" in this context. This meaning of "ei me" is fairly common in the Bible. For example, in Matthew 19:17 Jesus said: "...there is none good but (ei me) one, that is, God:..." This verse could be read: "there is none good `in addition to' or `other than' one, that is God." Likewise, in Mark 8:14 we read: Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. The phrase "more than" is also "ei me." Here, too, we could translate: "neither had they in the ship with them `in addition to' or `other than' one loaf." Many other examples could be given, but these two should suffice to show that Jesus, in Matthew 19:9, is simply covering all other possible causes for divorce "except," "other than," or "in addition to" fornication. He has already eliminated the cause of fornication in verse 8. Jesus has thus twice answered the question posed by the Pharisees in verse 3 concerning divorce for every cause. He has first answered it in verses 4-6 by indicating there is not to be divorce for any reason. Then in verses 7 and 8 He specifically teaches that fornication cannot be a cause for divorce. And in verse 9 He applies this teaching to all other causes for divorce, except the cause of fornication, which He had just covered in verse 8. Thus, the conclusion stands twice over. There is not to be divorce for any cause whatsoever!! The removal of fornication as a cause for divorce so shocked the disciples that they said to Jesus in verse 10: His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. They apparently could not envision a marriage wherein a husband had lost all right to divorce his wife. As we saw earlier in our study, Deuteronomy 24:1 had become a very convenient escape route for a man who no longer cared for his wife. Remember what this law declared: according to Israel's understanding of this command, all the husband had to discover was a word or matter of uncleanness. Any ceremonial uncleanness was sufficient to permit a husband to divorce his wife. Thus, the disciples were astounded and dismayed that there could no longer be divorce. Their reaction to the statements Jesus made in Matthew 19:4-9 underscores the fact that Jesus had just rescinded the command of Deuteronomy 24:1. Thus, we see that, even as the earthly application of the other ceremonial laws came to an end when Jesus came, so too, the application of this ceremomial law of a man divorcing his fornicating wife also ended with His coming. In fact, not only did the physical application of this law end, but the spiritual application ended as well. The last half of Matthew 19:9 -- "and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery" -- is almost an exact duplication of Luke 16:18. Remember, we saw that in this verse of Luke 16, as well as in Matthew 5:32 and Mark 10:11-12, God indicated that a man was not to marry another wife after divorce, and anyone who married the divorced wife committed adultery. Clearly the law stands today that as long as the divorced spouse lives, there is not to be remarriage after divorce. Thus far, we have examined three different sets of ceremonial laws dealing with marriage and divorce. First we looked at Deuteronomy 7:2-4 and Isaiah 52:11 and saw that God prohibited an Israelite from intermarrying with people of certain nations. If they did so in violation of God's law, they were to separate from that which was unclean. In the physical, earthly aspect of this command they were to divorce their wives if they had married in violation of God's original command. We saw in I Corinthians 7:12-13 and I Peter 3:1 that the physical, earthly aspect of this command was rescinded when Christ came. However, the heavenly, spiritual meaning of this command continues throughout history. We are not to be unequally yoked with the world. If we find we are effectively in the embrace of the world, we are to turn away from it. Spiritually, we are to separate from the world so that we can serve God with our whole heart. The second command we looked at was given in Deuteronomy 22:22 where God commands that a husband who finds his wife in the act of adultery is to have her stoned to death. The husband could not divorce her. He could only separate from his adulterous wife by having her executed. We saw that the spiritual meaning of this command points to the spiritual marriage described in Romans 7:1-4. There God declares that every person is spiritually married to the law of God which is the husband. Because of our constant spiritual adultery against the law, we are to be executed. And the execution God has in view is eternal damnation. In this context God taught that even as a human cannot be divorced from the law of God because of spiritual adultery, a human marriage cannot be broken because of fornication. It can be broken only by death. We discovered that the physical application of Deuteronomy 22:22, which called for the death of the adulterous wife, was rescinded. But the spiritual application continues today. Because of our spiritual adultery, our husband, the law of God, condemns us to eternal damnation. Thirdly, we looked into the ceremonial law of Deuteronomy 24:1-4. This law decreed that if a man found even a word or act of fornication in his wife, he could divorce her. In the physical sense, as a man divorced his fornicating wife, he was being shown by God that likewise the nation of Israel, which corporately was married to God, would be divorced by God because of Israel's constant spiritual fornication. Incidentally, we might remember that the Bible records that when Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus, thought Mary had committed fornication because she was with child, he, being a just man, sought how to put her away (Matthew 1:19). The fact that the Bible says he was a "just" man underscores the fact that God was absolutely holy and righteous when He divorced national Israel as a corporate body. We might remember that God divorced them as a corporate body, not as individuals. God could not divorce them as individuals within the nation because He was not married to them on that level. On the other hand, the law of God as the husband was married to them as individuals and in that relationship there could be no divorce. No matter how adulterous any man became, he remained under the law of God, even as the wife remains under the dominion of her husband. Thus we see that God used national Israel to display various types and figures which were shadows of the spiritual reality which was to be fulfilled in Christ. Their corporate marriage to God was to be a picture of the marriage of Christ to the eternal church. Even as God married Israel when it was a nothing, the believer becomes the bride of Christ when he is spiritually dead in his sins. Even as God lavished his love on his wife, national Israel, by showering them with physical and spiritual blessings, so He showers spiritual blessings on His eternal bride, the true believer in Christ. But, as it was with all of the ceremonial shadows, the typology of God's marriage to national Israel was quite imperfect. The time would come when national Israel would no longer serve as a type -- the marriage of God to national Israel was to come to an end. That is why God introduced the command given in Deuteronomy 24:1-2 as an integral part of the ceremonial law. This law anticipated Israel's spiritual fornication which allowed God to divorce them. Once Christ went to the cross, national Israel's role of serving as a type or figure of God's salvation program came to an end. All ceremonial laws were completed in Christ, including Deuteronomy 24:1-2. Thus, God's purpose for calling attention to Deuteronomy 24:1-2 in the New Testament is to emphasize that this temporary law no longer applies. Instead, the universal law given from the very beginning is the only law that stands: under no circumstance is there to be divorce. It is such passages as Romans 7:1-4 and Mark 10:2-10 that God shows us that that universal law still stands. Even while the ceremonial law was temporarily allowing a man to divorce his fornicating wife, God strictly limited that law to the nation of Israel. As we go on in our study, we will look at a couple of verses found in I Corinthians 7 which frequently are used as a basis to justify divorce and remarriage. We will look at them in our next chapter. Continued in JOINED3.TXT