Divorce

by the late H. Bailie (Northern Ireland)

In Deut.24.1-4, we have the main passage with reference to this subject: “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 has 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 Matt.5.31, in His Sermon on the Mount, our Lord makes mention of divorce for the first time. In this chapter, He goes back to the true spirit of the law which God gave to His people from Mount Sinai, teaching His disciples of a righteousness that exceeded the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. He sets this forth in three groups of two commandments. In v21-26, we have the sixth (thou shalt not kill) interpreted. The Lord reminds them that the root cause of murder is anger in the heart, and teaches the way to remove this — by reconciliation, otherwise imprisonment will be the result. From v27-32, we have the seventh commandment set forth in two groups. The first is from v27-30 (Thou shalt not commit adultery). Here again, our Lord refers back to the cause: “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” The way to remove this occasion of stumbling is given in v29 and v30. If it is the right eye it is to be plucked out, or if it is the right hand, it is to be cut off, otherwise the whole body should be cast into hell. (Greek - gehenna.). In the last of these groups, v31 and v32, we have another kind of adultery. This time it is connected with the law of divorce. “It had 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.” From v32, we see that the man who sends away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, makes her an adultress, and whoever marries her that is put away commits adultery, since her first marriage is still valid in the sight of God.

If, however, the wife has committed fornication, then she has already broken the marriage vow, and was not driven to this by her husband. Our Lord teaches from this, that “putting away” is the breaking of the marriage covenant, and that this bond in the sight of God, is indissoluble.

In Matt.19.3-12, we have the subject introduced again, this time by the Pharisees, who asked the question: “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” Note the words — “for every cause.” When our Lord was on earth, there were two rival Rabbinical schools of thought on the subject of divorce, viz. that of Hillel and that of Shammai. Hillel taught that divorce was allowable even on trivial grounds. Shammai denied it, except in the case of adultery. Our Lord replied by appealing to the Scriptures — Gen.1.27, where God made them at the beginning male and female, and Gen.2.24, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and the twain shall be one flesh,” adding the solemn words: “What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder.” The Pharisees further questioned the Lord saying: “Why did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and put her away?” Deut.24.1-4. To this the Lord replied that it was on account of the hardness of their hearts, but from the beginning it was not so. The Lord again reaffirmed that the marriage bond is still valid before God, and quotes the words He had previously given in the Sermon on the Mount, Matt.5.32. Stier remarks, that “the essential bond of marriage consists not in unity of spirit and soul, by which indeed the marriage state should ever be hallowed and sweetened, but without which it still exists in all its binding power:— the wedded pair are one flesh, i.e., one man within the limits of their united life in the flesh, for this world; beyond this limit, the marriage is broken by the death of the flesh. And herein alone lies the justification of a second marriage, which in no way breaks off the unity of love in spirit with the former partner now deceased.”

In Mk.10.2-12, we have Mark’s account of the Pharisees’ question, and the Lord here, as in Matt.19, points back to the original creation, and shows that marriage is indissoluble. Mark adds that the disciples asked their Lord about the matter afterwards when He was in the house. He replied “Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another commiteth adultery against her, and if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery,” v11.

In Israel, of course, such a case could only be that of a dismissed wife, but the case of a woman divorcing her husband has to do with Greek and Roman law.

In Lk.16.18, here is a further reference. Here, the Lord is addressing the Pharisees and rebuking them for the sin of covetousness, which is the breaking of the tenth commandment, let it be the love of money, or the love of another man’s wife. — One tittle of God’s law shall not fail. — Note that here and in Mk.10 the words, “for the cause of fornication” are omitted. Again the Lord emphasises the inviolability of the marriage bond. This is confirmed in Eph.5.30-32, where it is taken as a type of Christ and His Church: “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.”

In 1Cor.11.1-16, where the subject is “Headship,” we have the husband and wife again referred to. In v8 and v9, the apostle Paul, like his Lord, goes back to the original creation: Gen.2.21-22. In Rom.7.1, the same apostle, in illustrating the believer’s relationship to the law, uses the marriage bond. From these Scriptures it is clear that divorce is a denial of the Type, a setting aside of the truth of Christ’s Headship, and ignoring of the believer’s position regarding the law.

In Mal.2.14-16, the prophet says to the people: “Because the Lord hath been witness between thee, and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not He make one? yet He had the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That He might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away.” This shows again the unbreakable holiness of the marriage relationship. Dr. Fairburn says in his “Typology of Scripture” that the national covenant had its parallel in every family in Israel, in the marriage-tie that bound together man and wife. This relation, so important generally for the welfare of individuals and the prosperity of states, was chosen as an expressive image of that in which the whole people stood to God.

The hardness of heart to which the Lord refers in Matt.19.8, will not be found in the believer who is walking in the liberty of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, but instead, the righteous requirements of the law will be fulfilled in Him, the sanctity of the marriage bond being preserved. The wife will submit to her husband, and the husband will love his wife as Christ also loved the Church, being heirs together of the grace of life.

In 1Cor.7.10,11, the apostle gives charge (“yet not I, but the Lord”), that the wife is not to depart from her husband. Should she depart, however, she is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, thus establishing the truth of what our Lord taught regarding “putting away.” In v12-16 of this chapter, we have the question of one of the parties becoming a believer after marriage, in which case the believing wife is not to leave her unbelieving husband, “for the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife” and vice versa. Children too, are brought in, because of the divinely-ordained marriage covenant. The believing wife is, by her subjection and manner of life, to win her unconverted husband, see 1Pet.3.1-6. The believing husband, too, is so to live that he may win his unbelieving wife, and the children are to be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, Eph.6.4.

This unbreakable bond is God’s ideal for His people, whom He describes as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, staying its corruption, and giving light to its darkness by holding forth the Word of Life. Whether it is restored Israel in the day of Millenial glory, or the Church in her Heavenly Home, God will display symbolically, to a wondering universe, the inviolability of the marriage bond between Jehovah and His people, and Christ and His Church.

            Oh! what joy that marriage union
                        Mystery of love divine;
            Sweet to sing in all its fulness
                        “I am His, and He is mine.”    

(submitted by S. J. McB)