God Knows Divorce

 


Divorce and the Bible, Bonus Article

 

Introduction

As I’ve stated before, marriage is an invention of God and divorce is an invention of man. What a lot of people may not know is that God has become an authority on divorce in that He is a divorced individual Himself!

God was married, became scripturally divorced (Mt. 19:9), and then got remarried. In this article we will look at God’s spiritual marriage.

 

God’s First Marriage

The Nation of Israel was God’s chosen people; His first bride. He entered into a covenant with them at Mount Horeb (Ex. 19-20). Ezekiel describes how God took Israel and made His bride in Ezek. 16:9-13, “Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. "I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. "I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your neck. "And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. "Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty.”

From this passage, you can see all that God did for His bride. All He asked in return is for obedience to Him; to avoid going after “other men”. He was referring to the idols (Ex. 20:5) and the foreign nations round about. But it was to no avail as when Israel realized how attractive she was; relying on her own beauty, she played the harlot with those other nations (Ezek. 16:15-22ff).

God gave Israel many chances to repent of her sin; sending His prophets to preach her impending doom if she didn’t change her way. Until finally, He brought judgment down upon her as written in Ezekiel 16:37-39, “surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy. I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your shrines and break down your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.”

 

God’s Divorce

Finally, God couldn’t take it anymore and gave Israel a divorce as shown here in Jeremiah 3:8, “Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.”

Both the Northern 10 tribes and the Southern 2 tribes were carried off into their respective captivities. Israel was utterly “consumed” in the Assyrian Captivity; never to return to their homeland. While Judah; carried away in Babylonian Captivity returned after a period of 70 years.

But God had a plan for a new bride; a new covenant as seen in Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

God’s Scriptural Remarriage

As Jesus stated in Matthew 19:9, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Given that Israel committed adultery while being married to God, He had the scriptural authority to put her away (divorce) and marry another. His remarriage was to the church! Paul discusses this in 2 Corinthians 11:2, For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. He was addressing the brethren in Corinth; warning them not to go after another gospel (vs. 4).

Paul goes on to discuss what appears to be the marriage relationship between husband and wife in Eph. 5:22-31. And, although it is highly useful instructions in the household, Paul concludes in verse 32, This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

In Revelation 2, John saw this in a vision, “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” This is essentially the church, God’s bride.

 

Conclusion

The purpose of this article is to show that God knows what it’s like to be divorced. How often have you heard people say, “You don’t know what I’m going through” or “Our situation is unique from other couples”. No, my friends, God, Himself, has been there and there is nothing unique or different that one goes through in their own life.

Simply put, the prophet, Malachi, wrote, “For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” (Malachi 2:16 NKJV)

As the writer of Hebrews states, For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

This is why Jesus was chosen as our most perfect judge as stated in Acts 17:30-31, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Regardless of what your excuse is, God knows divorce!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There are No Material Possessions

Image
  Things Not Found on Judgment Day, Part 4   Introduction A tough case was being argued in court. The defense attorney, feeling that he was in trouble, sent the judge a bottle of hundred-year-old brandy. The defendant was fit to be tied. “The judge will kill me,” he said. “Trying to bribe him; we’re dead.” “I don’t think so,” his attorney told him, “I sent it in the other lawyer’s name!”   You Can’t Take it with You In ancient Egypt, Pharaohs were buried with luxurious items such as gold, jewelry, family heirlooms, paintings, and even a chariot. It was said that they would need these items in the afterlife. In the more modern times, people are buried with sentimental items that meant something to the individual. For example, actor Bela Lugosi; known for his role as Count Dracula was buried in his Dracula cape. Princess Diana was buried with a set of rosary beads given to her by Mother Theresa. There are, others, who are buried with their fortunes; money mostly, bu
Read more

Who Wrote the Bible?

Image
  Introduction Several years ago, I attempted to talk to a co-worker about the bible and he wasn’t interested. I was trying to tell him it was written by God; even though he had several human writers. His comment to me was, “Are you trying to tell me that God whispered in the ears of these men of what to write?” At the time, I didn’t have an answer. But it does make one pause and ask the question, who did write the bible? We’ll look at some possibilities below.   Potential Authors AN UNBELIEVER—How ironic would it be if the scriptures were, in fact, written by an Atheist? He would show how foolish it is to waste time worshipping someone, or something, that doesn’t exist. For sure, he would discuss the worship of idols like in Isa. 44:8-19; how one would spend all this time worshipping an inanimate object, hoping to be rewarded. But it isn’t written by an Atheist as they wouldn’t include verses like Psalms 14:1, The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."
Read more

The Death of Marriage

Image
  Divorce and the Bible, part 1   Introduction In Malachi 2:16, it is written, “For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” Marriage is an invention of God, divorce is an invention of man, therefore, God hates divorce. And, it’s not just an unscriptural one either. He hates it altogether. In this series of articles, we’ll look at what the bible has to say about divorce.   Definition of Divorce 1828 Webster’s Dictionary —   A legal dissolution of the bonds of matrimony, or the separation of husband and wife by a judicial sentence. This is properly called a divorce, and called technically, divorce a vinculo matrimonii.   Easton’s Bible Dict. — The dissolution of the marriage tie was regulated by the Mosaic law Deut. 24:1-4. The Jews, after the Captivity, were required to dismiss the foreign women they had married c
Read more