God Hates Divorce
Mark 10:6-9
"But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
We all live somewhere in-between hardness of heart and the new creation. Jesus knows this because he lived it. And that's why he calls us to live according to the ideals of his kingdom. But he goes beyond a simple call to a life of piety. He enables us by his prescient words of truth and by the works of The Holy Spirit. But none of this ends the battle for our minds and souls by evil spiritual influences and wicked people. These are the facts of life, and the spiritual life.
Jesus is now knowingly on his way to Jerusalem to be tried by wicked men, betrayed, denied, crucified, and to rise from the grave. And his disciples have still not fully grasped what was going on.
So, the Pharisees are at it again, trolling Jesus as he teaches the crowds. They're testing him this time about what school of thought he ascribes to in regard to matters of divorce.
In that culture they had developed several ways to justify divorce. For instance, if a wife is loud. Let's just say if she is the type of wife that everyone in the neighborhood that has ears is aware of her. If she doesn't dress properly. If she wasn't a good cook or didn't cook at all. If he just wasn't pleased by her in general, or maybe he found another that did please him. These are the kinds of things they could point out to make the claim that she is "unclean". And so, by making these kinds of very liberally relevant interpretations of God's law, they made his law totally irrelevant.
So, they saw this as a spiritual matter, which is why they asked Jesus about it. And so, they ask Jesus where his philosophy is on this.
Jesus replied:
Mark 10:3
He answered them, "What did Moses command you?"
And...
Mark 10:4
They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away."
Then...
Mark 10:5
And Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment."
Jesus puts that to bed quickly by laying all the blame firmly in their laps. They know the law and because they are wicked people Moses adjusts the law in order to suit the popular opinions of the times about these kinds of things. This created a mess in regard to women and their families, and especially children. And I believe this has a lot to do with why Jesus turns to the creation aspect of marriage and divorce.
It's a spiritual matter, that's how they saw it. And Jesus agrees. Marriage is a spiritual matter. In the creation story it's revealed. First it's revealed in the recognition that it is not good that a man should be alone. The Creator proclaimed that his creation made in his image is not complete.
And therefore...
Mark 10:6
"But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’"
So, as far as God sees it, there is only wholeness when a male and female become one in marriage. Each compliments the other. And apart they are not complete. None of this has anything to do with contractual relations. As one they are one, as they join themselves together in marriage before God, they become one. The prenuptial agreement is that they are one in the sight of God.
Mark 10:8b-9
"So, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
This is the basic design of our Creator. And as we know people do not live up to this design. Jesus says it's a matter of the heart that is to blame. And he tells his disciples that it has divine implications. He says that those whose hearts are hardened on this and who practice divorce, are guilty of adulterous acts. Both the man and the woman are guilty in divorce if they remarry.
God hates divorce. He loves marriage and families. And he's never suggested anything otherwise.
Malachi 2:15-16
"Didn’t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 'For I hate divorce!' says the LORD, the God of Israel. 'To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,' says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 'So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.'"
Jesus is right, it's a matter of the heart. He hates hard hearts that seek divorce, and he hates hard hearts that are cruel and unfaithful in marriage. He hates a hard heart that lies, that envies, that lusts, that abuses the truth and is unkind towards the family. So, this is really about that. About the hard hearts of people, more than it's about marriage and divorce.
And so, we as a people make concessions. Even though God has made it plain that this is a spiritual matter. If anything is sacramental it is marriage, yet we make concessions. We break from that covenantal tradition in order to avoid some of the social difficulties associated with divorce. The spiritual union is broken by us. God doesn't count it as such, as far as he is concerned God has not approved of the disunion, but we do it any way. And "The Church" has given itself that authority, pretty much like the many different Rabbis did in Jesus' time.
So, this spiritual matter should not be entered into without great prayer and fasting. And we should pray and fast if we intend to make an end of it. Marriage is something much more important than just a contractual relationship. It's more than just a give and take. It's more than fulfilling our lusts, passions, and quelling our loneliness. It's a spiritual journey that two people come in unison together with God as one person.
This is like the church which is thought of as a marriage. Christ is the bridegroom, and the church is his bride. This same sort of spiritual journey is entered into when one becomes a born-again person. When you are born again, that covenant completes you. You are justified in marriage to Christ. Your sins are forgiven, and you are adopted into God's family. Passing from darkness into light you are blessed by The Holy Spirit. And now being joined together in Christ you inherit eternal life from him, you move out of your old life and join Christ in his life, out from under God’s wrath. Together you share in his righteousness and have a new home in his kingdom. And your salvation is guaranteed by this covenantal marriage.
Amen and amen.
Warning:
To try and achieve this by any other means is to divorce from God's design. You cannot be in Christ if you are not married to Christ alone.
Matthew 24:6-8 "You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of labor pains."
There has been thirteen years of war for every one year of peace since the time of Christ. Mankind loves war.
"Many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another." (v.10)
Love grows cold. Lawlessness spreads faster than the gospel. But through endurance the kingdom of God will be preached. And the angels will fulfill this mission:
Revelation 14:6 "Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, 'Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.'"
And just as a side note, for all ...
Matthew 10:16
"Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves."
"Beware the moon, Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors." (From: An American Werewolf in London 1981)
I was 19 when that movie came out and it was then that I was at my lowest point ever. I was dying and couldn't see it happening to me.
It's nearly Halloween, and I've arrived here in my daily studies at Jesus sending his children, as lambs, out to preach the gospel among wolves. And I have to admit this morning my head went to the movie I rewatched (for the hundredth time) again last night. I confess I'm somewhat of a connoisseur of werewolf movies. It's really an odd and unexpected fascination since throughout my entire childhood I was plagued nightly by nightmares of invisible werewolves that stalked me trying to bite me. I couldn't see them but could hear them. And when they were just about to bite, they'd suddenly be visible (this is how I knew they were werewolves). And this was a ...
Matthew 10:32-33
“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven."
Jesus calls and sends his disciples to the lost sheep of Israel because he has a great compassion for the needy. He sees them as sheep without a shepherd, lost and living in miserable conditions. They're harassed, and cast down. And in the face of many evils they're unable to help themselves. They are outside of Christ, living in darkness.
And what's interesting is the disciples are sent to be forerunners to His coming. Like heralds they are to go into the towns and villages healing the sick, casting out demons, raising spirits and preaching the good news. It's a mission trip, he's sending them outside the congregation to free these people from the bondage of evil. This is aggressive evangelism. It's like rustic camping. Bring it in and take it out. They must depend entirely on God for all their needs. It's a mission trip focused upon aggressively reaching ...
Mark 10:15
"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."
The root problem of faith in all of the gospel of Mark is hardness of heart, and in this lesson today we learn that wealth, and the self are expressions of that hardness.
And it's that hardness of heart that we continue to rub up against here again. As we saw in the previous devotion, what we learned was our focus should never be on what we can get away with and still be legally within our rights. Our focus should instead be on preserving what God created for us before we inevitably damage the situation, or the danger becomes too great. And maybe this is why we all must become childlike if we're going to inherit God's kingdom. Maybe a childlike heart is what we need, not one hardened by greed and envy, or biased by our history going into adulthood. God earlier said divorce was wrong because it severs the connection that God unites. Now we've got a different connection being broken. Children were to be seen and not heard in that society. And the disciples try to keep the kids ...
Exodus 13:21-22
The Lord showed them the way; during the day he went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud, and during the night he was in a pillar of fire to give them light. In this way they could travel during the day or night. The pillar of cloud was always with them during the day, and the pillar of fire was always with them at night.
In 1446 BC, the 435 miles long trip from Goshen (Tell el-Dab’a) to Mt. Sinai took the Hebrews a total of 47 days to trek. The Hebrews made the 12-mile-long crossing of the Red Sea at the Straits of Tiran, and they all eventually arrived at the Red Sea on day 25 then took 22 days to travel 124 miles from the Red Sea Crossing to Mt. Sinai. During that entire trip about 2 million Jews DID NOT die. The Lord was with them in a very prescient manner. And his protection was upon them. They hadn't done anything to earn it. They had no merit born out of faithfulness. In fact, many if not most were people who had been fully engaged in the pagan worship of the Egyptians.
Pharaoh's army easily traveled the 249 miles from Goshen to the Red Sea crossing ...
James 2:1
"My brothers and sisters, show no partiality [favoritism] as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory."
It may be smart, this sign of showing favoritism, but it is sin, in the same way that murder and adultery are sin. It's the sin of discrimination. And it's contrary to God’s design. It's difficult to say you love your neighbor as yourself when you are motivated to be discriminatory towards others who are not to your liking. Living a life in faith is living selflessly always, not just when it's convenient. There are never moments when it's not sin to discriminate against others. To operate in this discriminatory manner is to make yourself a law unto yourself. A law contrary to God's law. And this attitude toward the law of God draws attention away from the needs of others and makes the merits of the self into law. This is how one arrives at self-righteousness and a philosophy of self justification.
With God there is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). We know Jesus was no respecter of persons because his disciples taught that he ...
