Daily Bible Verse ~ Matthew 19:3-9

Posted On 2021-01-16

Matthew 19:3-9 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his 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.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

This section of scripture deals with some pretty weighty issues not only in the time of Jesus, but in our culture today. We have on one side the group of believers that believe that divorce and remarriage is somehow the unforgivable sin and it disqualifies you from the kingdom of God. On the other hand we have those who believe in hyper-grace and that divorce is a bummer, but it it’s no different than any other thing we do in life.

And then there are those of us that are somewhere in the middle of these two camps.

I want to go to a verse in Malachi. Mal 2:16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

Clearly, God makes it clear that divorce is an issue and it is not something that he likes. However, Today I don’t feel compelled to go into trying to interpret what Jesus is saying here as there are many different men and women who love Jesus and know the Bible and they differ on these verses. Not to mention, it will take a lot longer than the 6-8 minutes I want to spend here.

I hope to do a video series soon on Mondays for marriage, so be looking for that in the coming weeks.

But what I do want to do is discuss some of my thoughts on marriage and divorce and how it relates to my life.

I had a friend who was in the first camp that I discussed earlier. He is a good man and I believe he loves the Lord and serves Him well. However, he got so caught up in this issue that he condemned me to hell for being divorced and informed me that if I didn’t leave my wife of now 25 years and return to my first wife or remain single that I was not saved.

It was heartbreaking to lose the friendship, but it got me to look into this subject in great detail once again. You see, I have been married twice now in my life. The first marriage ended due to issues that I wont discuss here, but there would have been no way for us to remain married as she moved into a different lifestyle that true biblical marriage doesn’t work. So, she divorced me…

During this time I really studied the scriptures to see if God would have me get married again, or if I had to remain single. Without boring you with literally hours of study, I came to the conclusion through prayer, study, and counsel that God hates divorce, God has a purpose for marriage, and God forgives sinners… Yep, even sinners who commit the sin of divorce.

So today I want to touch briefly on what I believe the purpose of marriage is and why God hates divorce.

First, marriage is to show the world the image of God. If we look at Genesis 1:26-27,
26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Second, God created marriage To show the world the relationship of Christ and the church (Eph 5:31-32)
5:31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Eph 5:32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
Paul is saying here that marriage isn’t about the man and the woman. It is about the Spiritual union of Christ and the church!

affirming that the marriage contract was designed to be a “type” of the union of the Redeemer and his people. The apostle says expressly, that his remarks do not refer to “marriage at all” when he speaks of the mystery. They refer “solely” to the union of the Redeemer and his people.
Third: Marriage is a covenant between man, woman, and God

God is a loving father who wants the best for his children. When we enter the covenant of marriage, it is to be for a lifetime. I know that circumstances arise that may cause one to become divorced. But the Lord is gracious and loving and will forgive those who seek true repentance for their sinful deeds.

If your marriage is struggling I encourage you to connect with us and we will pray for you today.