SN - notes from 1/9/10 - Jesus and divorce.
Michael Smith January 15 at 3:08pm SN - 1/9/10
Jesus, marriage, and divorce - get the podcast at www.thesngroup.net or watch the video at www.calvarychapelcostamesa.com
mark 10:1-10
v1 - Jesus heads east and teaches … again.
v2 - they “tested” Him b/c the prevailing idea on divorce was that a man
could divorce his wife for just about anything.
Some things never change -
Number of marriages: 2,162,000
Marriage rate: 7.1 per 1,000 population (44 reporting States and D.C.)
Divorce rate: 3.5 per 1,000 population (44 reporting States and D.C.)
That’s close to 50% of all US marriages ending in divorce.
v3 - Jesus shows His reverence for the law and brings it back to scripture
v4 - they rightly read, but wrongly interpret
v5 - Jesus clarifies the situation
v5 - the permission was granted, although it was due to hardness of heart and led to the dismissal (apolyo - to sever by loosening) of the wife.
v6 - Jesus brings it back to Eden and points out the heart of God in terms of marriage.
v10 - the 12, likely shocked by His answer, ask more ?’s.
v11 - Jesus links divorce and remarriage to adultery - but
what does He mean exactly?
The bible on divorce
1) God loves marriage
a) Mal. 2:11 - … for Judah has profaned the Lord’s holy institution which He loves…
2) God hates divorce
a. Gen. 2:24 + Matt. 19:6 - Gen - Therefore a man shall leave his father and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Matt - So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man
separate.
b. Micah 2:9 - The women of My people you cast out
From their pleasant houses;
From their children,
you have taken away My glory forever.
c. Mal. 2:13-16 (read)
3) God loves people (and “puts up” with their stupidity and hard hearts)
a. Mark 10:4-5 - They said,“Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
Huge concept - b/c, according to Prov. 2:17 and Mal. 2:14, marriage is a covenant - and covenants were meant to be taken seriously and not to be broken (Gal. 3:15)
b. Ezra 10:1 - Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And
Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make
covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this
matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.”
Here, a covenant was actually made to divorce pagan wives.
Neh. 13:23-29 - In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language
language of one or the other people.
So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them dswear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor
take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women
Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, htransgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?” And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove
him from me.
Here, the covenant of the priesthood and the purity of the people took importance over divorce.
I bring this up for several reasons:
1. In the NT, divorce is specifically allowable only when sexual immorality (idolatry in a sense) has occurred (Matt. 5:13), or when desertion has occurred (1 Cor. 7:15).
2. Paul’s words are firm on divorce: 1 Cor. 7:10 - Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband
is not to divorce his wife.
But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her
let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise kyour children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
So, God’s own words. coupled with Paul’s inspired words, along with Jesus’ words, all point out that you are to: 1) marry wisely, and 2) don’t divorce
BUT
What if you do or have? Without any “right” reason? Are you a perpetual adulteress or adulterer? Are you destined to hell? Is your current remarriage wrong? Are you destined to loneliness for fear of being labelled an adulterous person
if you remarry?
3) Recall the heart of God toward His hard hearted people - he granted them a certificate of divorce. Even though He hated it, even though it was for petty reasons, even though it led to more problems (like marrying pagans) - He allowed it.
“Unbiblical” divorce is a sin. It needs to be repented of. But if you have remarried, according to 1 Cor. 7:27, stay married. You are not a perpetual adulterer b/c Jesus said “adultery” in a singular sense.
Pertinent b/c if you lived in a state of ongoing adultery you couldn’t be a Christian (1 John 2:3-4).
and, the only “unforgivable” sin is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - aka - rejecting Jesus and the gospel.
So…
1) To the married who are believers - In context, Jesus is addressing the flippancy of divorce. It is very serious and will ALWAYS have negative repercussions. Find a way through, not out.
a. Be close to Jesus individually.
b. Husbands - Love like Jesus, lead like Jesus - die to your self. Put your wife first. Dwell (be around).
c. Wives - Submit like Jesus, look like Jesus (inside and out) - 1 Peter 3:3-4
2) To the mixed married -
a. Stay in the relationship (1 Cor. 7:10)
b. Men - Be patient (1 Cor. 7), be around (1 Peter 3:7)
c. Women - Be chaste (1 Pet.3:1)
3) To the unmarried
a. Be pure (1 Cor.6:18)
b. Be patient (Ps. 37:34)
c. Women - marry someone you can follow (Eph. 5:22)
d. Men - marry someone you are attracted to inwardly and outwardly
4) To the divorced
a. Repent and learn from the past mistakes (1 John 1:9) remembering that Jesus love you and forgives all things.
b. Men - Marry someone you are attracted to inwardly as well.
c. Women - Marry someone
you can follow (Eph. 5:22)
Conclusion - God loves marriage, God hates divorce, and God loves people (the most) and has grace for any situation.
