Post by Mark on Dec 19, 2008 4:48:32 GMT -8
Is it okay to divorce or not? The question comes up more often than we would like to think. I find it sadly comical when folks, usually guys, come to me and basically ask my permission to leave their wives. "Umm, no." Their typical response is not of closure or redirection or a renewed effort toward reconcilliation. The typical response is to go find someone else to ask.
Divorce is allowable in the Bible… but so is stoning your children to death (Deuteronomy 21:20, 21). When we grab statements out of the text of Scripture without understanding the language and context, we can come up with all sorts of crazy ideas that are defensible but altogether erroneous.
To add to the confusion, there have been rabbinical teachings that allowed for divorce under any circumstances since before Messiah’s day, using the
(Old Testament Law) to defend their argument.
And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
(Mark 10:2-4 KJV)
The specific Scripture that the Pharisees were referring to was Deuteronomy 24:1.
When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor 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.
(Deuteronomy 24:1 KJV)
When we talk about how folks are inclined to take things out of the Bible to support their own perspective, we’re talking about nothing new. Because any language over time is forced to adapt to environmental and cultural changes, words that were recorded at Sinai, in some instances, lose the punch of their specificity. The word "ur-vah", which is translated "uncleanness" in the above text, has become altogether generic in the Hebrew language, simply meaning "exposed" with the idea of revealing something intended to be hidden. This word is used throughout Scripture and in other early Hebrew writings more commonly translated as "nakedness" with the implication of some sexual immorality.
The Greek equivalent, used in the Septuigent, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, is the word "pornia" which is most often translated "fornication".
Messiah speaks within the context of when He says,
It hath 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.
(Matthew 5:31-32 KJV)
Divorce is an unfortunate reality in our society, as it was in Messiah’s, as it was in the days of Moses. In fact, Messiah Yeshua explained,
For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
(Mark 10:5-9 KJV)
There are lots of things about our culture that are commonplace and accepted, if even by resignation, that are a travesty in the eyes of the Most High. Divorce is unquestionably hurtful and destructive to every generation that is touched by it. It is no less a reality, nor in many cases, an inevitable consequence of a pattern of hurtful and destructive behaviors.
Where do we go from here? There are many in the Messianic community, living a life committed to the obedience of Adonai’s commands who have come out of a divorce and are in many cases re-married. Are they living "a life of sin"? I would suggest not, based upon the teaching of Paul.
For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
(1 Corinthians 7:7-11 KJV)
This text speaks to the current reality- not a reformation toward the ideal. Those who are re-married after having left a relationship that was hurtful are no less married than those who were married as virgins.
We don’t come into a relationship with the Most High with all of our pieces neatly in place. We come to Him broken and needy. We come living in the consequences of our own sins, and in many cases, the sins of others. But we pick up where we are and draw the line from this day forward, committing to be transformed by the renewal of our souls, walking in daily obedience to the instructions and guidance of. We don’t seek to redefine the texts of God’s Laws in order to justify how we go to where we are today, nor change the Scriptures to accommodate the familiarity of our society.
Divorce is allowable in the Bible… but so is stoning your children to death (Deuteronomy 21:20, 21). When we grab statements out of the text of Scripture without understanding the language and context, we can come up with all sorts of crazy ideas that are defensible but altogether erroneous.
To add to the confusion, there have been rabbinical teachings that allowed for divorce under any circumstances since before Messiah’s day, using the
(Old Testament Law) to defend their argument.And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
(Mark 10:2-4 KJV)
The specific Scripture that the Pharisees were referring to was Deuteronomy 24:1.
When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor 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.
(Deuteronomy 24:1 KJV)
When we talk about how folks are inclined to take things out of the Bible to support their own perspective, we’re talking about nothing new. Because any language over time is forced to adapt to environmental and cultural changes, words that were recorded at Sinai, in some instances, lose the punch of their specificity. The word "ur-vah", which is translated "uncleanness" in the above text, has become altogether generic in the Hebrew language, simply meaning "exposed" with the idea of revealing something intended to be hidden. This word is used throughout Scripture and in other early Hebrew writings more commonly translated as "nakedness" with the implication of some sexual immorality.
The Greek equivalent, used in the Septuigent, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, is the word "pornia" which is most often translated "fornication".
Messiah speaks within the context of
when He says, It hath 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.
(Matthew 5:31-32 KJV)
Divorce is an unfortunate reality in our society, as it was in Messiah’s, as it was in the days of Moses. In fact, Messiah Yeshua explained,
For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
(Mark 10:5-9 KJV)
There are lots of things about our culture that are commonplace and accepted, if even by resignation, that are a travesty in the eyes of the Most High. Divorce is unquestionably hurtful and destructive to every generation that is touched by it. It is no less a reality, nor in many cases, an inevitable consequence of a pattern of hurtful and destructive behaviors.
Where do we go from here? There are many in the Messianic community, living a life committed to the obedience of Adonai’s commands who have come out of a divorce and are in many cases re-married. Are they living "a life of sin"? I would suggest not, based upon the teaching of Paul.
For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
(1 Corinthians 7:7-11 KJV)
This text speaks to the current reality- not a reformation toward the ideal. Those who are re-married after having left a relationship that was hurtful are no less married than those who were married as virgins.
We don’t come into a relationship with the Most High with all of our pieces neatly in place. We come to Him broken and needy. We come living in the consequences of our own sins, and in many cases, the sins of others. But we pick up where we are and draw the line from this day forward, committing to be transformed by the renewal of our souls, walking in daily obedience to the instructions and guidance of
. We don’t seek to redefine the texts of God’s Laws in order to justify how we go to where we are today, nor change the Scriptures to accommodate the familiarity of our society.
