Matthew 19:1-12; Deut. 24:1-4, Divorce

Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees initial question has been taken from Scripture, not from tradition.  The fact is that in Gen. 2 we learn that divorce was never to be in the picture.  We understand why God hates putting away (divorce, Mal. 2:16). 

But this leads us, of course, to the Pharisees’ follow-up question.  Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?  It is a fact.  Moses, in the law (Deut. 24:1-4) did give instruction as to how to do divorce.  There are some things to note about what Moses said. 

·        puts it in her hand … the law was for the woman’s protection.

·        becomes another man’s wife … the law assumed remarriage; it did not forbid it.  In the day, and it is not really that much different today, marriage was God’s plan in providing for the woman’s basic needs.

·        must not take her back ... the law dealt with repeated marriage, seeking to diminish the possibility of taking marriage lightly.

·        after she has been defiled … the law confirmed the one flesh principle. 

·        abomination … sin on the land … the law promoted a high view of marriage.

Jesus explains the reason for the provision in the law.  It is because of Genesis 3, the entrance of sin into the world and, specifically, into the marriage.  A major aspect of the curse announced in Gen. 3 had to do with the competition sin would bring to the marriage.  The woman would seek the man’s position; the man would respond harshly.  Thus, because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses permitted divorce.  But from the beginning it was not so. 

God’s checed (goodness, lovingkindness) is evident first in the provision of marriage.  Then it is evident in taking into account the hardness of men’s hearts, not only in Moses’ law but in Jesus “exception” as well.  Matthew is the only one of the three Synoptic Gospels to state this exception.  Given this fact we want to share a quote from The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:

The fact that this exception to the “no divorce” law is only recorded in Matthew does not diminish its authority, for there are no textual grounds for disputing its place here. Mark and Luke record the general rule; Matthew, in giving the fuller account, records the exception. To diminish or discount the authority of a Scripture statement because only mentioned once, or by one author, is as surely taking “away from the words of the book of this prophecy” (Re 22:19) as excising them in any other manner from the text would be. … in this case what is asserted is an “exception,” … and an exception is not a contradiction.

Jesus’ exception has to do with adultery.  This is understandable since adultery is the sin that most directly destroys the one flesh principle.  Jesus does not advocate divorce; He simply notes what Moses also noted: a sexual relationship with a person besides your spouse puts you in contradiction to what marriage is at its very core. 

There is grace to come as we continue in this passage in our next post.