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by Kevin Pauley
Old Covenant view
But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to peace. - 1 Corinthians 7:15 HCSB
Elders (zaquenim) often have to address the issue of divorce and remarriage. An appropriate understanding of the biblical terms and the historical context in which they were written is therefore essential to successful derash (life application) in the often messy and emotionally charged situations involved in divorce and remarriage.
Mosaic Law addresses the issue of divorce. Being written within the context of a patristic society, it generally uses the male perspective but the principles were clearly applied to both sexes.[1] Mosaic Law (or Levitical) did not insitute divorce Rather, it permitted and regulared an already existing societal habit, with the goal of bringing justice, just as the Law does with slavery. [2] Divorce was an easy matter for the husband in the Semitic world. There was no law which instituted it because it was simply taken for granted as part of age-old custom. What the Law tried to do was regulate divorce, usually in favor of the wife.
These formalities, involving time and money, acted as a deterrent to hasty or rash action. However, by theological reflection upon the meaning of creation, the righteous understood that monogamous marriage was the will of God[3] and that divorce was something God hated.[4] It is to this theological principle that Jesus appealed when asked about the matter, while saying that the Mosaic Law, which permitted divorce, was God’s accommodation to human sin.[5]
Marriage is a covenant,[6] and covenants are affirmed before witnesses.[7] In the book of Malachi, God rebuked the Israelites for the sin of divorce and commanded them to be faithful to their covenantal vows. 8] By the way, note that if the usual interpretation is correct, monogamy is again apparently assumed as the normal practice.
The distress of Malachi’s times was in large measure due to the general contempt for the solemn obligations of marriage. The special mention he made of “the wife of your youth” seems to show that elderly Jewish wives were being put aside so that husbands might marry young and attractive girls from the neighboring nations.
But marriage, says the prophet, is not a matter of private arrangement or personal convenience, but a solemn “covenant” entered into before God, and its obligations may not be disregarded for frivolous reasons.
The particular situation in his day further led the prophet Malachi to announce a general truth which is found nowhere else in the OT – that God is opposed to divorce. The prophet was no mere ritualist or fanatical nationalist, but a man of deep human sympathies. This is shown by his perception that the divorce of a faithful wife is an act of cruelty toward her as a person as well as an act of disloyalty to God. God considers divorce based solely on a lack of affection as an injustice and an act of treachery.
However, as we will see, there are a few exceptions to this general rule.
[2] Leviticus 21:7,14-15; Numbers 30:9
[5] Mark 10:1-2; cf. The prophetic use of the law of divorce in Hosea 2:2-3; Jeremiah 3:1-5
[6] Proverbs 2:17; Ezekiel 16:8
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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