QT 2/2/2022 Matt 19:1-6, Divorce still is not God's will for marriage

Matthew 19:1–6 (ESV) —

1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 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’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

 

NOTE: The context is a first century dispute between different schools of thought in regard to divorce. The Shammai-Hillel debate centered on the grounds for divorce. Based on Deut 24:1,

"When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,

Hillel emphasized "some indecency in her" which was translated as "anything" that a man could divorce his wife for any reason. The literature of the time emphasized things as trivial as "spoiling his dish" or crass, such as "finding someone prettier." The problem is that the Pharisees really believed these were legitimate reasons and that more people were tending to follow the Hillel "no fault" divorce argument. In that respect, Jesus brings the argument back to the beginning: we were created for permanent union. It was never God's intent that there be any reason for divorce. Now, as will be addressed next, man fell in the garden and sin was introduced ("hardness of heart" as Jesus will describe), but it was never God's intent.

 

PONDER:

1. Love is a commitment and marriage is built upon a commitment to love. It is easy to "fall out of love" if we are not committed to our spouse. Are we committed to our spouse? Do we choose to love our spouse?

 

PRAYER: Father, the world around us has taken special pleasure in destroying the sanctity of marriage. It is so common, from living together before marriage, to adultery within the bonds of marriage. The Satan-controlled media tells us it is normal and okay, but it is not, and it never has been. Bring us back to the truth; bring us back to the commitment to our spouses.