Divorce – Part 2
Good day and thank you for reading this article on divorce and what the Bible says on this timely matter.
As you read the Bible, you will see that this issue has been spoken about many times in the Old Testament and again in the New Testament.
It seems in today’s society, that marriage is like a car, when it gets old or out of style then its time to trade and get another one. The old saying: the grass is greener on the other side is all so true as shown in the most divorces.
Last lesson shows us that we all pay for divorce and that all too many times we have one eye straying for someone who catches out eye at that time. The Bible says in Proverbs 31:30 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
God holds these vows as very sacred and He expects us to keep our vows completely for as long as we live.
Let’s move forward and answer the question of God and divorce and if you remember that God gave Israel a bill of divorcement for adultery or for whoring after idols & pagan countries as well as other sins and put her away.
As you read on, you will see where Israel left, where Judah fits into the picture and how the crucifixion plays a part in the bill of divorcement.
You will also see that there was another reason for the crucifixion and resurrection for a country was redeemed.
The question will be, why hasn’t your pastor spoken about this outcome?
Turn to Jeremiah 3:8 (KJV) 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Upon reading this verse, God gives Israel her certificate of divorcement and completely cuts her off from his favor. According to Documentary Studies Volume III by Howard Rand, God said through Jeremiah that he would “put her away”; that is, the House of Israel was compelled to leave the land and could not return while the divorce was in force.
Judah, called the “treacherous sister,” did not profit by Israel’s example and the consequent punishment, but lapsed into the same gross sins. As the result of this, Judah was carried away into Babylonian captivity some 130 years after Israel was taken into Assyrian captivity, but Judah was not divorced.
The very fact that the House of Israel was given a bill of divorcement & Judah was not is most important, for this had a profound bearing upon the course of history as it affected these two sections of the Israelite peoples. In her divorced state the House of Israel left the land of Assyria as exiles from the Promised Land & moved north and west through central and southeastern Europe to colonize new territory. But from Judah a remnant returned to Palestine, rebuilding the Temple and city of Jerusalem again.
Recognize this that Israel, in this state of divorcement stood in relation to God like a divorced woman to her former husband. Thus, Israel had ceased to be his wife and God her husband. Following that divorcement Hosea declares of Israel as read in Hosea 2:7 (NIV) This is what the Lord says:
“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce
with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
did I sell you?
Because of your sins you were sold;
because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 When I came, why was there no one?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Was my arm too short to deliver you?
Israel found that she was unable to return because, under the law of divorcement, when the husband has put away his wife and she goes after another, even though the second husband may die she cannot return to her first husband. It is only in the death of the husband who gave her the bill of divorcement that she will be set free from the curse of the law.
Look at what Paul says in Romans 7:2 (NIV) 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.
Death nullifies the law and herein lies the need of the redemptive work of our Lord as we will see below.
Mr. Rand then gives us the compelling statements to ponder—In its though the Christian world has limited God in His activities. It has also, in thought, limited Jesus Christ in His sacrifice. Christ did more than bring personal salvation to you and me. Thank God, He brought that! But by his death and resurrection He also redeemed a people: He redeemed the House of Israel from the curse of the law of divorcement. God had divorced Israel and sent her away.
The House of Israel, not the House of Judah, could never again become God’s people until they were redeemed from the curse of the law of divorcement. How could they be redeemed from that curse? Under the Law of the Lord there was only one way that a divorced woman could be redeemed which is by the death of the husband. Isaiah 50:1-2 (NIV) This is what the Lord says:
“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce
with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
did I sell you?
Because of your sins you were sold;
because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 When I came, why was there no one?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Was my arm too short to deliver you?
Then follows the fifty-third chapter—the wonderful chapter of redemption. A nation is redeemed and personal salvation is promised to all who will accept it.
Stay tuned as I have part 3, where I will provide Bible verses in both the Old & New Testament on divorce, adultery and other types of divorce that man uses when confronted with the separation of marriage.
