God Hates Divorce
Notes
Transcript
It’s been 3 months since I’ve joined the gym and still no progress, so first thing tomorrow morning, I’m going there in person to see what the problem is.
Brook and the Empire band is heading to state. They got a 1 in their competition! Congratulations!
We have a contract on a house here in Duncan area. It is in the Empire school district. We close on March 13!! Praise God!
Today we are going to be in Mark 10:1-12.
Last we saw Jesus teach that how we treat others and how we live our lives matter. We must live a life that matches our words, that glorifies our King.
Today we are going to look at divorce!
This is a heavy topic. No preacher who is not prepared, comes to the pulpit and thinks I’ll wing it on the topic of divorce!
This is a topic that has affected most of us in one way or another.
I teach on this today as someone who has been affected by divorce. Both my parents and I have been divorced. I have seen its affects from all sides.
Please know that I teach this today just like Jesus taught it over 2000 years ago, with love and grace in His words. He was not teaching this to condemn those who were there, He was teaching to answer a question from the Pharisees. He was teaching God’s view of divorce not man’s.
I love you church and I want us all to get this right, to know and understand God’s view on this.
Divorce is a serious topic as we will see today.
16 “For the Lord God of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one’s garment with violence,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.”
God takes divorce very seriously.
Praise God for His grace and mercy that are new everyday.
Please stand as we read God’s Word
1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Let’s pray
We see that Jesus is on the move again. He has left Capernaum and is now in the region of Judea. He is in the region known as Perea.
Mark 10 is about 5-6 months after the end of Mark 9. Mark and Matthew skip these months. They are recorded in Luke and John. We are 1 chapter away from Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Just like usual, a crowd has gathered around Jesus and He begins to teach them. Jesus loves the people and He wants them to know the truth. Jesus never shied away from teaching the people. He did however have issues with the Pharisees. They hated Jesus and wanted Him dead. And we can see that they are at it again and try to test Him and get Him to slip up and say something either against Moses or what God had said. They don’t learn very well, for all that they had tried, Jesus humiliated them every time. But here we go again!
They asked Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
This was a calculated question for at least 2 reasons.
If Jesus condemns divorce, He is in the region of Perea. King Herod Antipas is the ruler of this area. He is the same Herod that locked up John the Baptist and had him beheaded for calling out his unlawful marriage to his brothers wife. So Jesus runs the risk of Herod hearing of His teaching and reacting the same way.
2. If Jesus promotes divorce, He is going against what God says is sin.
They think they have Him in a no win situation.
Nice try, but wrong again.
How did Jesus answer, the same as always, He refers back to the Torah, the Old Testament.
He asks them what Moses said about divorce.
They said that Moses permitted them to write a certificate of divorce and send her on her way.
They were referring to Deuteronomy 24:1-4
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, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
We need a little culture background for this to make since.
There were 2 groups of interpretations for this passage, the liberal and the conservative. Not to different than today.
The Liberals - they believed that this passage gave them the ability to divorce their wife for any reason they wanted. Some of the reasons are
If the wife burnt dinner.
If the wife talked rudely to their mother.
If the wife spun around in public to fast and showed her ankles.
If they found a woman prettier than their wife.
It was literally any reason that they wanted!
The conservatives - they believed that the only reason for a divorce was adultery.
Back then, not unlike several decades ago here, women had no rights. They were viewed as property. It was a rare circumstance for a woman to divorce a man.
The certificate was important especially to the woman. Since she had no rights, she needed that certificate to prove that she was not an adulterer. If she were an adulterer, she would be stoned to death.
Another important reason for the certificate is that is would have shown that she was repaid the marriage dowry. This would have given her enough money to get on her feet and survive.
It wasn’t until 1920, a little over 100 years ago that women were able to vote. Only 50 years ago in 1974, women were allowed to open have a credit card in their name only.
Times change, but they stay the same.
Then Jesus answers them as to why Moses said that. It wasn’t because Moses agreed with divorce. It was because of the hardness of their hearts. Then Jesus goes all the way back to the beginning.
Jesus defines marriage. He gives God’s plan for marriage and His definition.
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God created one man and one woman in the beginning. He didn’t create a group of men and women for them switch around as they saw fit. He created one man for one woman.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
The word used for become one literally means to join together or to glue together.
In God’s eyes, a man and a woman who have been married are one flesh. They have become one in His sight. That oneness is revealed in their children. The 2 created one life. They are one.
Then Jesus ends the debate with one last truth.
What God has joined together, let not man separate!
When a man and a woman are married, it is a covenant given and joined into in the presence and witness of God. Through that covenant, God makes them one flesh and we are not to try and separate it.
Because of that oneness in marriage, divorce is very painful!
It is not something that should ever be done on a whim!
The only reason God gives for divorce are adultery, death and abandonment. Any other reason is a sin in God’s eyes.
God takes divorce very seriously.
Jesus answers them with the Word of God. With the truth that they ignore. We should do the same anytime someone asks us a question, or if we have a question ourselves. We should always answer from the Bible. We should always look to see what the Bible says about it.
When they had returned to house they were staying at, the disciples began to question Jesus about this. They had grown up with the wrong teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees. A lot what Jesus was teaching through out His ministry was new to them also. They had the advantage of getting alone time with Jesus to ask more detailed questions and get a lot more detail in the answers.
Jesus tells them that if a man divorces his wife and remarries, he commits adultery, and if a wife divorces her husband and remarries, she commits adultery. This was a serious statement that Jesus made. The law was that if a man or woman commits adultery, they are to be put to death.
This is like His teachings on the Sermon on the Mount. Where He taught that if you are angry with a person, you have committed murder. If you lust after a woman, you have committed adultery.
Jesus is teaching that sin is serious. That marriage is sacred. That just because you divorce your spouse, you are free to remarry. If you do you are committing adultery according to the Bible.
The divorce rate in America is around 50%!!
We are supposed to be a Christian nation and we have almost half of all marriages end in divorce! That is unacceptable. We have to do better.
We have to understand that marriage is not easy. It takes work. It’s not 50-50. It is 100-100. If both aren’t giving 100% then the marriage will fail.
A marriage also takes 3 to make it work. God has to be apart of the marriage for it to last. If the husband and wife are focused on God, they will have no choice but to grow closer to each other. If God is put fist in the marriage, that marriage will have the best chance of success.
Please notice that if you were the one who was left, Jesus is not saying you are an adulterer, it is the one who leaves.
I know many of us have been divorced.
I have.
Praise God that divorce is not the unpardonable sin. God forgives those who are divorced when we repent and seek forgiveness.
I don’t care how many times you have been divorced.
If you are married now, this is the last marriage. This is for better or worse, til death do us part.
This is the marriage to focus on and put God first in.
Honor God in this marriage.
It is always hard to live with someone. Remember, you chose them.
Remember why you chose them.
Remember you are not perfect either.
Forgive like you have been forgiven.
If you chose to put God first in the marriage you are in now, He will bless your marriage.
God hates divorce, but He loves you!
Lets pray
