God Hates Divorce

 

Read Malachi 2

I begin with verse 16.  The Lord God of Israel said:  I hate divorce.

Why such strong language?  God said thou shall not murder.  It was and is a command.  He didn’t add, I hate murder.

What is it about divorce?

God noted that through marriage sanctified by him you get godly offspring.  In flesh and spirit both husband and wife become one through the union blessed by God.

The Hebrew people had intermarried, at least some of them.  Think to the times of Jesus when the Jews detested the Samaritans.  They had intermarried with their conquerors.  This was mostly the women being taken as wives by the Assyrians or other invaders and remaining in the land.

Before the people had entered the Promised Land, God gave directions against intermarrying with the pagans.  Don’t marry people who worship a false God.

How do I preach this in an age where almost every family you know is impacted by divorce?

That’s easy.  God hates divorce.  It doesn’t matter what my opinion of the matter is.  It doesn’t matter if this is easy to preach or not.  Don’t do what God hates.

But I am in an abusive relationship!

You don’t know what it’s like.

You don’t understand.

Understanding is a good quality for counseling but obedience to God is essential for right living. But let's speak briefly to the counseling side of this equation.

Ask yourself how you got there and you will have your counsel for how to live with whomever or whatever comes next. Broken marriages can be fixed but they seldom are.

How did you get there?  You were not ready to enter into a promise that you would never break.

But I didn’t know he or she would be like that.

Then you casually made a promise that God takes very seriously.

Why does God hate divorce?

God hates broken promises.  Marriage is a covenant.  It is an unbreakable promise and God hates it when we break what he made to be unbreakable.

Do not enter lightly into an unbreakable promise with a partner, because the promise is also with God. 

What if at the end of the age, you were standing before Jesus and he said, “Send this one to hell.  Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.  Go directly to hell.”

But, but, but…. You promised me eternity with you.  I professed you as Lord.  I believed in my heart that God raised you from the dead.  I was your disciple.  I confessed when I sinned.  I even read my chapter every day even though some days I didn’t want to.

You promised.

Imagine Jesus saying, “Yeah but, I’m going to have to break that promise.”

We live under the new deal, right?  No, it is the New Covenant.  God does not break his promises.

A covenant is an unbreakable promise.  God does not break his promises and he does not want you to make promises that you will break, especially in the marriage covenant.

Malachi puts in like this.  You wonder why God doesn’t respond to your prayers?  You don’t keep your most important promises.

You are not faithful to God.  You are not faithful to each other.

If you are young, don’t rush into marriage.

If you have been divorced, don’t rush into the second or third time around.

Years ago as a manager for the newspaper, some of my carriers told me about some of their friends who were also carriers.  Two of them were getting married.

I thought, “that’s nice.”

Then they told me it would be the fifth wedding for each of them.

Today, we are told not to intermarry.   You didn’t know that, did you?

Those of you who received the stone that the builders rejected as your cornerstone are now a people—God’s people. 

Do not marry someone who does not proclaim Jesus as Lord. 

But, but, but…  

He could change.  She could change.

That’s true.  Wait until they do before you commit to an unbreakable promise. If they are going to change, it’s worth the wait.

That’s cool.  We will just do the friends with benefits thing until somebody changes. 

If you think the FWB package is ok until both are ready for the covenant of marriage, you will never get to the covenant.

Marriage is tough but doable with God and in a godly relationship.  It has many benefits and is the prescribed process to bring godly children into the world.

There is probably not a person alive who has been married for 5 years or more who has not entertained the thoughts of either killing or divorcing their spouse.

If you are at that point, remember that God hates divorce and I can help you dispose of the body.

Seriously, if you are at that point, remember that you made a promise that was never to be broken.  If you can’t continue your marriage, then don’t jump into a second or third one without understanding that marriage is a covenant—a promise never to be broken.

We have forgiveness in Christ Jesus but we are counseled to be wise.  Do not enter into a marriage covenant until you can do so knowing that you will never break your promise.

Amen.