I Corinthians 7 and Divorce

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for being patient and hearing me out as I brought out some different ways of looking at a couple of the divorce passages. This is a challenging topic for me and been a real struggle to address. The problem is that I bring some ideas about divorce with me to the table and I read and interpret the scriptures based on those ideas. It's a problem we all face in different areas of study. This one is especially difficult because on the face of it, the scriptures seem quite clear- divorce and remarriage are allowed in only two circumstances. Otherwise, the parties involved have to carry the penalty of their sin for the rest of their lives. This seems to me incompatible with the gospel message, the love and grace of God, and the main thrust of Jesus' teaching. I certainly don't want to find a way "around" the scriptures- I want to find out their true meaning and application.

I'd like to start with the so-called "Laws of Divorce" in the Old Testament, something I referred to briefly on Sunday. Any book, article, or discussion on divorce often starts at this point. What is quite eye-opening to me is the brevity of the subject in the OT, and what the REAL subject of the passage is. The main area of scripture referred to is in Deut chapter 24. Have a read through the Laws of Divorce (NIV)...

1 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

What's the topic of this passage?

Divorce? Well...not the main topic.

The topic is REMARRIAGE. It's a very narrow case where a twice-divorced woman is not allowed to remarry to her FIRST husband. In fact, it could be that the woman isn't even twice-divorced- her second husband could have died. Still, she cannot remarry her first husband.

Very interesting. Many Christian churches teach that marriage is once-for-all, meaning that the first marriage bond can NEVER be broken- never ever. They go on to teach that even if people are married, divorced and remarried to other people, they MUST go back to their ORIGINAL spouses to honor God.

So much for that theory.

The other point about this passage is that it does not rule out divorce or remarriage. Just remarriage under a very narrow circumstance.

A huge amount of discussion has been had for centuries on exactly what is meant by the man "finding something indecent about her". Exactly what is "indecent"? Jewish scholars have debated and written volumes on this subject. Their intent was to try and discover the exact legal cases when divorce could be allowed and couldn't be allowed, based on their interpretation of "something indecent". The Jewish writings reveal that they would take case after case of divorce/remarriage and try to figure out exactly what was allowed and what wasn't. There were conservative Rabbi's that said "something indecent" could only mean adultery, the only grounds for divorce. Others said that it could be almost anything, giving the man especially, the power over the woman to get rid of her for any reason whatsoever.

Which brings us to Jesus' day. That exact debate was still going on. The religious powers were wrangling over a number of issues, trying to pin them down exactly. They were legalists- trying to discover what they could get away with and what they couldn't. Looking for laws to burden the people, or loopholes to allow them to get their way.

Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount and blows them away with six topics in chapter 5 of Matthew that should put an end to their legalistic debates- God cares about the HEART. He focuses on not the final action, but the MOTIVE that caused the action.

You heard it said "don't murder". I say if you're angry at your brother, it's murder.

You heard it said "don't commit adultery." I say if your look at a woman with lust, it's adultery.

And it goes on, for six topics.

Look at the fourth one, about taking oaths.

33"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Many Christians read this and say. "Oh man. Jesus says 'no oaths'. What if I get called into court and have to swear on the Bible and all that. The Bible forbids it, so what will I do??"

That's not what Jesus is saying. The problem Jesus was addressing was not oaths, but TELLING THE TRUTH. See, people in his day had a practice of lying. They also developed a system, with the help of the legalists, to find loopholes around telling the truth. They'd say "It's okay to stretch the truth as long as I don't swear an oath." Then the rules got more complicated- a person could lie as long as he didn't swear by heaven. Or some were saying what really matters is swearing by God's throne. Others said it wasn't the throne, but the earth, God's footstool....on and on it went. Lying and finding a loophole.

Jesus said "Enough. Let your yes be yes and your no be no." IE, tell the truth for crying out loud. No more crossing your fingers behind your back and no more stupid OATHS!!!

So we read Matthew 5 and we see all this and what is our reaction? Sadly, we entirely miss the point and become just like the legalists. We try to establish a complicated set of rules, regulations, and loopholes based upon Jesus' words in that sermon.

Remember what Jesus said at the start

17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

We read that and immediately think that Jesus was talking about his ACTIONS. He went about and didn't murder, commit adultery, divorce, swear oaths, etc. We then apply His words to our actions.

I think it goes deeper then that. Much deeper.

And there's more...

Did you know that the term "fulfill the law" had a specific meaning in Jesus' day? When a rabbi told his followers that he was going to "fulfill the law", they understood him to mean that he was going to "tell the law", or "fully explain the law"- give it's true meaning and intent.

So in one sense, especially to the Jewish hearers of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was saying "I'm not here to get rid of the law, I'm going to explain to you WHAT IT WAS REALLY GETTING AT- God cares about your heart!"

Have a think about that, read Matthew 5 and the six topics, and see if you have a different perspective.

So much more to say...

Let me just summarize my points on divorce and remarriage that I gave you on Sunday.

1. God's standard is life-long marriage.
2. Divorce is not God's standard, but is permitted because of the hardness of our hearts (sin).
3. Both the OT and NT permit divorce and remarriage.
4. Divorce is not an unforgiveable sin.
5. Divorce and remarriage must be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

Let me recommend an excellent book on the topic:

"Divorce and Remarriage- A Redemptive Theology" by Rubel Shelly

This book was written with a spirit of grace coupled with a desire to bow to the Scriptures. Shelly looks at all the occurances of the topic in both the OT and NT in detail, but in a very readable way.

Also, another good book is

"Divorce and Remarriage- Four Christian Views" edited by H. Wayne House.

This book looks at the four predominant views in Christian churches. Here's the description:

Divorce. No one likes it, but it doesn't go away. Even among Christians, the divorce rate continues to climb. How should Christians approach this issue? May Christians ever legitimately divorce? If they divorce legitimately, may they remarry?Not everyone who appeals to Scripture agrees on how we should understand what it says about divorce and remarriage. In this book, four authors present their distinct perspectives. Carl Laney argues that the Bible indicates that marriages are always intended to be permanent, that there is never a need for divorce and that remarriage is never permissible after divorce. William Heth contends that while there are legitimate biblical grounds for divorce, there are no legitimate grounds for remarriage after divorce. Thomas Edgar defends the position that Scripture allows for divorce and remarriage in cases of adultry or desertion. Larry Richards holds that Scripture, while decrying divorce and the pain it causes, points to a God of grace who will not condemn those who divorce and remarry.Such a sensitive debate cannot remain abstract, so a case study accompanies each position, followed by critical responses from each essayist. The result is a thoughtful, helpful resource for all who wish to think biblically about a crucial issue confronting the church.

Very informative and helpful.

Finally, when this topic comes up, people often quote a verse from Malachi "God hates divorce" and think the discussion is over at that point.

Did you know that God was speaking to a particular people at a particular time when He made that statement? In fact, if you read the passage, He was speaking about a particular TYPE of divorce that was going on, one common today. Have a read in Malachi and find out...you may be surprised!

Eric