Brother Mike Ministries

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DIVORCE, THE BIG LIE!
By Brother Mike (12-12-20; 32 minutes)


INTRODUCTION  

In this message, we will consider the Big Lie of Divorce, which states that once a spouse has divorced the other spouse in a marriage, these two spouses are each free to have sex with or remarry another. First, we will see what God teaches about sex before or outside of marriage, and then we will see what God teaches about divorce and remarriage compared to what the Jewish leaders taught in the days of Jesus. In doing so, we will look at the entire account in Matthew 19 when the Pharisees tempted Jesus by asking the question, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause? And, while doing so, we will look at what has come to be known as an exception clause to no divorce and remarriage in verse 9 of Matthew 19. Finally, we will look at another verse in 1Corinthians 7 that many have used as a reason for divorce and remarriage.   

May God the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ our Lord guide us into all the truth as He said He would so that we will obey His Majesty in all things to the glory of the Father, amen.  


Now when it comes to divorce, the world and the churches of our day believe that people can divorce under certain circumstances to be freed from their marriages so that they can remarry or have sex with another. But what does God, the creator of marriage and sex, have to say? First, in so far as sex without marriage is concerned, God through the apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 7 says, 

1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman .
2
Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband .  

That is, to avoid fornication [including sex before or without marriage], let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Clearly, God is against all those people in this wicked generation who think it is okay to live together and have sex without marriage, for sex without marriage is fornication, and, according to God, fornication is evil. Hence, God states in 1Corinthians 6,

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind ,
10
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God

Thus, if people could be freed from their marriages by divorce, God is absolutely clear that sex without such marriage is an unrighteous or evil thing to do. Yet, in an attempt to be righteous and not evil, people believe that divorce frees them up to marry again. But this is a Big Lie of Satan because according to God, the creator of marriage, divorce does not end a marriage as seen by what He says in Luke 16,   

17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail .
18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery .  

And God expands this teaching in Mark 10 where we read,  

11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her .
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery .  

Thus, whether a man divorces his wife and marries another, or a woman divorces her husband and marries another, or whether both their divorced spouses marry another, they commit adultery. And, for this to be so, divorce obviously could not have ended their marriages; otherwise, how could God say that it is adultery for them to each marry another after they were divorced? You see, although the world and Satan want you to believe that divorce ends a marriage, and so frees you up to marry another, it is all a Big Lie although the belief in it is accepted everywhere, even amongst the so-called Christian churches of our day under certain circumstances; nevertheless, it is a lie created by the father of lies, Satan Himself. 

O how so many have divorced and remarried because of Satan's lie! Even the Pharisees, the teachers during the time of Jesus, believed the lie that divorce could end a marriage if that divorce came about because of the woman spouse's adultery (which was only one type of fornication). This is why the Pharisees came to tempt Jesus by asking Him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause? And by saying, for every cause, they meant for every cause of fornication. Of course, they thought it was not lawful for a man to divorce for every cause of fornication, except for adultery, but they wanted to test Jesus, and they were taken by surprise when Jesus answered their question by saying to them in Matthew 19,   

4 ... Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female ,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh ?  
6 Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder .  

So, Jesus's answer to the Pharisees' question, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause, is an absolute no! For, [He says,] they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. In other words, what God has joined together by marriage, let no one put it asunder for any reason whatsoever, including for adultery, because, in marriage, they are no longer two, but one flesh, and, therefore, what God has joined together in marriage, let no one put it asunder. Indeed, Jesus is teaching us that there is never any good reason for divorce, which was a surprise to the Pharisees and the people of that day. Nevertheless, as sinful as divorce is, God knew that divorces would take place because humans are sinful by nature, so He responds to this situation in 1Corinthians 7 where we read,  

10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband :
11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife

So, we found that God, in Matthew 19:4-6, taught that there is no legitimate reason for divorce, not even for adultery, and, here, we first learn the same thing in that a wife is commanded to not depart from, or we could say, to not divorce her husband. But, if she does divorce her husband, she is to remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. She is not free to marry another as the world and Satan would have you believe, because as we already learned, it would be adultery to do so. No, rather, she must remain single, or be reconciled to her husband. And, by inference, this is also true for the husband as well: if he divorces his wife, he also is to remain single, or be reconciled to his wife. There is no room for a wife who divorces, or a husband that divorces to marry another, for, as we had already learned in Luke 16 and Mark 10, that would be adultery. 

Now, we must answer the question, why is it adultery to divorce and marry another? We could just answer, because God says so, and that should be enough reason for any human to obey as He is the creator and chief who commands complete obedience from all His people who were created in His image. But let's just go a bit further by saying that He created marriage to be for life, and this is why nothing can end a marriage, and why it would be adultery for any husband or wife to divorce and marry another. Yes, because marriage is a lifelong covenant between a husband and a wife, the only thing that can end a marriage is the death of the wife, or the husband. Listen to what God says through the apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 7:39: 

39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord .  

And listen further to what God says in Romans 7: 

2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband .
3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man .  

Thus, we see that marriage is for life, and the only thing that can end a marriage is the death of the wife, or the husband. Divorce, on the other hand, cannot end a marriage, which is why anyone who sins by divorcing, and then further sins by marrying or having sex with another, commits adultery.  

But why, then, do some people think that the Bible supports divorce and remarriage? Well, it is because of what God temporarily allowed during the Old Testament time before Jesus died on the cross, and this all brings us back to Matthew 19 where Jesus answered the Pharisees question, namely, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause? And, if you will remember, Jesus's answer was, 

4 ... Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female ,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder

In other words, as we already previously concluded, Jesus answered the Pharisees that there was no reason whatsoever for divorce. But then, the Pharisees respond further to Jesus by saying in Matthew 19,  

7 ... Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away

And we read in the next verse, 

8 He [Jesus] saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so .  

Now we read about the law by which Moses suffered a man to divorce his wife in Deuteronomy 24 where it states,  

1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house .
2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife

Here, with respect to these Old Testament verses in Deuteronomy 24, and to what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 19 that Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so, we see that the verses in Deuteronomy 24 which permitted divorce were not given as the standard for righteousness, but they were given because of the hardness, or we could say, sinfulness, of the peoples' hearts. That is, divorce was permitted in the Old Testament not to reveal the way of righteousness, but rather to reveal the sinful way unrighteousness. Divorce, you see, was the sinful way to go due to their hardness of heart. The righteous way to go, on the other hand, is what Jesus teaches in the New Testament, namely that there is no reason for divorce from the beginning of creation until now; what God has joined together in marriage, let no one put it asunder for any reason. And to drive home His point to the Pharisees that there is no legitimate reason for divorce, Jesus says to them in Matthew 19, 

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery .

Jesus is not here giving the exception of fornication to no divorce and remarriage, but He is making it clear to the Pharisees that there is no legitimate reason for divorce. Remember, the Pharisees originally came to Jesus asking Him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause? And, remember, Jesus answered,   

4 ... Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female ,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder .  

Thus, Jesus made it clear to the Pharisees that there is no legitimate reason for divorce. Yet the Pharisees believed that a wife's uncleanness or fornication gave reason for divorce in Deuteronomy 24, so they said to Jesus,

7 ... Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away ?  

And then, 

8 He [Christ] saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so .  

And then, Jesus said,  

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery .  

In other words, Jesus had already taught the Pharisees who thought that fornication was a legitimate reason for divorce that that was not the case, and what He is now saying is, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery. More literally in the Greek, what He is saying is, Whosoever shall put away his wife, if not on fornication; that is, whosoever shall put away his wife for reasons other than fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery. Can you now see it? Christ had said to the Pharisees who thought that the fornication of adultery was a reason for divorce that not only is such fornication not a reason for divorce - for what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder - but neither are there any reasons for divorce other than the fornication of adultery, which is why He says, for whosoever shall put away his wife for reasons other than fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery. Thus, the teaching of Jesus, God Himself, is that there is absolutely no legitimate reason for divorce because marriage is a lifelong covenant that can only be broken by the death of either the husband, or the wife.  

Now, let's look at a passage that ends with a verse which is sometimes used as a reason for divorce and remarriage. We read in 1Corinthians 7, 

10 And unto the married [believers married to believers] I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband :
11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife .   
12 But to the rest [believers married to unbelievers] speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away .
13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him .  
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy .
15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace .  

Here, it is the sentence, A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases that we want to focus upon. Some have interpreted this sentence to mean that a brother or sister who is married to an unbeliever that divorces him or her is not under bondage to their marriage any longer, and so is legitimately divorced and free to marry another. But there are problems with this view. First, we have already revealed other verses in the Bible which have made it clear that there is never a legitimate reason for divorce, for, remember we read in Matthew 19:4-6, 

4 ... Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female ,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder

And Mark 10:6-9 puts it like this: 

6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female .
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife ;  
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh .
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder .  

Furthermore, the entire 1Corinthians, Chapter 7 is summed up at its end by saying, 

39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord

This verse clarifies what it meant earlier in the chapter when it stated that if the unbelieving spouse departs from the marriage, let the unbelieving spouse depart; the believing spouse is not under bondage in such cases. It could not mean that the believing spouse is no longer married, and so free to remarry another because as 1Corinthians 7:39 declares, The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. And, so, the only thing that can end a marriage is the death of one of the spouses. Thus, when 1Corinthians 7:15 states that the believing spouse is not under bondage to the unbelieving spouse if the unbelieving spouse departs from the marriage cannot mean that the marriage bond is broken so that the believing spouse is free to marry another. No, it must mean something else!  

Interestingly, the Greek word (dou-lo-o) translated in 1Corinthians 7:15 as bondage in the sentence, A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases, is never used in the Bible to refer to the marriage bond. Instead, a completely different Greek word (de-o) is used, and this further lends support to the fact that the word bondage in 1Corinthians 7:15 cannot refer to the marriage bond, and so it lends no support to the notion that when an unbelieving spouse departs from the marriage that the believing spouse is no longer married, and so free to marry someone else.  

But now, if 1Corinthians 7:15 does not give reason for divorce and remarriage, which it does not, what is it teaching? Well, it is simply teaching that when the unbelieving spouse departs or divorces from the believing spouse, the believing spouse is not under bondage to try and keep the relationship together. To do so could stir up a lot of strife because the unbelieving spouse is in the kingdom of Satan while the believing spouse is in the kingdom of God, and both these kingdoms are in spiritual battle against one another. So, for the believing and unbelieving spouses to try and stay together could quite easily turn into a battle at one another's throats. This is why God commands to let the unbelieving spouse depart, for as the scripture declares, A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace (1Cor. 7:15).   


SUMMARY & CONCLUSION  

We began this study by showing that God is against sex before or outside of a marriage. Then we looked at the account in Matthew 19 where the Pharisees asked Jesus, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause? And Jesus responded by saying that when a man and woman come together in marriage, they become not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together in marriage, let no one put it asunder. And, by saying this, Jesus taught the Pharisees and us that there is no legitimate reason for divorce whatsoever.  

But then, the Pharisees asked Jesus, why did Moses then allow divorce in Deuteronomy 24? And Jesus told the Pharisees that Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of their hearts. Divorce was allowed not because it was the righteous way to go, but because of the hard or sinful hearts of the people. The righteous and sinless way to go, on the other hand, is the way it has been since the beginning, namely what God has joined together in marriage, let no one break it apart, for the two have become one flesh. Thus, Jesus taught the Pharisees and us that there is no legitimate reason for divorce whatsoever. 

Then finally, Jesus said to the Pharisees, And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery. And, what this meant when better translated in context is that whosoever shall put away his wife for reasons other than fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery. Thus, Christ had first said to the Pharisees who thought that the fornication of adultery was a reason for divorce that not only is such fornication not a reason for divorce - for what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder - but neither are there any reasons for divorce other than the fornication of adultery, which is why He says, for whosoever shall put away his wife for reasons other than fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery. Thus, the teaching of Jesus, God Himself, is that there is absolutely no legitimate reason for divorce because marriage is a lifelong covenant that can only be broken by the death of either the husband, or the wife. The world's and the Church's belief that there are legitimate reasons for divorce and remarriage is a big lie!   


Now may the LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

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