Divorce

A few years ago a coworker of mine, who knew I was single, would try to set me up with various women at work. When I objected that they either had boyfriends or were married, he replied “that’s okay divorce”. I couldn’t believe how ignorant he was of divorce and its consequences. I personally have never gone through that pain as both of my parents are still happily and faithfully married to each other after thirty years. I know of others in my church and elsewhere have experienced divorce and the tragic consequences it can bring. Oftentimes these marriages dissolve due to adultery on the part of one spouse or another. Sometimes pornography is involved. Others, especially celebrities, separate from each other for frivolous, foolish reasons that the Bible doesn’t approve. Kim Kardashian’s marriage which lasted for around three months or so is an example of the shallow view of divorce and remarriage that exists in the world today. What does the Bible say about divorce? “For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously” (Malachi 2:16).  The trouble in Malachi’s day was that men were leaving their wives for younger, more attractive women and “dealing treacherously” with their spouses, that is, they abused their wives and did not take responsibility to make sure that they were faithful to them. The same thing happens today with both men and women cheating on their spouses. One of the consequences of divorce is that it destroys marriage. A couple is still married, but the intimacy that was their before is gone and is the reason that couples split from each other. Another consequence is that the children who come from families involved in this situation aren’t given a good example of how a marriage is conducted because of the broken home that results from divorce. Those who are members of the church often wrongly blame the church for the problems in their lives and so they leave it to go to another church or to go to no church at all. This is true not just of the children but of the adults as well.  God’s grace takes people in these circumstances and makes them able to stay in the church and overcome these problems. He gives us the grace to not “deal treacherously” against our spouses. When we look for spouses and remain faithfully married to them we will experience the blessing of God’s word as revealed in Hebrews 13:4a “marriage is honorable above all and the bed undefiled”.

Kevin Rau