Divorce pt 3
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
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Jesus interpreted the meaning of the word uncleanness in the Mosaic Law, showing that it refers to sexual immorality, not just anything that might displease the husband. Therefore, divorce – and and the freedom to remarry without sin – is only permitted in the case of sexual immorality.
These problems that are serious yet fall short of the Biblical permission for divorce may justify a separation, but the partners are expected to honor their marriage vows even in their separation, because as far as God is concerned, they are still married – their marriage covenant has not been broken for what God considers to be Biblical reasons.
The reason why a person who does not have a legitimate divorce commits adultery upon remarrying is because they are not divorced in the eyes of God. Since their old marriage was never dissolved on Biblical grounds, that marriage is still valid and they are actually guilty of bigamy and adultery.
Why would it be difficult to obey the command not to remarry if “unbiblically divorced?”
I wonder if this includes the death of a spouse? The Bible doesn’t mention anything about this – the exception being sexual immorality. I feel that this may be difficult if death was also not an exception.
Hmm that’s a good point; our marriage vows clearly state that the agreement is “until death do us part,” but I’m not sure if this can be found in the Bible word-for-word. Marriage in its essence is a covenant (morally binding contract) between two people made in the presence of God and the public. The terms and conditions are that the agreement is to be upheld until they are separated by death, so it makes sense that one party is no longer bound if the other passes away. This is the best explanation I can give from my knowledge of the Bible!
As for those who are “unbiblically divorced,” this instruction is incredibly challenging to follow because of our natural desire for companionship and intimacy (physical, emotional, and otherwise). It would take someone who has “taken up their cross” to follow Jesus and God’s help to obey. In this context, it makes little sense to enforce this teaching on people who have no interest in following God.