Matthew 19--Divorce

Don't know why, but it just struck me this morning that the Pharisees were the lawyers of their day, the keeper of the law.  In Matthew 19, they bring the issue of divorce to Jesus as a means of trapping him.  I find the dialogue interesting in a number of regard, particularly as divorce is so common these days.  From this I can pull out:

1. God's plan is for this mysterious "unity" between man and woman.  His intent was ordained from the beginning before the fall and was not an "after thought."


Mat 19:6  Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together."

2. If you marry someone who is divorced for a reason other than martial unfaithfulness, you and that person commit adultery:


Mat 19:9  And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful. [And anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.]"

3. Better to not marry at all then to get into the mess of serial marriage:


Mat 19:10  Jesus' disciples then said to Him, "If this is the case, it is better not to marry!"

However, what I find more intriguing is his statement after this:


Mat 19:11  "Not everyone can accept this statement," Jesus said. "Only those whom God helps.
Mat 19:12  Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can"

Whatever to make of the unuchs and not accepting this?  I can't imagine he's making an escape clause within it, but more just to say then you should avoid marriage entirely....

The original passage Jesus is referencing is this:

Deu 24:1  "Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes her a letter of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house.
Deu 24:2  When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man.
Deu 24:3  But if the second husband also turns against her and divorces her, or if he dies,
Deu 24:4  the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the LORD. You must not bring guilt upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession.

Bizarre...men were permitted to divorce because they were displeased?  And then it sounds like if she remarries and the 2nd one doesn't like her, then she is even worse off---defiled?   Confused here.

Wesley's comment on Deuteronomy 24:1

"Some uncleanness - Some hateful thing, some distemper of body or quality of mind not observed before marriage: or some light carriage, as this phrase commonly signifies, but not amounting to adultery. Let him write - This is not a command as some of the Jews understood it, nor an allowance and approbation, but merely a permission of that practice for prevention of greater mischiefs, and this only until the time of reformation, till the coming of the Messiah when things were to return to their first institution and purest condition." -Wesley

Does Wesley mean until Jesus comes the 1st time or 2nd? It's muddy for me.


Here is the BBC commentary--which shows me the graciousness of God's love but doesn't help with the harshness of the Levitical law:


"A man could divorce his wife for uncleanness by writing her a certificate of divorce and giving it to her. She was then free to marry someone else. But if her second husband died or divorced her, the first husband was not allowed to marry her again. Jehovah gave Israel a certificate of divorce (Jer_3:1-8); yet in a future day He will take her to Himself again, having purged her of her unfaithfulness. Oh, the depths of the riches of the love of God; how low He stoops to love the unlovable!" -Believer's Bible Commentary


Here's another passage from Malachi that counterbalances this disregard for the wife a bit:


Mal 2:14  You cry out, "Why doesn't the LORD accept my worship?" I'll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.
Mal 2:15  Didn't the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are His. And what does He want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.
Mal 2:16  "For I hate divorce!" says the LORD, the God of Israel. "To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty, " says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife."