Meaning Of Righteousness Part 4 Series

Last Sunday, Jesus taught the real meaning of righteousness in the area of marital fidelity and sexual purity.

Exodus 20:4;17

“You shall not commit adultery.

17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Today we continue with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 as he speaks to us about the meaning of righteousness when it comes to marriage and divorce.

Divorce Leads To Adultery.

Matthew 5:31-32

“It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; 32but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19:3-12

Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? 6“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7They said* to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” 8He said* to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10The disciples said* to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12“For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

By the time Jesus came on to the scene, divorce had become so easy and casual that a man could dismiss his wife for such trivial things as burning his meal or embarrassing him in front of his friends. It was not uncommon for a husband to give no reason at all. It was not required.

Rabbinic justification of this practice arose from an erroneous interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

When you read the passage with understanding you see that it is not a passage that is written to condone or sanction divorce. It provides for a certificate of divorce that can be given in the case of adultery but it goes on to teach the ruinous nature of divorce and that divorce actually leads to the sin of adultery.

Divorce Destroys A Divine Union.

To understand what the Bible teaches about divorce, we must first understand what it teaches about marriage.

Genesis 2:24

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Every person who has ever been married (believer or non-believers) participates in a “union” established by the Creator Himself. Marriage is God’s institution.

God’s intent in marriage is monogamous and life-long to one person.

When men fell into sin, that perfect relationship was distorted and perverted.

Genesis 3:16

Yet your desire will be for your husband,

And he will rule over you.”

Divorce is an attempt to sever the union that God has made.

The same thing as having a splinter in your finger and taking a knife and cutting off your hand or your arm. Rather than dealing with the problem.