Why God Hates Divorce And Violence (Cont.) Malachi Part 3 Series

Why God hates divorce and violence (cont.)!

Malachi Pt. 3

Thesis: God hates divorce because of it devastating impact on family units. God hates violence because it destroys people’s lives and causes fear in a society.

Scripture Text: Malachi 2:11-17

11Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. 12As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty.

13Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’S altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

15Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

16“I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty.

So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

17You have wearied the LORD with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Introduction:

The message of the book of Malachi can be outlined as follows:

1. Stop – I love you! 1:1-5

2. Look – I see you! 1:6-2:9

3. Listen – I know you! 2:10-4:6

Last week we explored Malachi chapter two and we discovered a progression of thought in our text. I really believe it may be more accurate to say, “A digression of thought and the path toward the destruction of individuals, families, societies and even nations.”

Summary of the message last week:

When the spiritual leaders fail to lead people toward God and teach the people His way then people will break the faith they have with God. Breaking the faith is common in a society when the leadership breaks down and fails to do its job. Breaking the faith means the people of God walk away from God and his ways and follow after false and deceptive ways that lead to their demise. Breaking the faith means people no longer trust God nor His way and, therefore they substitute the right way for the wrong way. When people break the faith and quit trusting and following God’s path then an impact is made on their personal lives which in turn affects their family’s lives. One main thing that happens to people who walk away from the faith is that divorce enters into their family unit. This breaking of faith leads to a breaking up of many marriages. The result of families disintegrating and falling into the trap of divorce and sin leads to individual family members being hurt and devastated. Emotional wounds are caused in the family and the family is thrown into a violent state of turmoil. The impact of the divorce affects the spouses and their children. It even impacts relatives and their future grand children. The ramifications of divorce and the breaking of the faith have far reaching consequences that even impact the society at large.

Societies that have experienced a breakdown in spiritual leadership also experience a breaking of the faith with God which impacts the family in a negative way which usually is divorce which in turn impacts many within society and that breeds feelings of anger and rage. This anger and rage if not dealt with leads to individuals and groups of individuals who then yield to the way of violence in society. Violence breeds more violence and leads to the destruction of the society.

T.S. - Today I want to spend a few moments talking a little bit more about why God hates divorce and why God hates violent people.

I. God hates divorce because of its negative impact on a family unit.

a. When divorce enters the picture people get hurt and people get devastated.

i. The Divorce rate today:

1. Since 1990:

1991, 0.47%

1992, 0.48%

1993, 0.46%

1994, 0.46%

1995, 0.46%

1995, 0.43%

1997, 0.43%,

1998, 0.42%,

1999, 0.41%,

2000, 0.41%,

2001, 0.40%,

a. http://www.divorcereform.org/rates.html

2. Here is an excerpt from the Census Bureau report, with a link to the full report: "The National Center for Health Statistics recently released a report which found that 43