Smoodock's Blog

Mixing politics with religion is never wise. Unless the Lord intervenes on the part of truth or goodness, it never ends well. The Pharisees’ question about divorce (Matthew 19:3) was intended to get Jesus in trouble with Herod. After all, if Herodias was insulted by what she was told the Baptist said, perhaps she would be inclined to have Jesus arrested as well. If so, the problems of the Jewish authorities back in Jerusalem would be solved! Nevertheless, and for whatever reason this was not done, and I would be guessing to offer a conclusion, it remains that Jesus continued to be safe for the present in Peraea, and the Pharisees’ conspiracy failed. However, the question, itself, is important, no matter who presents it. If divorce is permitted at all, for what reason or reasons could an injured party divorce his or her helpmate? Religious politics aside, what do the scriptures actually say?

Jesus response to the Pharisees’ question was, itself, intriguing:

“Haven’t you read that from the beginning, the Creator made them male and female, and said ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’”

There are several points in Jesus’ reply that are very important to understand before we can grasp the truth about what he claimed pertaining to marriage. Jesus claimed that from the beginning, vis-à-vis when he was first created, Adam was male and female. In other words, the female wasn’t an afterthought that arose to fix a problem (cp. Genesis 2:18). Mankind was male and female from the beginning, and when the time arose, when it was needful for mankind to divide into a male and a female, God performed the necessary operation (Genesis 2:21-22). In other words, male and female are, together, necessary to be an image of God (Genesis 1:27).

Think about it! The scriptures conclude that Jesus was the “exact image” of the Father (Hebrews 1:3). Just as a man’s family cannot come into the world without the work of his wife (cp. Genesis 1:28), so the will of God for mankind was performed in and through Jesus (John 5:19, 30; 8:28, cp. Colossians 1:15-16). Moreover, we, who are the bride of Christ (2Corinthians 11:2; cp. Revelation 21:9), can do nothing good by ourselves that would express the image of God, unless those things are done with the Spirit of Christ (John 15:5).

The phrase one flesh (Matthew 19:5) pertains to unity and cooperation, being of one mind. In the world, it is called team work, and the performing of it is an actual image of God, vis-à-vis it expresses the unity of the Godhead in bringing the powers of the world under the control of mankind (cp. Genesis 1:28). Nevertheless, such cooperation can be annulled without it being an offense to God,[1] which makes the marriage union unique among all other cooperative efforts. The relationship of a husband and a wife is especially close to God, and their union most closely imitates the unity of the Godhead (Genesis 1:27; cp. 2:24) and must not be annulled by what a man does (Matthew 19:6). Notice, the scripture does not say man cannot destroy a marriage. Instead, it says, man should not do anything to destroy this particular union.[2] Why, however, does the Law permit divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Matthew 19:7)?

According to Jesus, the Law permits divorce, due to the hardness of the hearts of mankind. God didn’t create men’s hearts so, but men hardened their hearts after the rebellion of Genesis 3, where they separated from God (Matthew 19:8), and refused to keep him in their affairs (cp. Romans 1:28). Nevertheless, the ideal, the original work of God, is that the marriage union must never be annulled (Matthew 19:6).

The only acceptable reason for divorce, according to Jesus, is fornication,[3] but what exactly is ‘fornication’ as understood from the Bible? According to Matthew 19:9 fornication is placed in contrast to adultery, so the two are not the same. According to Revelation 14:8 Babylon (Jerusalem) had fallen (i.e. 70 AD), because she caused all nations to drink of the wine of her passionate fornication/idolatry. In other words, Jerusalem was the harlot (female) through whom the nations (the male) brought forth their will. She was supposed to be the bride of the Lord, bringing forth his will, but she saw other nations as her providers, protectors and helpmates. Whenever religion (female) mixes with politics (male) the fruit is always disaster, abuse, murder unrighteous behavior, greed, slanderers, all sorts of evil works etc. (Romans 1:29-31). In the context of Jesus’ doctrine about divorce, it includes unfaithfulness on the part of the offending party, physical abuse and anything else that is obviously the fruit of a person’s lack of devotion to his or her helpmate. The marriage bond is broken once the offending party ceases to cling (Genesis 2:24) or cleave (Matthew 19:5), vis-à-vis to be devoted to, his helpmate (Matthew 19:9).

[1] Keep in mind that the male/female relationship is also expressed through the king (the male) and his servants (the female), or in sports through the coach (the male) and the team (the female) or in business, the manager/boss (the male) and his laborers (the female). Nothing is truly done alone.

[2] See my study in the Book of Genesis: “The Two Shall Be One Flesh!”

[3] The offending party is often the initiator of the divorce, and his behavior is often excused, but he or she isn’t permitted to divorce, according to the Bible. Only the offended party is permitted to divorce his or her ‘helpmate’. It is not a command, but it is a God-given permission. Hence, the offended party is often demonized or considered less spiritual than the offending party, who, when his helpmate seeks divorce, and his error becomes known, publicly admits his wrongdoing and, on the surface, desires reconciliation. Nevertheless, this is usually a façade, because he is a repeat offender and will offend again, because it is he who is a covenant breaker; he, not the divorce, has broken the marriage bond. The divorce, itself, is simply an acknowledgment of that fact. The offended party should NEVER be judged for divorcing his or her helpmate.