How God Views Divorce
“The Lord God of Israel says, ‘I hate divorce.’” – Malachi 2:16
God hates divorce. He does not take divorce lightly because marriage is an institution that He created in the beginning. Genesis 2:24 says, “a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.” The two become one flesh in marriage because God formed the woman out of the man’s body (Genesis 2:23).
Marriage is a holy institution that should be taken seriously since marriage represents Christ and His church. We should keep it holy; therefore, it should be kept the way God intended it to be which is between one man and one woman. Jesus confirms God’s design for marriage and His disapproval of divorce to the Pharisees in Matthew 19:4-6,
Jesus answered, “Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’ And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.’ So, there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”
Marriage is a forever commitment (1 Corinthians 7:39). However, there are some circumstances that God allows for divorce. Some reasons are if a spouse has an affair, if an unbelieving spouse wants a divorce, or a spouse is abusive (Matthew 5:32, 1 Corinthians 7:13-15, Proverbs 6:17). All these reasons are unacceptable in a Christian marriage because a marriage is supposed to represent how Jesus treats the members of His church (Ephesians 5:25-27). We can honor God by being faithful to the vows we made before God to our spouse in holy matrimony and not divorce (Hebrews 13:4).
A prayer for today:
Dear heavenly Father,
Thank you for marriage. Marriage is an institution that You created to represent Christ and His church so a person won’t be alone. You created a woman from a man’s rib, as a suitable helper to help him. Please help us to honor marriage in a way that is pleasing to You and to keep it holy. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
