Regarding the Issue of Divorce and Remarriage:
There is much false teaching out there about
divorce. Much of the problem comes from
a superficial reading of the Bible, and a lack
of in depth study of divorce and the loving
nature of our heavenly Father. These doctrinal
errors have been reproduced through the centuries.
Earthly fathers are meant by God to be examples
of Him, but we always fall short of His ideal.
Many fathers leave their children fatherless, but
God never does.
Likewise, earthly marriage was meant to be
an example of our future marriage to Jesus.
Our Marriage to Him is the only perfect marriage.
All other unions fall short of His ideal. Some marriages
were never meant to be. If God didn't ordain the
marriage, it is better to be divorced. But how about
remarriage? Divorce is LEGAL annulment of the
marriage contract. This annulment is allowed
by God in His Word.
The ex-spouse has no authority over the other in
heaven or earth. Such a one is free to re-marry.
God allowed divorce because of our hardness of hearts,
the hardness that caused us to be deaf to His voice when
we blundered into the first marriage. The Bible makes
it clear that some persons must be married or they
will burn in their lusts. A divorced person is not
condemned to remain celibate until death. God
says that it is better to marry (re-marry) than to burn.
I'll say again, our Marriage to Jesus is the only perfect
marriage:
The Lord is prepared for divorce, but does not encourage divorce.
He knows our shortcomings in choosing a mate,
which most people do at an age when they know
little of the things of God.
Unfortunately, some ministers are more quick
to forgive a murderer than to accept a divorced
person, though it may have been God Who ordained
the legal divorce in order to rectify a mistake
made by us in our youth.
Since marriage is a legal issue, let's look at
another legal item, that is, the law of precedent--
if a lawyer or judge can prove his case one time,
then that sets a precedent for other cases.
Let's look at the case where a couple of high
school kids fall in love, hastily marry, and after
the initial thrill wears off, the young husband
leaves town and is never heard from again.
We know that if he is dead, she is certainly
free to remarry. In this case, the husband,
though not a soldier, is like one missing-in-
action. She does not know if he is dead or
alive. Is she condemned to be single forever?
Common law marriages in some states are
formed when a man and woman live together
unmarried for seven years. After that, they are
considered legally married.
If a husband runs away for over seven years,
can't we call it a "common law divorce"? And since
seven years is man's time frame, not God's, do you
have to wait even seven years to remarry? I'm not talking about
the above 'run-a-way' husband issue, but about divorce in general.
God has ordained marriage to be a blessing,
not a curse. God allows divorce and re-marriage.
Remember that one of the first "preachers" in the
Bible was a woman that was married five times. [Jn. 4]
Jesus didn't say to her, "Go and sin no more," like
He did once to another woman. Jesus knew all
about her marriage problems, but didn't talk about
it. He just said that He knew about it. He had compassion,
not condemnation.
We could write hundreds of examples real or
hypothetical, but the end of the matter is that
God is love, and knows the hearts of the
individuals; He knows who is to be married to whom,
and who is to be single. We humans cannot
condemn, we can only offer godly counsel in the
case of marriage, which is a mystery:
Prov. 30:18 There be three things which are too
wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent
upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea;
and THE WAY OF A MAN WITH A MAID.
Eph:5:31: For this cause shall a man leave his father
and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they two shall be one flesh.
Eph:5:32: This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning
Christ and the church.
There is no marriage in heaven other than to Jesus.
Therefore, all who are married now will be "divorced"
in order to marry Jesus. In other words, the old contract
of the flesh will be replaced by a better, spiritual
marriage contract. So God definitely does believe
in divorce and re-marriage to achieve a greater purpose.
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