Divorce, I Hate

Bulletin

Dan Peters
02/23/25 - Divorce

Divorce, I Hate

Take a moment to set aside any personal experiences with divorce as we explore this topic with fresh perspective. When God declares "I hate divorce" in scripture, it comes with contextual reasons. Let's examine God’s heart. Let’s also examine the context from approximately 400 years before Christ. In Malachi 2:13-16, we find people weeping before God's altar, yet their worship is rejected. Despite their tears and pleas, God remains unmoved - a striking example of divine tough love. The passage reads:
“This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. “ But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” (Malachi 2:13-16).
In this context, divorce is equated with "dealing treacherously." The severity of this breach of covenant was so significant that God refused to accept worship from those who had divorced their wives. This passage specifically addressed men, as women generally did not have divorce rights under Mosaic Law.
Jesus later elaborated on this topic, explaining in Matthew 19:8-9: "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
Consider this: Would we want God to divorce us for anything less than spiritual adultery? God demonstrates extraordinary loyalty - even extending forgiveness to the thief on the cross. While we struggle to forgive seven times, God commands us to forgive seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). We are called to love our spouses with this same deep, covenant loyalty.
The divine definition of love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13:5, "does not take into account a wrong suffered." Let us draw encouragement from God's loyal love and be transformed by who we worship.
Dan Peters