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A
phrase commonly used to defend the traditional belief that divorced persons may
not marry again is Jesus’ statement: "Let not man put asunder." The
thinking apparently is that man cannot
put asunder. However, obviously that is not what the text says. We want to look
closely at this text to determine just what Jesus had in mind. Let us look at
the preceding verses to get the context.
Matthew 19:3-6: The Pharisees also came unto him,
tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife
for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he
which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this
cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and
they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
It
is important to note that the Pharisees first asked about "putting
away," which is only one part of the divorce process (prescribed by Moses,
Deut 24:1, 2), and which, obviously, would not end a marriage. The Lord's
response was designed to teach that when a man and woman marry they become
"one flesh" and that man must
not put asunder.
A
common statement made by defenders of traditional thinking and teaching on
divorce and remarriage is that "only God can join and only God can un-join."
(This statement contains some truth, as we shall see, but it does not help the
traditional position, which forbids legally divorced persons to marry.)
Furthermore, it is argued that the un-joining is done only when the divorce is
"for fornication." They take it even further by insisting that the
un-joining is done only for the one doing the divorcing–the other is still
“bound,” which some argue is to be distinguished from being married. This
theory will be dealt with in another chapter.
God
instituted marriage and he instituteddivorce. But from the beginning of
mankind, to this day, man has sought to establish his own set of rules; and
during Bible times such was true regarding divorce and marriage. The Code of
Hammurabi is an example that illustrates man’s
putting asunder as opposed to doing a divorce God's way.
Under
the Code of Hammurabi the divorce procedure was different in two very important
areas from that given by God: 1) God's law did not demand any written document
to indicate a marriage, whereas Hammurabi did. 2) God's law demanded a written
document, the "bill of divorcement," if a marriage was to be ended,
but under the Code of Hammurabi divorces were verbal. This was bound to cause
problems in many cases, so God sought to head off the problem among his people
by commanding that divorces be written. (See http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/divorce.htm ). When we consider the teachings of man, as noted
above, it is apparent that when God said "let
not man put asunder" he was talking about the unscriptural procedure,
which was to merely "put away" (apoluo)
as opposed to doing it God’s way. A
divorce ends a marriage, as God intended, if
it is done his way. While it is true
that God can put asunder (when man follows his law), it remains true that we
should "let not man put asunder." This is the Jewish practice that
Jesus condemned. |
