The Bible is a religious book known mainly for it's good teachings, it is known to provide solutions to lives most complicated issues, and give answers to our unending questions. One of the most occurring societal problems in most families is the issue of divorce. And according to modern statistics the country with the most divorce cases is the United States, it is said that 7 out of 10 families in the United States experience husband and wife separation.
Here in this article we will be considering what the Bible says concerning the issue of divorce and remarriage.
What is divorce? It is a legal dissolution of the marriage contract by a court or other body having competent authority . In other words it is simply the separation of married couples, the issue of divorce is addressed both in the old testament and new testament. The first mention of the issue of divorce was made by the early partriach religious leader Moses. In his book Deuteronomy 24:1-4
1" Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her , because he finds something about her he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and send her away from his home. 2" And suppose she marries another man, 3" and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he writes out divorce papers and give them her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies. 4" In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he marries her again, it will be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God gave you.
In the new testament, Jesus teachings never in any way accommodated nor tolerated the idea of divorce. In the early beginning during the creation, God made a companion for the man out of his own rib, this is to illustrate that marriage comes from him. It's not a man-made design but God's own design for mankind.
The only reason why the Bible in the new testament recommend or accept the idea of divorce, is in the case of unfaithfulness on the side of either spouse ( whether it be the man or the woman).
Here are 4 Bible scriptures from the new testament concerning divorce.
- Romance 7:2-3
2" A married woman , for example, is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if he dies, then she is free from the law that bound her to him.
3" So then, if she lives with another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is legally a free woman and does not commit adultery if she marries another man.
- Luke 16:18
18" Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
- Matthew 5: 31-32
31" it was said, Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce. 32" But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife, for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.
- 1Corinthians 7:10-11
10" For married people I have a command which is not my own but the Lord's: a wife must not leave her husband; 11" but if she does, she must remain single or else be reconciled to her husband; and a husband must not divorce his wife.
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