Lesson 2, Part 2
Malachi 2:13-16 NLT. [13] Here is another thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. [14] You cry out, “Why doesn’t the LORD accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. [15] Didn’t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. [16] “For I hate divorce!” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”
In this passage, Malachi points out another manner in which the people of Israel had failed to follow God’s instructions. This time the failure involves the topic of divorce and its connection to God’s acceptance of the offerings they brought to him.
The people were complaining about how God was not pleased with their sacrifices. In addition to bringing defiled sacrifices to be offered and allowing idol worship into their homes, the Israelites were guilty of divorcing their wives who had been faithful to them.
Malachi scolds the people about this action and reminds them that God witnessed the vows they had made to their wives when they were younger. God had established the correct family order when he first made Adam and Eve and united them and allowed them to multiply through childbirth. God wanted the people to live together in right relationship with Him as a family. He wanted couples to produce children who could learn to live in right relationship with Him, too.
The people were disrupting God’s plan for families by divorcing. God had arranged for men and women to be drawn together as one physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. When a man and a woman were joined together in marriage, they were no longer two completely separated beings. Marriage had created a unified entity called the family. Divorce was destroying the family relationship God had intended for men and women to possess.
Malachi tells the men to remember the vows they made to their wives and continue to live by those vows. To send a faithful wife away through divorce was treating her with cruelty. Her source of provision, security and completeness would be gone. The men were destroying what God had wanted to last, and that was part of the reason their offerings were not accepted.
Jesus was asked about divorce in Matthew 5 and Mark 10. Some people said divorce was allowed by Moses, probably referring to Deuteronomy 24. Jesus pointed out that Moses had allowed divorce because of the hardness of hearts. He stated that it was not God’s intention for a man and woman to be joined together as one and then be separated. The only exception to this was if there was unfaithfulness, or adultery, occurring in the relationship.
According to the latest census, 39% of marriages end in divorce in this country. That number is down from earlier records during this century. Regardless of the number, those contemplating divorce need wisdom from the Holy Spirit. They should seek out sound Biblical counsel and seek to maintain a marriage if at all possible.
Because divorce has spiritual, as well as physical and legal ramifications, it is my opinion that divorce should be a last resort measure. A couple should pray for the Holy Spirit to guide them into truth if they are considering divorce and help them to be able to forgive offenses and mend family relationships through God’s love and mercy.