God Hates Divorce

The Lord's indictment against Israel continues in Malachi 2. 

Malachi 2:10–11 (ESV) Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

Intermarriage with pagan people is strictly prohibited in the Law. But these returned exiles were doing something worse: they were divorcing their Jewish wives and marrying pagans! Then, they would show up at the temple to offer a sacrifice. 

God declares:
Malachi 2:12 (ESV) May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!

Because of their sins, the Lord did not accept their offerings. 
Malachi 2:13 (ESV) And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.

Now, this might have been news to the people. They were happily continuing the illusion of religious piety as they committed these grave sins, which Malachi called out. Listen to their appeal:
Malachi 2:14 (ESV) But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

They seem shocked that the Lord was not interested in their religious practice. So Malachi makes clear the Lord is thoroughly displeased with this adulterous and abominable act by providing some of the Bible's most powerful statements on marriage. First, that marriage is a covenant. A covenant is a solemn vow, a promise unto death. Malachi continues:

Malachi 2:15 (ESV) Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

Second, Malachi stipulates that God's Spirit is involved in the marriage union. Remember, the Lord performed the first marriage, between Adam and the woman, in the garden. He then pronounced them no longer two, but one, never to be separated (Genesis 2:24). Third, the purpose of marriage is for reproduction. God wants children to be produced by men and women who covenant to be faithful to each other and to raise them in the faith. THIS is the purpose of marriage according to the ONE who created it and us!

In one last strong statement, the Lord declares:
Malachi 2:16 (NLT) “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.”

You cannot get more clear than "I hate divorce". Divorce should be avoided with all possible effort for those who love the Lord. He is faithful to us and expects us to be faithful to our spouses. 

The ESV and other translations have, "the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts," Malachi uses the language of the ancient world practice of covering a woman with your garment (see Ruth 3:9) in order to marry her to express how divorce doesn't cover her, it critically wounds everyone involved. 

To be sure, marriage is a challenging relationship in our modern age. It demands sacrifice and accommodation 24 hours a day. But the things that matter most require the greatest amount of effort. If you want to know what's wrong with the world, look at the home, look at how marriages end and leave children disjointed. We look at the statehouse and the White House; God is looking at OUR house. 



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