Hi, this is Pastor Ken thanks for joining me once again for the Monday Marriage Message where we search God’s instructions to experience a highly successful marriage.

We are continuing with our study of Marriage and Divorce from a biblical view utilizing a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees recorded for us in Matthew chapter 19 and Mark chapter 10. This will be the 8th episode in this series. We began by dissecting the first part of the conversation I referenced a moment ago. Then I spent two sessions looking at the portion of the law (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) that the Pharisees misinterpreted to support their position that they ought to be free to divorce. I shared with you last time several of the reasons I believe their reading of that particular scripture was in fact an intentional misinterpretation. Today I would like to look at another passage from the book of Malachi that I believe goes to further reinforce that their interpretation was severely flawed.

Let’s begin by reading that passage. Malachi 2:10-16 in the New King James Version reads as follows:

10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers? 11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned The Lord’s holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts! 13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. 14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore, take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 16 “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

This scripture passage contains one of the most well-known concepts contained in all the Bible concerning divorce. ‘God hates divorce’ found in verse 16. While this concept is most certainly rooted in truth there are several things that I feel important to point out to broaden our understanding of this passage, and how it relates to the others we have been studying.

The passage begins in verse 10 speaking about something that seemingly has little to do with marriage or divorce, so why include it in our study? As you will recall, I’ve made the case many times that the relationship between God and mankind and the marital relationship between husband and wife is the “Great Analogy”. This scriptural analogy is used by God far and away more than any other to describe the relationship He desires to have with us. Verses 10 and 11 of this passage are just such an analogy.

10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers? 11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned The Lord’s holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god. To fully understand the analogy, we need to first better understand the meaning of the Hebrew word we translate into English as “Treacherously” The translation is correct but our contemporary understanding of the word has come to mean to treat someone dangerously or with malice. The actual definition is to be maliciously unfaithful and to treat someone deceitfully.

God was pointing out that the relationship He had previously enjoyed with Judah was now greatly damaged. He said that Judah had been unfaithful to Him by loving another, and in fact that Judah was acting as if it had divorced God and was married or joined to another. He said that an abomination (meaning intermarriage with idolaters in this context), had been committed ruining the sacredness of the union between God and Judah. However, just as it is in the book of Hosea, the unfaithful are God’s people and never God Himself. God says that He is married to the backslider. (Jeremiah 3:14) God is true to His word and remains faithful to His covenants with His people even if His people do not remain faithful to Him.

The second section of this passage, verses 12 and 13 are God’s complaint against His people and the consequences of their treacherous actions toward Him. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts! 13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Here God makes the point that it is unreasonable for an unfaithful spouse who deals treacherously to expect that they would continue to receive favor from their offended spouse. God points out to His people that they have been unfaithful to Him and yet they continue to come before Him asking for His favor, and He has grown weary of their disingenuous attitudes. As a result, God told the people that though He had not abandoned them, he was no longer accepting their hypocritical offerings or listening to their insincere prayers.

The people responded by asking God what they had done to illustrate a disingenuous mindset toward Him. His response: 14 …Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. Now the analogy turns to the reality of their own marriages. God tells His people that the condition of their marital relationships is all the proof He needs that they do not honor Him. This is a striking revelation for us. According to this scripture, we cannot make the claim that we have a good relationship with God if we do not have a good relationship with our spouse. God does not consider our marriages ancillary to our walk with Him. His word clearly indicates that the two are interconnected with the greatest of congruency.

God goes on to point out the fact that it is He who created our marriages by taking two and making of them one. Additionally, He speaks of His position in those marriages as much more than simply the one who fashioned them. He clarified that He has always intended to be an integral part of each of our marriages. 15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. Here in verse 15 God asks some critical questions. Did He not make them one? Is God not the creator of our marriages? Furthermore, He pointed out that as a part of the formation of our marriages He made a personal investment by joining us with a remnant of His Spirit. Throughout the Old Testament when God would leave a remnant of His people existing it was always for one and only one purpose…to be able to reestablish godliness. Here it is no different. In this context the original word remnant means a residue. God is essentially saying that as the holy and perfect creator of marriage, all marriages contain a residue of its Creator’s goodness. His intent is that the residue or remnant of His Spirit will encourage that marriage to seek what is godly and reject what is not. God then asks, “And why one”? in other words “Why do I marry People”? He answers Himself…“For godly offspring”. In the context of this verse, godly offspring does not mean children but rather moral quality. God was expressly saying that He takes two and makes them one with a remnant of His Spirit so that they can act as one in godly ways, reflecting His character (Genesis 1:27). Therefore, God says clearly, listen to your spirit as to how to correctly interact with your spouse so that your marriage can fulfill all of its full God-given potential.

With that understanding we can now better interpret what God meant when He made the declaration many know from Malachi 2:16 16 “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”

God does indeed state with absolute clarity that He hates divorce. The meaning of this term hates divorce means that it goes against His ways and His will. Literally in this verse it means that divorce is against or opposite of God. God says that divorce covers one’s garment with violence. The context of the word violence in this passage means injurious harm. When you connect the injurious harm to covering the perpetrator’s garments it indicates bloody injury, insinuating a death akin to murder. One of the ways divorce is anti-God is that it ends a marriage by violent death instead of the natural death of a spouse. Divorce is death, God is life. Again God gives the warning that married people must pay attention to their spirit which should desire that which its creator would desire. As a result, we should be faithful to our marriages and never willing to intentionally cause their untimely demise.

When you understand why God hates divorce, that it goes against everything He is, and every desire He has for the marriages He lovingly creates, it becomes clearer that He would then never offer us a formula to dissolve our marriages. In the conversation we have been using as the basis for our study Jesus made this exact point. He said, “Therefore they are no longer two but one, and what God has joined, let not man separate. (Matthew 19:6 & Mark 10:9)

So now…with a newfound understanding of the value God places on your marriage, commit to adopting His standard of care for your oneness…and go be awesome!