Divorce: From the beginning it was not so.

Matthew 5:31-32 "...It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery..."

What is Jesus saying about divorce?

Is sexual immorality the only legitimate reason for divorce?

Is someone marrying a divorced person guilty of adultery?

Is a legal divorce according to human law a legal divorce recognized by God?

Context:

- there were two opposing rabbinical views of divorce.

- Rabbi Shammai took a rigorist view, requiring a a grave matrimonial offense to justify divorce.

- Rabbi Hillel took a liberal view, allowing even the most trivial offense to be justification for divorce.

- the Pharisees tended toward Hillel's view.

Matthew 19:3 "...And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?...”

Matthew 19:8-9 "...He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery...”

Does our society tend toward a rigorist or lax view of divorce?

Are we more concerned about the grounds for divorce, or the sanctity of marriage?

Does God believe in divorce?

Jeremiah 3:6-10 "...The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord...”

Israel was unfaithful to the Lord, and was divorced. Judah didn't learn from the problem, and was also given up.

Is divorce a command or a concession?

Where did Jesus place the focus?

- it's a heart issue.

- divorce was not, and is not, the design of God.

- we don't need to check the law, and the legal precedents.

- we need to examine our hearts.

- we need to embrace God's original intention that marriage is an exclusive and permanent relationship.

Why should the divorce rate in the church be lower than the divorce rate in society?

- if we are disciples of Christ, we are a people who are increasing in our capacity to love as God loves?

- if we are disciples of Christ, we surrender our selfishness and embrace all of God's intentions for His creation.

The question shouldn't be "is divorce okay?". The question should be "how can I make my marriage everything that God intends for it to be?".

Oaths:

Matthew 5:33-37 "...Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil..."

What scripture is Jesus citing?

- the third commandment, along with others.

Exodus 20:7 "...You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain..."

Leviticus 19:12 "...You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord..."

Numbers 30:2 "...If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth..."

Context:

- the Pharisees developed a series of rulings regarding Shebuoth (oaths).

- a positive oath was a promise to do something.

- a negative oath was a promise not do something.

- eventually a system was developed to create loopholes in oaths.

- swearing by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or by your own head didn't invoke directly the literal name of God, and therefore wasn't binding.

What was the intent of the Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers scriptures?

- prohibition of perjury, of falsehood sworn by God's name.

- we must keep our promises.

- we must be people of our word.

How did the Pharisees restrict the scriptural intent?

- focused on how an oath was made, not the oath itself.

How is oath-taking really a sign of our own dishonesty?

- why would we need to ever swear by something if we always told the truth?

- oaths are an attempt to make liars tell the truth.

Why don't oaths work very well?

- the worse people are, the less they are bound by oaths.

- the better people are, the less there is need for oaths.

James 5:12 "...But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation..."

Are we people of our word? Can we be trusted to do what we say we'll do?