Malachi Chapter Two, Divorce: Marriage's Remedy?

 

God reminds Israel that He is a witness of the covenant made between husband and wife. God officiated the first marriage after creating Eve for the sake of Adam, so that he would not be uniquely alone and without a suitable partner. One might say in the most literal sense they were a match made in Heaven. God is a witness “between them.” Between’s definition can involve “amongst” or “concerning,” depending on the context of the passage. Though God certainly is amongst His people, the idea of “in regard to,” or “concerning,” seems more apt. God is a witness, like someone who takes the stand, in regard to the wife’s grief at the hands of her husband. God testifies to his infidelity and disregard for her person. Above that, being an expert in the Law, He also reminds such men that they are still married to the wife of their youth despite taking daughters of foreign gods.

Jesus, speaking on the topic of marriage, tells us, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’…So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together let not man separate,” Matthew 19:4, 6. (On a footnote: I intentionally skipped verse 5 for the moment; God willing, I will turn to this entire passage in the next section.) Of course this answer rose in response to the Pharisees inquiring about the legality of divorce. When Jesus responded, it is interesting how the Pharisees phrased their retort: “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” Matthew 19:7, emphasis added. Jesus countered, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so,” Matthew 19:8. Notice the subtle but very crucial difference. The Pharisees claimed Moses commanded divorce; Christ explained that due to corrupt human nature Moses permitted it. There is a large difference. It is the gulf between what God causes to come to pass, and what He permits to come to pass because sin’s curse has warped His formerly very good world. A hurricane, for instance, is called an Act of God. But hurricanes are not acts of God; they are consequences of Adam’s sin and its cosmological effects on creation, Romans 8:20-22. God commanded lifetime monogamy when He created the institute of marriage. But like the hurricane, God permitted or suffered divorce because of the “hardness of our hearts.” A hurricane, a violent manifestation of unnatural weather that causes ruin and suffering anywhere it rears its head is akin to divorce. Neither is God’s will, yet in this sinful generation He suffers them to occur, likewise BOTH are evidences of sin’s reality in this world.

 

So we see the holy institution of verse 11 producing the covenant between a man and his wife in verse 14. God officiated the first marriage. And marriage, within the parameters of the Institutor’s definition, is ordained and blessed by Him. One might now pose the question: is divorce really so bad? God permitted it. This much is true. But as we will see shortly, He hates divorce because of the enormous wreckage it creates, and how lightly it treats the sanctity of the institution He ordained. Easy divorce is the order of the day today. The ancients were not so. James Ussher recorded how the ancient Romans, during their empire’s genesis, were every bit as austere about marriage as the Jewish Law. But time corrodes, and man’s fallen nature seeks for what is easy. Marriage, like Christianity, is hard. People now “fall out of love” as quickly as we seem to fall into it. I honestly wonder if we as a culture remember what love really is. Infatuation, lust, obligation, et al, fail to qualify. Love is an active, knowing commitment to another, no matter the attendant grief that comes. John spoke of love in this way, “for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20. The marriage covenant is a testimony of man’s fidelity. If we cannot abide our lifelong partner on earth, how then will we cling to our God? If we fail even human relationships due to our hard hearts, what does that say about our willingness to give our all to the Lord? Malachi watched this injustice transpire and assailed those responsible. Brethren, I beseech you as someone who has committed sins of my own in this camp; marry in the Lord, and marry for life. It will be well for you if you do so.