Divorce is nothing less than death

Divorce is nothing less than death. Divorce kills what God has established.

When is Divorce allowed?  The most basic answer is never with one exception. Marriage is to be for life, which might be  why we say "till death do us part " hmm hmm.  Just ponder it for a moment if you will.

Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:23-24 NKJV) When something is one flesh the only way that they would be separated is for both to die. You cannot cut living creatures in two without both halves dying.  Now concerning divorce the Torah says, "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, "when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, "if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, "then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before God, and you shall not bring sin on the land which God is giving you as an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 24:1-4 NKJV)  

The word uncleanness has been polluted over time to mean that if the man didn't like the women he could divorce her. According to the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance uncleanness is nudity, literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish). This divorcement wasn't to be given just because the husband didn't like the wife anymore. It was more serious. Christ clarifies what uncleanness is in Matthew 5:31-32. "Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32 NKJV)

The interesting thing is that the word put away here is not necessarily divorce. The word put away is the Greek word apoluo which means to free fully, i.e. (literally) relieve, release, dismiss (reflexively, depart), or (figuratively) let die, pardon or (specially) divorce according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. This word is used 69 times in the New Testament.  

The word for divorce is defined as a separation and so the Greek word apoluo covers all kinds of separations whether it is from debt or from a spouse it is used interchangeably. According to some references this line of questioning was due to the fact that there were spouses being put away without a writ of divorcement. One possible example is Joseph's reaction to Mary being pregnant during the betrothal period. Joseph fearing for Mary's life was going to put her away privately. This would of certainly meant her death since she was not married and was pregnant.  Thus this private separation was not necessarily divorce. 

The law required the writ of divorcement. It was not a clear-cut separation unless the writ was given. So without the writ of divorcement either spouse would be committing adultery because they were still married.

The only exception for divorce is fornication, which is the uncleanness that Deuteronomy 24 gave as the only acceptable reason to divorce. God clearly didn't want divorce but because of the hardness of a people's hearts divorce was permitted.

Divorce in our society has reached an all time high. People are being divorced because of any reason imaginable. There are all kinds of paths that we have taken to end up here. Don't let this deter you from keeping God's laws. When we submit ourselves to God we must do it with a different heart than the heart of the world.

 One flesh is the result of marriage and death is a result of divorce. This world is challenged because some people are truly wicked. Some of the reasons for divorce are justified both scripturally and for the love of God's little ones. Child abuse and spousal abuse are signs of the wickedness of this world and are clear justifications for divorce. Unfortunately the punishment for those who commit such horrid crimes is not death. When a child or our own life is in danger it seems imperative to separate. 

There are hardened hearts almost anywhere we look but we must look beyond simple disagreements to the love of one another. What  God has joined together let no man put asunder. As men and women in the faith we may be joined to an unbeliever. This may add stress to a fragile union but to make it successful both must work at the relationship. We should be an example to an unbelieving spouse. Maybe through our love of God will influence the heart of the unbeliever .

God has meant since the beginning of time for a marriage to be between a man and a women for life. As Christ said because of the hardness of their hearts divorce was allowed. Some of those who are unbelievers have this hardness. Some of those who call themselves believers have this hardness  today. Our society to the most part has lost the respect for marriage. Once we understand this topic we are responsible for keeping God's law. Through God's blessings we become one flesh in marriage by putting aside what we individually want rather working together as a united flesh.

Brethren I pray for your marriages that they survive the hardest times, draw near to the Lord for he is the 3rd strand in your relationship. Please always remember your commitment to one another. Remember your commitment to God and your marriage should be dedicated to God. Christians divorce rate is at 27% and  non Christians are at 24%. We know the  way in yet we do not go in, ourselves. How can we expect the world to change when we become like them each day instead of us setting the example for the world, we become and more like the world.