Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 Vs. 32

Divorce

 

Matthew 5:32 “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”

cause of fornication... Fornication in the Bible means: adultery of married or single people (Mat. 5:32; 19:9; 1Cor. 7:2; 10:8; 1Thes. 4:3; Rev. 9:21); incest (1Cor. 5:1; 10:8); idolatry and adultery in honor of idol gods (2Chr. 21:11; Isa. 23:17; Eze. 16:15, 16:26, 16:29; Acts 15:20, 15:29; 21:25; Rev. 2:14-21; 14:8; 17:2-4; 18:3-9; 19:2); natural harlotry (John 8:41; 1Cor. 6:13-18); spiritual harlotry (Eze. 16:15, 16:26, 16:29; Rev. 17:2-4; Rev. 18:3-9; 19:2); sodomy and male prostitution (1Cor. 6:9-11; Heb. 12:16; Jude 1:6-7; Rom. 1:24-29; 2Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5). Do all these scriptures apply to single people only? If not, then fornication does not apply only to single people as some teach.

To commit adultery... Adultery is unlawful relationship between men and women, single or married. Out of 69 times that the sin is referred to in Scripture, only 2 passages speak of spiritual adultery (Jer. 3:3-12; Eze. 16:37). This term is not used in the broader sense of all forms of unchastity as is fornication (porneia. All adultery is fornication, but all fornication is not adultery.

Divorce was allowed in cases of adultery. (Luke 16:18), must be understood in the light of this verse. “Causeth her to commit adultery”: The assumption is that divorced people will remarry. If the divorce was not for sexual immorality, any remarriage is adultery, because God does not acknowledge the divorce.

God also says do not be unequally yoked with those of unbelief. If your spouse is a Satan worshipper, then you must not stay with him or her. What Jesus was saying, is that marriage should be forever. Nothing, except something of a moral issue, should separate husband and wife.

When they two are married, the Word says, they two become one flesh. Only a spiritual matter should cause a split. If we would just pray and ask God to send His choice of mate for us, we would save everyone a lot of pain.

In His response, the Lord strongly taught that marriage is viewed by God as an indissoluble unit and that marriages should not be terminated by divorce. The “exception clause,” except for marital unfaithfulness (porneias), is understood in several ways by Bible scholars. Four of these ways are: (a) a single act of adultery, (b) unfaithfulness during the period of betrothal (Mat. 1:19), (c) marriage between near relatives (Lev. 18:6-18), or (d) continued promiscuity.

God intended husbands and wives to live together permanently. Divorce was wrong except for marital unfaithfulness (cf. Mat. 5:32).

Bible scholars differ over the meaning of this “exception clause,” found only in Matthew’s Gospel. The word for “marital unfaithfulness” is porneiȧ

(1) Some feel Jesus used this as a synonym for adultery (moicheia). Therefore adultery by either partner in a marriage is the only sufficient grounds for a marriage to end in divorce. Among those holding this view, some believe remarriage is possible but others believe remarriage should never occur.

(2) Others define porneia as a sexual offense that could occur only in the betrothal period when a Jewish man and woman were considered married but had not yet consummated their coming marriage with sexual intercourse. If in this period the woman was found pregnant (as was Mary; Mat. 1:18-19), a divorce could occur in order to break the contract.

(3) Still others believe the term porneia referred to illegitimate marriages within prohibited degrees of kinship, as in Lev. 18:6-18. If a man discovered that his wife was a near relative, he would actually be involved in an incestuous marriage. Then this would be a justifiable grounds for divorce. Some say this meaning of porneia is found in Acts 15:20, 15:29 (cf. 1Cor. 5:1).

(4) Another view is that porneia refers to a relentless, persistent, unrepentant lifestyle of sexual unfaithfulness (different from a one-time act of illicit relations). (In the NT porneia is broader than moicheia). Such a continued practice would thus be the basis for divorce, since such unfaithful and unrelenting conduct would have broken the marriage bond. (On the subject of divorce and remarriage, see comments on 1Cor. 7:10-16.)

Whatever view one takes on the exception clause, Jesus obviously affirmed the permanence of marriage. Those who heard His words understood Him in this way, for they reasoned that if there were no grounds for divorce one would be better off never to marry. But this was not what Jesus intended, for God has given marriage to people for their betterment (Gen. 2:18). Marriage should be a deterrent to lustful sin and to unfaithfulness (1Cor. 7:2). But a few either do not have normal sexual desires (they were born eunuchs or were castrated), or are able to control those desires for the furtherance of God’s program on the earth (Mat. 19:12; cf. 1Cor. 7:7-8, 7:26). But not all are able to accept the single role (Mat. 19:11). Many marry and carry out God’s purposes, extending His work in the world.