In 1979, former Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, Armand Nicoli, said this: The reality of children experiencing long term negative effects from divorce is well attested. God desires godly children therefore, the Israelites should stay faithful to their wives instead of divorcing them. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth” (v. In the middle of this passage, he says, “And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. He also implies that divorce hurts the children by making them rebellious. He describes divorce as bringing “violence” in the home (v. He told them that it was because of the prevalence of divorce in their culture. The people in Israel were wondering why God rejected their worship. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful. “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. He said:Īnother thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. “The first-century poet Martial speaks of women who have been ten times divorced.” 1 Over 400 years earlier, in the book of Malachi, God rebuked the Israelites over this very issue. Divorces were very common in ancient Israel and in the ancient world in general. Essentially, the Pharisees legalized adultery by allowing themselves and others to simply get a divorce and remarry the person they desired. Here in Matthew 5:31-32, he corrects their permissive view of divorce.

In the previous passage, Matthew 5:27-28, Christ corrected the Pharisees’ view on adultery saying that if one lusted in his heart, he had already committed adultery. “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

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