Analysis of Malachi 2:13-16

13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

15 Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

16 “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty.
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

Analysis

The first thing we should note about this passage is God’s attitude toward divorce.  He hates it.  It’s hard to state it any more clearly or bluntly.  However God does not say that He hates divorced people.  God looks upon divorce just as He looks upon other sins.

The Israelites’ relationship with God has been affected because of their divorces.  This is the same as any other sin.  Sin separates us from God.  It is the reason we need to have our sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Without it, we have no hope of heaven because sin cannot enter into God’s presence.

Our daily sins affect our relationship with God though too.  Even after we are Christians we must daily ask for the forgiveness of our sins.  Jesus taught us this in the Lord’s prayer.  We don’t have to become “re-saved” we must seek the repair the relationship that we damaged.  It is no different than repairing a relationship with a friend that we wronged.  We must say we’re sorry to begin the healing process.

The Israelites’ sin that God points out is their divorce.  What God points out as the problem is that a divorce is the breaking of a covenant.  When two people are married, regardless of the vows made and whether it is in a church or not, they make a commitment to one another that is intended to last a lifetime.

Breaking a vow is the same as lying.  It is like looking God in the face and lying to Him.  God takes marriage vows seriously and so should we.  The breaking of marriage vows should not be taken lightly.  Like all sins, it will affect our relationship with God.

Other passages on divorce

Matthew 19:1-12

1 Corinthians 7:10-11, 39

What Does God Say About Divorce?

The word divorce only appears 33 times in the entire Bible but few topics are as controversial in the church.  The Bible discusses divorce in clear terms in the Old Testament, in the teachings of Jesus, and by the Apostle Paul.  Despite thorough instruction on divorce in the Bible, there are still some questions that people have.

Far more than a lack of knowledge concerning divorce is the problem of the emotional side of divorce.  Marriage is the closest personal relationship with family coming second.  Anytime divorce is discussed it raises intense personal feelings on the topic because it affects the two deepest personal relationships in life.  For this reason we will stick strictly to what the Bible says on the topic.

There are three main passages in the Bible that address the subject of divorce.  Malachi 2 addresses how divorce had affected the Israelite’s relationship with God.  Throughout the gospels Jesus addresses divorce and remarriage.  We’ll examine Matthew 19 as it contains all of Jesus’ teaching on the subject.

Finally Paul speaks on the subject of marriage in 1 Corinthians 7.  This is the most thorough examination of the rules of marriage in the Bible and ironically comes from a bachelor.  Nevertheless, Paul is writing with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and his words should be considered as coming from God.

All three passages are looked at in more depth on the following pages.

Malachi 2:13-16

Matthew 19:1-12

1 Corinthians 7:10-11, 39