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Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 4 – The Teaching of Jesus

Part 1 of this series can be found here.

The central message of Jesus on divorce is this: “don’t do it.” He commands his followers not to separate what God has joined together. However, Jesus didn’t stop there; he said much more on the topic, and on marriage in general. Here is a summary, which I will elaborate on in this post:

The Law teaches monogamy
Marriage should be lifelong
Divorce is not mandatory
Divorce is allowed in some cases
Marriage is not mandatory
Divorce for “any cause” is invalid

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 3 – New Testament Introduction

Background

The previous discussion (start with Part 1) on Old Testament laws and their interpretation helps us understand the commonly held views on divorce and remarriage at the time of Jesus. Before we examine the New Testament, however, it’s important to understand the disagreement between two rabbinical schools regarding the definition of “indecency.”

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 2 – Old Testament

For Part 1, click here.

Old Testament Laws regarding divorce and remarriage

I’m surprised at how many attempts to discuss divorce and remarriage in the Bible actually ignore three-fourths of the Bible. Christians seem to start and stop with the New Testament. The New Testament does have a lot to say on the subject, but the Old Testament does as well.

The Old Testament allows for four reasons for a valid divorce (source). If a divorce is valid, the wife is allowed to remarry. The husband always may remarry, as polygamy was not forbidden by the Law. An important point here is that if a divorce is valid, remarriage is always permitted.

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 1 – Introduction

The purpose of this series of posts is to identify the biblical guidelines for divorce and remarriage. So you don’t have to wait until the last post to find my conclusion, here it is: I conclude that both the Old and New Testaments provide certain grounds for a valid divorce, which includes the option of remarriage. Divorce outside of these grounds is forbidden to Christians, and Christians are always encouraged to maintain the marriage. Read on for the details!

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 0

I didn’t pay much attention to this topic until just a couple of years ago, when a friend I was mentoring asked me about it; he was divorced and wanted to know whether he could remarry. That set me on a journey, and I felt a great deal of responsibility: here was a guy who had approached me to disciple him, and we had spent quite a bit of time together. He was a member of the small group my wife and I led, so when he asked me this, I really did feel a pastoral concern for him. I also felt somewhat embarrassed, actually, that I didn’t have a response! I really didn’t know all the Bible had to say on the subject, nor the wide variety of opinions which Bible students and teachers have had over the years. But boy, was I to find out.