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
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