Hostility (Mal. 2:16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/21/2016 11:42 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                  Focus:  Hostility

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Malachi 2:16

            Message of the verse:  “16 “For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts.”So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.’”

            In a land where in the last few years we have seen marriage redefined from what God designed it to be when He created Adam and Eve, on man and one woman we have fallen very far as a nation.  As we look at this passage we see something that God hates, and what He hates is divorce.  When God created Adam and Eve they were perfect for at first there was not sin and that would have made it much easier to live together, but since sin entered the human race it makes is much more difficult to live together, but not impossible with the help of the Spirit of God in the lives of believers.  We live in an age when divorce happens as much with people who are not believers as those who are believers, showing that the world system has rubbed off onto Christians.

            Jesus was asked a question about divorce in the gospel of Matthew and the people who asked the question were sitting that Moses allowed it to happen, and all they had to do was give their wives a certificate of divorce, perhaps she burned the toast one morning and so he decides to get rid of her.  Jesus said that this was done because of the hardness of their hearts and it was not the intention of God for He made one man for one woman. 

            At this time I wish to quote a paragraph from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary in order for us to understand this difficult passage, a passage where many have different opinions as to what the meaning of it is.

            “In spite of a difficult text and differing interpretations, the main lessons of this passage are clear.  In marriage, a man and a woman become one flesh, and God is a partner in that union.  Through marriage, the Lord is seeking a godly seed that will carry on His work on earth.  Marriage is a physical union (‘one flesh’) and can be broken by physical causes:  death (Rom. 7:1-3), sexual sin (Matt. 19:9), or desertion (1 Cor. 7:12-16).  God’s original intent was that one man and one woman be devoted to each other in marriage for one lifetime.  Divorce for reasons other than those given in Scripture, even though legal, would grieve the heart of God.”

            So here we have an opinion which is give from the Scriptures as to why a person can divorce, and I have to believe that in the case of sexual improprieties it has to be an habitual sin, one that one of the spouses is not willing to give up.

11/22/2016 12:02 AM