Marriage

Author: Joseph

Date: November 5, 2023

The Pharisees approach Yeshua with a question regarding divorce, asking Him if it is permissible to divorce for any reason. No other criteria was given to their question, but Yeshua understood their hearts and instead of simply answering what they had asked, He showed them the will of God through His Word. The joining together of a man and a woman, which is called “marriage,” was established at creation in Eden (Genesis 1:27; 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6). There was nothing else in the will of God for mankind. God said that it was “not good” for man to be alone and so created the woman and brought her to the man and thereby created marriage. The man and the woman are one and this bond was joined together by God Himself.

People in the hardness of their hearts desired to break this bond apart due to lack of satisfaction with various excuses, but this is because their desires are not pure or the desire things apart from the will of God. Although Moses was given the command that allowed for divorce, it is stated in that command that it was only allowed in the case of the man rejecting his wife because of revealed sexually immoral behavior (Deuteronomy 24:1). Yeshua repeats this statement by saying only “immorality” is excused for divorce, that is, that one member in the marriage (or both) have engaged in an action that has defiled the marriage through illicit sexual intercourse of any kind. Any of these acts of which would allow voiding the marriage: adultery, incest, fornication, homosexuality, bestiality (Leviticus 18:6-30).

This also means that marriage cannot exist in a life that allows these kinds of sins. Marriage cannot exist in an adulterous relationship. The bond is broken by the one who left the marriage to be bound separately with someone or something else. Marriage cannot exist in fornication, where there are sexual relations between people without a covenant relationship. They are simply abusing one another for personal pleasure with no commitments. Homosexuality is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22) that perverts God’s intended design for man and woman and is also an evil, passion-driven act (Romans 1:25-27). Bestiality is nowhere near God’s intended design and denies God as Creator by the very idea of it. It is for these very acts that God allowed Sodom to be destroyed, for the Canaanites to be killed, for the tribe of Benjamin to face near annihilation (Leviticus 18:24; Judges 19, 20; Jude 1:7). These kind of acts are not only marriage destroyers, they are reason for God to bring judgment upon those who commit them. Lack of repentance from these kinds of sins will lead to destruction, so in order to remove themselves from facing God’s wrath upon the other’s sin, divorce is permitted in this case only. Should they be one with the husband or wife who has broken the marriage covenant and not repented?

The disciples find this allowance of divorce for sexual immorality too stringent for their own desires, saying, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry” (Matthew 19:10). They desired a more flexible allowance for divorce according to the things that they deemed "reasonable." But Yeshua rebuts their resistance to His command, saying, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given” (Matthew 19:11). Therefore, if someone desires marriage, that is, to become one as a man and a woman in covenant relationship, they must be willing to accept the boundaries of what is permitted, lest they oppose God in treating marriage lightly and committing sin against both God and their husband or wife. If someone is not willing to accept what God has said about marriage, then Yeshua directs them to be a “eunuch,” to abstain from marriage so that they do not profane marriage and sin against God. He compares the “eunuch” that He desires to that of a eunuch who is born in that manner or to that of a eunuch who was made that way through the act of someone else. Like the eunuchs the disciples and the Pharisees would have encountered through their lives, the followers of Yeshua who are unable to accept fully what marriage requires would also remain sexually abstinent since this only exists in a marriage relationship.

"...a holy covenant given by God..."

Marriage was designed by God so that man would be complete by his perfectly designed companion, the woman. Man was not designed to be alone and God said it was “not good” for man to be alone. However, we must understand how severe marriage is to be treated, not only as a holy covenant given by God, but also as a relationship not bound by man or his desires, but by God Himself. If we cannot also accept the boundaries of what God has spoken regarding marriage, then we should humbly choose to abstain from marriage and not try to design our own kind of union that is neither designed by God, nor permitted by His Word.

Do you desire marriage? If so, why do you desire it and are you ready to take on all the boundaries that come with it?

Are you in a marriage? If so, what are you doing to protect yourselves within the boundaries that God has given in order to treat the marriage as holy for God?

Are you divorced? If so, seek God’s wisdom in His Word and desire what He allows – not what mankind permits – for the divorced person with a humble heart and a willingness to submit to all that His Word teaches, including giving up our own desires for His perfect will.

Marriage is not to be taken lightly. For those who can accept this, let it be so.

Matthew 19:1-12

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org