Is Divorce a Sin?

By Lonnie w Bennett

Is divorce a sin?

Millions of people across the world have suffered through a misinterpretation of Jesus' statements regarding divorce. Faulty translations and ignorance of Jewish culture have led to a mass misunderstanding of the Bible's true stance on this topic.

This book is designed to offer salve for the wounds

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bennett Books
• Release date: Sep 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9780983779148

Lonnie w Bennett

About the Author Lonnie W Bennett is a successful businessman, a former minister, counselor, missionary, educator, and Bible College president. He is also the husband of a wonderful woman, a father of six great kids, and a grandfather of 20.

Book preview

1. Marriage in the Patriarchal Age

TO COMPREHEND the culture of the first century, we need to understand a little about the two religious periods that preceded it.

The First One

This one lasted some 2600 years, is called the Patriarchal Age. It began with Adam in Genesis and ended with the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. In that Age, God dealt primarily with one family, and through that lineage came his Son, born into the world to bring salvation to humankind.

That Age, as well as the one that followed, had particular rules and laws that governed its people.

The Second One

This period began with the giving of the Law by God to Moses, so it's called the Mosaic Age. In that Age, God dealt, not with just one family, but with one nation, commonly known as Israel. Again, those people had different laws and a religious system that varied entirely from that of the former Age.

To get a clear view of the issues, we need to look at the Biblical teaching on marriage, divorce, and remarriage in both these periods. What does God have to say about marriage in the Patriarchal Age? The answer is found here, in Gen 2:24:

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"For this reason, a man will leave

his father and mother and be

united to his wife, and they will

become one flesh."

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Other than possible direct communication, this verse constitutes the entire recorded instructions these people received about marriage. The absence of more detailed information is surprising and somewhat disturbing.

We are not suggesting that God didn't care about marriage. Some thirteen hundred years later, Jesus adds, Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. God certainly has a part in the joining; He instituted marriage.

Let's be straight forward...

The simple truth is that, despite all the hype and ceremony of today's weddings,

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MARRIAGES ARE NOT

MADE IN HEAVEN!

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In fact, in His confrontation with the Sadducees, Jesus states that "There are NO marriages in heaven! The Sadducees had a false doctrinal concept that Jesus took pains to correct. They thought they had identified an insurmountable problem that disproved the resurrection from the dead. A certain man, they said, married a woman and then passed away. Each of his seven brothers married her and afterward died. They asked Jesus, Which one was to be her husband at the resurrection?"

Jesus said, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels…"

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Direct quote from Jesus:

"There will be NO marriages in Heaven!"

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God left the marriage process as a civil matter to be dealt with down here on earth. You get a legal document called a marriage license, that you sign and register to get married, and another legal document, a divorce decree, that you sign and register to get divorced. You do that to obey the laws of the country in which you live. By whatever name it's called, you must have a divorce decree or certificate of divorce to get out of a marriage. That's how they did it in the Patriarchal and Mosaic Ages, and it's how they do it today. It's an essential part of the legal process.

The certificate of divorce is mentioned numerous times in scripture and has a counterpart in every culture of every Age. Inheritance issues make that a necessity.

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Moses introduced the divorce decree

because of the hardness of their hearts.

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It was the remedy for a bad marriage. God instructs Moses regarding the rules for the divorce and the process to be followed to obtain one. He emphasizes the necessity of the Certificate of Divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. The statements are straightforward and crystal clear. We will examine those verses in detail in the third chapter, where we identify the three elements of the divorce process. Perhaps more sermons should be delivered on these unpleasant truths of the Patriarchal and Mosaic Ages because they stand as precedence to our laws today.

The Jewish leaders with whom Jesus was contending had a background of polygamy (multiple wives). Biblical research makes it clear that neither these men nor their ancestors had to divorce a first wife to marry a second. They could have as many wives as they could afford.

Second, there was no such thing as a defined marriage ceremony or even a recommendation for one. There isn't even an example of how anyone got married in the 2600 years of the Patriarchal Age.

We know that when Abraham wanted a wife for his son, Isaac, he sent his servant to find his wife's relatives to select just the right woman. Rebecca, a first cousin, was chosen, and she returned with his servant to marry Isaac. The scriptures say, Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her. Genesis 24:67.

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The bottom line is that God left it to

men to decide the method of

getting married; MAN gets

to choose the process.

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Not only was there no prescribed ceremony in the Patriarchal or Mosaic Ages; but there isn't one in the Christian Age either.

Who designed the marriage ceremony?

We have all taken part in a marriage ceremony. Who designed it? Where did it come from? Where do ministers get the information they use in the wedding ceremonies they perform? Surprisingly, it's left to the individual performing the wedding. Both the religious and non-religious performers of weddings design the services they use. If the leader is spiritual, he will use the statements and principles of love, fidelity, and honor found in the Bible. If not, his ideas may come from some philosopher or wise man of his Age. Does that surprise you? It certainly did me. When I was a young minister, someone asked me to perform a marriage. I expected to look somewhere in the Good Book and find the words for the ceremony, but they were nowhere to be found.

Shocker!

And, while this seems remarkable, what is more surprising is that there is no record of God objecting to multiple marriages (polygamy) during either the Patriarchal or Mosaic Ages.

It may come as a surprise that it was normal for a man to have more than one wife in the Patriarchal Age, yet it's true. Even the greatest of our spiritual ancestors had more than one wife.

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Let's examine the Biblical history;

it's all there in black and white.

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Abraham, who is considered the father of the faithful, was the first Patriarch about whom we have much information. His first wife was the venerable Sarah. But after several years, at her insistence, he married her handmaiden, Hagar. Sarah gave Hagar to him as a second wife to have children through her. (Genesis 16:3)

When Sarah died, Abraham also married Keturah, a third wife, and according to Genesis 25:1-6, he had several concubines as well. So, almost from the beginning, we see multiple wives as a norm for life in that Age.

Nahor, Abraham's brother