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What Does the Bible Say About...Divorce?

What does God say about adultery and divorce and will he still honor an adulterous marriage. I do forgive my wife and I'm expecting a miracle, is this right? Thank you God bless!!!

Answer

God hates adultery. So much so that he even compares his people's disobedience to them being adulterous against him (Ezek 16:1-35).

God also hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). In that passage, however, what he is hating is when a man "deals treacherously" with his wife, apparently by putting her away for no good reason (or leaving her for another woman).

The primary passages in the New Testament dealing with marriage and divorce are found in Matthew 5:32, and Matthew 19:3-12 (and the account of the same incident in Mark 10:2-12). Please read these.

In summary, God originally intended for a man and woman to remain married. Moses allowed divorce for a number of reasons because they would divorce anyway, but that was not the way God intended it. The only reason Jesus gives for divorce is "fornications," which is often equated with adultery. If someone divorces for any other reason and remarries, he is committing adultery (Matt 5:28). If someone is divorced other than for adultery and remarries, she and her new husband are both adulterers.

If a man is married to an adulterous woman, he can divorce her. He may be free to marry another. My belief is that if he remarries he should be very careful that he didn't use his former wife's adultery as an excuse to get free to marry someone else. In such a case he has already committed adultery in his heart, and is using a technicality to avoid it in practice.

On the other side of your coin is the question of whether one is obligated to get a divorce. Jesus indicated that a couple should stay together if at all possible. If a divorce is necessary, it should only be for adultery. If a man forgives his wife and is willing to continue to live as her husband, that is also acceptable. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about marriage when one of the parties becomes a Christian (I Cor 17), and advises them to continue to live together if at all possible.

As for waiting for a miracle, don't. You don't need one. Miracles, at least in the Biblical sense of instantaneous suspension of natural law, were apparently intended to be suspended shortly after the writing of the New Testament (1 Cor 13). Even if they were to still exist, the purpose of miracles was to confirm that the performer was speaking for God (Mark 16:20). You don't need a miracle; you already have God's word.