The author writes "For I hate divorce, says the LORD, the God of Israel" (Mal 2:16). Judah is chastised for divorcing his wife and priests are warned that they shall be cursed because they caused many to falter by their void instructions. Priests have wearied God by teaching that evil is good.
Bible Excerpts Malachi
2
1 And now, O priests, this commandment
is for you: If you do not listen,
2 And if you do not lay it to heart,
to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, I will send a curse upon
you and of your blessing I will make a curse. Yes, I have already cursed
it, because you do not lay it to heart. ...
7 For the lips of the priest are
to keep knowledge, and instruction is to be sought from his mouth, because
he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside from
the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction; you have made
void the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts.
9 I, therefore, have made you contemptible
and base before all the people, since you do not keep my ways, but show
partiality in your decisions.
10 Have we not all the one Father?
Has not the one God created us? Why then do we break faith with each other,
violating the covenant of our fathers?
11 Judah has broken faith;
an
abominable thing has been done. ...
14 And you say, "Why is it?"-- Because
the LORD is witness between you [Judah] and the wife of your youth, with
whom you have broken faith though she is your companion, your betrothed
wife.
15 Did he not make one being, with
flesh and spirit: and what does that one require but godly offspring? You
must then safeguard life that is your own, and not break faith with the
wife of your youth.
16 For I hate divorce, says the
LORD, the God of Israel, and covering one's garment with injustice,
says the LORD of hosts; you must then safeguard life that is your own,
and not break faith.
17 You have wearied the LORD
with your words, yet you say, "How have we wearied him?" By your saying,
"Every evildoer is good in the sight of the LORD, and he is pleased with
him"; or else, "Where is the just God?"
I Cor 7:10-11 (commentery)
10: To the married I give charge,
not I but the Lord*, that the wife should not separate from her husband
11: (but if she does, let her remain
single or else be reconciled to her husband) -- and that the husband should
not divorce his wife.
12: To the rest I say, not the Lord,
that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to
live with him, he should not divorce her.
13: If any woman has a husband who
is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce
him.
14: For the unbelieving husband
is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated
through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as
it is they are holy.
15: But if the unbelieving partner
desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister
is not bound. For God has called us to peace.
* footnote
(Not I, but the Lord): Paul reminds the married of Jesus' principle of
nonseparation
(Mark 10:9). This is one of his rare specific references to the teaching
of Jesus.
Matthew
19:9
1 When Jesus had finished saying
these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the
other side of the Jordan.
2 Large crowds followed him,
and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to
test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any
and every reason?"
4 "Haven't you read," he replied,
"that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'
5 and said, 'For this reason a man
will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two
will become one flesh'?
6 So they are no longer two, but
one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
7 "Why then," they asked, "did Moses
command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her
away?"
8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted
you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not
this way from the beginning.
9 I tell you that anyone who divorces
his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman
commits adultery."
Mark
10:11-12
1 Jesus then left that place and
went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people
came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested
him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"
3 "What did Moses command you?"
he replied.
4 They said, "Moses permitted a
man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."
5 "It was because your hearts were
hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied.
6 "But at the beginning of creation
God 'made them male and female.'
7 'For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother and be united to his wife,
8 and the two will become one flesh.'
So they are no longer two, but one.
9 Therefore what God has joined
together, let man not separate."
10 When they were in the house again,
the disciples asked Jesus about this.
11 He answered, "Anyone who divorces
his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.
12 And if she divorces her husband
and marries another man, she commits adultery."
Matthew
5:32 Divorce
31 "It has been said, 'Anyone who
divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'
32 But I tell you that anyone who
divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become
an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
Luke
16:18
14 The Pharisees, who loved money,
10 heard all these things and sneered at him.
15 And he said to them, "You justify
yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what
is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.
16 "The law and the prophets lasted
until John; 11 but from then on the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone
who enters does so with violence.
17 It is easier for heaven and earth
to pass away than for the smallest part of a letter of the law to become
invalid.
18 "Everyone who divorces his wife
and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced
from her husband commits adultery.