Ep411. Mark 10. Jesus Talks Divorce 

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 10, the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does God’s law permit a man to divorce his wife?” (Mark 10:2). 

“What did Moses say?” asked Jesus. 

They replied, “Moses said a man could write a divorce certificate and send her away.” 

Jesus replied, “Moses wrote that law to accommodate your hard hearts. But God’s design is for a man and woman to marry and never separate. Anything else is outside God’s design” (Mark 10:5-9). 

Interestingly, Jesus put God’s law and God’s design on different sides of the divorce issue. God’s design doesn’t accommodate divorce, but the law supplies rules for a just divorce.

God’s plan was for Adam and Eve to get along, but after they ate the forbidden fruit, they blamed each other and the serpent. As history continued through Genesis, 
  – Abraham fathered a son by his wife’s Egyptian servant (Gen 16)
  – Lot fathered sons by incest with his daughters (Gen 19)

  – Jacob had children by two wives and two servant girls (Gen 29-30)
  – Judah fathered a son by his daughter-in-law when she posed as a prostitute (Gen 38)
  – When Dinah was raped by Canaanities, her brothers wiped out an entire village (Gen 34) 

Moses’ law tried to put order into this complicated situation. It declared rape, prostitution, and incest illegal; but it permitted polygamous marriage (Lev 18:18). 

Moses’ law did not treat all people equally. For example, the punishment for illicit sex with a female slave differed from the punishment for sex with a free woman (Lev 19:20-22). 

Here are a few observations. 

1. Adam and Eve had the first troubled marriage. Most of their descendants are in the same gene pool. 

2. To the patriarchs in Genesis, polygamy and having children by servant girls was situation normal. Genesis is realistic about troubled marriages, troubled families, and aberrations like incest, prostitution, and rape. 

3. Moses’ law does not try to implement and enforce God’s original design. As Jesus noted, it accommodates divorce, and tries to protect the vulnerable partner. 

4. Moses’ law deals compassionately, justly, and realistically with human brokenness, while still aiming to respect God’s design. For example, people with physical disabilities were full members of society, but were banned from the priesthood (Lev 21:18-20). Today, we would call this a clear case of discrimination. 

5. The fact that Moses’ law permits divorce raises complex questions for today’s Christians. Do we want laws to enforce our understanding of God’s design? Or should we copy Moses’ example by devising laws that deal compassionately and equitably with divorce, sickness, domestic violence, sexual preference, abortion, war, and other departures from God’s design?

Let’s pray. 

O father, our bodies, our culture, our relationships reflect our brokenness and the brokenness of our world.   

Give us wisdom to understand your design. Wisdom to love and serve those who live in the shadows of brokenness–Down’s syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, sexual brokenness. Give us wisdom to understand, like Moses, which cultural practices to accommodate. Divorce? Abortion? Euthanasia? Same-sex relationships? Other practices? 

Soften our hard hearts. Teach us to live by your design. Teach us to have grace for all who are unable or unwilling to live by your design. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

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