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SOLEMN WHISPER DEVOTIONAL

Wednesday, 9th August 2020.

GOD STILL HATES DIVORCE

(Mal. 2:16-17; Matt. 19:6)

MEMORY VERSE: "For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one\u2019s garment with violence,\u2019 says the Lord of hosts.\u201d (Malachi 2:16 NKJV)

Have you ever tried to separate pieces of paper that were glued together?  If you finally succeed, the division would be an unpleasant sight. This is more or less the picture that divorce paints.

Divorce in the Scripture is permitted only because of man\u2019s sin, it is a concession to man\u2019s sin and is not part of God\u2019s original plan for marriage, all believers should hate divorce as God does. With God\u2019s help a marriage can survive the worst sins.

Divorce has an impact in our world that\u2019s rarely rivaled. Whether you\u2019ve personally been through a divorce, were the child of divorced parents, or have a close friend or relative that\u2019s divorced, the ripple effects of divorce have touched most, if not all, of us.

So what do we do with a verse like this that tells us God hates divorce? Is it to be a word of condemnation to those who\u2019ve crossed this threshold? Do we use it to single out divorced men and women as being on a special sinner\u2019s list in heaven? Sadly, that\u2019s all happened in the past. But this perspective misses the greater point that God is making about divorce.

Let\u2019s be clear, God does hate divorce, as He hates other things (Proverbs 6:16\u201319). But we need to understand why, and the reason is revealed as God\u2019s Word tells us that divorce causes one\u2019s garment to be covered with violence. In other words, divorce is a violent act. We may not immediately think of it that way. In fact, many of us probably witnessed a divorce where both parties parted ways amicably.

But make no mistake, divorce is violent because it separates what God has joined, and He hates that (Matthew 19:6).

There should be no reason, to want to divide what God has unified, especially when it comes to the institution of marriage, because it\u2019s the one earthly relationship where God declares the two are now one in His sight, so much so that He considers it an act of adultery for a spouse to divorce without biblical grounds and move on to another mate: \u201cWhoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery\u201d (Matthew 5:32 NKJV).

Again, divorce tears at the fabric of God\u2019s will, which is why He warns Israel (and us) against it in Malachi and Matthew. His objective is not to utterly condemn those who have divorced\u2014there\u2019s forgiveness and grace for all who\u2019ve deviated from God\u2019s will, including those who may have divorced without biblical grounds to do so. God\u2019s objective is to remind us of His heart for marriage, how far-removed divorce is from it, and to love what He loves and hate what He hates

PRAYER: Lord, we open our hearts, to understand your perspective on every matter pertaining to marriage and we follow you meticulously. I'm Jesus Name, Amen

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Bassey Edoho