A Biblical Divorce

any homes around the world have been affected by divorce. In the United States divorce has been experienced by 46% of those who were born between 1946 and 1964, and by 27% of those born between the years of 1965 and 1983. According to statistics, two-thirds to three-fourths of all divorces are initiated by women. That is a surprising figure. The Barna Group, a Christian polling organization (www.barna.org) states, “the percentage of atheists and agnostics who have been married and divorced is 37% - very similar to the number for the born again population.” The percentage of divorces among born again Christians is 35%. Barna also reports that among those who call themselves Christians: Roman Catholics are the least likely to divorce at 25%. Among Protestants, Presbyterians are next at 28% and Pentecostals have the highest divorce rate at 44%.

Divorce is as common as ice cream, bread, stealing, and red roses. Pledges, promises, vows, and statements of love at the altar of marriage often become worthless in the years that follow. Yet, others take marriage seriously and make commitments for life when they say, “For better or for worse . . .“ We live in times when immediate satisfaction is more important than anything else. Marriage is “nice,” but it is being trashed by many when the emotional threads of the relationship are pulled tight. Those who divorce either do not know of or ignore a study published by Psychology Today. The study states that 78% that those who remain in a difficult marriage report five years later that they are “very happy” (Psychology Today, v 35, i6, June 9, 2004 p. 26(1). This means that those who discard their marriages are discarding something that would most likely make them “very happy” if they had remained married. Those who leave have sacrificed much.

Background. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about adultery first and now divorce. Our last study was a warning not to commit adultery (Matt. 5:27-30). Adultery starts in the emotions of the heart and then leads to the physical act. Jesus warned us to take whatever actions we must to avoid adultery. His illustrations about plucking out our eye or cutting off our right hand were extreme, but we understood His message. He was warning us to be willing to give up even our most valuable treasures in order to avoid adultery.

In this study (Matt. 5:31-32) Jesus talks to us about another tragedy that may occur between a husband and wife - divorce. Most divorces occur for reasons other than adultery. The leading reasons that are given for divorce are physical violence, incompatibility, alcohol and drug abuse, different beliefs, religious conflicts, financial problems, and poor communication. When Jesus talked about divorce during the Sermon on the Mount, He did not talk about any of these reasons. He did not give any statistics or quote Psychology Today. Jesus did not talk about low self-esteem, poverty, or problems related to parents.