Unpopular

Good morning!

Yesterday, in Malachi 1, we looked briefly at God's correction to the re-settled Jews. (They had been re-settled in the land of their forefathers, after the Babylonian captivity.)  Yesterday's focus was on the Jews' skimpy worship at the Temple.  This morning our focus is on chapter 2.  The second area of complacency and disobedience was in marital relationships.  The Jewish men had begun to marry pagan women.  In addition, divorce had become quite common.  Let's take a look at what God had to say about these things.

And here's a second offense:  you fill the place of worship with your whining and sniveling because you don't get what you want from God.  Do you know why?  Simple.  Because God was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage vows to your young bride, and now you've broken those vows, broke the faith-bond with your vowed companion, your covenant wife.  God, not you made marriage.  His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage.  And what does he want from marriage?  Children of God, that's what.  So guard the spirit of marriage within you.  Don't cheat on your spouse.  

"I hate divorce," says the God of Israel.  God-of-the-Angel-Armies says, "I hate the violent dismembering of the 'one flesh' of marriage."  So watch yourselves.  Don't let your guard down. Don't cheat.

Malachi 2:13-16

This is not a popular topic.  In fact, I doubt this post will attract many readers.  As in Malachi's day, divorce has become increasingly prevalent in the past 60 years in this country.  Many have been affected by it, or have seen their own marriages broken.  We don't generally like to be reminded of our pain.  Nearly everyone who has been party to a divorce says, "But, I had a very good (even scriptural) reason."  While it is true that God does give situations in the Bible where divorce can be permitted, this does not change the fact that He hates it.

Let's take a look at what Jesus had to say on the subject in Matthew 19.  (We find in Matthew 19:1-12 the most complete dissertation by Jesus on this topic, although portions of what he had to say there are reflected in Mark and in Luke.)  This is from the New International Version.

1When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3Some 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,’^a 5and 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’^b ? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

Unarguably, Jesus grants one exception to the command "No divorce!", and that is on the grounds of adultery.  Notice that divorce is permitted on those grounds, not recommended and certainly not commanded, for any reason.  Even in situations involving adultery, reconciliation is recommended. The picture of this is found in the Old Testament book of Hosea.

Here's another unpopular assertion:  do you see anything in any of these passages to indicate that marriage should be anything other than the union of a man and woman?  Neither do I.  I do read that God, not we, made marriage and that it is clearly indicated here that marriage is between a man and a woman. I'm not going to contend with God on that point.  In fact, Jesus states that those who do not have an inclination to marry someone of the opposite sex should remain "as eunuchs", or celibate.

The thing most people miss about marriage is that it is a picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His followers.  Many times in the Bible, they are referred to respectively as the Bride and the Bridegroom.  One of the more famous passages illustrating this analogy is from Paul, in Ephesians 5:31-33.

31FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 

32This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Just as Jesus Christ will never abandon His Church, His children, His followers, so are we to never abandon our husbands or wives through adultery, abuse, or other avenues of mistreatment.  Nor are we to twist the word "marriage' to mean anything society wants it to mean.

It seems to me, with my limited half-century of life experience that each age has had its "whipping boy" for sin, its own "gateway sin" that defines it.  In the 1960s it was open, flagrant heterosexual adultery ("free love").  This led, predictably, to an explosion of divorces and the disintegration of the family unit.  This also led to abortion, as the whipping boy of the mid-1970's and '80s.  Beginning in the 1990's, with AIDS and open homosexuality vying for acceptance, the latter became the "sin of the age".  By this, I mean that these were/are the sins the Christians get most "up-in-arms" about and are criticized for speaking out against (IF we do so, which is sadly becoming less and less frequent).

But, the truth is that all sin is sin.  God hates divorce, but He also hates all sin.  So, if you are reading this and preening over the fact that you have remained married, feeling that you are spiritually "all that", let me remind you that pride is one of the most devious sins of all.  It will sneak up on you and "slap the mess outta ya".  Let me recommend that you humbly thank God for His mercy in your marriage, that He has been the One who has kept you and your spouse together.

One last point in this chapter:  verse 17 - - -

You make God tired with all your talk.  "How do we tire him out?", you ask.

By saying, "God loves sinners and sin alike.  God loves all."

And also by saying, "Judgment?  God's too nice to judge!"

This underlined portion is a lie from the devil, and a very prevalent one at that.  The truth of the matter is this:  "God loves people.  We all are sinners.  God hates our sin.  He hates our sin so much and He loved us so much that He wrapped Himself in flesh like ours and came to live among us for 33 years in order to be the sacrifice which would set us free from our sin and brokenness."  John 3:16  That's a whole lot of love for us and a whole lot of hate for our sin.

So don't be deceived by the prevalent, slick story out there.  God states in 2:7 - - -

"It is the job of priests to teach the truth.  People are supposed to look to them for guidance."

It is also the job of the people who claim the name of Christ to speak and to live out the truth to a deceived, lost, blind, dying world, as opposed to going along with the anti-God rhetoric that surrounds us.  That won't make us popular with our fellow man much of the time.  It will draw us closer to our Bridegroom, our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord Jesus, please show us when to speak the truth with our words and when to speak it with our actions, because both are critical to the spreading of the gospel.  Give us, please, the faith and courage to follow You in all things  - - - in our marriages, in our singleness/celibacy, by dying to our selfish desires and seeking to live lives of holiness in all areas.  Teach us to hate sin as much as You do, O Lord; but also, teach us to love people with the fervor You do as well.  Break our hearts for the sin that surrounds us and which we constantly battle within us.  And then, please accept our confession, forgive us and restore us, so that we may again walk...resplendent!  In Jesus' name, amen.