Now, before you write this off, I am a divorced man: forgiven, but divorced. This is something that is very important to God. Jesus’ priestly prayer in John 17 is all about knowing God and being one with God. As we have talked about many times, this knowing is that same word used for when Abraham knew Sarah. It is a oneness, complete intimacy. We see what God intended here.

This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. [Gen 2:24 NLT]

Jesus quoted this in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” But Jesus said to them,“Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” [Mark 10:2-9 NASB]

Here it is clear that God’s intent was never to allow divorce. It is a horrible sin to break that covenant with our spouse or our God. It’s clear He never approved of that other abomination either: plural wives. Even Moses didn’t let that skate by. That was never approved anywhere in scripture, but man did it all too often until some unknown time before Jesus.

Our oneness with the Lord is the center of our relationship

Divorce is not an acceptable option. That oneness cannot be shared nor can it be broken without severe consequences. We live in a culture where divorce is an assumed outcome. But we’ve been fed a lie. Here’s the stats:

The answer is:  depends upon which marriages?    Fifty percent of ALL marriages do end in divorce.  But here’s the number we want you to remember and share: More than 70 percent of all first marriages succeed.  Seventy percent of all people who have ever been married are still married to the same person! [UFI blog]

That is truly good news. As Paul said:

 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”^[b]32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. [Ephesians 5:31-32 NLT]

So what to do if you’re divorced

Take it seriously. It is a serious sin from which you must repent. Then you’re clean again. But do not enter into marriage lightly again. It is serious. All that matters is that the Lord has picked your wife. Take it from me, that’s a wonderful thing.