# Moses and Divorce?



## Coram Deo (Nov 6, 2007)

Does God ever allow for Sin, even within a Dispensation of time? I have always heard that Christ did away with the divorce clause of the Old Covenant, But did he really? Did Moses allow for divorce outside of sexual immorality? I am starting to believe that Christ did not do away with the Mosaic Clause of divorce at all but bringing it back to it's original meaning.... The Pharisee's allowed divorce for everything under the Sun, but neither Christ nor the Laws of God through Moses allowed for divorce except for sexually immorality. I am not going to answer the question about remarriage right now but it seems that in both covenants, God allows for seperation for sexual immorality but they aleast should strive to keep the marriage together.....

Matthew 19:7-9

They say unto him, WHy did Moses hen command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornincation, and shall marry another, commiteth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 24:1

When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, *because he hath found some uncleanness in her:* then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.


What I have found interesting is that the term "Uncleaness in her" is hebrew terminology for "Matters of Nakedness", or in other words Adultery.....

So Christ or Moses through God did not allow for some temporary dispensation of Sin in the Old Covenant. It is the same as in the New Covenant. Christ was bring the law back into conformity with the law of God for which the Pharisees had corrupted. No Man can put away his wife except for sexual immorality... God's law is Holy and Perfect and is unchangable in both covenants. God does not allow for sin and can not and does not tolerate sin for any reason, not even for a dispensation...... 

"Be Holy For I am Holy"


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## Mushroom (Nov 6, 2007)

> Moses because of the hardness of your heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.


So then, in what way do you think the Lord was contradicting Moses? Not disagreeing, just curious what that might be. It appears He was forbidding something that Moses had allowed.


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## Coram Deo (Nov 6, 2007)

Jesus said in Matthew 19:8: Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. If a woman did not have a hard heart, she would never commit sexual immorality against her husband, and there would be no need for divorce. If a husband did not have any hardness in his heart, he could forgive and still look upon his wife with favor in his eyes, even though she was guilty of sexual immorality. But because God knows there is hardness in our hearts - both in the offending and offended parties - He grants permission for divorce.

I do not believe he was contradicting Moses at all... He said from the beginning it was not so... From the beginning... Must be talking about before the Fall since there was no hardening of hearts before the fall.. But Moses through God the Father permits divorce for sexual immorality; Adultery. Jesus continued the law "except for fornication".

Some later Rabbis defined uncleanness as anything in the wife which might displease the husband. At the time of Jesus, some Rabbis taught that if a wife burned her husband’s breakfast, he could divorce her.

In the days of Jesus, Rabbis taught that it was the duty of a godly man to divorce his wife if she displeased him. Both Moses and Jesus make it clear that God permits divorce in certain circumstances, but never commands it.

But Jesus rightly understood that uncleanness refers to sexual immorality. The Hebrew word translated uncleanness in itself implies the meaning of sexual immorality; it is literally, “nakedness of a thing.”



Brad said:


> > Moses because of the hardness of your heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
> 
> 
> So then, in what way do you think the Lord was contradicting Moses? Not disagreeing, just curious what that might be. It appears He was forbidding something that Moses had allowed.


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## Barnpreacher (Nov 6, 2007)

Moses and Christ do not contradict each other in any way. Deuteronomy 24:1 refers to uncleanness, which as Michael said is the same thing as speaking about fornication in the New Testament. That was no light cause for divorce as the Pharisees were trying to get Jesus to say was possible. There was no such thing as divorce for any reason in the OT or the NT. The ground for divorce was fornication (uncleanness). 

When the Pharisees wanted to know if a man could divorce his wife for any reason, Jesus appealed to the creation ordinance in Matthew 19. He said, "from the beginning it was not so." But because of the hardness of your hearts, which refers to the fallen nature and depravity of man, Moses laid down rules for divorce (fornication). In the beginning (original creation state) this was not necessary. But because of the hardness of man's heart (depravity) it (rules for divorce) became necessary because of sinful relations in marriage.

The same thing can be said about clothing. Do we really have to wear clothes? In the beginning it wasn't so, but because of our hardness of heart (depravity) it became necessary. The same can be said about a lot of things.

So, Jesus and Moses were not contradicting one another in any way. That wasn't possible.


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## Barnpreacher (Nov 6, 2007)

thunaer said:


> Jesus said in Matthew 19:8: Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. If a woman did not have a hard heart, she would never commit sexual immorality against her husband, and there would be no need for divorce. If a husband did not have any hardness in his heart, he could forgive and still look upon his wife with favor in his eyes, even though she was guilty of sexual immorality. But because God knows there is hardness in our hearts - both in the offending and offended parties - He grants permission for divorce.
> 
> I do not believe he was contradicting Moses at all... He said from the beginning it was not so... From the beginning... Must be talking about before the Fall since there was no hardening of hearts before the fall.. But Moses through God the Father permits divorce for sexual immorality; Adultery. Jesus continued the law "except for fornication".
> 
> ...


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