Bad Marriages Mal. 2:11-16 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
This message is about bad marriages. Malachi addresses two things: Israel’s intermarriages with other nations and divorce.
Intermarriages in Israel – Mal 2:11-13 – The law prohibited Israel from intermarrying with other nations – Ex 34:13-16; Deut 7:1-4 – God said that they will turn away thy son from worshipping me. Under Solomon, Israel mingled their seed with the inhabitants of countries who worshipped strange gods – 1 Ki 11:1-8 – God said, “They will turn away your heart after their gods.” In Ezra 9:1-3 intermarrying continued even after the captivity in Babylon – in Neh 13:26 we see that this was sin.
In Mal 2:12-13 the Lord said that he would cut off the men who did this and he would not spare even for their tears. According to the Lord this had gone on far too long.
Divorce – Mal 2:14-16 – God hates divorce – he wants you to stay with the wife of your youth. Prov 5:18-20 says that you are to rejoice with the wife of thy youth. In Gen 2:24 the joining of the man and his wife makes one flesh [Eph 5:31]. God doesn’t want you to break that union and form another union.
There are three exceptions to the above:
- Fornication – In Matt 19:1-9 an innocent spouse can divorce a spouse guilty of fornication.
- Death – Rom 7:1-4 in which case the surviving spouse can remarry [1 Cor 7:39].
- Desertion – 1 Cor 7:15 in which case the remaining spouse is not under bondage.
Malachi did not contemplate these three cases; he was addressing those who were divorcing their spouses simply to take up with another spouse. God said that this is treacherous.