Divorce was provided for under the Law of God, not because this was agreeable to God from the beginning, but because provision must be made for the fallen and sinful state of human beings.

The assumption in this case is that the woman had been adulterous, either before her marriage or since. The husband could thus give her a writ of divorce, assuming, of course, procedures for validating the accusation of adultery had been followed. Divorce was not something a man could accomplish on his own, apart from the oversight of the local elders. The accusation of “indecency” had to be proven to the satisfaction of the elders, then the writ of divorce could be issued.

If the woman remarried and her husband died, she could not be married again by her first husband, for this was considered to be an abomination in the sight of the Lord.

The New Testament acknowledges abandonment, along with adultery, as a legitimate ground for divorce (1 Cor. 7). But, again, this is not something an individual should determine. A court of the Church should be involved in determining the justice of the charges.

T. M. Moore

The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.