1. Marriage/Divorce
“Love has become a mixture of physical desire and vague sentimentality; marriage has become a provisional sexual union to be terminated when this pathetic, pygmy love dissolves.” D. A. Carson
4/1/2019

2. Matthew 5:31-32

3. Deuteronomy 22, 24
24:1 - When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house…

4. Two Schools of Thought Shammai – some indecency in her
Hillel – divorce for any reason (finds no favor in his eyes)

5. Deuteronomy 22, 24
24:1 - When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house…

6. Matthew 19:1-10

7. God’s Math – Two Become One
Genesis 2:18-24
Matthew 19:5
Mark 10:7
Ephesians 5:31

9. Malachi 2:16 (NASB)
"For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."

10. Malachi 2:14-15
But you say, “Why does He not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did He not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

11. Isaiah 50:1
Thus says the Lord: “Where is your mother's certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

12. Jeremiah 3:8
She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the harlot.

13. Ephesians 5:31-33
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

14. For Our Consideration
Why do you think Jesus addresses the issue of marriage in His Sermon on the Mount?
What does “hardness of heart” mean to you in your daily life?
Why is marriage valuable and a picture of Jesus and the Church?
What role does forgiveness and agape love play in this discussion?

15. Prayer Focus
Thank You Father for the glorious Gospel announcing good news of forgiveness and newness of life in Christ.
Thank You for the Word of God to speak both comfort and conviction into our lives.
Thank You for a new day to live, grow and learn.