Old Testament - New Testament Confusion

[PeteZaHut]

I had a couple issues that I was wondering if someone could clear up for me.

I think I have heard that divorce was allowed under the Mosaic Law. If God gave that law to Moses, why would He allow that?

We read in the Old Testament about God punishing people down to the fourth generation, etc. Then, in the New Testament, doesn’t Jesus tell us that God doesn’t punish people like that? That doesn’t really make sense to me.

 

[Nita]

Matthew 19:3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 19:4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 19:5 and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 19:6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” 19:7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 19:8 He said to them, "For your hardness of heart** Moses allowed you to divorce **your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

And sure enough, if you check the Old Testament, you’ll find that the laws regulating (thus allowing) divorce are contained in the final instructions Moses gives the Israelites. These instructions cover quite a few chapters at the end of Deuteronomy. They begin in chapter 12 (12:1 “These are the statutes and ordinances which you shall be careful to do in the land which the LORD… has given you to possess,…”) and continue through Chapter 26. The laws regarding divorce are given in Chapter 24.

Divorce is not mentioned in the records of the commands given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. (See Exodus, Chapters 19 through 34)

 

[Nita]

Just a couple thoughts I’d like to add to my above post.

God’s commands were given to Moses soon after the Israelites had left Egypt.
The list of commands given in Deuteronomy are given just before the Israelites are going to enter the promised land – that is, almost 40 years later.
We do not know at what point in those 40 years Moses first recognized and legislated divorce. No doubt it came about as a result of marital conflicts that arose and were brought to him for judgement.

I have read commentary that indicates the culture back then regarded women as property. Husbands could cast their wives out at will. Thus, the law established by Moses actually served to help protect women and make their lot better. She had to be guilty of some “indecency” before she could be set aside.

Nita

 

[claymcdermott]

One must also remember that Jesus came to fulfill the Law. So, while the law of Moses was fine for Moses’s time ( you could divorce on what today would seem like reasonable grounds), now that Christ has instituted matrimony as a sacrament, we are given something even better: an unbreakable sacramental bond between man and woman until death.

As for punishing people down to the fourth generation in Exodus 34, we must remember that God is gracious until the thousandth generation in that same chapter.

The point is that God is both merciful, and just. When Jesus comes, He doesn’t say anything to rebuke that.

Hope that helps

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Note that the marriages in the Old Testament were natural marriages; not sacramental [the parties were not baptized]. Even today a natural marriage may be dissolved for the spiritual benefit of one of its parties - see Pauline and Petrine Privileges.

 

[claymcdermott]

I should have mentioned that Jesus says something along the lines of, “For the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce, but from the beginning it was not so.” So, there we have jesus in His own words, telling you why divorce was not acceptable for us now, but was permitted in ancient times.

 

[Ruthie]

Here’s an interesting take on this. It was presented in a class I took.

When Moses went up on the mountain to receive the Law, God gave him the 10 commandments. The people, instead of patiently waiting for him, reverted to the Egyptian rituals and practices.

So they were given 613 laws that were very specific, and many of which were the opposite of Egyptian practice. For instance, Egyptian bulls were sacred, but the Israelites were to sacrifice bulls.

Nita said,

Husbands could cast their wives out at will. Thus, the law established by Moses actually served to help protect women and make their lot better.

I think this ties in with the above idea, too. The 6th commandment doesn’t specify the “who” of adultery. These backsliding people could have decided that it only applied to women, so the more detailed Law makes it clear that the adulterous man and woman were equally guilty.

But, are we dealing with hardness of heart, or hardness of head?

Ruthie the hard-headed