#7 How can God divorce if "he hates" it?

How do we read Malachi in the light of God's divorce? Interview with Dr. Instone-Brewer on divorce in cases of abuse and neglect in the Old Testament. David Instone-Brewer is a Senior Research Fellow in Rabbinics and the New Testament at Tyndale House, Cambridge. Tyndale House is the largest Biblical library in the UK, and home to those who wish to study the Bible in the original languages.

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[LamourDeLucie]

This is all very overwhelming. My husband left me for adultery. I committed this adultery 10 years. I was 22. I used to be a nagging wife. I had lots of hurt growing up and took them out on him. He no longer even returns my text messages. He told me he has the right to divorce me. I repented but sometimes I feel like the Bible is not clear. In some verses it tells husbands to love their wives to the way Christ loves the church. Next, it says adulterers will never inherit the earth.

[playmobible]

@LamourDeLucie He has made his choice, & you have to accept his right to do so. The wonder of God is that both you and he can start again individually, and the lessons learned from last time around, will be most helpful to you.

[supersportrsz28]

I know as a father myself that there is nothing my child could do to sever my Love for them and the relationship we have and that is how marriage should be according to the Love our Father has for us. We pick and choose how we Love and God clearly defines Love in 1 Corinthians 13. If we are to have that Love within then why would we choose divorce instead of forgiveness. Just doesn't add up? divorce=death but love=life(marriage) what do you say? I love you but we are divorcing?

[playmobible]

@supersportrsz28 It’s important to keep in mind Amos 4.12 after Israel had turned from serving the Lord. Israel still claimed to worship the true God, but in fact turned to worship God in the way THEY wanted to serve Him, rather than the way HE wanted to be served. They worshipped the true God through idols and through priests that God had not chosen. God tried to correct them by: making them hunger (Amos.6), but they didn’t return;…

[playmobible]

@supersportrsz28 …through God stunting their crops and withholding water (Amos 4.7), but they still didn’t return; through plagues of diseases and locust against their food, but they didn’t return; through sickness, war against their strongest and finest, through stenches and stinks, but they didn’t return; through sending massive disasters, and then saving them by the skin of their teeth, but they still didn’t return. Nothing worked.

[playmobible]

@supersportrsz28 I’ve seen God try and fail to correct those who refuse to give up worshiping these gods of marriage, and false idols of marriage “covenants” and “unconditional-love”. Having tried all that, God will then say to you, “Prepare to meet your God”, or as Jesus said, “Repent or perish!” In Israel’s case that meant they faced total devastation. They were taken away into exile with hooks in their jaws from their homeland, and made prisoners where they died! They never ever returned.

[playmobible]

@supersportrsz28 We are preaching a false gospel if we think love & forgiveness is the only answer to have people turn back to God. Sometimes a loving God must use very strong punishments against His own. Love is not the only answer to save. It’s important for those Christians, who have followed after these idols of marriage as I mentioned above, to repent before it is too late, & God runs out of even painful half-measures in order for them to see the light. Repentance without actions is dead!

[playmobible]

@supersportrsz28 Really? Nothing? What if he murdered one of your other children? What if he hated Christ? What if you cannot love your child without hating your spouse or God? Have you not read God's rebuke "Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate the Lord?!" or Jesus' warning in Luke 14.26 "if anyone comes to me and does not hate...wife and children...such a person cannot be my disciple". You have got to start being worthy of Christ.

[playmobible]

@supersportrsz28 You don't have God's truth. You have the devil's great lie - that 'divorce is not ever a possibility in cases of broken vows'. God himself took this divorce option and it was not sin. It may be divorce is never the right option for you, but it may well be for one of your friends or family. You have got to have a better answer than "stay and suffer". You cannot say "wait for a miracle" in presumption when God is actually calling them out. You need the Holy Spirit's guidance.

[playmobible]

@LamourDeLucie You can't go on whipping yourself about it now. You made your mistake & you live with it. Adultery is not the unforgivable sin, but you can't try to cling on to something that is shattered beyond repair. You have to let go now and forgive yourself, & move on as your ex has done. You can't blame him if he feels that he couldn't trust you again, because it is a sin of deceit. If he has married another person, you can't take him back anyway (Deut. 24.4)...

[playmobible]

@supersportrsz28 You have got to be able to put your love of God ahead of your love for any family relationship, otherwise your show yourself unworthy. The very Israelites who loved their children (and themselves) ahead of God, were the same ones who ended up devouring their own children! What are you going to do when love for God and family clash? I.e., you cannot love one without hating the other.

[playmobible]

You question assumes that divorce is a sin - it isn't always. A spouse may not need to be forgiven for divorcing you if she/he had good grounds - God needed no forgiveness for divorcing unfaithful Israel. On the other hand God chose not to divorce Judah, and she was able to return to him. The Key: follow the Holy Spirit's guidance.