The Scriptures are clear, our loving Heavenly Father set a pattern when He created us male and female and provided marriage as a divine blessing and comfort. Marriage is to be honored; preferred, encouraged and supported within the Christian and wider community. While the world around us slides deeper into amorality, the faithful must be advocating and living God's Word on marriage.
1Ti 5:14 Therefore I want the younger ones to marry, bear children, guide the house, giving no occasion to the adversary because of reproach.

As we have pointed out elsewhere on this website the following passage endorses the permanency of marriage, the deepness of the union and does not exclude polygyny;
Gen 2:22 And Jehovah God made the rib (which He had taken from the man) into a woman. And He brought her to the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman because she was taken out of man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh.

Gen.2:24 is never used by God in His word as a condemnation of polygyny but affirms the sacredness of the marriage union. Jacob was "one flesh" with each of his wives and from the four unions, blessings for the entire world.

Divorce should not be an escape option when Christians consider marriage. Certainly divorce rates within the Christian community are apace with the rest of the world and it is time a dispensationalist perspective on this issue was available. I do not pontificate or demand agreement but submit the following observations for consideration with a prayer that a wider deeper appreciation and tolerance of divorce will result.

Marriage and Israel.
Many Christians know that God and Israel were in a covenant relationship. The Lord spoke as being Israel's husband in the past and in the day He re-gathers them;
Isa 54:4 Do not fear; for you shall not be ashamed, nor shall you blush; for you shall not be put to shame; for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.
Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband; Jehovah of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called.
Isa 54:6 For Jehovah has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were rejected, says your God.
Isa 54:7 For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies I will gather you.
See also Jer.3:20, 31:32 and Hos.2:4 et al.

Ezekiel 23 again shows this figure and when Israel followed other gods, the Lord accused them of adultery. Read the context of this verse please;
Eze 23:5 And Oholah whored under Me. And she lusted after her lovers, to her Assyrian neighbors,

Thus, especially for Israel, divorce and adultery spoke of divine as well as human betrayal and as such were strongly condemned by God for them. the cast off Gentiles were never in a "marriage" with God.

When the Lord Jesus ministered in the Gospels, He ministered to  Israel (Matt.10:5-6, Romans 15:8, 15:24 & Heb.3:1). He was their Priest King; their husband, He was sent to them. His words about divorce need to be considered in this setting. Israel and God were in covenant or marriage relationship when Christ came to them.

We who are Gentiles in the church which is His Body were never in any covenant relationship with God, we do not have specific instructions regarding divorce. The popular tradition that today, Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church which is His Bride is a misunderstanding of Scripture. The New Jerusalem is the Bride the Lamb's wife and only during the Gospels and Acts period was Christ the Bridegroom to that remnant, overcoming company of faithful Jews and Gentiles. Today Christ is the Head of the Church which is His Body (masculine).

Notice carefully what the Lord says to Israel regarding the difference between oral tradition (not the Law of Moses) and divorce;
Mat 5:31 It was also said, Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.
Mat 5:32 But I say to you that whoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever shall marry her who is put away commits adultery.

Any wife put way, except for the cause of sexual immorality, is exposed to adultery as is any man who marries her. Listen carefully for any sermon today which condemns remarried folk who were divorced on any other basis than sexual immorality. But is this lesson of the Lord regarding divorce for us Gentiles today who were never married to the Lord?

Later the Pharisees tested him (perhaps trying to defend their oral traditions) about putting away a wife for every cause;
Mat 19:3 And the Pharisees came to Him, tempting Him and saying to Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

The Lord replied in conclusion;
Mat 19:9 And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is put away commits adultery.

First of all we need to carefully ponder the Lord's statement that a husband taking another wife after putting away a previous wife for "every cause" committed adultery. What does this mean when the Law allowed for a husband to take more than one wife? Perhaps we best understand it in the light of our Lord's previous statement in Matt.5. The wife thus discarded was exposed to adultery as was the man who married her. She was still the first husband's wife and thus, perhaps, the previous husband had "committed adultery" in that he exposed her and another man to it.

If the Hebrew husband had put away his wife for any "every cause", she was in fact not divorced and he was still legally bound to her and legally bound not to diminish her marriage rights, but instead he was giving them to another; this is betrayal and abdication of responsibility.

Without going into whether this was about putting away a wife without a letter of divorcement (and thus discarding their responsibilities under the Law (Ex.21:10), the fact remains it was an issue regarding divorce in a dispensation when God and Israel were in covenant relationship. It is not instruction for us Gentiles today of the Church which is His Body. To take an instruction by the Minister of Israel who was correcting the oral traditions of the Israelites, and demand we apply it today to the predominantly Gentile Church which is His Body (Eph.1:22-23) could be sad and sorry exegesis. We have already observed that some of the Christian church is two faced in its application of this passage in Matthew. (See fear and hypocrisy).

The Lord's correction of the hypocritical question in Matt.19 certainly can not be the abolition or reclassification of polygyny as adultery since Isaiah 4 prophecies the Lord will bless polygyny in His Kingdom to rebuild Israel. The Lord does not promote wickedness or sin, polygyny is never branded adultery by the Lord; He is not as vacillating in His opinions as we are in ours.

The Lord never discarded or diminished His responsibilities to His wife Israel, not in the past nor in their future. However He has put them away for a season. At Acts 28, the Lord put away Israel with the judgment prophecy of Isaiah 6;
Act 28:25 And disagreeing with one another, they were let go,

The verb "let go" first occurs in the N.T. in Matthew as follows;
Mat 1:19 But Joseph, her husband to be, ..purposed to put her away secretly.

In this present dispensation, God has put aside His to one side His faithless wife but He is a faithful husband to them as the prophecies of restoration show. If God put away His faithless wife then we might need to reconsider carefully our Lord's instructions in the passages above.

Perhaps if we leave our Lord's instruction regarding divorce in the Gospels with Israel we shall be better served.

Acceptable divorce in Paul's Acts period epistles.
We turn to the Apostle designated the Apostle of, commissioned to, us Gentiles, Paul. We find his advice in 1 Corinthians 7 to be additional rather than contradictory when compared to the Lord words in the gospels.

Paul's instruction to believers;
1Co 7:10 And to the married I command (not I, but the Lord), a woman not to be separated from her husband.
1Co 7:11 But if she is indeed separated, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to leave his wife.
In other words she is not to remarry and so bring adultery upon herself the man she marries and her original husband. This is in accord with Matt.5 & 19. This might be the situatoin between God and His wife Israel at this present time.

Paul's instruction to mixed marriages (believer with unbeliever);
1Co 7:12 But to the rest I speak, not the Lord, If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is pleased to dwell with him, do not let him put her away.
1Co 7:13 And the woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is pleased to dwell with her, do not let her leave him.

Paul's instruction regarding separation of mixed marriages;
1Co 7:15 But if the unbelieving one separates, let him be separated. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.

Paul clearly says that if the unbeliever departs the marriage is not binding, divorce is acceptable. This inspired instruction of Paul is God's Word on the matter.

Some excuse Paul's doctrines with his own words "I speak, not the Lord" but this disregards the fact that when it was sealed in Holy Writ, it became our Lord's words.

Are these guidelines about mixed marriage acceptable today? After all, we have just acknowledged it is Holy Writ.

It must be observed that these instructions were appropriate for the following reasons;
1Co 7:26 Then I think this is good, because of the present necessity; that it is good for a man to be so.

The "present necessity" was the then imminent tribulation period. The Acts period was not the beginning of the new "church" ear, but the "ends of the ages" and as Paul wrote to the Corinthians "we shall not all die" as they saw the "day approaching". Paul affirms this when he says;
1Co 7:29 But this I say, brothers, The time is short. It remains that both those who have wives should be as not having one.

We do not live within any period of "present distress" as it was when Paul wrote Corinthians and neither is the 'time short" today.

Nevertheless, we note Paul's instruction to married believers was the same as the Lord's that if a woman be separated she was to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband and thus not be exposed to adultery, nor exposing her husband to betrayal and accessory to adultery.

However, in the matter of mixed marriages if the unbelieving one departs, despite the fact that they were sanctified by the believing partner (verse 14), they are not bound. Divorce is not condemned, on the contrary, peace preferred. Neither is there any instruction for the unbelieving wife to remain unmarried or be reconciled. In this we could see a hint regarding God's attitude re divorce among those who are not Israelites.

Acts 28 dispensationalists teach that Corinthians was an early epistle of Paul written in the Acts period when Israel still stood as God's people. The tradition that Israel were put aside at either the Cross or Pentecost (Weeks) is rejected as being Scripturally baseless, see Romans 11:1-2. We are clearly told that it was at the end of Acts that Israel were put aside. Acts 28:25 says that Israel were "let go" as the Modern King James brings out;
Act 28:25 And disagreeing with one another, they were let go, (compare the first occurrence of this verb in Matt.1:19) Paul saying one word: Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
Act 28:26 saying, "Go to this people and say: Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and not perceive.
Act 28:27 For the heart of this people was fattened, and they have heard with their ears dully; and they closed their eyes; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
Act 28:28 Therefore be it known to you that the salvation of God is sent to the nations, and they will hear.

The few dispersed Jews at Rome were not "let go" since the judgmental prophecy of Isaiah 6 was against the entire nation of Israel.

After this "letting go" of the nation of Israel, a new and hitherto "hidden in God" and away "from ages and generations" administration was revealed to the Apostle Paul, see Eph.3:1-3a, 8-9 & Col.1:23-26.

In this dispensation given to us today by Christ through Paul, previous laws and injunctions have been placed to one side such as Sabbath observances and food restrictions;
Col 2:16 Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in respect of a feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths.
Col 2:17 For these are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.

And;
Col 2:20 If then you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to its ordinances:
Col 2:21 touch not, taste not, handle not;
Col 2:22 which things are all for corruption in the using, according to the commands and doctrines of men?

God Himself never changes as to character and virtue, but He does change the sets of conditions, the dispensations that rule and guide the faithful. The letters written by Paul after Israel were set aside containing our instructions for today are;
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1@2Timothy, Titus and Philemon.

We search in vain in any of these to find any instruction regarding divorce, any condemnation of it or any advice regarding separation of unbelieving partners.

In the instructions for us today, Paul emphasizes the roles in marriage and the need to be married, see Ephesians 5:23-6:4, Col.3:18-21, 1Tim.3, 5:14, and Titus 2:4-5.

The original word for "put away" in Matthew 5:31 does not occur in these latter epistles. The original word for "divorce" in Matthew 5:32 does not occur in these latter epistles. Instruction regarding divorce is absent.

Since Paul in his letters for today does not give any instructions regarding divorce, some demand we apply previous instructions, that is the status quo is to be applied in the presence of silence. This status quo argument does not hold up in the light of the following facts.

We have proven by our inconsistency that they do not fit in today's administration. If we wanted to hop on one leg and demand the status quo, then why do we hop to the other leg and not strictly apply the status quo? That is, why are we not fully complying with the previous instructions about divorce? Interpretation leading to hypocrisy is to be rejected.

The Christian community does not fully obey the instructions of Matt.19, else they would not be permitting folk divorced for reasons other than sexual immorality into their assemblies. Indeed, they would be decrying them as adulterers as they should be doing if they really believe Matt.19 is for us today. Interpretation leading to inconsistency is to be rejected.

The "present distress" of the Corinthian Acts period epistle is not upon us and and these instructions are not carried across, else we would be teaching the following;
1Co 7:29 But this I say, brothers, The time is short. It remains that both those who have wives should be as not having one.

We can not bring into today's dispensation of the grace of God the teaching of 1 Corinthians 7 else consistently we would teach husbands to live as though they did not have wives and the divorce of mixed marriages when the unbeliever decides to leave is fully acceptable. We would comfort the believing spouse that if the unbelieving spouse left, it was all the "will of God" and he or she was free to remarry. Again, inconsistency damages our witness and credibility and invalidates the status quo position.

We have shown the "law of the land" argument is also destroyed by inconsistency. Today most laws of the land say "no fault" divorce. This should be totally rejected by Christians who only hold the "law of the land" when it does not contradict God's Laws. "No fault" is the "every cause" excuse of the Pharisees but some Christians happily turn a blind eye to this and accept the "law of the land" position totally destroying their credibility. In such cases where is their previous position that God's Law comes first? Convenience is not an interpretation tool.

If our dispensational position be correct, then we can not carry across previous instructions from the Gospels and Paul's Acts period letters which were not given to us but to Israelites and believing Gentiles of that dispensation. They are not the "status quo".

The only conclusion we have is that divorce is not to be some easy back door option for marriage problems. Divorce, if it happens, is to be accepted as the decision of the marriage partners. Believers who contemplate divorce must do so in the light of their own convictions on the matter; their understanding of the Word of Truth rightly divided. Please don't wave this article before the Lord on judgment day, these are only opinions for consideration.

Why is there so much divorce in the Christian community? Because some husbands are failing in their spiritual responsibilities. Please don't blame divorce on the wives. Husbands should read these two passages and prayerfully consider if they are in fact loving as Christ loved the church which is His Body. If husbands were complying, there isn't a wife who would contemplate being anywhere else than in her home by her husband's side.

First of all, we should be submitting to each other in the divine order.
Eph 5:20 always giving thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 5:21 submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God.
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,
Eph 5:27 that He might present it to Himself as the glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

This is how Christ loved the church;
Php 2:1 If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tendernesses and mercies,
Php 2:2 then fulfill my joy, that you may be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind.
Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.
Php 2:4 Do not let each man look upon his own things, but each man also on the things of others.
Php 2:5 For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6 who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
Php 2:7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; (RV)
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Our Lord laid aside all rights and prerogatives to redeem us, He emptied Himself. Husbands are not the head of the house, they are the spiritual head of the wife or wives.

Husbands submit to wives in the home. Wives are the house despots;
1Ti 5:14 I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule (oikodespoteo) the household, give none occasion to the adversary for reviling:

In the Lord, wives are to submit to the husband as her head, that is in the place of Christ. If husbands and wives can't solve issues, then again the husband is not providing the spiritual tone in which all issues will be resolved by prayer and the indwelling Word of Christ.

When we, by ingrained tradition, change the structure of the home, when husbands fail to be all the Word demands they should be, then we heap upon ourselves the consequences of our disregard for God and His Word rightly divided.

Let us stamp out divorce with the diligent application of the Word of Truth rightly divided.