Deuteronomy 24:1, “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.”
…because he hath found some uncleanness in her: - To be unclean is shamefully naked just like Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden after they sinned. The reason an Israelite man would find no favour in his eyes toward his wife would be if she lived her life as an unbeliever. The husband is in authority over his wife and he is ultimately responsible for his household. This is why only he has permission to send an unclean wife away. If the husband is unclean while the wife is clean, then she is not held accountable for her husband’s unbelief. God will deal with an unclean husband, but God requires a clean husband to deal with his unclean wife (if she lives as an unbeliever).
As Christ is to His bride, the church, so is a husband to his wife. Christ did not come for the reprobate. He will never abandon those who are His. Those who are His will never abandon Him. A Godly woman will never abandon her husband. If her husband never becomes saved, God will send that man away in His time when His purpose has been served by having her to live with him. If a woman abandons her husband, then it shows that she trusts herself more than God (it doesn’t mean however that she has no hope of becoming saved in the future).
As God revealed in the New Testament to allow an unbelieving spouse to leave if she or he desires, that principle was concealed in the Old Testament here. The unbeliever (regardless of which sex), after Christ’s crucifixion, can seek a divorce. But, to the believer, s/he is not to consider it as a divorce in God’s eyes. Since an ungodly person will make her or his own decision as to what is right, no Godly person can control that nor is responsible (accountable) for it. Each is accountable for her or his own actions.
…send her out of his house. – This action will insure that his house remains pure from the influence of heathen principles (man-made religion, psychology, humanistic values, woman’s lib, etc.).
Deuteronomy 24:2, “And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”
…she may go and be another man’s wife. – The only man who would have her to be his wife would be another unclean [ungodly] man. He would not be a believer. This relieved the burden of caring for an ex-spouse out of the hands of the one who made the commitment.
As to who might marry the divorced woman was not the ex-husband’s concern. The man would keep his children because they were viewed as being his property. His children were seen as being God’s gift to him through the woman he had intercourse with. She was not perceived as being worthy to raise their children if she did not have God to rule over her heart.
In Mark 10:5, when Moses permitted divorce during the Old Testament, it was symbolic of the hardness that legalistic government contains versus government from within brought by grace. The law is for the ungodly since God’s spirit does not abide in them to rule their souls.
1 Timothy 1:9-10, “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;”
Before many Israelites sank so low in depravity, that nation had no need for laws. After time, there became a season of death to the heart of man that had it be as stone (or ice).
Living by the law is to protect the lawful (protection for both the ungodly and the Godly). If a man is dangerous, his wife can separate herself from him. However, if she divorces him, she must live with the consequences of losing God’s blessing that would increase her faith by continuing to trust and obey Him (God) regardless of how bad things may look at the time.¹
1 Corinthians 7:10-13, “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.”
Saved man has no need for laws even though this doesn’t give him the freedom to live above the law. God’s laws are always to be obeyed over man’s laws whenever they conflict. God never blesses divorce. His will has always been that a man and a woman joined in marriage would remain together until death (God) parts them.²
Deuteronomy 24:3-4, “And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
…after than she is defiled; – She is a symbol of those who are not saved and unclean (impure).
thou shalt not cause the land to sin, – This proves that the uncleaness means living a sinful life without fear of God. The land (region) will end up sinful if each household does its part in accepting ungodly spirits (attitudes).
If we are tempted to sin, we must remove whatever tempts us or we risk not enduring to the end and making it to our Promised Land. If we return to the mire, we are swine. If we permit the mire to return to us, we are swine.
Deuteronomy 24:5, “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.”
… but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken. – God does not say she shall stay at home to cheer up her husband that she hath taken. I don’t know why a woman should complain about being taken by a man when God expects him to cheer her up. That sounds like romance to me!
Jesus said “Father, forgive them;³ for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.” — Luke 23:34
¹2 Corinthians 4:18, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
² Romans 7:2-3, “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”
³Forgiveness doesn’t mean being a doormat. It means not harboring a spirit of malice that lusts to return evil with evil.
