Divorce and debauchery are equal to God.

[Roger_Waldripbbp Admin]

Divorce akin to debauchery: “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” (Luke 16:18).

[Roger_Waldripbbp Admin]

I am not sure what the individual is getting at with this claim. I am the last person on earth that should criticize someone’s linguistic skills, but it is evident that the individual doesn’t understand the meaning of debauchery or how to formulate his accusation into a meaningful convention of words that conveys his sentiment. The definition of debauchery is, “excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures”.

Luke 16:18 does not say, convey or even hint at anything like debauchery. It merely is stating how the Lord views divorce.

But let’s first look at some other words of God about divorce before we tackle the individuals verse.

In Malachi 2:16, we see God saying through the prophet Malachi, that He hates divorce. When God hates something, it is bad. If God hates an act, then it is Sin.

In Exodus 20:14, the 7th of the 10 commandments, God says, “You shall not commit adultery.” No misunderstanding here, we are not to commit adultery.

In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus restates their position on divorce and it actually clarifies His statement from Luke 16:18, “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

In Matthew, Jesus says the exact same thing as He did in Luke, except He adds the only valid reason for divorce. That is that their marriage partner commits a sexually immoral act. There are several sexual immoral acts mentioned in the Bible, but the most general is adultery.

So in Matthew 5:31, we see that a couple can have a certificate of divorce, but God doesn’t recognize it until one of them marries another. God still considers them married until (hopefully) one marries another. When that happens, the person from the original marriage is the adulterer; the other from the original marriage is free marrying another without committing adultery and thus sinning.

Despite the ‘certificate’ God considers the couple still married; husband and wife. God still sees this as a chance for reconciliation for the couple.

So the individual’s rant, that God condones debauchery, is clearly made up. And from the verses studied, we see that God hates divorce. And from Hebrews 13:4, let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Let me wrap this one up and say that that there is a lot more to marriage than just a man and woman together as one. A study unto itself. There is a symbolic relationship between God/man and man/women. When God hates divorce, not only is He stating that He hates it when a man and woman cannot get along. And similarly, He hates it when He and man are at odds.

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