31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Matthew 5:31-32

God doesn’t like divorce as we will see in the next few verses. Today’s memory passage is about the grounds for divorce. Today in our country 50 of the 50 United States have a no-fault divorce. This is a divorce in which there is no grounds for divorce, other than to break up the marriage.

Jesus is saying here that there is only one ground for divorce, and that could be fornication. But let’s go back an examine scripture, Hosea a book of the minor prophets is about a man, Hosea and his wife Gomer. God told him to go to a Brothel and he took this woman, a prostitute to become his wife. This was to be an example for the nation of Israel, who had become a prostitute to idols.

They had children, and then Gomer leaves Hosea and abandons the family becoming a prostitute again, and racking up debt in the process. Now, Hosea being a righteous and upstanding guy had every right to divorce her. She had betrayed the vow of marriage. He looked beyond her faults, and loved her without conditions, but she broke that trust. Hosea did something very different, he went down and paid her debt so she could leave the slavery she had worked herself into.

Gomer is an example of each one of us, God has the right to divorce us and send us to destruction. We’ve violated Him over and over, yet He seeks us and pays our debt, and loves us without condition. How sweet and bitter is this love story, so deep, with levels of compassion and depth beyond understanding.

The Cost of divorce is awful, and it plays no part in God’s eternal kingdom. Divorce is often an excuse not to work hard at a relationship, it’s an easy to walk away, and Jesus is saying that those who have no reason for divorce are causing the sin of others.

Lord, Give me the heart of Hosea, give me the desire to seek redemption in all my relationships. I live in a dark and fallen world which seduces our loved ones from your eternal grip, Please Lord, hold them fast! Lord, give me the opportunity to act as Hosea, not to be some knight on a white horse seeking glory for myself, but to be a humble servant seeking Glory for his Master. Use my life as an example of your unconditional love, that all the world will see you as full of mercy and full of love.