The Sanctity of the Home

Exodus 20:14; Matthew 5:27-30; Mark 10:2-12

GOLDEN TEXT: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”—Matthew 5:8

THE family unit of one husband and one wife, originally established by the Creator in Eden, is reckoned a cornerstone of righteousness, in the family and in national life. One result of the fall has been a depravity of the sexual desires. The result is impurity, unchastity, a lack of self-control. All of these tendencies lead away from God, from righteousness and from true happiness.

In today’s lesson we have the Master’s illuminating instruction on the subject of marriage and divorce. In the passage from Matthew He enlarges upon the Seventh of the Ten Commandments given by Moses, and recorded in Exodus, chapter twenty, verse fourteen. This commandment reads: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Our Lord gave a significance to it which enlarges the meaning and reveals the pith or spirit of the Law, as He did in other instances in His teachings. He points out that the real danger to character, and of meriting the disapproval of Him who reads the mind, the heart, is in permitting an unchaste, unholy thought; and from this, the divine standpoint, one can disobey the spirit of this commandment by merely desiring to do so.

Jesus then goes on to exhort His followers to great care in examining their thoughts, urging them to separate themselves from any thing as humanly useful and desirable as a right eye or a right hand, if they found that failure to do so would endanger their spiritual welfare and be a stumbling-block to them. Failure to deal thus sternly with depraved desires greatly endangers the New Creature and, the Lord indicates, may result in death—the Second Death.

In the passage from the tenth chapter of Mark, and the parallel passage in Matthew, nineteenth chapter, we have a further discussion of this subject, introduced by a question propounded by the Pharisees in an effort to trap Jesus in His speech. The subject was a thorny one. The high principles of the Law were not being followed closely by Jews in general, nor even by the Pharisees, the holiness people of that time. As Jesus told them, they had by their traditions, explanations and subterfuges, rendered void many features of the Law. Now they came to Him to see how He would handle this question and, as usual, they received an exposition of the principles involved, the mind of God on the subject, which carried it far beyond a mere “Thou shalt,” or “Thou shalt not.”

Moses, the Pharisees said, had authorized divorce, so they wished to know whether Jesus would openly differ with him on the question. Jesus’ reply was that Moses merely gave permission for divorce, because of the hardness of the people’s hearts, but that in God’s plan for the human family as recorded in the Genesis account of our first parents in Eden, there was no provision for divorce, and had not sin entered, the perfect pair would have continued to live together—“no more twain, but one flesh.” Thus we have God’s mind on the subject—the ideal, to which all who are consecrated to do His will, will seek to conform.

The one exception which our Lord makes, is the unfaithfulness of one of the partners. Such a course, fornication, or adultery, is considered by our Lord as the breaking of the marriage contract. It constitutes the one Scriptural basis for a divorce, which may be considered merely a legal recognition of the previously broken contract.

He continues His instructions, pointing out that one who divorces his or her partner for any cause except fornication or adultery equally reprehensible, the penalty for which under the Mosaic Law was death—Lev. 20:10—shares responsibility for any adulterous marriage the divorced partner may contract. (Matt. 5:32) He also states that the one who marries the divorced is also guilty of adultery (Matt. 19:9), unless in the meantime, the one who secured the divorce, has re-married. In that case the original contract has been broken and the innocent party is now free to re-marry.

Should some who have disregarded the Lord’s instructions in these matters desire to attend meetings of the Lord’s people, there would seem to be no ground to forbid them. The very most the church might do would be to withdraw fellowship. As for refusing them the privilege of attending public meetings of the church, that would be very inconsistent; for surely all kinds of people come occasionally to meetings, and we hope that by coming they may be benefited and recovered.

QUESTIONS:

Where and when was the family unit of one husband and one wife first established?

What is the only Scriptural grounds for divorce?

How did Jesus interpret Moses’ teachings on the subject of divorce?

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