I expounded on the word of truth and in so doing, also illustrated by the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus, how wonderfully and perfectly the Old Testament Covenant and the New Testament Covenant fit each other like hand and glove, each allowing the other their distinction, and one being a type and shadow of the other. I pray that the "veil" of this glove be removed from that hand of mortal flesh and that the hand of God be revealed in all His glorious works that no flesh should boast in itself, but of God only. The Old and New Testament Covenant harmonize in Spirit and in Truth. What the Old Testament could not satisfy is completed in the New Testament thus rendering the True Testament: the Gospel of Jesus, Holy and complete. But enough of my private revelations. Let the truth be revealed.

Returning to the work:

So what happens if an innocent martial partner is left, abandoned, or put away (divorced) due to no fault of their own? 

"But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace." (1 Cor. 7:15) 

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. 2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. 3 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; 4 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. 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.

In the rare event that an "innocent" marital partner has been abandoned or put away I trust that the Lord shall deal with that individual who has dealt treacherously with their marital partner, whether it be wife or husband. The spiritually UNCLEAN unbeliever does not care for the things of God and a fornicator rarely desires to follow God's law or even to lift up the standard of holiness in marriage. The heart of the unclean is hard. One of the more classic hallmarks of a fornicating and "unclean" spouse is their desperation to rid themselves of responsibility to their marital partner.

Malachi 2:14-16 specifically addresses this matter with all severity. Treachery is a product of deceit and deceit is of the devil. Deuteronomy 24 was written for the hardness of hearts. In many cases it was needful to deal with a spouse that was full of deceit as a result of spiritual uncleanness and hardness of heart. The God of the Old and the New Testament is merciful.    

Deuteronomy 24:1-5 is a PRECEPT of PERMISSION that was granted by God to those who cared enough to serve Him. To say that only the men had hardness of hearts in Moses' time is erroneous. Nonetheless wives were subject to the law of the husband. The husband was not subject to the authority of the wife. Observe:

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 [that there, is the CAUSE. It could not be just any or every cause. It had to be a specific CAUSE] he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him { not "thou shalt", not "he shall", not "he must", neither is it commanded that he] write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 

But why would God ever permit such a thing?

Matthew 19

7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? [ Now this is a lie out of the mouths of the Pharisees. Moses gave no such commandment. They were trying to tempt Christ to trap Him in His words but Jesus saw knew their hearts.] 8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so."

In Mark 10:4 Jesus asks the Pharisees what Moses "commanded" them but nowhere does Jesus say that God "commanded" a husband to give an unclean wife a bill of divorcement. In fact, in Mark 10:5 Jesus tells them that it was a "precept" that Moses wrote to them for the hardness of their hearts. The Pharisees were in fact, ensnared in their own trap that they were hoping to spring on Christ but; precepts are insights, concepts, and observations. A precept is not commandment. Now look at the next verse:

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

I can easily picture several scenarios here that involve an unbelieving spouse demanding a writ of divorcement because the UNBELIEVING spouse is unclean and does not care for the things of God; but a loving and godly husband would be reluctant to "put away" a wife even if she were unclean... BUT GOD HAS CALLED US TO PEACE. Now this Old Testament precept lines up with this New Testament precept perfectly:

"But if the unbelieving depart, let him DEPART. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace." (1 Corinthians 7:15)

"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.        2 And when she is departed out of his house , she may go and be another man's wife".  (Deuteronomy 24:2)

PRAISE GOD! How wonderful it is to see the word come to life in concord and perfect harmony! Did everyone catch that part? Paul said, "let him" and Moses also said, "let him". Either can depart but in either case either is answerable if they should ever deal treacherously with one another to bear false witness. Amen. God has called us to peace.

If she wants a divorce, give her a divorce... LET HER GO... draw up that BILL, put it in her hand, send her away, and let her go in peace. DO NOT... I repeat ... do NOT... put her away without that BILL. To put her away without the BILL would be treachery.

Remember: She is the wife of your youth and she does not want to be your wife anymore! You are the lawgiver. The matter is in your hands. Why hold her in bondage to the law of adultery? Rather, let her fornicate as her heart has already betrayed her. God will deal with her. Besides which, God has called us to peace. Evidently, her heart is already hard so she is already unclean. Why, would she want a divorce otherwise? Every "informed" woman in North America knows she can leave her husband without a bill of divorcement. She could be content to live separate or, she could even reconcile. Oh yes, I think we all know why she really wants a divorce: She wants a divorce for the same reason a hard-hearted husband would demand a divorce... It is called FORNICATION (and this is the cause).

Now it is said that, " This doesn't advocate remarriage. " But it is written: "And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And it is written: "... 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 this is written even in another place. Again, it is written: " 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." Amen. Scripture does not contradict scripture. No, not one jot, not one tittle.

One may be divorced but what does Jesus say?

" 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 5:32)

That's right, whosoever marries that woman who was not LAWFULLY DIVORCED according to GOD'S LAW (not man's law) but was put away without CAUSE, commits adultery because they are messin' with another man's wife! The man who puts away his wife without CAUSE causes her to commit adultery and that, my friends, is treachery! The sin of adultery is on the head of the husband because he bears false witness!

What does Jesus say in Deuteronomy 24:1-2?

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. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. 

So far, we have seen that Matthew 5:32, Matthew 19:3-9, Mark 10:1-9, Malachi 2:14-16, 1 Corinthians 7:15, Romans 7:1-4, 1Corinthians 7: 7-8, 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 do not contradict DEUTERONOMY 24:1-5.

In my next presentation I will examine the following scriptures, with respect to how they line up with Deuteronomy 24: 1-5, including any possible exceptions contained therein:

"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)

"And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: [11] But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife."   (1 Cor. 7:10-11)

Mark 10
11   And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12   And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

Luke 16
17   And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
18   Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

Romans 7
2   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.
3   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.

1 Corinthians 7
10   And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
11   But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

1 Corinthians 7
39   The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.