When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 24:1–24
When the Pharisees challenged Jesus’ prohibition against divorce for just any reason, they pointed Him to this passage in Deuteronomy in defense of the practice. Jesus replied, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Matthew 19:8). Let’s take a closer look at the setting of this precept in Deuteronomy, and we can see a little better what Jesus is saying and what the Pharisees were missing.
Anytime we study the Scriptures, it is important for us to keep the context in mind. What is the main idea the writer is trying to get across in this passage? Just as an unfamiliar word will often make more sense to us when we see how it is used in a sentence, we are better able to understand the intended meaning of each word or phrase or verse when we get a firm grasp on the argument into which it is set. In the context of Moses’ precept regarding a divorced woman, Moses forbids returning a fugitive slave (Deuteronomy 23:15–16), taking interest on a loan to a brother (23:19), requiring a newlywed man to go to war (24:5), and taking someone’s livelihood as collateral for a loan (24:6). He also insists on equitable treatment for the poor (24:14–22).
How does the law regarding the divorced woman fit into this context? The Pharisees took it as a license to put away their wives for any reason. In other words, they saw it as proof that a man has the right to do whatever he wishes with his bride. But does this fit the context in which Moses commands them to guard the rights of slaves and poor people? Not at all! The original intent of this passage was to protect the rights of the weak, not the strong. Moses commanded men to write bills of divorce as evidence that their dismissed wives had not abandoned their husbands. This would give her the ability to find another home in Israel. It might also prevent her first husband from trying to take her back after he had put her away.
Notice also that although the text concedes divorce (i.e., it acknowledges that it will happen), it does not condone the practice. God’s original intent, as Jesus so masterfully demonstrates (Matthew 19:4–6), was for a man and woman to be joined together for life. Moses had to give this commandment only because men were hard-hearted enough to put away their wives in the first place. In like manner, although God was displeased with Israel’s choice to set a king over them (1 Samuel 8:4–9), He gave them instructions regarding what type of man they should elect (Deuteronomy 17:14–20).
The Pharisees had taken a passage intended to protect the basic rights of women and used it to defend the lusts of men! When Jesus said, “Have you not read...?” (Matthew 19:4), He knew that they had read the Scripture. The problem was that they had never read it with honest hearts. They had read it with the desire to justify themselves and not with the desire to please God. Have you and I ever done the same? “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:13).