God’s Law Protects the Dignity of the Woman - Dueteronomy 24:1-4
Monday, September 4th, 2006“The Covenant: Divorce” Deuteronomy 24:1-4
The prevailing view today is that divorce is on the rise, and that in our lifetime the institution of the family has been assaulted like never before in human history. While I do believe that the institution of marriage and family is presently in trouble, allow me to paint a slightly different historical assessment: The institutions of marriage and family have been in deep trouble from the very beginning of time. Some of us cringe at the no-fault laws in Oregon. But in the great Egyptian Empire in Moses’ day, the laws allowed a husband to divorce his wife on account of her bad breath. If the choices are no-fault laws or the citing of petty imperfections, I’ll choose no-fault. The first century laws of the Roman Empire presented marriage as the intent of two people to live together. Divorce was simply a declaration of the husband’s desire to no longer live with his wife. This declaration need not occur in a court of law, but before any seven witnesses. Therefore, divorce was common practice. (more…)