I Cor. 7:10-11 ... "To the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled unto her husband), and that the husband should not send his wife away."
In the beginning, so Gen. 1:27 records, "God created man in His own Image, in the Image of God He created him, male and female He created them." Humans are divided into male and female sexes by the will and creative act of God, not by any design or deed of humans. God took this step to meet a specific need in man, as we are informed in Gen. 2:18, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper suitable for him.'" So God proceeded to fashion the woman from a rib He removed from the man and presented her to the man, thus uniting the first man and woman in the state of marriage. In v.24 the Lord then decreed, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." Centuries later Jesus commented upon this verse by saying, "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate," (Mat. 19:6). These scriptures show that it is God's will for a man to take a woman as his wife and for this marriage union to last for the duration of their lives. When a marriage is contracted, God Himself seals the union and forbids anyone to break the bond. Only one exception (other than death, Rom. 7:2) is allowed, which is revealed in Mat. 19:9, "Whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery."
We have arrived at a very poor state in human affairs where this decree of God is set aside as though God's will is meaningless. About half of current marriages end in divorce, and only a fraction of them are allowed by Scripture under the category "except for immorality." Many years ago civil law was much closer to divine law and allowed divorce reluctantly, but the situation has since been radically changed. The number of causes for which civil law grants divorce varies somewhat from state to state, but it extends to more than twenty. Human law may change to allow many things, but Jesus in Jno. 10:35 declared that "the Scripture cannot be broken." And in the Last Day it is the Divine Scripture by which we all will be judged, not by any human law. God wills that the marriage bond should last until death breaks it, and He allows only one exception, immorality. This statute cannot be changed; therefore, it is our obligation to respect it scrupulously.
In our text above, Paul is passing these divine instructions along to the Christians in the church in Corinth. He tells the married woman that she must not leave her husband, but rather must live with him and be the best wife to him that she can be. Sometimes, it may be necessary for a woman to leave her husband for her own safety. Unfortunately, some men are violent and will hurt their wives, even severely. But this is not a Scriptural reason for divorce, for Paul clearly says, "but if she does leave, let her remain unmarried." If the reason that led to the separation can be rectified, the apostle declares that she should "be reconciled unto her husband." Then to the husband he commands that he "should not send his wife away." In other words, although it is left up to each of us to decide if we will marry and whom we shall marry, God does not grant us the option to terminate our marriage. When we seize that option for ourselves and then exercise it, we are transgressing the law of God. And God certainly takes note of it!
