Deut. 24:1-4
The original Edenic law of marriage said nothing about divorce (
Gen. 2:18-25). Marriage is fundamentally a physical union ("one flesh"), so only a physical reason can dissolve it, and there are two such reasons: the death of one spouse (
Rom. 7:1-3;
1 Cor. 7:39) and adultery (
Deut. 22:22;
Lev. 20:10). The adulterous man and woman were killed, leaving the innocent spouses free to remarry. The Law of Moses did not allow divorce for adultery because the guilty spouse was stoned to death for his or her sin.
Since the "uncleanness" ("something indecent," niv) couldn't be adultery, what was it that it permitted a man to divorce his wife? In our Lord's day, the rabbinical school of Hillel took a very broad view and interpreted "uncleanness" to mean "anything that displeased the husband." But the school of Rabbi Shammai took the narrow view that "uncleanness" meant some kind of sexual sin. (See
Matt. 5:31-32;
19:1-9;
Mark 10:1-12.) Jesus didn't define "uncleanness" but made it clear that the Mosaic Law of divorce was a concession and not a command. God permitted it because of the hardness of the human heart. However, it appears that Jesus did permit divorce if one of the spouses committed adultery. The assumption is that the innocent spouse was free to remarry; otherwise, why get a divorce?
When our Lord permitted divorce because of adultery, He was equating divorce with death. The church doesn't have the right to kill people for committing adultery or any other sin, but they can accept divorce as the equivalent of death, thus leaving the innocent partner free to remarry. Jesus affirmed the priority of the original Edenic law of marriage, but He also granted this concession. Of course, it's better that the guilty party confess the sin, repent, and be restored and forgiven; but this doesn't always happen. Sin is the great destroyer, and where the privileges are the highest, as in marriage, the pain of that sin is the greatest.
The "bill of divorcement" was an official document that protected the women from slander and abuse and also gave her the privilege of a second marriage. The time that was required to secure this document would give the husband opportunity to think the matter through and possibly reconsider. He would lose what was left of the marriage price or dowry, and that might be costly. Too many separations and divorces are the result of built-up emotions, festering wounds, and thoughtless words that could have been avoided if the spouses had been honest with each other, talked things over, and sought the Lord's help earlier in the problem.
Should her second marriage end in divorce, the woman was forbidden to return to her former husband because she had been "defiled" (
Deut. 24:4). Perhaps this means that the consummation of the second marriage was considered adultery, because only death or adultery could dissolve the marriage. (Adultery is called "defilement" in
Lev. 18:20 and
Num. 5:13-14.) For her to return to the first husband would cheapen her and make her nothing but a piece of property that could be bought and sold at will.
