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A phrase commonly used to defend the traditional belief that divorced persons may not marry again is Jesus’ statement: "Let not man put asunder." The thinking apparently is that man cannot put asunder. However, obviously that is not what the text says. We want to look closely at this text to determine just what Jesus had in mind. Let us look at the preceding verses to get the context.
Matthew 19:3-6: The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
It is important to note that the Pharisees first asked about "putting away," which is only one part of the divorce process (prescribed by Moses, Deut 24:1, 2), and which, obviously, would not end a marriage. The Lord's response was designed to teach that when a man and woman marry they become "one flesh" and that man must not put asunder.
A common statement made by defenders of traditional thinking and teaching on divorce and remarriage is that "only God can join and only God can un-join." (This statement contains some truth, as we shall see, but it does not help the traditional position, which forbids legally divorced persons to marry.) Furthermore, it is argued that the un-joining is done only when the divorce is "for fornication." They take it even further by insisting that the un-joining is done only for the one doing the divorcing–the other is still “bound,” which some argue is to be distinguished from being married. This theory will be dealt with in another chapter.
God instituted marriage and he instituted divorce. But from the beginning of mankind, to this day, man has sought to establish his own set of rules; and during Bible times such was true regarding divorce and marriage. The Code of Hammurabi is an example that illustrates man’s putting asunder as opposed to doing a divorce God's way.
Under the Code of Hammurabi the divorce procedure was different in two very important areas from that given by God: 1) God's law did not demand any written document to indicate a marriage, whereas Hammurabi did. 2) God's law demanded a written document, the "bill of divorcement," if a marriage was to be ended, but under the Code of Hammurabi divorces were verbal. This was bound to cause problems in many cases, so God sought to head off the problem among his people by commanding that divorces be written. (See http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/divorce.htm ). When we consider the teachings of man, as noted above, it is apparent that when God said "let not man put asunder" he was talking about the unscriptural procedure, which was to merely "put away" (apoluo) as opposed to doing it God’s way. A divorce ends a marriage, as God intended, if it is done his way. While it is true that God can put asunder (when man follows his law), it remains true that we should "let not man put asunder." This is the Jewish practice that Jesus condemned.
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