Ezra was a prophet of God. He and the people confessed their sin of taking strange wives that God had forbidden. They promised to put away their wives, i.e., to separate themselves from them. We can learn a lesson here that will help us in our study of MDR.
Ezra 10:1: Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. 3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. 4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. 5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swore. And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives (emphasis added). 19 And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass. 44 All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
The commonly accepted position on MDR is that Jesus taught that divorced persons commit adultery when they marry another. But is that what the Bible actually teaches? Do we have reason to conclude that Jesus contradicted the Law with his teaching? Did he indeed teach contrary to the Law or did he instead teach contrary to the Jewish notions and customs of the day, which were contrary to Moses’ teaching?
Those who argue as noted above insist that Malachi 2:16 teaches that God hates divorce. Divorce is bad as hearts are often broken and physical, mental and spiritual health is harmed. But was God talking about divorce, or was he talking about something much worse? The text says he hateth putting away. By studying the text in Malachi and Ezra we can get a good picture of what is involved in the "putting away" that God hates, and the putting away that God requires when a marriage is dead, and thus have a better understanding of divorce, which sometimes is necessary and right (Jer 3:8).
If the "putting away" in the book of Malachi is divorce, and that is what God hates, then how do we explain the "putting away" in Ezra? How do we harmonize the idea that Malachi 2:16 says "God hates divorce" with the teaching in Ezra that indicates that the same "putting away" is not divorce, as defined by Moses (Deut 24), but is in fact something that is required by God? How could God be pleased with his children's "divorcing" their wives in one text while requiring it in another? Many insist that every time the Bible speaks of a wife's being put away, divorce is the meaning; but if such is the case how do we explain how God was pleased with these men who followed Ezra's teaching to "put away" their wives?
Evidently the people were committing fornication by having wives to which they were not scripturally married–wives they were not supposed to have. They were to "separate" from them. Thus, it becomes apparent that divorce, as defined by Moses, was not in the picture in this case. And so, evidently, one can "put away" yet not divorce, and it can be evil or it can be the right thing to do.
This text also helps us to understand the meaning of the exception clause in Matthew 19:9. Jesus taught that to "put away" a wife and marry another would be to commit adultery and the woman "put away" would commit adultery if she married (Mark 10:11). Obviously, in contrast to the case of Ezra, the application of Jesus' words was to legal marriages. The only way Jesus' statement could harmonize with Moses' teaching, which allowed the divorced woman to marry another, is that he was speaking of merely "putting away" rather than first giving the "bill of divorcement" and then sending her "out of the house." The “exception” is really very simple and is not a 42nd cousin to what is commonly taught and practiced. Adultery does not take place when a man "puts away" his wife for fornication, or because the marriage was not legitimate, as was the case with the men of Israel discussed in the book of Ezra. The putting away that God hates is not referring to situations where the marriage is illegal or unscriptural, nor is it referring to divorce in cases of unfaithfulness, but its application is to men who were sending away wives and refusing to give them the "bill of divorcement" so that they could marry another. This is an evil that continues to be practiced by Jewish men to this day.
