“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.” Matthew 19:4-9 NIV
To divorce means to separate, or place distance between two spouses. Moses permitted or “suffered” (KJV) them to divorce because their hearts were hard. To obey the two greatest commandments*, followers of Jesus Christ must have soft heart:
“So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. Hebrews 3:7-9
A divorce certificate merely dissolves a civil marriage contract; it cannot dissolve the spiritual bond created by God. A husband and wife are released from this “one flesh” union only by death:
“The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 7:39 KJV
“Do you not know, brothers and sisters–for I am speaking to those who know the law–that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.” Romans 7:1-3 NIV
Because a civil divorce does not “un-join” what God has joined together, re-marriage while a spouse is still living always results in the spouse committing adultery. The government’s divorce law dissolves a civil marriage contract, but it is powerless to break God’s covenantal bond.
“And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” Luke 16:17-18 KJV
“And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.” Mark 10:10-12 KJV
Summary: Man’s law cannot undo what God has created. Divorce separates a God – joined husband and wife physically and civilly, but it does not unjoin or make them “two” again. They remain one flesh, joined by God until death. If either one re-marries, they commit adultery with the new spouse.