He_Hates_or_God_Hates use cropped - Flipbook - Page 22
HE HATES OR GOD HATES - MALACHI 2:16
should protect,’ says the LORD Almighty. So be on your
guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Malachi 2:16
The men were putting away their wives, divorcing them
and thereby overwhelming the women with cruelty. Their
husbands were covering their own lives with crime and sin.
Who is doing the hating in Malachi 2:16? It is not God.
The text says, ‘The man who hates and divorces.’ God did
not say ‘I hate divorce’ in Malachi. What the Lord through
Malachi condemned was treacherous divorce. That is, the
men who divorced their wives without righteous reason,
such as adultery, but did so anyway because of hatred and
aversion. Malachi and the Lord are saying nothing about
disciplinary divorce in this passage.
Disciplinary Divorce
Disciplinary divorce could be for adultery, abuse, neglect,
or desertion. Disciplinary divorce is not what Malachi
is talking about and against. There are different forms of
abuse. Abuse could be physical, sexual, financial, emotional,
verbal, or spiritual.
God did not condemn all divorce in Malachi, nor did God
say, ‘I hate divorce.’ We should stop using the phrase or
motto, ‘God hates divorce.’ It will be biblically accurate to
say, ‘God does not hate disciplinary divorce, but does hate
treacherous divorce.’ It is a mistranslation to say, ‘God hates
divorce.’ To use such a slogan when referring to yourself
or others can cut like a knife, as if God hates all divorce. It
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