Perhaps the most common (and understandable) objection to remarriage after adultery are the verses that seem to express an immutable principle of the law – that the person who remarries after divorce, is considered an adulterer in the eyes of God (Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18).
“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.”
Luke 16:18
This would be an acceptable conclusion if it were not for a few verses that seem to preclude it. It has been the practice and teaching to ignore or try to explain away these verses in order to give preference to the interpretation based on other verses. Is this the conclusion that we must accept? That a verse that emphatically states something cannot have any exception? What about those who claim “weight of evidence” is a way to determine bible truth?
There was an old proverb that spanned centuries and pervaded all Europe. Its use is found in literature of Latin, French, English, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch. It is the proverb of the black swan.
If someone wanted to express their certainty of something, or that something was logically impossible, they would liken their position to the certainty that all swans are white or that black swans didn’t exist. Some examples from the literature:
“It is easier to find a black swan than a man without envy”.
Juan de Timoneda, El Patrañuelo (1567)
“To say truth, it were a blacke swan if a woman should be constant.”
Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1593)
“I am as sure of it as that all Swans are white.”
John Taylor, The Pennyles Pilgrimage (1618)
In 1697, Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh sailed to Western Australia and discovered entire lakes full of black swans. It is irrelevant how many white swans a person had observed in their lifetime, it would only take the discovery of one black swan to overthrow the theory that swans are only white. In this case, huge populations of black swans turned the old proverb on its head. “That’s a black swan” went from meaning something was impossible, to something was a rare – but very real – exception. Nassim Nicholas Taleb described the importance of considering exceptions in his 2007 book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.
“One single observation can invalidate a general statement derived from millennia of confirmatory sightings of millions of white swans.”
Taleb, N. (2007).
With scripture we have a similar situation. We can have 100 “white swans” – verses that say the same thing – that guide our understanding on a topic but if a “black swan,” a verse that overturns our interpretation, is discovered, we can’t put it to the side and pretend it doesn’t exist. We have to take every verse into consideration in order to arrive at a truly biblical conclusion.
There are a multitude of examples of “black swan” verses that alter – to varying degrees – the interpretation of a text that would read completely different without them. Matthew 7:1-2; Luke 6:37; Rom 14:10-13 all warn us not to judge. If we took these verses in isolation, it could be argued that we should not engage in any evaluation of other’s behaviour, and it is in fact the cry of the atheist whenever Christians speak out against immoral practices corrupting the world and the church. However John 7:24 provides a clarification on the issue. An “exception” to the generally sound admonition to not focus on the behaviours of others. A “black swan”, if you will.
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
John 7:24
Other examples of rules/exception pairs include:
- Do not work on the Sabbath (Exo. 20:8-11) vs. some work is permissible (Matt 12:5).
- No man has seen the Father (1Tim 6; 1 John 4; Exo. 33) except Jesus (John 6:46).
- Every living thing shall be food for you (Gen. 9:3) except unclean animals (Lev. 11; Deut 14).
Here it is apparent that, just as in the study of the natural world, the principle of the black swan is applicable to our study of the word of God. Exceptions do not contradict, they add detail. We must not discard any word of the inspired text to sustain our positions regarding bible principles. One precept must be allowed to have its bearing on other precepts, one line of scripture must be compared with other lines of scripture. Nothing is to be cast aside or ignored.
“The Bible is its own expositor. One passage will prove to be a key that will unlock other passages, and in this way light will be shed upon the hidden meaning of the word. By comparing different texts treating on the same subject, viewing their bearing on every side, the true meaning of the Scriptures will be made evident.”
CE 85.1
“Every word must have its proper bearing on the subject presented in the Bible.”
RH November 25, 1884, par. 24
It’s an understandably reflexive response to try and “explain” certain scriptures that contradict our long held beliefs and there are instances where it is not right to allow a text that is more difficult to understand to fundamentally change a preponderance of evidence to the contrary. Where a verse is plain, however, and especially if the Spirit of Prophecy adds unequivocal clarification to said verse, if we refuse to allow this portion of the word of God to mold our understanding, we are placing our preconceived opinions above the words of Christ Himself. We make gods of our opinions and place the truth of Christ beneath them.
Having established these principles:
- That “black swans” do occur in scripture and are not to be understood as contradicting a general rule, but adding a point of detail where God is making an exception to the rule;
- That we cannot ignore any portion of scripture. “Weight of evidence” can degenerate into little more than a justification for discarding any text that contradicts our opinions;
- That we must allow the word of God to have complete authority over our interpretation, not place our interpretation over the word of God. To do so is blasphemy and antichrist;
We must therefore consider the exceptions in Matthew 5 and 19 for what they are – exceptions, not contradictions. They are keys we must consider when considering the concepts of divorce and remarriage that will unlock the full meaning of the word of God on this topic. They should not – must not – be ignored, but allowed to have their full bearing on the subject. To ignore them, or try to give an “explanation” that distorts their meaning is to put ourselves and our preconceptions above the bible, and above Christ Himself. The only way to arrive at truth is to allow God to lead us into all truth, not run towards what we think is truth, kicking at the pricks to sustain our ideas.
Mark 10:11-12 and Luke 16:18 provide a general rule. In almost all cases, remarriage after divorce is adultery. A husband and wife may be separated by the laws of the land, but in the eyes of God they are still married, and any relationship with a third party by either spouse is considered by Him to be adultery. Unless the divorce was for the cause of fornication.
“And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.”
Matt. 19:9
This is not a difficult verse to understand. In all cases except fornication, a remarriage following a divorce is considered by God to be adultery. In the case of fornication, a remarriage is not considered by God to be adultery. We must allow this “black swan” to have its proper bearing in our study of this subject. We cannot ignore it, cast it aside, explain it away. It is not a contradiction. It is the word of God – the actual spoken words of Christ Himself. To place our own idea on the topic above His words is no different than what the Catholic church has done to the sabbath.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
2 Thessalonians 2:4
The parallel passage to Matthew 19:9 is Matthew 5:31,32. This is again the very words of Christ, speaking to the world from the mountains of Galilee. Here He describes the only circumstance where a man can lawfully divorce His wife and be free from the claims of the marriage vow in the sight of God.
“It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”
Matthew 5:31,32.
Again, it’s not a difficult verse to understand. Jesus takes the existing divorce law of Moses, and narrows down the lawful cause of divorce to one condition: fornication. He does not eliminate the right of remarriage of those to whom the exception applies, He eliminates the right of divorce of those to whom it does not apply.
The Spirit of Prophecy not only provides clarification to the principles mentioned in Matthew 5 and 19, it offers a rebuke to those who would obscure the plain words of Jesus Christ under a mountain of men’s words and convoluted “explanations”.
“Among the Jews a man was permitted to put away his wife for the most trivial offenses, and the woman was then at liberty to marry again. This practice led to great wretchedness and sin. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus declared plainly that there could be no dissolution of the marriage tie, except for unfaithfulness to the marriage vow.”
MB 63
Unfortunately through the decades, we have repeated the error of our forefathers. Instead of letting the word of God direct our understanding, we have taken the place of God and directed the minds of men according to our tradition. We have cast aside the word of God and exalted our own, we have ignored the very words of Christ and taught as doctrine the commandments of men. In every age it has been the work of Satan to lead men to disregard portions of scripture to favour his deceptions. What will we do brethren? Will we forget the lessons of the black swans and refuse to accept evidence contrary to our opinion? Will we decide which portions of scripture are necessary and which are not? Will we pervert the plain declarations of Christ Himself and supplant His words with convoluted theories and fallacious “explanations”?
Please God, forbid we do this.
I leave you, dear brethren, with the example of Satan’s intention for God’s words to be buried beneath tradition and human error, beginning with the Jews, continued by Rome, and filtering into protestantism as a caution for us today lest we allow the same Satanic energies to persist in our church. The words of men must never be given the precedence over a plain “thus saith the Lord.”
“Christ foresaw that the undue assumption of authority indulged by the scribes and Pharisees would not cease with the dispersion of the Jews. He had a prophetic view of the work of exalting human authority to rule the conscience, which has been so terrible a curse to the church in all ages. And His fearful denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees, and His warnings to the people not to follow these blind leaders, were placed on record as an admonition to future generations. The Roman Church reserves to the clergy the right to interpret the Scriptures. On the ground that ecclesiastics alone are competent to explain God’s word, it is withheld from the common people. Though the Reformation gave the Scriptures to all, yet the selfsame principle which was maintained by Rome prevents multitudes in Protestant churches from searching the Bible for themselves. They are taught to accept its teachings as interpreted by the church; and there are thousands who dare receive nothing, however plainly revealed in Scripture, that is contrary to their creed or the established teaching of their church.”
GC 596