Sent Away by Treachery

Moses permitted men to divorce for “any indecency,” which was commonly understood by men to mean that they could divorce for any reason if they were not satisfied. Moses permitted this because the men’s hearts were so hard against their wives, but this does not mean that all reasons were justified before God. We know that some reasons were not justified, because God himself declared (through Malachi) that the men who were offering sacrifices in Malachi’s day were treating their wives “treacherously” by divorcing them AND by being violent toward them. So, God rejected their sacrifices and did not answer their prayers. We can see in Malachi 2:16 that God hates divorce, BUT we also see that is not all that he hates, he also hates violence against women! So, when God says (through Malachi) he hates divorce and violence, these are words of compassion by God toward women. He is standing with wives against their “treacherous” husbands.

(Based on Deuteronomy 24: 1-4, Malachi 2: 13-17)