Family stability was important and essential to the Israelite community that was about to establish itself in the Land of Canaan. The sustainability of a society both economically and politically is dependent on the strength of the family unit and the institution of marriage. We only have to look around at today's world and humbly acknowledge that one of the reasons for our failing societies is the breakdown of the family unit. Human relationships do not always succeed, and divorce was permitted in Israel. While divorce was and is allowed, it is regulated. There must be a cause for divorce. The plain reading on the text says the basis for a divorce is the ‘finding of something indecent’. Which then leads itself to several variant interpretations. Jewish commentators wrestled with the text long before the Gentile Christian world did. The Mishnah records the different traditions of the schools of Shammai and Hillel. Shammai took a harder stance on divorce allowing it only if adulatory could be proven, while Hillel permitted divorce even for a badly cooked breakfast. While Jesus often sided with the school of Hillel in His discussions on the Torah, in this case, Jesus sides with Shammai in permitting divorce only in the case of infidelity.
Led by Aaron Eime.
Notes for this study can be found at http://www.christchurchjerusalem.org/sermons/study-last-words-of-moses-deut/
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