*TOPIC: MARRIAGE, GOD'S REVEALED WILL.*(Series 4) *Scripture Reading:* Malachi 2:16 *“For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong and violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore keep watch on your spirit, so that you do not deal treacherously [with your wife].”*(AMP) God’s design for marriage is that it last for life, and will help us to understand much of what the scriptures have to say on the subject of divorce. *As a general rule, marriage is to last for life. As a general rule, it is “till death do us part”.* This does not mean that there are no exceptions to this general rule (we will look at those exceptions momentarily), but the general rule must be established before the exceptions can be stated and understood. And so the scriptures time and time again establish the general rule that marriages are to last for life. Remember the words of Christ in Matthew 19. When answering the question of the Pharisees, *“Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause? He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”*(Matthew 19:4–6, ESV) What is God’s ideal for marriage? That it last for life. In the original plan of God for marriage, there's nothing like plan 'B', that's, if it doesn't work, there's alternative. There's nothing like that in God's original plan in the beginning. Looking at our scripture in Malachi 2:16 where we are told most bluntly that *"the “LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce…”* (Malachi 2:16, NKJV). Is it true that God hates divorce? Well, yes it is true, for the scriptures clearly say that He does. But we must pay careful attention to the context lest we misunderstand what is being said here. In Malachi 2:13 we read, *“And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence, Says the LORD of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”* (Malachi 2:13–16, NKJV). To be continue tomorrow morning by God's Grace. Good morning and do have a great day, peace. *Prayer point:* I disagree with every alternative that God has not ordained in marriage that the devil try to invest into my marriage, it will not stand nor come to past in Jesus Christ name. Amen! T.S. AFOLAYAN