Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. – Jesus (Matthew 19:8)
Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees when goaded about God’s law for divorce rocks our understanding of the Bible, if we will only think about it a minute.
If God made the divorce laws in the Old Testament as a concession like Jesus said, limiting it as much as our fallen hardened hearts could allow, what other laws are, likewise, concessions?
Could it be the Old Testament law of “Eye-For-An-Eye” was also a concession, limiting the amount of damage a person could do to no more than what was done to them, though God’s desire has always been to turn the other cheek?1
Could it be that Old Testament laws of slavery were concessions, limiting the length and severity of servitude, though God’s desire has always been for all to be equal in Christ?2
How about male dominance and gender submission?3 What a world of difference this concept makes when we see Jesus establishing a kingdom of those with tender hearts, committed to God’s desires instead of his concessions.
Think about this a moment and tell me what you think.
Related Post: Concession vs. Intent – March 31, 2011
Related Post: Same God, Different People – March 19, 2011
– fritz
1 – Matthew 5:38-39
2 – Ephesians 6:9
3 – Galatians 3:28
Patrikin - Kinship through The Father 
Perhaps a clarification is in order. I am not saying divorced persons have depraved hearts, I am saying that because of “the fall” all humanity has fallen short of God’s intent and because of that we have to endure situations that are not God’s intent. I see that, in Christ, God is restoring his intended purposes through forgiveness and a change of heart, enabling us to obey his heart’s desire for our lives. Ultimately, upon his return I think we shall have full restoration.