Does God hate divorce?
Malachi 2:14-16, “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.‘” (emp. added)
Does a man-made legal divorce end a marriage before God?
Jesus said in Mark 10:6–9, “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (emp. added, cf. Mark 6:16-17)
Can marrying another be adultery after a divorce?
Jesus said in Luke 16:18, “Everyone divorcing his woman and marrying another is committing adultery; and everyone marrying her who has been divorced from a man is committing adultery.”
For what reason can someone divorce and marry another?
Jesus said in Matthew 19:9, “And I say to you that if one divorced his woman, except fornication [extramarital sex], and married another, he is committing adultery, and he who married the divorced is committing adultery.”
Can someone be guilty of causing the other spouse to commit adultery by divorcing that spouse?
Jesus said in Matthew 5:31–32, “And it was said that if one divorced his woman, he must give her a notice of divorce. And I say to you that if one divorced his woman without a word of fornication [extramarital sex], he makes her to commit adultery, and if one married the divorced, he is committing adultery.”
Must a person remain unmarried who separated from one’s spouse for a reason other than fornication?
First Corinthians 7:10–11, “Also to the married I command, not I but the Lord, a woman is not to separate from her man. And, if she separate, she is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to the man, and the man is not to release his woman.”
Can someone commit adultery against a previous spouse who has died?
Romans 7:2–3, “For the woman with a husband, who is living, has been bound to that man by law, and if that man died, then she has been nullified from the law of that man. Therefore, consequently when the man is living, she will be considered an adulteress if she was with a different man; and if the man died, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress having been with another man.”
What happens if the innocent spouse remarries, is the one who was guilty of adultery still committing adultery against the previous spouse?
Jesus revealed in Mark 10:11–12, “If one divorced his woman and married another, he is committing adultery against her. And if a woman divorced her man and married another, she is committing adultery.”
First Corinthians 7:2–5, 9, “Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. […] but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”
The Breath of God 
So even though love has left a relationship God is still pleased that legal divorce did not happen? So it’s not really the heart that matters, but is the physical appearance of love? Is this consistent with NT teaching in which the heart is what God truly honors?
Not saying it’s ok to get divorced, but I have seen Christian relationships where love was gone but the two tolerated each other for scriptural reasons. In my own family there is a situation where my family member and his wife can’t stand each other but continue to stay married because they would be hell-bound if divorced. Is this OK with God?
What about those who have emotionally and spiritually divorced their spouse but have not done it legally?
Luke 6:27-28, “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”
Luke 6:31, “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”
First Corinthians 7:10-11, “Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.”
Matthew 19:11-12, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”
Gods way is so clear and wonderful. It protects us. Great article.