Does God Forbid Reconciliation Today (Deut. 24:4)?

By Timothy Sparks
tdsparks77@yahoo.com
http://www.timothysparks.com

The prohibition of Deut. 24:4 served to ensure the purity of Messiah’s lineage. After the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring Christ into the world (Gen. 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; Gal. 3:16; 4:4) and after Jesus accomplished his mission (Jn. 19:30; Lk. 24:44), the prohibition of Deut. 24:4 was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14). “The law was given through Moses; the grace and the truth existed through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17, translation mine).

Paul states that a woman separated from her husband has two options: (1) to “remain unmarried” to anyone else or (2) to “be reconciled to her husband” (1 Cor. 7:11).¹ Those who would have Paul prohibiting reconciliation of a woman to her one flesh husband would require a rewording of Paul’s imperative. Unlike Deut. 24:4, Paul gives no prohibition concerning reconciliation.²

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       ¹ See “‘Unmarried’ (1 Cor. 7:11),” https://timothysparks.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/ unmarried-1-cor-711.  

        ² For discussion of Deut. 24:1, see “Does God Endorse Divorce? (Deut. 24:1),”  https://timothysparks.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/does-god-endorse-divorce-deut-241; “‘Ervat Dãbãr (Deut. 24:1),” https://timothysparks.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/ ervat-dabar-deut-241; and “‘It Was Said . . . but I Say’ (Mt. 5:17-48),” https://timothysparks. wordpress.com/2016/04/01/it-was-said-but-i-say.