The Literal Commandment

If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then turns against her, and charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her, and says, 'I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,' then the girl's father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. The girl's father shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he turned against her; and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, "I did not find your daughter a virgin." But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl's father, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.(Deuteronomy 22:13-19)

 

The literal commandment is that a man who turns against his wife and falsely accuses her of adultery is forbidden to divorce her.

 

Messiah Says

Messiah implicitly affirmed this commandment when He spoke about the Law:

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

 

He also clarified that divorce was only permitted in the case of adultery:

Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?"
And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, '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 they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?"
He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." (Matthew 19:3-9)

 

 

Pictures of Messiah

This commandment is a reflection of G-d's grace and protection for those who might not otherwise be able to defend themselves against false accusations of adultery. If a woman were falsely accused by her husband and forced to divorce him then she would be abandoned in an environment where she would not be able to provide for herself. She would also be unable to remarry due to the stigma of the (false accusations of) adultery.

In a similar way, G-d provides protection for all who believe against the false accusations of the enemy of our souls.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. (Revelation 12:10)

 

 

How Messiah Fulfilled

No evidence is given in Scripture that Messiah literally fulfilled this command: He never was married and never falsely accused a wife of adultery.

 

Traditional Observance

This commandment is traditionally observed in a literal sense: if a man is found to have falsely accused his wife of adultery then he is forbidden to ever divorce her.

 

Other Notes

We are able to fulfill this commandment today and a man who falsely accuses his wife of adultery should be forbidden to ever divorce her.

 

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