‘I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. ‘ Genesis 9:13(NLT)
‘Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. ‘ Exodus 19:5(NLT)
‘You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.’ Malachi 2:14(NLT)
‘Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?” Jesus answered them with a question: “What did Moses say in the law about divorce?” “Well, he permitted it,” they replied. “He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away.” But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts. But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”’ Mark 10:2-9(NLT)
‘That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.’ Hebrews 9:15(NLT)
Another reason why marriages are in such turmoil in our society today is because we have lost a sense of covenant in our culture. Marriages are looked at as temporary agreements. If something changes in the terms of the agreement, an individual wants to get out of marriage. This is not how the Bible looks at marriage. In other words, we not only need to change our concept of love, we also need to change our concept of marriage.
We need to decide to view marriage in biblical terms instead of our cultural terms. According to the Scriptures, marriage is a covenant. When people made covenants in the Old Testament, they would swear to keep them with their own lives. God’s faithful relationship with us is called a covenant. The Bible presents an Old Covenant between people and God that was based on law. Now, it also contains a New Covenant between people and God that is based on the death of Christ. The Lord views marriage as a covenant as well. Moreover, it is a covenant where He is a witness. It is a holy union where God pronounces the two individuals to be one.
God is called to witness a marriage covenant promise. That is why we have our weddings in church and call them holy matrimonies. This means that when we make the promise to stay married to our spouse, we make it before God. In other words, our promise is not just to our spouse. Our promise to remain faithful in marriage is a promise to God. We are responsible before God to keep our covenant.
This covenant relationship is meant to last for a lifetime. It lasts for good, for better, and for easy; it must last for worse, for tough, and for ugly. We are obligated to our spouse. Obligation is not a bad word. We are obligated by the Word of God to stay faithful to our spouse for a lifetime. When we enter marriage with such understanding, it will help us to weather the storms that life and our spouse’s personality might bring our way. Marriage is a covenant among three persons: God, the husband, and the wife.
from I No Longer Love My Spouse