Hardness of Heart and the Limits of Law Text: Deuteronomy 24:1-4
Introduction: When God Regulates a Mess
We live in an age that has made an absolute hash of marriage. The sexual revolution has detonated in the middle of our living rooms, and the church, instead of standing as a bulwark of sanity, has too often been found staggering about in the smoke, coughing politely and trying to make friends with the bomb-throwers. The result is that when we come to a text like this one in Deuteronomy, our first instinct is often embarrassment. It seems so... transactional. So unromantic. It speaks of indecency and certificates of divorce and being "defiled." It feels a world away from "to have and to hold, till death do us part."
But we must not read the Scriptures with the sentimental cataracts of our own failing culture. God's law is not an abstract ideal floating in the clouds; it is given to real people in a real, fallen world. And this passage is a prime example of God, in His wisdom, regulating a mess. This is not God's "Plan A." This is not a description of the Edenic ideal. As the Lord Jesus Himself would later explain to the Pharisees, this law was given because of the hardness of men's hearts (Matt. 19:8). God, in His law, often condescends to limit the damage that sinful men can do. He puts fences around our sin. He channels our rebellion to mitigate its destructive power. This law is not an institution of divorce, but a regulation of it. It is damage control for a covenant that has already been broken.
The primary point of this law is not actually found in the first three verses, which simply describe a hypothetical scenario. The legal command, the point of the whole thing, is in verse four. But to understand that command, we must understand the situation it governs. And in understanding that, we learn profound truths about the nature of covenant, the seriousness of sin, and the way God protects the vulnerable from the schemes of hard-hearted men.
The Text
"If a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she goes out of his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before Yahweh, and you shall not bring sin on the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance."
(Deuteronomy 24:1-4 LSB)
The Unfortunate Scenario (vv. 1-3)
The first three verses lay out the case law, the situation that the judges in Israel are to consider.
"If a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house..." (Deuteronomy 24:1)
Let's break this down. First, the cause. A man divorces his wife because he has found "some indecency in her." The Hebrew is "erwat dabar," a matter of nakedness. This became the subject of a great debate between the rabbinic schools of Hillel and Shammai. The school of Hillel took a liberal view, saying it could be anything, even burning his toast. The school of Shammai took a much stricter view, arguing that it had to refer to sexual immorality. When the Pharisees tested Jesus, this was the debate they were dragging Him into. And Jesus sided with the stricter view, defining the ground for divorce as "porneia," or sexual immorality (Matt. 19:9).
So this is not a trifling matter. This is not "irreconcilable differences." This is a divorce for cause. And given the pattern of Mosaic justice, this "indecency" could not be a mere accusation; it would have to be established, likely by witnesses (Deut. 19:15). It refers to some kind of shameful sexual misconduct short of adultery, for which the penalty was death.
Second, the procedure. The man must write her a "certificate of divorce." This is crucial. Divorce is not accomplished by a fit of rage or a verbal declaration. It is a formal, legal, judicial act. It forces a man to slow down, to go through a process, to put his reasons in writing. This protects the woman. It makes her status clear. She is not simply abandoned; she is legally released from the covenant. She has a document to prove that she is free to remarry, which is exactly what happens next.
Verses 2 and 3 continue the scenario:
"...and she goes out of his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife..." (Deuteronomy 24:2-3 LSB)
The certificate of divorce works. It makes her legally available, and she marries another man. Notice the text says "she may go and be another man's wife." This is a legal possibility within the commonwealth of Israel. The second marriage is a real marriage. Then, one of two things happens: the second husband either divorces her or he dies. The text doesn't specify a reason for this second divorce, which is a significant detail we will return to. He just "turns against her." With the scenario now fully established, Moses delivers the actual command.
The Abominable Act (v. 4)
Here is the central prohibition, the entire point of the legislation.
"then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before Yahweh, and you shall not bring sin on the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance." (Deuteronomy 24:4 LSB)
The first husband cannot remarry her. Why? The text gives two reasons: because "she has been defiled," and because this act would be an "abomination." We have to tread carefully here. What is this defilement? It is not some inherent stain upon the woman. She was legally divorced and legally remarried. Her second marriage was not adulterous. The defilement is a legal, ceremonial, and covenantal status. By being joined to a second man in a one-flesh union, she has become covenantally bound to him. For the first husband to take her back would be to treat the covenant of marriage like a garment that can be taken off and put back on at will. It would be a form of wife-swapping, mediated by a temporary husband.
But there is likely a crucial economic angle here as well, which gets to the heart of the "hardness of heart" this law restrains. In the ancient world, a dowry was a form of divorce insurance for the woman. If a man divorced his wife without cause, she kept the dowry. But if he divorced her for cause, as in verse 1 for "indecency," she would forfeit it. So, husband number one divorces her for cause and profits financially. Now, consider husband number two. The text says he just "turns against her" and divorces her, or he dies. In either case, she would likely leave that second marriage with his property or inheritance. She is now financially better off.
What this law prevents is the first husband looking at his now-wealthier ex-wife and saying, "You know, I've forgiven her for that indecency. I'll take her back." This law prohibits him from profiting by maintaining two opposite positions: first, that she was worthy of a shameful divorce for cause, and second, that she is now worthy to be his wife again, conveniently after she has been endowed by another man. It prevents men from using the law to traffic in their wives. This is the "abomination." It is a grotesque twisting of covenantal realities for financial gain. It brings sin upon the whole land because it fundamentally corrupts the institution of marriage, which is the bedrock of society.
Christ, the Law, and Our Marriages
So what do we do with this? First, we must see it through the lens of Christ. When the Pharisees brought this passage to Jesus, they used it as a loophole. They wanted to know how wide the "indecency" door was. Jesus slammed the door shut. He takes them back behind Deuteronomy, back behind the fall, to God's creation ordinance. "From the beginning it was not so" (Matt. 19:8). God's intention is one man, one woman, for one life. The only exception He gives is sexual infidelity, which is a treasonous assault on the one-flesh union itself. The Apostle Paul adds another, for those in mixed marriages: desertion by an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 7:15). These are the only two legitimate grounds for divorce and remarriage.
Second, we learn that God's law is intensely practical. It deals with the nitty-gritty of life, including property, legal status, and the prevention of economic exploitation. Marriage is not a sentimental feeling; it is a covenant. A covenant is a solemn bond, sovereignly administered, with blessings and curses attached. It involves our bodies, our property, our children, our whole lives. This law, by regulating the dissolution of that bond, actually underscores its weightiness.
Third, this passage rebukes our modern, casual attitude toward divorce. We have adopted the Hillel position on steroids. People divorce for boredom, for "growing apart," for finding a "soul mate." This is lawlessness. And when a marriage is broken on unbiblical grounds, any subsequent remarriage is adulterous. As Jesus says, "whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery" (Matt. 5:32). We must not use the hardness of our hearts to justify our sin; we must bring the hardness of our hearts to the cross to be broken.
Finally, this law shows us the heart of God. In a world where sinful men are bent on twisting things for their own advantage, God steps in to protect the vulnerable. This law, in its context, was a shield for women. It prevented them from being treated as chattel, to be dismissed and reclaimed for profit. It is a messy law for a messy situation, but it is a merciful law.
And this points us to the gospel. God's relationship with His people, Israel, is described as a marriage. And Israel was a faithless bride. She committed spiritual adultery with countless idols. God had every right to issue a certificate of divorce, and under the prophets, He did (Jer. 3:8). He sent her away. But the story does not end there. In Jesus Christ, God did not do what the husband in Deuteronomy 24 was forbidden to do. He did something far more radical. He didn't just take His defiled bride back. He became one with her in her defilement, taking her sin upon Himself on the cross, in order to wash her, cleanse her, and present her to Himself as a spotless bride (Eph. 5:25-27). He did not come to regulate our mess; He came to redeem us from it entirely. Our marriages are to be a picture of that great reality. They are to be covenants of radical, self-giving, keeping-love, not because our hearts are soft, but because His grace is powerful.