Answer: God's initial instruction to man was
that one man should marry one woman and become joined together
(Genesis 2:24). The obvious intent was that it should be for life
as Christ reiterated in Matthew 19:4-6 when He said that married
couples should stay together. Jesus went on to explain that there
are valid reasons for divorcing a mate—specifically sexual
immorality (Matthew 19:9). God also preserved the teaching of
the early New Testament Church that if a member is married to
someone who is not a believer, and the nonbelieving person leaves
or indicates he or she doesn't want to continue the marriage,
the member is not required to remain married. Certainly abusive
situations would fall into this category as well. God hates divorce
(Malachi 2:14-16) because it always involves some other complications
or ramifications, but He does not expect people to remain in a
marriage if their safety or the safety of their children is at
risk.
