A Case Study

We’ve had some discussion on “prescriptive vs descriptive” and looked at it in a couple of posts. I thought I’d take a topic that often runs into this concept and causes division and see if we can’t “rightly handle” the Word to come to a biblical conclusion. I thought I’d just jump right in and try “divorce” as a case study. Note, first, that "descriptive" was the issue in the Pharisees' argument with Jesus on divorce: “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” (Matt 19:7). They understood what Moses did to be prescriptive; Jesus didn't. He said to them, “From the beginning it was not so” (Matt 19:8). Thus, I think "divorce" makes a good starting case to examine.

When we talk about divorce in Scripture, we have to keep the tension of prescriptive vs. descriptive firmly in mind. The Bible does not flatten these categories, and if we do, we will end up either permitting what God forbids or forbidding what God permits. Scripture gives us both descriptions of what happened in a fallen world and prescriptions of what God commands His people. When we take both seriously, a coherent biblical ethic emerges.

Scripture begins with a description that is also foundational: “A man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” That’s Genesis 2:24. It is from the beginning, and it is referenced both by Jesus and Paul as authoritative and definitional. That is, it is descriptive of creation, but Jesus treats it as prescriptive—God’s design for marriage. From the beginning, marriage was intended to be a lifelong, covenantal union. That’s the baseline.

From there, Scripture gives us plenty of descriptive material showing what happens when human sin enters the picture. Abraham and Sarah’s marriage is riddled with conflict. Jacob’s marriages are a tangle of jealousy and pain. Israel’s history is full of broken homes and fractured relationships. None of these are commands; they are simply the record of human failure. They show us that divorce and marital chaos are always tied to sin, never to God’s ideal.

Even the Mosaic law acknowledges divorce—not as a good thing, but as a reality in a hard hearted people. Deuteronomy 24:1–4 regulates divorce, not because God approves of it, but because He protects the vulnerable. That regulation is prescriptive for Israel’s civil life, but descriptive for us. It tells us something about God’s heart: He cares for the one who is sinned against.

Malachi makes that heart explicit. Israel was divorcing their wives treacherously, and God says He hates it. That’s not a suggestion; that’s divine evaluation. The narrative shows Israel’s sin, and God’s commentary shows His posture: covenant faithfulness matters to Him.

When we come to the New Testament, the prescriptive material becomes even clearer. Jesus restricts divorce to cases of sexual immorality. He roots His teaching in creation, not in cultural practice. He says Moses permitted divorce because of hardness of heart, but that from the beginning it was not so. Jesus is not giving Israel a new law; He is restoring God’s original design.

Paul adds another prescriptive element. In 1 Corinthians 7, he forbids believers from divorcing one another. But he also recognizes a situation Jesus did not address directly: abandonment by an unbelieving spouse. In that case, Paul says the believer is “not enslaved.” That is not a loophole; it is a pastoral recognition that covenant requires two participants. If one destroys the covenant, the other is not held hostage.

So when we put the descriptive and prescriptive material together, the picture is remarkably consistent. God designed marriage to be permanent. Divorce is always tied to sin. God never commands divorce; He only permits it under narrow circumstances—sexual immorality and abandonment. He regulates it to protect the vulnerable. He condemns treacherous, selfish, or frivolous divorce. And He calls His people to reflect His covenant faithfulness in their marriages.

The descriptive texts show us the tragic reality of human sin. The prescriptive texts show us God’s will. Together, they teach us that divorce is never God’s ideal, sometimes permitted because of sin, and always treated with gravity. If we are going to handle God’s Word rightly, we must let both kinds of texts speak—what happened, and what God commands—so that our conclusions align with His intentions rather than our own.