The book Divorce as ‘Required’ by Scripture by R.A. Ross, with a
subtitle of Help for Victims of Ungodly Marriages, is available.
With Intro, 12 chapters, and a Scripture Index…it is almost 240
pages. It is priced at $12.95 plus shipping & handling of
4.00. Please go to the contact page for postal ordering address.
The Table of Contents appears immediately below…and after that
comes one of the main points of the book.
Furthermore, the entire book can also be viewed and/or downloaded. Click HERE to access the book online free of charge. And non-credit card donations of any amount will be appreciated.
Table of Contents
| Page Number | |
|---|---|
| Introduction | xi |
Part I Bible Bases
| Page Number | |
|---|---|
| 1. Serious Safeguards | 1 |
| 2. Divorce, the 11th Commandment (Exodus 21:1-6) | 7 |
| 3. Converted by Callison | 17 |
| 4. Ezra’s “Evictions” (Ezra chapters 9 and 10) | 29 |
| 5. Wrestling with Wisdom (Proverbs 30:21-23; Psalms 33:11 and Malachi 2:16) | 37 |
| 6. Priceless Promises (Verses 29 & 30 of Mt 19, Mk 10 & Lk 18) | 45 |
| 7. Dutiful Divorces (1st Corinthians 7:15) | 55 |
| 8. Timothy, Titus & Taboo (1st Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6) | 69 |
| 9. Applying “Apoluo” | 77 |
| (Matthew 5:31, 32; 19:3; 19:7-9) | 80 |
| (Mark 10:2, 4, 11, 12;) | 95 |
| (Luke 16:18) | 100 |
| (Matthew 1:19) | 103 |
| (1st Corinthians 7:11) | 106 |
| 10. Consequences for Children | 113 |
Part II Applications and Additional Assertions
| Page Number | |
|---|---|
| 11. Cases to Compare | 127 |
| Section One – Christian Believers | 130 |
| Section Two – Churchgoers | 137 |
| Section Three – Orthodox Jews | 143 |
| 12. Book Closing “Bits” | 147 |
| Bible Harmony – item #9 | 154 |
| Christian maturity – item #2 | 148 |
| Commentary support – item #19 | 166 |
| Discernment – item #7 | 152 |
| End Times – item #3 | 149 |
| Exegetical & Theological Dictionaries – item #21 | 169 |
| False guilt – item #4 | 150 |
| Functional Divide – item #27 | 185 |
| Garash – item #23 | 176 |
| God’s will (perfect vs. permissive) – item #1 | 147 |
| Hammurabi Code – item #22 | 175 |
| Hardheartedness – item #26 | 184 |
| Inductive Bible study – item #8 | 153 |
| Iron sharpens iron – item #25 | 179 |
| Jesus recognized five marriages – item #11 | 156 |
| Jewish perspective – item #30 | 190 |
| Male leadership – item #13 | 157 |
| Martyrdom as a gift – item #28 | 187 |
| Overlapping definitions – item #24 | 177 |
| Pastoral proofs – item #17 | 164 |
| Poll analysis – item #6 | 152 |
| Prayer & Fasting and waiting – item #14 | 159 |
| Rapture readiness – item #5 | 151 |
| Remarriage – item #10 | 154 |
| Retraction by Dr. William A. Heth – item #16 | 162 |
| Saddle-up for Sleep “Syndrome” – item #18 | 165 |
| Septuagint sightings – item #20 | 168 |
| Single parenting – item #12 | 157 |
| United Bible Societies – item #29 | 188 |
| Women in Chains, Agunah sourcebook – item #15 | 160 |
| Epilogue | 191 |
| Bibliography | 201 |
| Index of Scriptures | 215 |
One of the main points of the book is addressed briefly here as a preview.
Many of today’s religious leaders say so boldly that God hates divorce. But are they correct? They do have one Bible verse that appears to support them (**Malachi 2:16). But there are many other Bible verses that would oppose them.
These leaders are trying to do something good, i.e. uphold marriage. Their intentions deserve plenty of our admiration. But admirable intentions without deep research may leave us with significant questions. Was Malachi actually talking about divorce? Or, was he talking about something else like “putting away,” without giving a certificate of divorce? And perhaps a more important question is, “Does God always uphold marriage?” The answer to this last question is, “No, He does not!”
God Himself is divorced. His divorce of Israel is recorded in Jeremiah 3:8. God also gave Moses the provision for Jewish men to rid themselves of an unwanted wife. Deuteronomy 24:1 requires the Old Testament husband to give a certificate of divorce to his wife when he no longer wants her. Did Moses allow, or command, something that God hated? God probably did not want to see His institution of marriage fall apart. On the other hand He is a loving & protecting God. And Proverbs 30:23 says that His creation will not stand…when an unloved woman is married. God has quite a track record of caring for the underdog. An abused, or misused, spouse should be able to count on the Father in Heaven for any and all appropriate rescue.
Jesus spoke about the Law of Moses. He even debated with the Pharisees about it, e.g. Mark 10:1-11. In verse 4, the Pharisees mention the two separate actions needed to end a marriage. In verse 5, Jesus acknowledges the Pharisees’ understanding and adds the issue of hardness of heart. The two actions in focus are the “putting away” and the actual “certificate of divorce.” Moses and Jesus recognize these two different actions; we should do same. Unfortunately many modern translations of the Bible do not. These two separate actions often get blended into one, i.e. divorce. This encourages the reader to wrongfully, even harmfully, apply many New Testament verses on the subject of divorce. Space does not permit their exposition here. They are fully explained in the recently released book about Scripture divorces. The website gospelminutes.org also does a good job with the two words in question. On its home page, just click on What the Bible Says on Divorce and Putting Away.
One last point is mentioned here, and is also given significant treatment in the book about Divorce as “Required” by Scripture. Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is nothing new under the sun. Whatever is…has already been, and what has been…will be again. Today’s media show hundreds of cases of “put away” wives. “Put away” is defined as separation but without a certificate of divorce (as required by Moses). Just go to any search engine and type in the word “Agunah” or “Agunot.” You will find many Jewish men are not following the Law of Moses and their cases have been in many newspapers and courtrooms. This situation would seem to be one of the strongest proofs that “put away” and “divorce” are two different things. If this is true, then we have a whole new ball game. Just one example is Luke 16:18. It must then be translated something like this, “Anyone who puts away his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and a man who marries a put away woman commits adultery.” It is so simple. A put away wife has no certificate of divorce. She is still married to the husband in focus. Therefore when this husband takes a second wife, he commits adultery. Also any man who marries this undivorced (first) wife commits adultery; she is then a wife of two men.
**The book Divorce as ‘Required’ by Scripture shows a deeper and different view of what Malachi was actually saying.