WHY DID DIVORCE BEGIN ? In the Beginning, God established marriage as a perfect and pure relationship between a man and a woman. It was not the result of cultural or sociological evolution, but instead the deliberate and perfect plan of Almighty God. As years went on, man became more and more sinful, and rebelled at any institution which God had established. This included the sanctity of marriage. It became commonplace for the provisions of marriage to be twisted, perverted, or done away with entirely, as evidenced in the behavior of the people of Sodom just before it was destroyed. These God-given provisions are: (1). God brings a man and woman together. (Genesis 2:22). (2). Both husband and wife were to work as a team to fulfil the purpose God had given to the man. The wife was called “a help-meet” by God. (Genesis 2:18). (3). The two should leave mother and father to establish their own home. (Matthew 19:5). (4). They should cleave one to the other, forsaking all others.        (Matthew 19:5, i.e., faithfulness). Man’s failure to comply with any of these points would ultimately result in a marriage which would not be able to have the blessings of one which was complying. Before the Flood, marriage became an unimportant commitment. The Bible says that in the days of Noah, “they were marrying and giving in marriage” (Matthew 24:38). The Greek word for ‘marrying’ implies a continuous action. (In other words, “constantly marrying again and again and again, and giving away in marriage again and again and again.”) Other perversions followed, even as it is being repeated in the world today. Finally, the pagan disrespect for God’s provisions crept into the camp of God’s faithful, and they, too, wanted to stomp under foot the doctrines of righteousness related to marital fidelity. But, God gave His people an option which was meant to limit the marital abuses that had come through the pagans that surrounded Israel. Through Moses, God spoke and said that it would be permissible to “put away” one’s wife (divorce) if she was guilty of a particular sin. When the Bible speaks of putting away,” in Hebrew, it literally means “bill of divorcement.” It was designed as: (1). A punishment for the person who committed the sin of         infidelity. And (2). Provided for the freedom of the person who did not sin, but         was wronged by the spouse. *(This is carried through the New         Testament, where it is stated, “...a brother or sister is not in         bondage [held to their marriage commitment] in such cases.”         I Corinthians 7:15.