King David: remarried after divorce by first wife
King David was divorced by his first wife Michal, who then married Phalti, so King David remarried to a woman called Ahinoam (I Samuel 25:43) after being divorced by Michal (I Samuel 25:44).
For this topic it is redundant to discuss whether Abigail or Ahinoam was the second wife of King David.
I Samuel 25:44 KJV
But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife,
to Phalti the son of Laish, which [was] of Gallim.
The word divorce is not used, but it is obvious that when the king of a country, who has authority to dictate the law of the land, "puts an end" to a marriage and authorizes a new marriage: clearly the law of the land has organized for a divorce and remarriage to occur, regardless if it is a violation of the Law of God: Michal's choice to divorce David, to marry Phalti, was clearly sinful.
King David's marriage to Ahinoam was not adultery, the only time God complained to King David about adultery was with the famous incident with Bathsheba.
Some people support a double-standard, especially traditional Catholics, who think it was okay for King David to marry again after being divorced because God supposedly changes the rules over time, especially with the New Testament; so King David did fine with Ahinoam but if you do the same as King David, you are a dark-hearted, Hell-destined, evil monster!
Deuteronomy 17:17 KJV
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
King David should have been well aware of Deuteronomy 17:17, but God did not complain about David's sin of marrying a new wife while the previous wife was still alive, until David committed adultery with Bathsheba; clearly the marriage with Ahinoam was valid.
I Corinthians 7:15 KJV
But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
The remarriage of King David after being divorced, seems compliant with the law as later publicly clarified by Paul in I Corinthians 7:15; remember that the law does not change (Matthew 5:18); David being himself a prophet, did not need the clarification of Paul to understand the limits of the Law of God.
Matthew 5:18 KJV
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
King David was free to remarry after divorce, because he was the innocent party that was divorced by an unbeliever; Michal was an unbeliever because she was against the prophet of God.
Before judging and condemning divorcées as "Hell ridden demon spawn," it is only fair that you say the same about King David, but do you personally know anyone more righteous than David?
Our FATHER is a divorcee,Jerimiah 3:8. Hosea 2:7, among many other verses say's GOD married Israel & had to devorce HIS unfaithful bride. HE'll "remarry" HIS virgin bride at the second advent, Rev.19:7. JESUS can forgive all sins, even divorce.
Yes that's right, I've heard it before, thanks for adding to the discussion.
I find it sad that so many churches would make 2nd class citizens out of divorcees. Seems like those churches wouldn't let JESUS in or might even run HIM off with a stick. Thank you for calling this forward to get people looking it up in their BIBLEs.
I actually think this article needs a sequel. Consider that the government of Israel (King Saul) broke the marriage of David and Michal i.e. civil divorce, so Michal could “marry” Paltiel. David then married Ahinoam. What happened here?
Michal basically divorced David under the civil law through her father King Saul, the government of Israel. Whether it was her idea or more likely the compulsion of her father, is irrelevant. This was only a civil law divorce a.k.a. “the law of the land” and was not a Biblical divorce under the Mosaic law. So Biblically speaking it was an invalid divorce and Michal became an adulteress and Paltiel an adulterer from their Biblically invalid marriage (Mathew 5:32 But I say unto you, … whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery). See also 1 Corinthians 7:15. So Michal was not free to marry because she remained the wife of David, albeit she was now an adulteress living in an adulteress relationship with Paltiel. David, as the innocent party according to the rules explained by the Apostle Paul, was free to marry Ahinoam. However, the civil law considered David divorced but the Mosaic law considered David still married to Michal, who was having an adulteress relationship with Paltiel, while David married Ahinoam. If David had unjustly divorced Michal himself under the civil law, David would be the guilty party and marriage to Ahinoam would probably have been adultery. So David was validly married to Ahinoam but Michal was not validly married to Paltiel.
So if your wife has divorced you and obtained a civil law marriage certificate with another man, under the Mosaic Law she will always be your wife for as long as the two of you are still alive. If either one dies, the survivor becomes a widow and is free to remarry. With both parties alive, though she is out of your life she is still your wife under Mosaic Law. But as with King David, though you were divorced under civil law, you are free to marry another as David did with Ahinoam, regardless if your first wife is in an adulteress relationship or not.
This is not about promoting polygamy because the civil law considers you divorced and monogamous. But this is about informing you that you have not committed adultery because you are not divorced under the Mosaic Law although the Mosaic Law now sees you as having more than one marriage. The civil law sees you as divorced and monogamous.
In the case of women if there has been a valid divorce for fornication then according to Jesus and the Mosaic Law, which He was commenting on, both parties are free to marry other people. But if the man invalidly divorces his wife, neither of them may remarry. This is because the Mosaic Law does not allow a woman to take another husband while the previous one is still alive. That is why King David schemed to murder Uriah.
Good article.
Thank you, God bless you.