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Michal's two husbands

ChrisM

Member
First of all, I wish to note that I did read a former post which references this issue. As that one got way out of hand and is now locked, I wondered if folks could give short, Scriptural basis for their view on how this all worked out.

1 Samuel records Michal being given to David as a wife, who then helped David escape her father Saul. Saul then (I believe) wrongfully gave her to another man, with whom she committed adultery either at the beginning or perpetually. I wondered about the term husband in the Scripture, if such is always meaning what we define it in English. The woman at the well also had 5 husbands over her lifetime but was with one not her husband. Short explanations are great here, folks. Not looking for debate, just points of view.

Was David right to demand his wife, who he never divorced or consented to leave? Should she have obeyed her father, as she should rightfully have been under the headship of her husband?

Practically, the related point is the fact that my first wife legally divorced me, I showed up for the hearing but did not pursue nor desire the divorce even though she did have another man during our marriage. She has now married another, and her husband is near death due to drug overdose and a sound beating afterward on the street. Has been on life support for about 40 days. She is not a believer, but if we are not really divorced Biblically, then should/could I take her back?

I see Deut 24 as a man putting away his wife, shaming her due to her adultery, as the cause for not taking her back again after remarriage. As some of those facts are debatable, I just want to know what my responsibility and or ability before the Lord is. She is still unsaved, loves me as a friend but nothing else, and my desire toward her is primarily as a friend but also as a Christian who wishes to see her reconciled to God through Christ Jesus.

Last question......Have I lost my mind? :shock:
 
Yeah. It stopped by today. Said it was going walkabout up the Appalachian trail, and to look for it in Mid September. :lol:
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My advice: Don't over-think this. The DEVIL wants to burden you with this situation. God wants you free and concentrating on what's next.

If her husband dies, and her relationship with your family draws closer, and she gets her life in order (saved, drug-free), and you find each other ...

James 2, I think, says that Mercy triumphs over Judgment. And for us to operate from Mercy so that God can, in turn, apply it to us.

Getting technical, the stricture against a man divorcing, another marrying then divorcing, then the first remarrying, is technically about the second man divorcing her. Doesn't say anything about if he dies, does it? (Bible isn't handy at the moment. Deu 24?)

David & Michal? Bible doesn't say. Just reports. I don't really fault him. Neither would I have faulted him had he left well enough alone. Easy to make arguments both ways.
 
It does talk about if he dies....specifically. Not worrying necessarily. I have other friends in somewhat similar scenarios and so wondered how to counsel them also. Thanks.
 
I agree with Cecil to not over-think it. God will lead you if the opportunity arises for you to help her.

My thoughts on this are that it comes down to whether the first husband divorced her. If he decided he didn't want her and renounced all claim to her through divorce, allowing her to remarry, then he should not take her back. It was his decision to give her up.

In David's case, he never divorced her. She was no longer under her father's headship, but her husband's - David. Her father had no authority to give her to another, so the second marriage should not have happened. However as Cecil said you can argue both for or against David's reaction to it, I think either approach could be justified in a contemporary situation depending on the circumstances.

In your case, it comes down to whether you truly divorced her and renounced all claim to her. And you probably don't know what you did, as you didn't see it this way at the time. So it's a grey area you could think about for ever and never be certain what is right. That's why I agree with Cecil to not over-think it, and just wait for God's leading.
 
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