10/11/2026
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I’m sorry, this is another long post. But I’m beyond sickened by PASTORS like this. It’s is absolutely disgusting. Joel Webbon is senior pastor of Covenant Bible Church in Texas, and he’s out here teaching that physical abuse isn’t a biblical reason for divorce, that no-fault divorce should be banned, and that a husband “OWNS” his wife?
What Bible is this man reading? Because the one I’m reading has an awful lot to say about violence, oppression, marriage, and how husbands are supposed to treat their wives.
Let’s start with Genesis 1:27-28, where BOTH male and female are created in God’s image and BOTH are given dominion over creation. Not one over the other. Genesis 2:24 describes a husband and wife becoming one flesh, not a man acquiring another human being as property. And Galatians 3:28 tells us that we are all one in Christ Jesus.
And let’s not forget 1 Timothy 2:5, which identifies CHRIST as our one mediator with God. A husband doesn’t become his wife’s owner, master, or mediator when they get married.
Ephesians 5:25 commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and GAVE HIMSELF for it. Ephesians 5:28-29 tells husbands to love their wives as their own bodies, nourishing and cherishing them. Colossians 3:19 tells husbands to love their wives and not be bitter against them. First Peter 3:7 commands husbands to give their wives HONOR and calls them heirs together of the grace of life, warning that failing to honor them can hinder their prayers.
Where exactly does beating, threatening, intimidating, or terrorizing your wife fit into any of that?
First Corinthians 13:4-5 tells us that love is kind, isn’t self-seeking, and isn’t easily provoked. First John 4:18 tells us that perfect love casts out fear. Ephesians 4:31-32 tells Christians to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, and malice. Romans 12:9 tells us to ABHOR evil. Matthew 7:12 tells us to treat others as we would want to be treated.
And that’s just the beginning.
Psalm 11:5 says that God’s soul hates the one who LOVES VIOLENCE. Psalm 140:1 is literally a prayer to be delivered from violent men. Psalm 82:3-4 commands us to defend the vulnerable and deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 72:4 speaks of saving the needy and breaking the oppressor. Psalm 146:7 describes God executing judgment for the oppressed.
Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12 both praise the prudent person who sees danger and takes refuge. Proverbs 24:11-12 calls us to rescue those being carried toward death. Proverbs 31:8-9 commands us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Isaiah 1:17 tells us to seek justice and relieve the oppressed. Isaiah 58:6 speaks of loosening the bonds of wickedness, undoing heavy burdens, and breaking every yoke. Jeremiah 22:3 tells us to deliver those being robbed or exploited from the hand of their oppressors. And Luke 4:18 describes Jesus’ mission using the language of deliverance for captives and liberty for those who are bruised.
But apparently, according to this pastor’s interpretation, a woman being physically abused by her husband is supposed to remain bound to him because he OWNS her?
Even the biblical passages concerning divorce deserve far more attention than his argument gives them. Matthew 19:9 addresses sexual immorality. Exodus 21:10-11 even provides release for a woman in its particular legal setting when her marital provisions and rights are withheld. And Deuteronomy 24:1-4 explicitly recognizes divorce as an existing legal reality.
Yes, Christians have debated how the biblical grounds for divorce apply to abuse. But that is VERY different from claiming that the Bible requires women to endure violence or that their husbands own them.
And let’s talk about Malachi 2:16, because this passage gets thrown at abused women CONSTANTLY.
People love quoting “God hates divorce” as though that’s the entire message of the passage. But the Hebrew wording of Malachi 2:16 is disputed, and several modern translations don’t even render it as God saying “I hate divorce.” Instead, they describe a man who hates and divorces his wife and covers his garment with VIOLENCE.
Read Malachi 2:13-16 in context. God is confronting husbands for dealing TREACHEROUSLY with their wives. The passage is condemning marital betrayal and violence, not telling abused women that God expects them to remain trapped with violent husbands.
How on earth did we take a passage confronting men for mistreating their wives and turn it into a weapon against women who are being mistreated?
And since people want to talk about the sanctity of marriage and keeping covenants, let’s talk about what it actually means to BREAK a covenant.
Malachi 2:14 specifically calls a wife “the wife of thy covenant” and confronts the husband who has dealt TREACHEROUSLY against her. God Himself is described as a witness to that covenant. The passage is holding the husband accountable for betraying his wife, not accusing the mistreated wife of destroying her marriage.
Psalm 55:20-21 is especially interesting here:
“He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart…”
Read that again. Scripture actually connects putting forth one’s hands against someone at peace with him to BREAKING HIS COVENANT. And it immediately describes someone whose words sound gentle while his heart is full of hostility.
Does that sound familiar?
A covenant isn’t just a piece of paper that remains morally intact no matter how horribly one person treats the other. Marriage comes with responsibilities. Love, faithfulness, protection, honor, and care are not optional extras that a husband gets to disregard while demanding that his wife continue fulfilling her obligations.
Hebrews 13:4 says marriage is to be held in HONOR. Ephesians 5:25 tells husbands to love sacrificially. Colossians 3:19 forbids harsh treatment. First Peter 3:7 requires husbands to honor their wives. Malachi 2:14 condemns husbands who betray their covenant.
So when a husband beats his wife, threatens her life, terrorizes her, or deliberately makes her home unsafe, who is actually violating the marriage covenant?
THE MAN ABUSING HIS WIFE.
Not the woman trying to escape him.
The husband who chooses violence has already introduced betrayal into that marriage. He has already violated the love, honor, and faithfulness he was supposed to demonstrate.
Yet somehow, in certain Christian circles, the woman becomes the covenant breaker the moment she decides she cannot safely live with him anymore.
He can threaten her, hurt her, intimidate her, and make her afraid in her own home, but SHE is supposedly the one destroying the marriage if she leaves?
How does that make any biblical sense?
Leaving a dangerous situation doesn’t make the victim responsible for the violence that destroyed the safety and trust of the relationship. Protecting yourself from someone who has repeatedly harmed you is not the same thing as betraying them.
And a marriage covenant was NEVER intended to be a shield that protects an abusive man from accountability while trapping his wife in suffering.
There’s also a difference between no-fault divorce and a divorce in which nobody has done anything wrong. No-fault divorce means a person doesn’t have to establish marital misconduct in court to obtain a divorce. An abused woman shouldn’t have to publicly expose every terrifying detail of her marriage and successfully prove her suffering just to be allowed to leave it.
And now let’s talk about what the Bible says concerning PASTORS.
First Timothy 3:2-3 says that a bishop must be blameless, patient, and NO STRIKER. Titus 1:7-9 says that an overseer must not be self-willed, quick-tempered, or violent, and must hold faithfully to sound doctrine.
First Peter 5:2-3 tells church leaders to shepherd God’s flock willingly, NOT as lords over those entrusted to them. Ezekiel 34:4 condemns shepherds who rule with FORCE AND CRUELTY. Jeremiah 23:1-2 pronounces woe upon pastors who destroy and scatter God’s sheep. Matthew 23:4 condemns religious leaders who place heavy burdens on others. And James 3:1 warns that teachers will receive greater judgment.
Jesus Himself said in Matthew 20:25-28 that His followers are NOT to imitate rulers who lord their authority over others. He taught that greatness comes through serving. In John 10:11, Jesus describes the good shepherd as one who lays down his life for the sheep.
A pastor is supposed to protect the vulnerable, confront wickedness, and shepherd people toward Christ. Not teach that a violent husband owns his wife and that she has no biblical grounds to be released from a marriage filled with abuse.
There is something profoundly disturbing about taking a covenant that Scripture describes in terms of love, faithfulness, sacrifice, honor, and responsibility and turning it into a system where one person supposedly owns the other, even when violence is involved.
Marriage does not give anyone ownership of another human being. It does not give a husband permission to terrorize his wife. And a wedding ceremony does not somehow make violence less evil in the eyes of God.
What makes this even more disturbing is knowing that there are women sitting in churches RIGHT NOW who are frightened of their husbands, and some of them will hear teachings like this and believe that God expects them to remain in danger.
That should absolutely horrify us.
And the fact that these teachings are coming from someone carrying the title of pastor makes it even worse.
Stop treating a woman’s decision to escape abuse as a greater offense than the abuse itself. Stop accusing victims of breaking covenants while excusing the men who have violated them through violence, intimidation, and cruelty.
And STOP using the Bible to place heavier burdens on victims while minimizing the wickedness of those who harm them.
That is not what Christ demonstrated, and it is not the example He gave His followers.
And Joel Webbon, you’re a sorry excuse for a pastor. Seriously, what is WRONG with you? You’re standing up there running your mouth about husbands OWNING their wives while telling abused women that physical violence isn’t grounds for divorce? Do you even hear how disgusting that sounds? And it’s not even Biblical in any level. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself.
You want to preach about biblical marriage so badly, but apparently all those verses telling husbands to love, honor, and cherish their wives aren’t nearly as important to you as making sure women can’t leave them. How convenient. You’ve got plenty to say about a woman’s obligation to stay married, but where’s all that energy when her husband is the one beating her, threatening her, or making her life a living nightmare?
What kind of pastor is more concerned about keeping an abused woman married than about the man abusing her? What kind of twisted interpretation of Christianity is THAT?
And the fact that you have people sitting in a church listening to you preach this garbage is sickening. Women are actually being hurt and killed by their husbands, and here you are making arguments that abusive men can turn around and use against their wives. Do you have any idea how much damage teachings like yours can do? Or do you just not care as long as the husband gets to remain in charge?
You’re supposed to be a SHEPHERD, Joel. A shepherd protects the sheep. He doesn’t stand there making excuses for the wolves while telling the sheep they aren’t allowed to run away.
And spare me the lectures about biblical authority when you’re making such a mess of the biblical responsibilities of your own position.
You can stand behind a pulpit, carry a Bible, and call yourself a pastor until you’re blue in the face. That doesn’t mean you’re acting like one.
As far as I’m concerned, you’re an embarrassment to pastoral leadership, and these teachings are an absolute disgrace. If you can’t even figure out why protecting an abused woman matters more than protecting her abuser’s control over her, you have NO BUSINESS lecturing anyone about ANYTHING. Any. Thing. Period.
