So let us start in the beginning, Genesis 2:20-25:
"And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
There are numerous studies that can be done regarding the nature of marriage based upon this one passage of scripture, but in keeping with the topic of God's views regarding divorce and remarriage, there is a point that I will note is established in this text, as follows. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, referred to as the Pentateuch according to the Hebrew Scriptures, and Genesis (literally, "Beginning") is the first of these books. As this passage is the first passage specifically referencing the man and his wife, it is established as what those in the legal field would recognize as precedent: 1) a legal decision or form of proceeding serving as an authoritative rule or pattern in future similar or analogous cases. 2) any act, decision, or case that serves as a guide or justification for subsequent situations. (dictionary.com)
Simply put, according to its original establishment by God, marriage is intended to be between a man and a woman, and the two should become one flesh, once God has joined the man with his wife. This joining of man to wife is not accomplished through intimacy, but through vows. In this case, Adam's word he and the woman would be of two, one flesh. Of the many points that can be made regarding this covenant, it is certain that this definition of marriage is the standard by which all other marriages are to be judged.
There is something to be said for marriage in that it is existent in every human culture. There is no culture in which marriage is not practiced. This is not in reference to sexual intimacy. Specifically, marriage as a covenant is practiced in every human culture. This is because the marriage covenant was passed down to the whole earth through the first man and wife. This covenant was not given to the Jews through Moses. Moses simply recounted the historical record, so that his people would understand the origin of God's law concerning marriage, and why it should be followed.
To recognize the importance of the marriage covenant, I must note that the only thing that God saw that was not good in the making of His creation was that man was alone. Everything else until that point had been good. Days one through five were checked off the list, but on the sixth day God noted that it was "Not good that the man should be alone" - Genesis 2:18. God made special provision to cause His work to be good by instituting the marriage covenant. Once the marriage covenant had been established, God's work was done: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." - Genesis 1:31.
Another unique attribute of this first marriage relationship that I should not neglect to mention is found in Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:". Hereafter there is only one aspect of creation that mimics God's intent to create man after His image: that is, He created woman also after His image, but not from the dust of the earth, but the rib of the man. So man and woman were both created in the image of God, and man and woman were created to display within creation the oneness of God with man. There was no separation between God and Adam before sin, as there was no separation between Adam and Eve after God brought Eve to Adam.
Marriage is the only institution in existence today that predates man's fall into sin. A friend of mine challenged me to resist the theoretical "perfect-world" mentality. I certainly will, as this topic applies to real life situations regarding real hurt, real betrayal, and real desire.
That said, marriage is from God, and is perfect in its establishment. It was formed in a place that knew no sin, and represents a relationship formed without sin. It is pure unity without shame, and from the very beginning represented God's covenant with man. If our understanding of marriage breaks down, our understanding of our covenant with God will shortly follow, and already has to a large extent in the American church.
After the fall into sin, God gave mankind a promise of victory over that which drove us away from His presence in the Garden: Genesis 3:15 -
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The "seed" of the woman is a direct reference to the promised Messiah, who would save the world from their sins. The promise of Christ was given as a direct result of the sin that the man and his wife committed in departing from God. As division was caused between God and man by sin, God drove the man with his wife from the Garden. Even so, He established within their marriage relationship from that time the Biblical leadership structure of the husband as head of the family, as an earthly representation of God's leadership over those who believe. In order to show forth God's covenant that man would be given victory over sin, the Father established a recognizable pattern within the marriage covenant, as a testament to all mankind, that all mankind might have the hope of salvation exemplified through the marriage covenant.
Next time we'll talk about how the marriage covenant was viewed in the "post-perfect" world after the Fall, by reviewing episodes from the lives of the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac. I will also discuss the fundamental differences between a contract and a covenant.
No comments:
Post a Comment