Understanding Marriage
We live at a time when we see the disintegration of marriage. It wasn’t always this way. There was a time when marriage, without any doubt, consisted of a relationship between a man and a woman. Man’s ideas about marriage can go in all kinds of directions, so, in this article I would like to examine the idea of marriage between a man and a woman, as intended by the great God of the universe, Who created the institution of marriage.
While Adam slept
We read of a time in the Book of Genesis the 2nd chapter where it is stated:
Genesis 2:18. And the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a help meet for him.”
The story continues with Adam falling into a deep sleep while God performs a process where He takes a rib, actually the helix curve, and fashions it into a woman.
Genesis 2:23, And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.” 24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.”
This is telling us that the man without the woman is incomplete. When the two incomplete parts are put together, then they become one.
God, who created the marriage unit, instructs us why we are incomplete by ourselves.
The Bride and the Bridegroom
When men and women agree to enter into marriage, it is the custom for the female to wear a head covering, either a hat or a veil. This is the correct picture of two becoming one as we read in the scriptures. With the woman wearing a covering, she agrees to the eventual submission to her husband and the two becoming one. Her head covering means that she agrees to have authority on her head and to have her husband as her authority.
1st Corinthians 11:7, “For the man indeed ought not to cover his head, formsmuch as he is in the image and glory of God: but the woman is in the glory of the man. 9, Neither was the man created for the woman: but the woman for the man. 10, For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”
(This statement, because of the angels, will be addressed at another time)
Many women in todays society would not agree with her husband being her authority. After all, isn’t she just as good and intelligent as her husband? People take a vow before God and yet, they do not know or will not consider His instructions because they are never taught the entire Word by the religious leaders. This is one of the reasons why there are so many divorces. Their marriage is about to be shipwrecked and they don’t know the reason why. In many cases many people want to be independent of God or they want others to think they are filled with Godly love but their heart is not right with their mate. God is the creator of laws, natural laws as well as spiritual laws. Whether you are a believer or a non believer makes no difference. The laws of God apply the same way to everyone. If you believe that you are independent of law, then by all means, jump off a 10 story building and see what happens. You can’t beat the law of gravity and think you can get away with it. The point here is that there are laws which define blessings and curses within a marriage. This two becoming one might sound ridiculous to some but it is important for a married couple to be responsible for the choices they make.
Genesis 3:16, Unto the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and conception; in sorrow thou shall bring forth children; and thy desire shall be for thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
Did Adam tell his wife that God told him not to take of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Scripture doesn’t say but we can read of the result.
Romans 6:16, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom you obey: whether sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.”
Ecclesiases 4:9, Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor, 10, For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up when he falleth.
Examples of Two Halves Being one in the Old And New Testament
Numbers 1:2, “Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; 3, From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel; they and Aaron shall number them by their families.
It was the men who were numbered to go to war in Israel. The wives and children were present as the family, but as far as God is concerned, His instruction was to the males who had the responsibility as the head of the family. The wives were seen by God as the counterpart of each male making up of the husband and wife unit.
This is not a complicated issue, only the present day society has watered down God’s truth that most churches or pastors don’t teach the God ordained marriage to be a blessing rather than a curse to the people. The self-righteous women would leave the church rather than obey God’s instruction. Some leaders of the church, might even reason among themselves that the men would lord it over their wives instead of having God correct His people. Therefore, they neglect to teach the complete Word.
John 6:2, and a great multiple followed Him, because they saw his miracles which He did on them that were diseased. Verse 10, And Jesus said, “Make the men sit down,” (now there was much grass in the place). So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Where were the women? They were there among the multitude and fed also, but Jesus singled out the men of the multitude to hear His instructions.
1st Corinthians 11:3, “But I would like you to know that the head of every man is Christ: and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”
God’s Way Sounds Foolish to the World
We are told that the commandments of God are summed up by loving God first, and second, to love our neighbor as ourselves. In a marriage, the term love is referring to submitting to one another.
Ephesians 5:21, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 22, Wives love your husband as unto the lord.” Verse 25, “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.”
In the world we see division, but it should not be so for those who are in Christ. We are instructed to submit to one another. Married people should realize that these scriptures are actually laws set in motion by God to bring a blessing rather than a curse in our lives. We can read of these blessing’s or curse’s in the Book of Leviticus as well as in the book of Deuteronomy.
Titus 2:1, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3, the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior, as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands and to love their children.”
Charity, (love) never fails, 1st Corinthians 13:8, 1st part of verse.
There is much more to be said concerning the subject of marriage and a strong family foundation is an important starting point.
To be continued: