The Bible

 

Genesis 2

Study

   

1 And the heavens and the earth are completed, and all their host;

2 and God completeth by the seventh day His work which He hath made, and ceaseth by the seventh day from all His work which He hath made.

3 And God blesseth the seventh day, and sanctifieth it, for in it He hath ceased from all His work which God had prepared for making.

4 These [are] births of the heavens and of the earth in their being prepared, in the day of Jehovah God's making earth and heavens;

5 and no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouteth, for Jehovah God hath not rained upon the earth, and a man there is not to serve the ground,

6 and a mist goeth up from the earth, and hath watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And Jehovah God formeth the man -- dust from the ground, and breatheth into his nostrils breath of life, and the man becometh a living creature.

8 And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed;

9 and Jehovah God causeth to sprout from the ground every tree desirable for appearance, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river is going out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it is parted, and hath become four chief [rivers];

11 the name of the one [is] Pison, it [is] that which is surrounding the whole land of the Havilah where the gold [is],

12 and the gold of that land [is] good, there [is] the bdolach and the shoham stone;

13 and the name of the second river [is] Gibon, it [is] that which is surrounding the whole land of Cush;

14 and the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel, it [is] that which is going east of Asshur; and the fourth river is Phrat.

15 And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.

16 And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, `Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat;

17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.'

18 And Jehovah God saith, `Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper -- as his counterpart.'

19 And Jehovah God formeth from the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and bringeth in unto the man, to see what he doth call it; and whatever the man calleth a living creature, that [is] its name.

20 And the man calleth names to all the cattle, and to fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; and to man hath not been found an helper -- as his counterpart.

21 And Jehovah God causeth a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he sleepeth, and He taketh one of his ribs, and closeth up flesh in its stead.

22 And Jehovah God buildeth up the rib which He hath taken out of the man into a woman, and bringeth her in unto the man;

23 and the man saith, `This [is] the [proper] step! bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh!' for this it is called Woman, for from a man hath this been taken;

24 therefore doth a man leave his father and his mother, and hath cleaved unto his wife, and they have become one flesh.

25 And they are both of them naked, the man and his wife, and they are not ashamed of themselves.

   

Commentary

 

What the Bible says about... Marriage and Spirituality

By New Christian Bible Study Staff, John Odhner

A bride, dressed for her wedding, looks out a window.

People who are truly in love know that marriage is one of the greatest blessings the Lord has given people. But there's a lot of confusion and doubt about marriage these days. Let's take a look at what the Bible says about it, beginning at the very beginning. The very fact that the Lord has created us male and female (Genesis 1:27) seems to indicate that marriage is the intended condition for people.

In the Adam and Eve story, the Lord says, "It is not good that the man should be alone." (Genesis 2:18). Therefore, He creates Eve. It's a very ancient story that depicts marriage as one of God's blessings for humanity, part of his plan for people.

God's blessing on the first marriage makes this even more clear: "And God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply.'" (Genesis 1:28)

Not only does marriage have the Lord's blessing - it is also phrased as a commandment in this passage from the prophet Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel.... Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there, and not diminished.'" (Jeremiah 29:6)

King Solomon said, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord." (Proverbs 18:22)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has a telling response to the Pharisees who are quizzing him about divorce:

Jesus answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female', and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate'." (Matthew 19:4-6)

In the text of the Bible, there are also frequent references to a marriage between the Lord and His Church, where the church is made up of the people who love the Lord and follow his commandments. This is a different sort of marriage than the one between husband and wife, but some of the same ideals of love and reciprocity and conjunction are presented.

"As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you." (Isaiah 62:5)

"Your Maker is your husband: The Lord of Hosts is His name." (Isaiah 54:5)

"'Turn, O backsliding children,' says the Lord, 'for I am married to you.'" (Jeremiah 3:14)

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (Revelation 19:7).

See also Jeremiah 31:32; Isaiah 49:18, 61:10; Jeremiah 2:32; Hosea 2:2; Ezekiel 16; Matthew 22:2-9; 25:1-10; Luke 5:34; Revelation 21:2, 9; 22:17, etc.

From all this, it seems pretty clear that there's strong support in the Bible for marriage.

That said, there are also some passages that have led people in other directions. In some of Paul's letters, there are some things which can be taken to mean that marriage is less chaste than celibacy. In answering a question from the Saduccees, Jesus says that in heaven, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. What did he mean by that? We will dig into these issues in separate topics, or in an extension to this one... but, overall, the Bible's pretty clear that marriage is part of the Lord's design for us, and that our physical, earthly marriages represent a spiritual marriage, too.