American society is complex and diverse with a myriad of social issues that do not always have a simple solution that disparate and partisan groups agree with, and subsequently a few people have come up with a sort of shorthand to bring about some guideline or perspective to a particularly difficult problem by coining the phrase, “What would Jesus Do or What would Jesus Say?” Well, on this particular HOT BUTTON topic, here is a glimpse into an answer to this vexing question about marriage; starting with His very words in the following:
Mark 10: 6-8
“But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. ‘For this reason [Marriage] a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ‘and the two shall become “one” flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.”
*Malachi 2: 14b-15b*
Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one (Cp. Genesis 2: 2), having a remnant of the Spirit? And why “one”? He seeks godly offspring.
Genesis 1: 27-28a
So God blessed mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created him [Adam], male and female created He them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them [the male and female], “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. . .”
Genesis 4: 1a
Then Adam [the male] knew his wife [the female] and she conceived. . .
NOTE: The divine purpose for the union between a male and female and to subsequently produce children in a family structure of biologically differentiated parents is circumvented by same-sex couples who adopt children or when a lesbian female undergoes in-vitro fertilization; whereas it was not meant to be so “from the beginning.”
Psalms 119: 89
Forever, O LORD, Your word is established in Heaven.
NOTE: There is I think an applicable principle found in Matthew 15: 2, which says: He answered and said unto them, “Why do you make void [annul] the commandment of God because of your traditions [cultural experience, history, social values, Legislature, Judiciary, Constitution, etc.]
John 12: 48
“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which will judge him- the word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day.
Isaiah 62: 5
For as a young man marries a virgin [young maiden], So shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom [male] rejoices over the bride [female], So shall your God rejoice over you.
Proverbs 5: 1, 18-19
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured by her love.
Exodus 21: 9
And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.
22: 16
If a man entices a virgin [young maiden] who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife.
Leviticus 18: 22
You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. It is an abomination (Cp. 20: 13a).
Exodus 20: 7a
And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her?
Isaiah 54: 5a, 6
“For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of Hosts is His name; For the LORD has called you, like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused, “says your God.
Jeremiah 3: 20
“Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” says the LORD.
COMMENTARY: So, in a nutshell is the encapsulation of the divine origin of “marriage” and how it is to be enjoined, as far as type and antitype is concerned. On a symbolically spiritual level it is portrayed in God’s relationship to the Israelites as her divine Husband, and on the physical or material plane in the creation of Adam and Eve as husband and wife, the archetypal primordial married pair for the subsequent generations of human offspring until the end of the world. Although these references are not an indictment or judgment about any particular lifestyle, private intimacy practice or gender identity, it is abundantly clear, however, that the overarching orientation within the boundaries of this sacred institution, explicit and implicit is that of a ‘male’ and ‘female;’ and in the words of Jesus: “What God has joined together, let not man cast asunder [dismantle, change, or disregard].”
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
August 5, 2010
pbks@hotmail.com
