Marriage

John 7:16-18 “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God. . . .”

OBSERVATIONS ON MARRIAGE IN CHRIST

Genesis 5:1-2 “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”

Genesis 24:61-67 Rebekah / Isaac “. . . and she became his wife”

(1) no license was obtained,

(2) the government was not involved,

(3) the Lord pronounces that they are married:

(4) they are not “shacking up.”

(John 4:15-19 “Living with a man” does not make him your husband.)

Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled. . . .”

Proverbs 5:18-19 “. . . let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.”

Proverbs 18:22 “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.”

1st Corinthians 7:1-5 “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other . . . that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.”

1st Timothy 5:14,15 keep at home “. . . guide the house. . . .”

Titus 2:1-5 Teach the young women “. . . to love their husbands, to love their children, to be . . . keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

Genesis 2:18 “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”

2:21-24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

[For those who like to use a dictionary: (Webster’s Unabridged)

cleave, v.i.;

1. to stick; to adhere; to be attached; to cling; used both in a literal and figurative sense.

2. to unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment; to be faithful.

Ephesians 5:31 “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” [We’ll read more in Ephesians 5 later.]

QUESTION: Could one flesh have two heads?

ANSWER: If it did, it would be a freak of nature, and not Godliness unto the Lord.

1st Corinthians 11:3 “But I would have you know . . . the head of the woman is the man. . . .”

Genesis 3:16-19 “. . . and he shall rule over thee.” / thorns and thistles

1st Peter 3:1-6 “wives, be in subjection . . . a meek and quiet spirit. . . .”

v. 7 “husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge. . . as unto the weaker vessel. . . .”

(Deuteronomy 24:5 “. . . but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife. . . .”)

Colossians 3:12-17 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. . . .”

v. 18 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. . . .”

v. 19 “Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”

QUESTION: Why does v. 19 follow v. 18?

ANSWER: Because the wives are not going to obey the Lord in this matter as they were commanded.

1st John 4:20 [Change “man” to “woman,” “love” to “obey,” “his” to “her,” “brother” to “husband,” & “he” to “she”] “If a woman say, I obey God, and hateth her husband, she is a liar: for she that obeyeth not her husband whom she hath seen, how can she obey God whom she hath not seen?”

Ephesians 5:22-24 “Wives, submit yourself unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”

(see v. 21 “. . . Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”)

(and 1st Peter 5:5 “Yea, all of you be subject one to another. . . .”) (that is, in the Lord, for the Lord’s sake)

Ephesians 5:25-33 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church. . . .”

1st Corinthians 11:11-12 “Nevertheless neither is . . . the woman without the man, in the Lord.”

“Women’s Lib” in Marriage (A look into the past)

Esther 1:1-22 Vashti was displaced by the king “that every man should bear rule in his own house.”

[A pagan king and his pagan counselors are wiser than modern day “Christians.”]

(Luke 16:8 “. . . for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”)

Isaiah 3:12 “and women rule over them. . . .” (But later it caught on in Israel!)

(A look into the future)

Jeremiah 31:22 “A woman shall compass a man.”

QUESTION: What will be the result of that?

ANSWER: War and sodomy!

Isaiah 4:1 “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man. . . .”

Romans 1:27 “leaving the . . . woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men. . . .”

WHETHER OR NOT TO GET MARRIED

1st Corinthians 7:25-40 “Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.”

Advice for Women on the Man to Marry

1st Timothy 3:2-5 description of a bishop (a good husband)

v. 8-12 description of a deacon (a good husband)

Deuteronomy 25:5 “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.”

Proverbs 25:19 “Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.”

Habakkuk 2:4-5 “. . . he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home. . . .” (Men also should be “keepers at home”.)

Advice for Men on the Woman to Marry

Proverbs 21:9 “It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.”

25:24 (21:9 repeated almost exactly)

21:19 “It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.”

11:22 “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair women which is without discretion.”

12:4 “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband; but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.”

19:13,14 “the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping . . . and a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

30:21-23 a thing for which the earth “cannot bear: . . . an odious woman when she is married.”

31:10-31 “a virtuous woman” — a perfect wife

Nehemiah 13:23-27 “. . . to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?” (non-Israelites, “other religions”)

2nd Corinthians 6:14-18 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. . . .”

CONSENT REQUIREMENT FOR MARRIAGE

Genesis 24:1-5 “And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me. . . ?”

vs. 6-8 “And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath. . . .”

v. 57 “And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.”

vs. 61-67 Rebekah / Isaac “. . . and she became his wife” (This is not“shacking up.”)

John 4:15-19 “Living with a man” does NOT cause him to become a “husband”.

DIVORCE

Deuteronomy 24:1-2 “. . . let him write her a bill of divorcement . . . she may go and be another man’s wife. . . .”

(vs. 3-4 “Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife. . . .”)

Malachi 2:11-17 “. . . the Lord hath been witness [did you know that?] between thee and the wife of thy youth . . . he hateth putting away. . . .”

Matthew 19:3-9 “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

(v . 10-12 “If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.”)

5:31-32 “whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery.”

(Mark 10:11,12)

(Proverbs 6:32 “Whoso committeth adultery with a woman . . . destroyeth his own soul.”)

(Job 31:9-12 “For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction. . . .”

Romans 7:1-3 “. . . if her husband be dead . . . she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”

1st Corinthians 7:15 “But if the unbelieving depart . . . A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. . . .”

MARRIAGE COMPARED TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD

(1) SUBJECTION / OBEDIENCE / POSITION

Ephesians 5:22-24 “. . . as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

Colossians 3:18 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.”

Titus 2:5 “. . . obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

1st Peter 3:1 “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands. . . .”

v. 5-6 “For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. . . .”

Luke 6:46 “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”

1st Kings 11:1-10 “For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom. . . .”

Hebrews 5:9 “And being made perfect, [Jesus] became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. . . .”

1st Corinthians 11:1-9 “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.”

(2) FAITHFULNESS

Psalm 12:1 “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”

Proverbs 20:6 “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”

faith’ful, a. 1. full of faith. . . . 2. . . . loyal; true to allegiance; constant in the performance of duties or services; honest; loyal; as, a faithful servant. 3. observant of compact, treaties, contracts, vows, or other engagements; true to one’s word; reliable; dependable. Syn. – true . . . loyal . . . incorruptible.

faith’ful ≅ness, n. the quality of being faithful; loyalty, constancy in affection. . . .

1st Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Revelation 2:8-11 “. . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

17:14 “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

Luke 17:1-19 (5) “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.”

(3) ADULTERY (The result of lack of faithfulness.)

Proverbs 6:32 “Whoso committeth adultery with a woman . . . destroyeth his own soul.”

Matthew 5:27-28 “. . . whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” [The Lord looks on the heart.]

1st John 3:15 “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. . . .” [The Lord looks on the heart.]

QUESTION: Was there a problem in the kingdom of heaven before Satan’s rebellion?

(4) JEALOUSY (An insistence upon exclusivity.)

Exodus 20:4-6 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

34:12-16 (14) “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. . . .”

Numbers 5:11-31 “If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him . . . and the spirit of jealousy come upon him. . . .”

2nd Corinthians 11:1-4 “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband. . . .”

(5) LOVE

Proverbs 8:17 “I love them that love me. . . .” (Does that seem strange to you?)

2nd Thessalonians 3:3-5 “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and in the patient waiting for Christ.”

Titus 2:1-4 “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. . . .”

Colossians 3:19 “Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”

Ephesians 5:25-33 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. . . .”

(1st John 4:20 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”)

INFERENCE: How much more then is a man a liar if he love not his wife whom is he is commanded more to love.

1st Peter 1:3-8 “. . . Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love. . . .”

(6) REVERENCE

Psalm 89:7 “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.”

Matthew 21:37 “But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.”

Hebrews 12:28 “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. . . .”

Ephesians 5:33 “. . . and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”

Ezekiel 16 “(all)

ADD:

Jeremiah 2:1-32

3:1-23

Exodus 22:16 “And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.”

Deuteronomy 22:23 “If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

Deuteronomy 22:25 “But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:

Deuteronomy 22:28 “If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;