God Ordains Marriage

The most important human relationship—marriage—was first introduced in Genesis 2:18, when Eve was created: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”

Eve was created after Adam, not with him. God wanted to illustrate to Adam how incomplete and futile his life would be without a “help meet.” Once Adam realized his need for human companionship, he could better appreciate having a wife. Eve’s attributes were designed to complement Adam’s. She was designed by God with the attributes needed to nurture and care for children. God made her suitable and fully compatible for Adam as his lifetime marriage partner.

Gen 2:24 states, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Here, marriage is defined in greater detail. God created and ordained marriage as the union in which man and woman could be physically and emotionally fulfilled. Marriage was ordained to be a giving relationship with mutual love, care and consideration. God intended that man and woman mutually assist each other in the development of character. Marriage also serves as the basis for having and rearing children. Children were to be provided a safe haven and given many years of diligent training and supervision.

God intended that family life serve as the training ground for children. As children learn to obey and honor their parents, they will learn to obey and honour God. The father and mother’s closeness and loyalty to each other helps children develop and succeed in an atmosphere of confidence and security.

In Colossians 3:18-19, Paul states, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” Recognize that if these had not been common marital problems at that time, Paul would not have mentioned them in this letter.

Whatever the cause for bitterness, generally the solution involves diligence in understanding and conciliation. This works if the husband loves his wife and she is submissive, as Christ commanded through Paul.

Christ and the Church

In Ephesians 5:22-23, Paul compares marriage to the relationship between Christ and the Church: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church: and He is the Saviour of the body.”

This is a profound statement! The husband must conduct himself toward his wife as Christ does toward His Church! A husband must nurture, guide, train and provide for his wife, just as Christ does for His Church!

Eph 5:24-25 and 28 further explain the analogy: “Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it…So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself.”

The two partners become one flesh (through marital relations) just as the Church is the body of Christ. “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. 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” (Eph 5:30-31). Though the world is oblivious to this “great mystery,” it is plainly written in Eph 5:32-33: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”

In recent times, this understanding was restored to the Church of God by a man named Herbert W. Armstrong, who stressed that the lesson of marriage was to ingrain faithfulness in God’s Church. Thus, God’s Church would be loyal to Christ for all eternity.

“You Are Not Your Own”

I Corinthians 6:15-17 reads, “Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot [sexually immoral woman]? God forbid. What? Know you not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, says He, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” Becoming “one flesh” with a prostitute emphasizes the seriousness of adultery! Genesis 2:24 shows that husband and wife become “one flesh”—one marriage unit, as well as one in their sexual relationship. Adultery and fornication are serious for anyone—but especially those called by God to be part of Christ’s spiritual body, His Church. Paul explains the foolishness of those actions, adding that Christians must exercise the power of God to rule over the pulls of the flesh.

I Corinthians 6:18-20 states, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy [Spirit] which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

How does a person sin against his own body? One aspect made evident in the above scriptures is that the husband’s wife is actually his own flesh, and vice versa (Eph. 5:28-29; I Cor. 7:3-4). If he sins against his wife by committing adultery, he sins against himself. “Flee fornication” means to FLEE, just as Joseph did when confronted by Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39:7-12. We must not tolerate it and see how long we can resist this temptation. Those now called of God do not have claim over their own bodies. They have been bought and paid for by the sacrifice of Christ—they are not their own! A Christian must always remember this!

The Adultery-Idolatry Connection

Temptation and sexual seduction have long been integrated with idolatry in order to attract followers. Satan the devil has made adultery, fornication and sexual orgies part of the worship rituals in many pagan religions.

Numbers 25:1 records this history: “…the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.”

In this account, many in Israel were being tempted by the deception of Balaam. He schemed a way to get God to curse Israel. Balaam arranged for thousands of beautiful Moabite and Midianite women to take part in a “religious” ceremony in the worship of Baal-peor. This sensual orgy was orchestrated to cause Israel to stumble and sin. Historical accounts point out that women involved in such pagan ceremonies were often forced to do this.

In ancient times, temple prostitutes were used to worship various pagan gods. The allure of the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh (I John 2:16) reinforced the attraction of idol worship. Notice the following quote (emphasis ours): “In Egypt, Phoenicia, Assyria, Chaldea, Canaan and Persia, the worship of Isis, Molech, Baal, Astarte, Mylitta, and other deities consisted of the most extravagant sensual orgies and the temples were merely centres of vice. In Babylon some degree of prostitution appears to have been even compulsory and imposed upon all women in honor of the goddess Mylitta. In India the ancient connection between religion and prostitution still survives… Among the Jews, who stood apart from the surrounding peoples, THE OBJECT OF THE MOSAIC LAW [the “laws of God,” or the Ten Commandments] WAS CLEARLY TO PRESERVE THE PURITY OF THE RACE AND THE RELIGION” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. 22, p. 458).

The following is from the same source and summarizes these historical observations: “Among the ancient nations of the East, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE JEWS, prostitution appears to have been connected with religious worship, and to have been not merely tolerated but encouraged.” Only in the worship of the true God was this sexual perversion not found. When obeyed, God’s laws protected Israel’s purity.

Israel was more than willing to commit idolatry when adultery was included. Concerning this, Paul wrote in Colossians 3:5-6, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.”

Such lusts of the flesh are covetousness which, in turn, leads to idolatry—breaking the seventh, tenth and second commandments. Ephesians 5:5 confirms this: “For this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

The wrath of God came upon those who committed adultery with the Moabite and Midianite women that Balaam had gathered. Numbers 25:9 shows that 24,000 died as a result of this sin. The penalty of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Leviticus 20:10 reads, “And the man that commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he that commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” God promised swift and severe punishment for those who committed adultery. They became an example used to in still fear in others.