Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should
your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public
square? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your
fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the spouse of your youth. May your
love endure forever. ~Proverbs 5:16-19
Another thing you do: you flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring. So, guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ~Malachi 3:13-15
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. ~Hebrews 13:5
Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. ~1 Peter 3:7
Some Pharisees came to Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” He replied, “That at the beginning the creator made them male and female,” and said, “for this reason a man shall leave his Father and Mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh”? So, they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” ~Matthew 19:3-6
Well, I could have gone on for pages, quoting passage after passage, from scripture, on God’s view of marriage. In the passage from Matthew 19, Jesus refers to the first marriage, in the garden, way before sin entered the world. Marriage has always been God’s idea. Just as we humans are stamped with the image of God and thus satan is determined to destroy us, so he is also determined to destroy marriage, as God’s first creation, after creation itself. Satan absolutely hates marriage and is determined to do all he can to destroy not just humans, but the commitments of marriage and family as God’s best design for us to thrive.
God designed marriage as the best allegory He could think of, to give us a picture of His relationship with man. In Ezekiel, Israel is His beloved orphan. In Hosea, Israel is His wayward wife. The church, in Revelation is known as the Bride of Christ and He has declared Himself the bridegroom. Paul says, in his discourse on the matter in Ephesians 5: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Eph. 5:31-32) There is no more powerful example of love known to man than the healthy, marital relationship. Yesterday, we talked about allegory when we talked about the loaf of bread. Marriage is the living allegory of God’s relationship with man.
Most people desire to be married, and studies have proven that those who have a good marriage are healthier for it. When we hear of marriages that have survived 50, 60 or more years, the news is always greeted with applause as an accomplishment. Sadly, today, even Kathy and I experience that same adulation though we’re only coming up on 38 years, which is a testimony to how hard the struggle is to keep a marriage going for a lifetime.
We must acknowledge that marriage is hard work. It is the attempt, by two sinners, to keep a commitment that was often made in the late teens or early twenties, when, in truth, we didn’t really know as much as we thought we did about life and challenges. Stuff happens and things change. It’s hard to hang on through the tough stuff. What is it like to lose a child, or deal with a rebellious one? What are the stresses in buying or building a house, or dealing with a crippling car accident? Jobs, bills, in-laws, are all unpredictable unknowns that blindside us and confuse us, not knowing which way to turn.
Unfortunately, many seek a way out, hoping for a do over. Solomon cautioned against this strategy over the past few days, so we don’t need to dwell on that any more here. What we do need to do is pray for marriage, because it is under attack as never before. In later passages, we will deal more with the wife’s part in marriage, but the passages today are addressed more to men and their responsibility to hold on to that promise that they made in their youth. Most assuredly, none of us knew exactly what we were getting into, but our marriages, and especially today, husbands, need all the prayer support we can give for God’s strength, to lead well and cherish what they have.
Prayer: Today I pray for young people just starting out in their marriages. I pray for them to value and honor the moral structure of God's design for human relationships. I pray to make my self available as a mentor to younger couples to also pray with them and talk with them about the wisdom of living according to your word, and encourage them to do so, for their blessing and your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.
Song: I Will Be Here
Another thing you do: you flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring. So, guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ~Malachi 3:13-15
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. ~Hebrews 13:5
Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. ~1 Peter 3:7
Some Pharisees came to Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” He replied, “That at the beginning the creator made them male and female,” and said, “for this reason a man shall leave his Father and Mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh”? So, they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” ~Matthew 19:3-6
Well, I could have gone on for pages, quoting passage after passage, from scripture, on God’s view of marriage. In the passage from Matthew 19, Jesus refers to the first marriage, in the garden, way before sin entered the world. Marriage has always been God’s idea. Just as we humans are stamped with the image of God and thus satan is determined to destroy us, so he is also determined to destroy marriage, as God’s first creation, after creation itself. Satan absolutely hates marriage and is determined to do all he can to destroy not just humans, but the commitments of marriage and family as God’s best design for us to thrive.
God designed marriage as the best allegory He could think of, to give us a picture of His relationship with man. In Ezekiel, Israel is His beloved orphan. In Hosea, Israel is His wayward wife. The church, in Revelation is known as the Bride of Christ and He has declared Himself the bridegroom. Paul says, in his discourse on the matter in Ephesians 5: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Eph. 5:31-32) There is no more powerful example of love known to man than the healthy, marital relationship. Yesterday, we talked about allegory when we talked about the loaf of bread. Marriage is the living allegory of God’s relationship with man.
Most people desire to be married, and studies have proven that those who have a good marriage are healthier for it. When we hear of marriages that have survived 50, 60 or more years, the news is always greeted with applause as an accomplishment. Sadly, today, even Kathy and I experience that same adulation though we’re only coming up on 38 years, which is a testimony to how hard the struggle is to keep a marriage going for a lifetime.
We must acknowledge that marriage is hard work. It is the attempt, by two sinners, to keep a commitment that was often made in the late teens or early twenties, when, in truth, we didn’t really know as much as we thought we did about life and challenges. Stuff happens and things change. It’s hard to hang on through the tough stuff. What is it like to lose a child, or deal with a rebellious one? What are the stresses in buying or building a house, or dealing with a crippling car accident? Jobs, bills, in-laws, are all unpredictable unknowns that blindside us and confuse us, not knowing which way to turn.
Unfortunately, many seek a way out, hoping for a do over. Solomon cautioned against this strategy over the past few days, so we don’t need to dwell on that any more here. What we do need to do is pray for marriage, because it is under attack as never before. In later passages, we will deal more with the wife’s part in marriage, but the passages today are addressed more to men and their responsibility to hold on to that promise that they made in their youth. Most assuredly, none of us knew exactly what we were getting into, but our marriages, and especially today, husbands, need all the prayer support we can give for God’s strength, to lead well and cherish what they have.
Prayer: Today I pray for young people just starting out in their marriages. I pray for them to value and honor the moral structure of God's design for human relationships. I pray to make my self available as a mentor to younger couples to also pray with them and talk with them about the wisdom of living according to your word, and encourage them to do so, for their blessing and your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.
Song: I Will Be Here
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