Continuing our word study, I want to talk about the first time in the Bible the word "therefore" is used.
Genesis 2:24 - "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
Therefore - "there for" what? Read verses 18-23. Those verses show how God had created a mate for every single creature in the world except for Adam. God saw that His creation was not complete until Adam had a mate, too. So, He created Eve - right from Adam's rib! Immediately when Adam awoke from his deep sleep, he recognized Eve as someone very special. The very first marriage happened that day in the Garden of Eden.
Then God writes verse 24 and says "therefore...". Ok - remember: this was in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were the first parents....they did not have father or mother. So why did God write this right now?
God said this now to set the pattern for marriage for all of mankind. Even though He knew that man would eventually mess up God's plan for marriage, He still wanted the entire world to know what He called marriage looked like - and the marriage He performed for Adam and Eve is the reason, the "therefore", for how He expects all other marriages to be performed as well.
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Bible Reading: Proverbs 6, 2 John (don't worry, it's just a one-chapter book ;) )
What a great lesson of what God wants our marriages to be.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered just how that first marriage must have been---before sin corrupted their perfect relationship. I don't think our minds can even conceive just how divine it really was. And, even though because of our fallen natures our marriages face obstacles, marriage is STILL the spiritual picture of Christ and His church.
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