Genesis 2.22-25-The First Marriage
Sunday August 21, 2005
Genesis: Genesis 2:22-25-The First Marriage
Lesson # 13
Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 2:18.
This morning we will be studying Genesis 2:22-25, which records for us the first marriage in human history that was arranged by and presided over by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Genesis 2:18, “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’”
Genesis 2:19, “Out of the ground the LORD God formed (yatsar, “to produce from existing material”) every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.”
Genesis 2:20, “The man gave names to all the cattle (behemah, “domestic animals”), and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast (chayyath, “wild animals”) of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”
Genesis 2:21, “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs (Hebrew: mitsal`othav, “portion of his side”) and closed up the flesh at that place.”
Genesis 2:22, “The LORD God fashioned (Hebrew: banah, “to build, construct”) into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.”
Notice, that Adam was created first and then Eve thus constituting a divine order between the sexes meaning that the man was designed to be the authority over the woman even though she was his equal (1 Tim. 2:12-14; 1 Cor. 11:1-12).
1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.”
The fact that Adam was asleep while the Lord provided a partner for him is a lesson for Christian men who are single to not to worry about not having a mate but rather to trust in the Lord to graciously provide you a wife when He sees fit.
The fact that the woman was brought to the man by the Lord is a lesson for Christian men who are single to not impatiently or frantically search out a mate but rather to wait for the Lord to bring her into your life.
Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.”
The fact that Adam was asleep while the Lord surgically removed a portion of his side for the construction of his wife is a lesson to Christian men who are single that when the Lord provides a wife, it will be painless.
The fact that the woman was constructed from a portion of Adam’s side and not from his head to rule over him, nor from his feet to be trampled upon by him, indicates that she was to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.
She was to take her share of responsibility and to love him and be loved by him.
Genesis 2:23, “The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’”
“Woman” is the noun `ishshah (hv*a!), which denotes the woman as the physical counterpart of man and is used in the sense of a wife to whom the man is to be completely committed.
Notice that Adam receives the woman with delight.
Proverbs 18:22, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.”
Proverbs 31:10, “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.”
Adam immediately recognized that this woman was his partner and equal so we could say that it was love at first sight.
Genesis 2:24, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
“Joined” is the verb davaq (qb^D*), which expresses the concept of clinging to someone with affection and loyalty, which finds its expression in sexual intercourse.
The phrase “become one flesh” refers to the fact that there was a complete identification of personality between Adam and the woman in interests, pursuits, which was consummated in sexual intercourse.
Genesis 2:25, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”
The fact that Adam and Ishshah were not embarrassed about being naked is an expression of their sinless perfection at this particular time and sin always makes a person self-conscious.
The divine institution of marriage was established for the entire human race, both believers and unbelievers and is to be honored.
Hebrews 13:5, “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
Husbands and wives are commanded in the Word of God to not withhold sex from each other but rather are to fulfill each other’s needs since the husband has authority over his wife’s body and the wife has authority over her husbands.
1 Corinthians 7:1, “Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.”
1 Corinthians 7:2, “But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.”
1 Corinthians 7:3, “The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.”
1 Corinthians 7:4, “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.”
1 Corinthians 7:5, “Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
Christian marriage is to reflect the loving and caring relationship between Christ and the Church.
The responsibility of the wife in Christian marriage appears in Ephesians 5:22-24.
Ephesians 5:22, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”
Ephesians 5:23, “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”
Ephesians 5:24, “But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.”
The responsibility of the husband in Christian marriage appears in Ephesians 5:25-29.
Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”
Ephesians 5:26, “so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.”
Ephesians 5:27, “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
Ephesians 5:28, “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.”
Ephesians 5:29, “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church.”
Ephesians 5:30, “because we are members of His body.”
Ephesians 5:31, “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”
Ephesians 5:32, “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.”
Ephesians 5:33, “Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”
The greatest problems in marriage arises from selfishness by one or both partners in marriage, thus marriage demands “unselfishness.”
Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.”
Now, from a comparison of the Scriptures that we have noted this morning, we can see that there are three basic reasons for the institution of marriage.
(1) Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
(2) Genesis 2:18b, “I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
(3) 1 Corinthians 7:2, “But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.”
The directive will of God is that marriage was originally designed to be a life long commitment (Gen. 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6), but the permissive will of God has permitted divorce because of the fallen nature of man and negative volition to the Word of God on the part of one or both partners (Matt. 19:7-8).
An example where the Lord permitted a believer to divorce his wife and remarry is Moses who according to Exodus 18:2 divorced his first wife Zipporah because she refused to obey the Lord’s commandment to circumcise his boys (Ex. 4:25; Lev. 12:2-3) and according to Numbers 12:1, Moses got remarried to a Cushite woman.