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The origin of marriage was
established by God with Adam and Eve. In fact, marriage and the
Sabbath were given by God at Creation before Adam and Eve ever disobeyed
God.
Just as the Sabbath has become
neglected by mankind, so has the commitment of marriage between a man and a
woman. In fact marriage has been treated as some relic from the past
that is seen as more of a hindrance than a blessing. Marriage has
become not something that God established, but rather something that
humankind has decided to redefine.
How can God's command to be
"fruitful and multiply" be fulfilled between two men having sexual relations
or two women having sexual relations? The truth is this: a
relationship between the same gender is not a biblical marriage.
A reading of the Bible
indicates that God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman, and
that marriage was to be monogamous.
Marriage and Divorce
God uses the covenant of
marriage to illustrate His relationship to Israel - His bride.
Jeremiah 2:2
"Go and
shout in the ears of Jerusalem that this is what Adonai says: 'I remember
your devotion when you were young; how, as a bride, you loved me; how you
followed me through the desert, through a land not sown."
He also
uses divorce to describe the unfaithfulness of Israel, and yet God does not
abandon her, but rather loves her and strives to woe her back to Him.
Jeremiah 3:20,
"But like a
faithless woman who betrays her husband, you, house of Israel, have betrayed
me," says Adonai.'"
Jeremiah 31:32
also says,
"It
will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took
them by their hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt; because they,
for their part, violated my covenant, even though I, for my part, was a
husband to them," says Adonai."
Although divorce was
permitted under the Torah, it was only allowed in certain circumstances -
namely adultery or inability to procreate to fulfill the commandment - be
fruitful and multiply.
This is what God says in Malachi 2:14-16 about the covenant of marriage and divorce,
"Adonai is witness
between you and the wife of your youth that you have broken faith with her,
though she is your companion, your wife by covenant. And hasn't he made
them one flesh in order to have spiritual blood-relatives? For what the one
flesh seeks is a seed from God. Therefore, take heed to your spirit, and
don't break faith with the wife of your youth. 'For I hate divorce,' says
Adonai the God of Israel."
It was never God's intent
that a husband's and wife's marriage covenant should end in divorce.
Although we find instances in the Bible where men had multiple wives, it was
not God's plan, it was man doing his own thing. Abraham is a good
example of the problems created when a man takes things into his own hands,
rather than relying on God's promise.
King Solomon is another
example of someone who became obsessed with himself and women - having 400
wives and 800 concubines. God was not pleased, and Solomon's family
and kingdom were negatively affected by his immorality. The result was
that Solomon's kingdom was not blessed by God.
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Same Sex Marriage
Yeshua (Jesus) made it
clear that marriage is between a man and a woman when he spoke in Matthew
19:3-12, "Some
Pharisees came and tried to entrap Yeshua (Jesus) by asking, "Is it
permitted for a man to divorce his wife on any ground whatever?" He
replied, "Haven't you read that at the beginning the Creator made them male
and female, and that he said, 'For this reason a man should leave his father
and mother and be united with his wife, and the two are to become one
flesh'? Thus they are no longer two, but one. So then, no one should split
apart what God has joined together." They said to him, "Then why did Moses
give the commandment that a man should hand his wife a get and divorce her?"
He answered, "Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because your hearts
are so hardened. But this is not how it was at the beginning. Now what I
say to you is that whoever divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual
immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery!" The disciples said
to him, "If that is how things are between husband and wife, it would be
better not to marry!" He said to them, "Not everyone grasps this teaching,
only those for whom it is meant. For there are different reasons why men do
not marry -- some because they were born without the desire, some because
they have been castrated, and some because they have renounced marriage for
the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever can grasp this, let him do so."
Some observations from this
scriptural passage in Matthew. First, Yeshua declares that marriage is
between a male and female. Secondly, he declares that divorce except
for adultery is unacceptable. Thirdly, he states that the reasons men
may decide not to get married are: (1) born with no desire for the
opposite sex; (2) castration; (3) or too involved with the Kingdom of
Heaven.
The Bible clearly teaches that
same sex marriage is not an option. Why? Because it just does
not fit the marriage model that God established at Creation.
In Matthew chapter 24, Yeshua the
Messiah gave his followers signs that would precede his return to this earth
at the second coming. In verses 37-38 he said
"For the Son of Man's
coming will be just as it was in the days of Noah. Back then, before the
Flood, people went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
right up till the day Noah entered the ark; and they didn't know what was
happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like
that when the Son of Man comes."
The controversy over same sex
marriage has biblical consequences. Rabbi Shaul (Paul) in
Galatians 6:7 writes,
"Be not deceived; God
is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap."
"Know this also, that in the last days,
perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful,
unholy,
without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady,
high-minded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
2 Timothy 3:1-5
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