Hi brothers and sisters,
This seems to be a very touchy subject for some. I have a question. Can any here on this forum provide scripture or scriptures (we need a witness) showing that God is okay with a man and a woman living together without being husband and wife? There have been many scriptures given in support of marriage, but I have yet to see any supporting just living together. Forget about what you or I think or feel, what does the scriptures say. Are we here for the truth or not? Regardless of how good are analogies are and how we can justify in our own minds....is it supported by scripture?
I found this article and would like to share a part of it.
Though there are some cultures in the Ancient Near East which were matriarchal in structure, Israel's was not one of them. Israel's family life was dominated by the husband (Pedersen, p. 61). When a marriage occurred the husband took his wife from her home and "ruled" over her, following the pattern of Genesis 3:16: To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." (Preuss, p. 103). Yet the Israelites "never went so far as the Muhammadan poet who says that mothers of mankind are only 'vessels' which receive the children without leaving any impress on them" (Pedersen, p. 61).
Because the husband was the dominant member of the family, he was given the title of lib (Ba'al) which meant "lord", "master of the house", "leader of the family circle" and not "master" (which would have been ]da "Adon") Compare 2 Kings 5:13, Judges 18:19, and 2 Kings 2:12.
The fact that some men remained single was an anomaly in ancient Israel, as we learn from Jeremiah 16. After all, it "is not good for the man to be alone", and a good wife is a gift from Yahweh (Pro. 18:22; Preuss, p. 104). We have, so far as I know, no reports of women who are commanded to remain single in Ancient Israel. Marriage was the norm.
The wife was to be taken from within the larger family circle (usually at the outset of puberty or around the age of 13) in order to maintain the purity of the family line; but she could not be too closely related as is shown by Leviticus 18.
You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.
The marriage was official when the betrothal took place. "There was no religious rite that was performed with the concluding of the marriage, although there was a feast at the conclusion of the festivities (Gen 29:27, Judg 14:10)"(Preuss, p. 104). A betrothed woman was, in the eyes of the people, legally married. When the marriage itself was consumated the husband received the wife and the family of the wife received a "dowry" (Pedersen, p. 68). This payment was made because, as the wife's family had given their flesh and blood the husband's family was bound to gives order to maintain balance between the families. The payment of the rhm (mohar, or "dowry") was simply compensation for the loss of the daughter's labor and should not be considered as a wedding gift (Preuss, p. 104).
Now I realize that we are not under the law, but we still have an obligation to the law within our spirit and this law of the Spirit is a much more demanding law than the law of Moses. As the Lord's people we need to be beyond reproach and the only way we can do that is in spirit. I doubt that our spirit with the Holy Spirit would do anything against the law of God or give the appearance that we are doing something contrary to God's laws.
In Him,
Dwight