Now I contend that God did have a wedding ceremony for Adam and Eve. I think the scriptures prove it, if you put all the scriptures together. God did the creating, He brought them together, Adam accepted that and the wife obviously went along with it, although you don’t see Eve collaborating here at all. He said I take her to be my wife, God said good I’m going to bless you now and I want you to come together sexually as one flesh. I’m going to give you one name, you’re going to be one flesh - one name. Have children and all this good food is for you. I say this is a wedding, this is a ceremony. So the idea that, ‘well they didn’t have a ceremony, they just decided to go to bed and become husband and wife.’ It’s not true. Read the scriptures, all of them.
You know there may be more scriptures, I mean I just put this together in basically a day. There was a lot to put together, but I was even doing others things too…. I answered emails…. ran errands, whatever else I had to do. So if I would have spent weeks on this, who knows what else you could come up with. There may be a lot more that I overlooked. But I think there is enough here to make the point. What is a wedding? What is a marriage? Okay that is just the first point of what is a marriage.
(2) Now from the scriptural point of view, marriage is a covenant. I’m going to quote some excerpts that I took from Rotherham’s translation, rather than King James.
Malachi 2:14 “Yet ye say, For what cause? Because, Yahweh, hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, with whom, thou, hast dealt treacherously, though, she, (here is where we learn one more aspect of what God has to say constitutes a marriage) was thy consort, and thy covenant wife.”
What does God throw in here as a necessary part of being legally married and being a husband and a wife? A covenant! We saw from the traditions of Israel, even the espousal, even the engagement was legal.
They have found actual marriage contracts, Jewish marriage contracts that go back to the 5th century B.C. So this idea of, ‘well they didn’t have ceremonies.’ Yes they did. In fact Malachi was written about 500 B.C.
(3) Jesus used a wedding ceremony in a parable. Matt. 22:8 “Then saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready (what is the wedding? The ceremony, the wedding is the ceremony), but they which were bidden were not worthy.”
Are we bidding people here to the married couples’ house or into their bedroom while they are having intercourse or something? This is the CEREMONY of getting married. He puts His approval on the ceremony, because that’s what the wedding is. The wedding is the marriage ceremony, that’s what it is. Christ is putting His approval on it and building a parable around it.
(4) Christ’s first miracle was at a wedding. It says a marriage in the King James, but it should be wedding. The only place where that word ‘marriage’ really fits is in Heb. 13:4, where it says the bed is undefiled and so on. Where Concordant has it translated matrimony. This was a wedding! He was invited, He came, He puts His approval on it by turning water into wine and contributing to the marriage festivities, the marriage supper.
(5) We are espoused or betrothed to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2 “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” This is talking about the betrothal, the espousal even before the wedding ceremony.
Why does He call us espoused to Christ? Because we are not married yet to Christ. When are we to be married to Christ? When does the scripture say? In the resurrection, right. What is that marriage? What does it say in Rev. 19:7 that we are going to have? “…For the marriage of the Lamb has come…” It’s a wedding ceremony! It uses the word marriage twice there, in chapter 19. It says marriage, but that’s the contract or the covenant.
Then in verse 9 it adds a word to marriage, “the marriage supper.” This is all part of the festivities of a marriage ceremony, not marriage itself.
(6) Numerous times God likens His spiritual union with His Elect saints to that of the physical espousal, physical wedding ceremony and physical wedding supper or feast, with little mention of the conditions of the later marriage itself.
Isa 62:5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over you.
So when we read ‘marriage’ in the Bible, especially in the New Test. You are going to have to readjust your thinking. It is not talking about the marriage state, it’s talking about the getting married. Always, getting married, the ceremony.
(7) Jesus likewise likens His spiritual union with the Elect, with virgins waiting for Christ the Bridegroom to return for a wedding (Matt. 25:10). A wedding - the ceremony and wedding feast/supper of a marriage.
He’s called the Bridegroom. You know what a Bridegroom is, that is somebody who is not yet exchanged the vows or oath to become the husband. That's why He is the Bridegroom. It all has to do with before marriage and during the ceremony and the supper and the festivities connected with it, almost every place you read it in the Bible.
What this person says in the email is not true, it is totally off base.
(08) Sex outside of marriage is adultery and whoredom, by definition. Of course most people are guilty of that, yours truly included. But that is the fact, it is called adultery and whoredom.
Heb 13:4 Marriage (matrimony) is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Marriage would probably been better translated matrimony, that is actually the marriage state, when a couple are married and living together as husband and wife. That institution there, matrimony. But notice what He contrasts it with… matrimony is honorable, what is matrimony? It’s somebody who went through a wedding with exchanging of vows and forming a covenant.
What if you don‘t do that? What about people who say, ‘well, I just want to live together and have sex and never get married.’ They never commit and they say, ‘I don‘t want a piece of paper, she knows I love her.’ Yea well you just keep telling yourself that and maybe she doesn’t know that, maybe you’ve halfway convinced her.
Notice what He contrast it with… matrimony. The marriage institution is honorable and the bed undefiled - having sex together as a husband and wife. The word undefiled, that’s kind of a semi-negative to me, the word is pure. Why put undefiled? The word is pure. The marriage bed between a husband and wife is pure in God’s eyes. It’s pure to have sex with your wife or your mate, that’s pure.
But notice what the opposite is, if it’s not marriage, “…but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” If you are not in matrimony in your wedding bed, what does God consider you? A whoremonger and a adulterer. Now do I need to read Rev. 21:8, “All whoremongers will find their place in the Lake of fire.” Is that not clear enough there? People don’t put these things together. If you are not married, but you live together, you are a whoremonger and adulterer.
So how important is this ‘piece of paper’ as people like to spit it out. It’s very important. Not that the piece of paper itself is necessarily important. But what the piece of paper represents, a formal ceremony in public with witnesses, making a contract through nuptial oaths in agreement to be a husband and wife, that’s very important to God. Very important.
(9) Marriage comes under the category of;
Rom 13:7 Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
This is talking about the laws of the land, the governments, the enforcement people and everything else, and all of the regulations that come out of cities and counties and so on. “…tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom…” You may be familiar with someone who has as much as spit on this. You don’t just have to obey the laws, it says you have to obey the customs too.
The person in the email says, there is no law that says I can’t live with another person. There is no ‘law of the land’ that says that. Yes that is true, but there is also no law that says if you do live with a person you are legally husband and wife and you can claim all of the benefits that go along to a husband and wife. So maybe it’s not a iron clad law that they will put you in jail for, but it is a custom.
Is marriage not a custom in the western world and everywhere else in the world? Lets face it, every civilized nation on earth has weddings, right. To make two people living together, legally husband and wife, every nation on earth has that. Now maybe it’s not a law where they put you in jail, but it’s certainly a custom.
Paul says you need to honor custom to whom custom and if you don’t you’re sinning. It’s as simple as that, “custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” Even tribute, you need a license that you have to pay for, that’s tribute. You say, ‘I don’t want to pay for it.’ It’s the law.
You say, ‘I know how to drive a car and I don’t need a license to drive a car.’ Yes you do, actually you do. You don’t need a license to physically be able to drive a car, but you see there is laws and if you break the laws you’re sinning. So I don’t see where God says… show me where the Bible says, you need a license to drive a car. I have people so stupid that say things like that.
They will say, ‘show me in the Bible where it says you can’t smoke marijuana or take drugs, where is it, show me that.’ Actually I can show you that come to think of it. I do know some places that I can show you that, back in Revelation, ‘porneia.’ But they will say, ‘you show me that in the Bible.’ That is stupid, “custom to whom custom,” that’s where it is, it comes under a principle. You have to learn principles, right.
So proper marriage and licensing fulfill every one of these ‘tribute to whom tribute, custom to whom custom,” you see. Therefore we should do it.
(10) 1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
This is kind of important, right.
v. 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
And what is the first thing they do?
v. 3 forbidding to marry…
You can lay this verse directly at the door steps of the Catholic church, where they forbid priests to marry. Now they have a right to do that, but what does it produce? What does that doctrine of devils forbidding men, who are filled with testosterone, what does it produce? It produces a whole plethora of priests who have sex with little boys, that’s what it produces. It’s a sin and it stinks to high heaven.
The word ‘marry’ there is forbidding to wed, forbidding to take the marriage ceremony, ritual, covenant, nuptials, oaths… all for the doctrines of devils. So can we see how important this is?
Yes I know that I have said many times, nothing you do physical can make you spiritual. I know I have said that, and I stick by that. Even today I’ll say doing this properly and taking the vows properly, legally with a license before witnesses to have a legal marriage is a physical thing. It will not make you spiritual, it will not. It may help to make you spiritual if everything else be equal and right. But by itself it won’t make you spiritual. But it still is the right thing to do. Getting a drivers license to drive a car won’t make you spiritual either, but it’s the right thing to do.
~What you do physically can make you smell like a rose or stink like a pig. That’s physical right. So it doesn’t matter? Physical… physical… physical, throw it all away? No! We are physical creatures. I took a shower before I came in front of you today, I don’t want to smell like a pig.
~What you do physically can make you healthy or make you sick. So does it matter what you do physically? Duh.
~What you do physically can insure your rights or land you in jail. Does it matter what you do physically?
~What you do physically can keep you safe or kill you.
~What you do physically can make legitimate sons or illegitimate bas*ards. I’m bringing this into the marriage thing here.
This ‘we don’t need to be married, no.’ Okay, send your kids to school and let everybody say, ‘how come you have a different name than your daddy? Oh they are not married, they say they are, but they are not married like my mom and dad. Your mom and dad are living in adultery, that what the preacher says.’
It doesn’t matter how righteous you think you are, you are putting your kids in an awkward position, just having different names. Why? Because you’re too proud to legally get married.
~What you do physically can be a bed of fornication or an undefiled bed of marriage.
~What you do physically can make you, two fornicators or one legal flesh.
Wedlock/Marriage/Matrimony - All synonymous.
It’s all physical here, not spiritual. We could add the spiritual dominion to it, but today I’m talking about physical. What I think we are seeing here today, is to marry, to wed, matrimony, marriage, wedlock, espousal… these are all things that mean virtually the same thing. It’s the coming together legally with a license in public before witnesses, before God exchanging vows, making a covenant and then having a wedding feast. Because now you have done it right and proper and your friends are happy for you and you’re not off in a bed someplace, saying ‘oh we’re husband and wife now.’
Heb 12:8 But if you are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then you are bas*ards and not sons.
God talks about if you don’t live the way He says, you are not sons, but what? Bas*ards. What are bas*ards? Illegitimate children of a illegitimate marriage. Don’t you get the feeling God thinks it should be done legally, He doesn’t like this thing of bas*ards. You want to get spiritual, now we are spiritual. If you don’t obey God the way He wants you to and take His correction, He considers you a spiritual bas*ard. Now that’s God’s analogy not mine.
So what does God think of having children out of wedlock? Not much and you say, ‘oh but we are married.’ No you are not. We just went through espousal, betrothal, wed, wedding, matrimony, marry, marriage… we went through every word and if you just got together to fornicate you are not married. It’s plain and simple.
Here is an interesting thought. When you are legally married not only does God consider you ‘one,’ but so does the state. If you are not legally married they don’t consider it the same. So if you legally married you are considered ‘one.’ Are there legal ramifications to that? Tax, social security all kinds of things. But guess what, if you yourself are in trouble, what benefit is there if you are legally married? If either one is charged with a crime and you are legally married to that person, they can not make you testify against the other. Why? Because just like God they consider you ‘one.’ It would be like testifying against yourself. Isn’t that interesting.
How far would you take this nonsense?
Saying, ‘well we took each other for husband and wife.’ When? ‘Today.’ When did you meet? ‘Today.’ What about that? People run off to Vegas, they only know each other two days and they get married. They are legally married, yes they are.
Well what about the email I got. If you just have to say, I love you as a husband and wife, and we’re married. So you could do this the very day you met. The first night… a one night stand, you go to bed and say I take you as my wife or whatever and now you are married? But what if that’s all it is, a one night stand and then you split up. So are you still married? Can you marry somebody else? By this man’s own admission they are husband and wife.
Let’s say they are together a year. After a year of fornicating outside of marriage, they say, ‘let’s take each other as husband and wife. But we’re not going to have a ceremony, we’re not going to swear an oath, we’re not going to have an covenant, we’re not going to have witnesses, we’re not going to have a license, we’re not going to have it done legally, we’re not going to do it by the custom of the land you know. We’ll do it right here in bed.’ Now it’s a year or two later and they hate each other and they split. Does this person really tell me that for the rest of his life, he’s going to consider he’s married to that woman? I mean I may have been born at night, but not last night. He would no more consider himself married.
But now for arguments sake, to fight the system, you come across the super pious and religious and spiritual person and he’s got this spiritual marriage. There doesn’t need to be a marriage, it’s going to just be what he says and what he believes. So if they were together for a year or so, would they get a legal divorce, with a piece of paper? What if she claimed for the rest of his life, half of what he has is hers. Do you think he would go along with that? Probably not. What if he found another that he wanted to marry one night in bed? You think he would first say to his other ‘wife’ lets have a spiritual divorce together.
Don’t you see the nonsense of it. The total foolishness of the whole thing. Not to mention things like you wouldn’t be eligible for the persons social security, whatever benefits you could have gotten, if you were a legal mate, according to the custom of the land and so on.
Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
v. 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.
So Jesus did not even contradict the aspect of divorce, you know when they came to Him and said, can a man divorce for any reason. He said that if you put away your wife or divorced her, except it be for a cause of fornication or immorality - ‘porneia’ is the word, then you cause that person, if they go out and find another mate, then you cause them to commit adultery. You had no right to divorce that person.
Now He doesn’t say it specifically, but you can deduce, you know you can lawfully, legally and rightly deduce from what is said, something that isn’t said. If you shouldn’t divorce for that, “except for fornication,” that means for fornication, you can divorce. So if Jesus Christ is putting His approval on a certain aspect of immorality where divorce can be involved, than He is also backing up the fact, that it was a legal marriage until the divorce came about.
Jesus does not contradict divorcement. If adultery is involved, Jesus okays the marriage of a divorced person.
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Topic: WHAT IS MARRIAGE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biblestudy Feb. 2007 (Read 12082 times)