2008-02-22
Good Morning Gods Treasures,
Do we realize making poorly thought out decisions regarding marriage eventually becomes a serious economic issue, both the family unit that is about to break up and for the state? We know that God has set up marriage as His desired construct for us to live- marriage between one man and one woman for life. GN 2: 22-24, "He [God] formed woman out of the rib and brought her to him. Then the man said, 'At last, here is one of my own kind-bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. 'Woman' is her name because she was taken out of man.' That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one." However, God did not set down at what age marriage should take place or with which woman. That has been left to mankind to decide in our times. In previous times, the parents of the couple made that decision, but that practice has been dropped long ago, except in parts of the Middle East in very conservative Islamic households. The marriages that took place in Laban's household in the Bible fell under that kind of system, which is why Jacob was indentured to Laban [his father-in-law] for an extra seven years in order to marry the lady of his dreams, Rachel [GN 29: 20, 23, 28-30]. We all know the story of how Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his eldest daughter, Leah, first. That is why the groom in a Jewish wedding always lifts the bride's veil before the actual service to make sure he is marrying the right bride.
My intent today, however, is to look at the economic issues brought about by what happens with marriages and the lack of them in the past and in today's society. For a marriage to be successful, the parties entering into it must be emotionally and spiritually mature enough to make the decision to marry, and they must be each other's best human friends. That's saying a lot, in view of the 52 % of poorly conceived marriages that occur in our society. How many marriages do we know are put together solely because of the grand physical passion felt by the parties involved? We are told by dog Psychologist Cesar Millan that dogs live only in the moment. Sadly, the same is true for people entering into this kind of union. Age, maturity, time to build a mutually trusting friendship, time to become focused on a career choice, etc. between the parties to such a marriage are shelved in favor of jumping into the marriage. We should hate to think of how many marriages take place because the bride is already pregnant. I wish I could say this happens only in Hollywood, but I would be wrong. Consider too how some marital partners meet. Singles bars are used like "meat markets" for lonely people to pick up a potential mate. And then, there are computer services, where the potential partners can tell horrific lies about themselves and even place responders in untold danger at times. This is not to say that sometimes good marriages are begun by meeting one's mate this way, but the chances of this are poor indeed.
Have we ever wondered why God was vehemently opposed to intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles in past times? Part of this was an socio-economic issue. You'll remember that God apportioned land for Israel, around 1200-1020 BC, to each of the twelve tribes, the amount of which was according to the size of the tribe. Manasseh and Gad were the largest, and Benjamin, Issachar, and Zebulun were the smallest. Books of rules for Jewish life, like LV, had many boundaries set up for what was rightful and what was not for marriage. EZRA 9: 2-3, speaks of holy and unholy marriage. "Jewish men were marrying foreign women, and so God's holy people had become contaminated. The leaders and officials were the chief offenders. When I heard this, I tore my clothes in despair tore my hair and my beard, and sat down crushed with grief." With intermarriage, land fell out of Jewish hands, land that God had given the Jews by divine right! And this doesn't even bring up the disasters that came out of poorly conceived political alliances achieved through marriages between individuals from other countries with Jewish leaders. 1 K 3: 1 is an example. "Solomon made an alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to live in David's city until he had finished building his palace, the temple, and the wall around Jerusalem." In the end, Solomon turned away from God – surely influenced by his marriages to foreign wives [1 K 11: 1-13]. And today, Israel is no larger than the state of NJ, because of these ill-conceived marriages and trading land for so-called peace with her neighbors. We must believe that all these ill-conceived marriages and alliances unholy to God have had a tremendously adverse economic impact on Israel and even in the lives of many divorcing couples today in our own society. In my own experience with divorce, the only winners were the lawyers. If that sounds cynical, it's borne out of first-hand experience. The question is: Is there a remedy for this tragedy? That will be the subject of next week's message.
PRAYER: O Lord, we inherit and commit sin, because that is our natural selves. Only a God as wonderful as You, would recognize our need for Your intervention in our lives and reach down to us with the Covenant of Grace. We cannot boast about such an offer of escape from certain death as being due to anything we either did or deserved. Instead, You gave us Your Son on the cross as the perfect and acceptable "Sin-sacrifice," so that a way could be opened for our salvation [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; HE 10: 10]. And all we have to do is to repent of our sins and come to faith in Him. The ability to do this and thus, open the way to victory over spiritual death, is a gift of incalculable value to us from You. Through Paul's words in GA 5: 16-17, we have understanding of the opposite nature of the flesh and the Spirit. The plea for us to let the Spirit direct our lives, in (16), should never be taken lightly. Only a God Who loves His human creation beyond measure and is compassionate would make it clear that we, as Your "new creations in union with Jesus Christ" [2 COR 5: 17], would express Your desire for us to know You, as You do in COL 3: 10, "This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in His own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of Himself." We don't have to ask why You want us to know You better. You have told us that the alternative to obedient faith is certain spiritual death, i.e. eternally conscious torment in hell. That choice is unthinkable! Unwise marriages, having sexual relations and children out of wedlock, and other foolish choices lead to socio-economic problems that no one wants. Innocent children are made to suffer, because their parents don't make wise choices. Lord, You know that unholy alliances have caused the economic and social destruction of many societies. With the breakdown of family units comes the breakdown of society. Therefore, we beseech You to intervene in our lives to give us the mid-course corrections we so badly need. We ask you to make Your direction in our lives clear and to give us the courage and obedient faithfulness to follow them. PS 25: 4-5, "Teach me Your ways, O Lord; make them known to me. Teach me to live according to Your truth, for You are my God, Who saves me. I always trust in You." We love You, Dearest Abba. Today and always, we offer You our honor, trust, loyalty, open hearts, thanks, and praise. In Christ's mighty and holy name, we pray. Amen.
As I mentioned above, next week's devotion will be about a possible remedy for ill-conceived marriages. Our God, Who loves us so very much, never leaves us dangling in the wind with regard to our troubles. Read carefully this plea from David. PS 31: 3-5, "Your are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as Your have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God." Now, pay close attention to God's response seen in PS 40: 1-3a, "I waited patiently for the Lord's help; then He listened to me and heard my cry. He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on a Rock and made me secure. He taught me to sing a new song, a song of praise to our God." God doesn't offer this kind of response only to David. I can attest from first-hand experience that He has offered it to me and to many people I know. Will He do the same for you? Of course He will! It would be illogical for God to detest a being created in His own image [GN 1: 27]. What God abhors is sin, especially the kind that is made into a lifestyle, the kind in which someone who has been made aware of God makes the conscious choice to reject Him. When a person who is a sinner chooses to repent of that sin and believe in the truth of the Gospel, God is a forgiving Deity. PS 32: 1, "O, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!" HE 8: 12 reveals something I find amazing about our God's forgiveness. "I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs." Our God wants nothing more than to bring us back to His side in heaven for lives of sweet fellowship with Him and bliss. HE 8: 13, "By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear." Food for thought? You bet! Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn