My wife, Kelli, and I did our daily devotion this morning. It dealt with the subject of covering with grace all the little areas about each other that are frustrating. The writer used, as an example, the ways that many husbands load the dishwasher. Actually, he wrote of four ways:
- How our mothers taught us.
- How we do it at our mother-in-law’s home.
- How we do it (cramming it full, as fast as possible) when no one is watching.
- How our wife likes it.
The devotion ended with asking us to ‘share‘ the things that we ‘do‘, that are frustrating to each other. We were then supposed to ask, “Can you have enough grace to cover that frustration?”
Honestly… this morning’s devotion stunk.
I’ve been married for over 25 years now. I’m married to my best friend, truly. However, I learned this morning that there are actually things I do that are frustrating to her! Big shocker, right? This was followed by some interesting conversation… and then the need for some serious grace.
I’m reminded, once again, that Kelli and I aren’t perfect… not even close. However, the love that we have for each other is. Why? Because of Jesus’ involvement. When I do frustrating things, Kelli loves me anyway, because she loves me unconditionally, like Jesus loves her. Yes, she’s committed to me, but she’s even more committed to Jesus… and it is THAT commitment that causes her to pick up her cross, daily, and follow Him… by loving me, regardless of my many flaws. The same is true for the way that I love her… and cover her frustrating ‘habits’ with grace and unconditional love.
For Kelli and I, the ‘D-word’ (divorce) is a naughty and forbidden word to be used in our home. As followers of Jesus Christ, we see the call to follow Him radically, regardless of the frustrations and trials of life, as a mandate that we can never ignore. This means that divorce is simply NEVER an option.
There’s a story in the Bible where some Pharisees came to Jesus to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Matthew 19:3-6
I think it’s interesting that when asked about whether divorce for any reason is OK, Jesus quoted Genesis 1:27, which says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” In our way of reading this verse, it doesn’t have any connection to marriage, and also doesn’t relate to Jesus’ quotation from Genesis 2:24 that a man will leave his parents and be joined to his wife.
Knowing more about the way the creation of Adam and Eve was understood in Jesus’ time will help us. Twice in the first Book of the Bible, Genesis, it mentions the creation of mankind – first in Genesis 1:26-27: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Then, later, in Genesis 2, it says that God formed the man from the dust of the ground and then describes how woman was taken out of the first man.
If I’m being honest… when I first read these two creation accounts they seem to be in disagreement: Were both male and female created at the same time, as in 1:27, or was the man formed first and the woman later, as in chapter 2?
Now bear with me… the explanation might initially seem pretty crazy, but I believe it’s supported by the Scriptures in several places. From before Jesus’ time, it was understood, by those with a Hebraic mindset, that when God first formed the human, He somehow put both man and woman together in that person. Then, when Eve was taken out of Adam, it was because she existed before then too. The verse in chapter one that says that God created them “male and female” was read to mean that each original human was both male and female.
“Uhhhh… Michael… what the heck are you saying?”
I know, I know… but stick with me for a second. While this seems like a stretch, there are several other ways the text actually supports this unique idea. First, the word Adam is a neutral term for human, and before the creation of the woman, Adam is never referred to as a “man” – always just as “ha’adam” which means “the human.” It is only after Adam names Eve as ishah, woman, that he is referred to as ish, man. Also, when God “operates” on Adam, he takes out tzela echad – literally one side of him. The translation of tzela as “rib” occurs only here – everywhere else it refers to one “side” of something, like when the poles were inserted into each of the two sides of the ark of the covenant in Exodus 37:3. Perhaps a better way to describe the scene is that somehow God split Adam in half, and the other half was Eve, and they perfectly complemented each other, because they were once one person.
Looking again at Jesus’ words, if He read Genesis 1:27 the same way that other rabbis of His time did, it explains why Jesus would use this verse in terms of God’s intentions for marriage. Jesus is painting a beautiful picture when He connects that verse to “for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Here the image is that in marriage, a man and woman are reunited back together into one complete person, because somehow they were originally made together in the first place.
Part of the beauty of the image is in the Hebrew word dabaq, which is translated as “be united,” “cleave to,” “cling to,” or “hold fast.” Delightfully, the word can also mean “to fall in love with“! Genesis 34:3 says that “Shechem dabaq Dinah”, which is translated “was deeply attracted to her.” Also, 1 Kings 11:2 says that “Solomon dabaq his foreign wives in love”. Putting this together, Jesus is saying that because God took apart one whole being to make Adam and Eve, that is the reason why men and women fall in love and want to become one being once again, both physically and spiritually. When they are united in marriage, God Himself puts together what He separated at first, and no one should ever try to tear that apart.
This understanding sure makes Jesus’ response make more sense to these fellas trying to test Him in Matthew 19, and to me today. You see, if I can’t get along with my wife and I choose to divorce her, what I’m doing is, in a sense, playing God. For what He has joined together no man can tear apart. I’m trying to do what He did in the Garden of Eden when He divided ha’adam into ishah and ish.
God is God… you and I are not, just might be the real lesson that Jesus wants to get across to these guys who are asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” Jesus doesn’t answer in an obvious way… He could have… but He didn’t. He responded, ““Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” I am finding this very interesting to consider… I hope you do too.
I love this so much. Thank you, Michael, for shining Light into this particular bit of darkness.
Thanks for reading… and commenting Michelle. I pray all is going great for you. Please know that you are missed big time!
I so miss your preaching and teaching…love you both so much…thanks for sharing this, as always, it struck a chord of truth in my heart…don’t stop sharing and teaching…that’s what you were called to do.
So great to hear from you Sue! Give Dan a big kiss for me!
Kelli and I miss you both so very much!
This post is so interesting! I have never heard this perspective, though it makes sense to me. It leaves me with wanting to know more….how? When? Makin’ me think…. 🙂
Thinking is often considered dangerous!
Thanks for reading and commenting… God’s Word is always interesting!
Wow! Michael, you brought me to tears! Beautiful, thanks for bringing all the pieces together. God’s word is amazing to me, if you search and seek you will constantly learn new truth!!! Miss you all!!
Mandy, it’s awesome to hear from you! Thanks for reading and commenting! God’s Word is truly amazing!
As always you bring the Truth alive! It is a bittersweet reality to truly see how God intended things to be and how beautiful that reality should be, but sad how we so often fail to live it out!
Miss you! Love you both! Hugs to the whole family!
Thanks so much for this Jodi, you all are missed terribly!
Thanks for the good read 🙂 the Green’s sure do miss you! (A lot)!
The entire Green family is missed BIG TIME! Thanks for reading and commenting! Love you all!
Wow, makes me miss you all so much. You’re insights are such a gift l, thanks for continuing to use them. You all are so loved and miss always.
Miss you Hannah. Following you on Instagram, seems like you are doing awesome! Thanks for commenting, you rock!
I feel a little awkward being the first male to comment. But I shall be brave.
Perhaps I’m trying too hard for this to make sense. “The human” was complete and whole with both male and female components. Yet it was not good for the man (human) to be alone. So, God divided the human in half, male and female, and presented the female half to the male half so the male half could have the perfect helper he didn’t have before the division.
It is God who makes the observation that it is not good for man to be alone. The man was not complaining about his solitary situation. I think the “alone-ness” aspect has to be woven into the picture somehow.
And God certainly has a tendency of doing as He pleases since nobody has stopped Him yet. Everything He handles He takes apart and eventually puts back together again so that it’s larger, purer, and more able to appreciate who He is and how He works. If one can survive the ordeal, the outcome is fantastic!
As far as the Matt 19 passage, I always thought the Greek for “what God hath joined together” conveyed the idea of two being yoked together. What God has yoked together let no man separate, not someone outside the yoke, causing a division like a mistress OR someone inside the yoke, throwing the yoke in God’s face and quitting on the marriage.
Anyway, one man’s thoughts.
bce
(No charge, Pastor Michael – this should get some discussion going……:-)
Thanks for thoughtfully commenting on this Brett. I’ll try and reply to what you’ve brought up in a way that makes sense:
First, Genesis 2:20 states, “So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” It’s interesting that it is immediately after Adam names all the animals (who each had a ‘mate’ or ‘female counterpart’, that we read that Adam was “not found a helper comparable to him”. This is the ‘alone-ness’ of which you speak. He had no counterpart. I don’t see this being contrary to what I’m suggesting in this blog.
Second, the Greek for “what God hath joined together” is ‘syzeugnymi’, which is literally ‘to join together: joined together’ [Strongs] and Vine’s Expository Dictionary states that ‘to join/yoke together is used metaphorically of union in wedlock’. The word used in 2 Corinthians 6:14 [“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”] is ‘heterozygeo’. Paul, not Jesus, is the person speaking here, regardless, it’s a different word and would, in my opinion, be a HUGE stretch to make it say what you are suggesting: “What God has yoked together let no man separate, not someone outside the yoke, causing a division like a mistress OR someone inside the yoke, throwing the yoke in God’s face and quitting on the marriage”.
When Jesus responds like this, we must understand the ‘climate’ in which He lived. The issue of divorce [and remarriage] was the hot controversy of the day. There were basically two schools of thought proposed by two influential rabbis that actually fueled the debate. Hillel was the liberal rabbi who said that, according to the Law of Moses, there were many justifications for divorce. For example, saying anything negative about her husband’s mother would render a wife unclean and justify her husband divorcing her. Or if a husband saw a woman fairer to look upon than his wife, his wife would be unclean by comparison and he would be justified in divorcing her. Needless to say, Hillel had a great following among those looking for a way out of their marriages. Shammai, on the other hand, was very conservative and said there were virtually no grounds for divorce. Thus, the debate concerning divorce was as heated then as it is in the Church today. In answer to their question, Jesus said, “Go back further than the Law of Moses. Go back to the Garden of Eden, for there you will discover the root of the matter.”
Pastor Michael, thanks for drawing this out of the text. It seems to allow other things in the Bible to “fall into place” for me, especially in light of my brother Brett’s comments.
For instance, I’ve always been intrigued by Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Whenever I’ve been in a mentor/mentee relationship, regardless of which role I’m in, I always feel like I got the better end of the deal, that I’ve learned and grown more than my mentor/mentee.
And so I think of this verse. How does iron sharpen iron? What does iron have that iron doesn’t already have in order to make iron better? It seems, in a very real sense, God is doing something *ex nihilo,* literally creating something out of nothing. It’s as if God takes 2+2 and causes it to equal 5.
So in the marriage relationship, when male and female were created together in one human, it’s as if 2+2 were together in that human to equal 4. But then God did something amazing. He saw that it wasn’t good for man to be alone, in His abundant grace, He didn’t want to just give man 4. He wanted to give him 5. So God divided 4 in half, then took the two halves and added them back together again, only instead of getting 2+2=4, He gave us 2+2=5. He took what was existing, and somehow created more out of it.
So, if all of that is true, then I think Brett was dead-on when he said, “Everything He handles He takes apart and eventually puts back together again so that it’s larger, purer, and more able to appreciate who He is and how He works.”
So Pastor, the light of your explanation of Genesis 1 shines on other parts of the Bible and helps me understand them better too. Of course I’m not sure I have it right, and certainly not all worked out, but this seems to give some insight on the nature of God and His plan in these types of relationships.
So thanks for an amazing exposition.
Austin, I can add nothing to what you’ve written. WOW! Thanks for commenting!
Hi Michael, I love your teaching! I miss your perspective on the word.
Please keep the Bennett Family in prayer, Debbie Bennett lost her fight to cancer on February 1. I miss her a lot.
Debbie, it is wonderful to hear from you! Thank you for reading this blog. I’m sorry for your loss, but know that Debbie Bennett had a love and passion for Jesus, and that she is now with the love of her life! It’s always hard for me not to be a little jealous.
Give my love to all your clan… I miss you all very much!