Skip to main content

An Exposition of Genesis 2:24


An Exposition of Genesis 2:24

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Lots can be said about this wonderful verse. In it, we see the actions of God who created the wonderful gift of marriage. Thanks to God, we humans are capable of creating many things but to conceive of something as powerful as marriage is probably beyond us. Through His creative works, God has demonstrated his goodness and awesomeness.

But if we stop there then we will never perceive God’s full goodness and awesomeness.  God’s goodness and awesomeness is not restricted only to His creative works. This verse is ultimately a command, and like all commands we find in the Bible, the one who never fails at obeying them is Christ alone.

In the first part of this verse we see that it is decreed that a man shall leave his father and mother. Of this Christ Jesus did perfectly and in doing so, he demonstrated his condescension to us though we are unworthy and undeserving. For God had ordained that the church should be His Bride and He left the glory that He had with his Father, even before the foundation of world, to rescue His Bride. By leaving His Father, He traded the company and fellowship of his Father for the fellowship of tax collectors and sinners. This he obeyed perfectly by leaving his father.

In the second part, we are told that the husband is to hold fast to his wife. This Christ did perfectly, holding her bride even though she was adulterous to Him. Alas, as his imperfect bride we have wandered after the cares of this world, finding a sense of worth and pleasure in material things. But Christ had held fast to us. Even when threatened with the impending and undeserving punishment of the Cross, he held fast so that His Bride may be reconciled to him.

“They shall become one flesh”. Our sinfulness dictates that we really deserve nothing but God’s full-blooded wrath but as things would have it, Christ unites us with himself through his work on the cross. One flesh with Christ. This thought truly is comforting. We are tempted to think that our experiences of tribulation, distress, persecution and other experiences of suffering has meant that Christ has left us, but He has not. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Romans 8:35). No, those who belong to Him are one flesh with Him.

Our divorce rates continue to be discouraging but it is worth remembering Christ would never entertain that idea. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10:9). Christ understands this idea so much better than we do. God has joined his Bride to him. Let us find encouragement in this. If we understand all these things then we will have a semblance of the Apostle Paul’s mind when he said:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31 -32)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lot, Noah, Shem, the Fall - how they all combine together

In this short writing, an attempt is made to show how the accounts of Noah, Shem, Lot, as well as the events after the Fall serve to powerfully combine to reveal the character of God in those who obey Him and those that do not.  The stories of Noah and Lot seem disparate but the parallels are incredible. The first connection is the feature of “wine” in both of these accounts. The parallels follow the pattern of (A) God’s salvation act (B) The drinking of wine (C) Actions of the Children.  It is easier to see the parallels when they are juxtaposed side-by-side (see picture). The (C) parallel may be harder to observe. Lot’s daughters’ attempts to bear children by their father is in fact the “uncovering of nakedness” prohibited later in the Pentateuch in Leviticus 18:6 -20. The verse below suffices for us to develop our thoughts further: “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord.” (Lev. 18:6) This ties back to the F...
Post a Comment
Read more

Paul and the Epicurean and Stoic Philosophers in Acts 17

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (Acts 17:16-21) (1) Christianity is meaningless to a person if it is classified as simply another school of thought, like the Epicureans or...
Post a Comment
Read more

Did Jesus quote a non-existent verse in John 7:38?

So this was asked in Quora : My response below: The verse is NOT non-existent. The thing is the reference to a river flowing out occurs in a few places in the Old Testament. Thus when Jesus says "As the Scripture has said ..." He is referring to a theme that occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament. It is important to understand what "the rivers flowing out" imply in the Old Testament. They always refer to the  dwelling place of God . These occurs in a few places. As early as the Book of Genesis, we see this Scripture in Genesis 2:10 "A  river flowed out of Eden  to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers." (Genesis 2:10, ESV) Therefore, the source of the river = Eden. And Eden is none other than the very dwelling place of God. Biblical theology helps us understand Eden as a "type" of temple. Where else do we see this? We see this again in Ezekiel 47. In Ezekiel 47, in Ezekiel's vision of a New Temple, he pi...
Post a Comment
Read more