The First Marriage, Part One
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
3/10 Reading Portions: Exodus 21; Luke 24; Job 39; 2 Corinthians 9
Genesis 2:23-24
Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
UNION
The sixth day is capped off with the first marriage between the first man and the first woman. In it, we have the man’s first declaration concerning the woman, the wife made from Adam’s side. Not only was it a declaration of reality, since she really did come from a part of him (bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh), he called her “Woman,” אִשָּׁה (ish-SHAH) in Hebrew, which is also the word for “wife.” While “the man” previously, had been translated from the Hebrew הָאָדָם (ha-ad-AM), literally, “the Adam,” the Adam (Gen 2:23a) uses the Hebrew word אִישׁ (eeysh), which means “man” (Gen 2:23b). He says, כי מאישׁ לקחה־זאת (kheey ma-EEYSH le-QA-cha-zōt), “because she was taken out of Man.” Concerning marriage, the New Testament tells us:
In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of His body. Ephesians 5:28-30
Innocent, sinless Adam prophetically uttered the purpose of this amazing, miraculous union in marriage.
God accomplished this for the purpose of exalting Himself through the gospel of Christ. And so that Adam’s statement alone could not be confused as silly or frivolous, YHVH God expresses with His own commentary upon Adam’s statement, ordaining marriage before there was ever a father and mother on the earth (Gen 2:24). The apostle also quotes this in our New Testament Scriptures:
“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
Hallelujah! What a Savior!