Union

Marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman

[This may appear as a bonus post, because I crossed the international date line today so this is my second run through Friday 8 June 2018.]

Read: Deuteronomy 22

If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must be put to death. You must purge this evil from Israel. (Deuteronomy 22:22)

Reflect:

God takes marriage very seriously. His instructions for the people of Israel reflect that. In this chapter, Moses warns against a number of evils:

A husband who decides he doesn’t like his wife must not lie about her to others and he is not to divorce her (22:13-19). A bride who is found to not be a virgin (obviously this does not apply to widows marrying a second time) shall be stoned to death (22:20-21). Adultery is punishable by death also (22:22). Consensual sex outside of marriage is punishable by death (22:23-24). If a woman engaged to be married is raped, her attacker shall be put to death (22:25-27). If an unmarried, unengaged woman is raped, the attacker must pay a massive fine, but they are to be married and he may never divorce her (22:28-29). A man may not marry his father’s wife (22:30).

Without contraception and protection from STDs, these laws provided for the protection of the vulnerable, including women and any children born from a forced sexual union. However, the biggest messages from these laws are the sanctity and sacredness of marriage, the immense importance of the one flesh union, and the seriousness of sexual sin which would harm this one flesh union.

Though the laws of my county differ sharply, as a Christian and as a wife I must recognise my marriage is precious in God’s eyes – and live accordingly.

crux:

Marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman.

Respond:

LORD God Almighty,

Thank you for the huge blessing and privilege of my marriage relationship with Jeff. Thank you for enabling us to keep our marriage bed pure and undefiled for nearly 18 years of wedded joy.

Thank you for Jeff’s faith, for his sacrificial love for me, for his compassionate care for our children and for his desire to serve you by serving your people as a pastor.

LORD, please help Jeff while I am away (and when I return) to remain faithful to you, to me, to our children and to our church. May he have the strength and patience, insight and kindness to love and lead in our marriage, our family and our church in a way that brings glory to Jesus.

Amen.

9 thoughts on “Union”

      2. Hi Amanda,

        I’ve thought about your comment for a long time before replying because I wanted to be gracious and gentle in my response.

        It seems to me that you feel some very strong negative emotions in reaction to the statement I made in my post. When I write, I don’t set out to upset the readers of this blog. I simply write my thoughts, conclusions and prayers in response to my reading of various passages in the Bible. Part of my intent in blogging here is to help other people read and respond to the Bible as well. So my writing on this blog is definitely religious. I wish you weren’t intolerant of my choice to blog my religiously-informed thoughts and views, but how you feel about my writing is up to you.

        Your statement that my post is homophobic and bigoted doesn’t make what I wrote untrue. It just shows that it is emotionally difficult for you to read. But our feelings don’t and can’t define truth. Now, perhaps I have misinterpreted your “Wrong” comment as a statement that you believe what I wrote is untrue, when actually you were intending to say that what I wrote was morally wrong. You haven’t written enough for me to be certain which of these two meanings you were intending, which is why I asked you to explain what you think. Yes, my question was serious.

        So I’ll rephrase my question: What do you believe marriage is all about? Why do you think that?

        I look forward to your reply.
        Sharon

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      3. This issue is not emotional, it is about ethics and legal equality in secular nations.
        I have read the Christian bible many times and am very aware that homosexuality is unethical according to that religious doctrine. And again, this is not about feelings, it is about logic and sense.

        Many, many people are not religious or spiritual, and your personal religion of choice has nothing to do with them (ESPECIALLY in secular countries such as the US).

        Whether or not your religion of choice supports homosexual marriage has NOTHING to do with the marriage laws of the land.

        Not only is your post as homophobic and bigoted as it can get, it is most definitely untrue. Your very core point was that marriage should be only for opposite genders, which is illegal and discriminatory.

        There is no nonreligious argument for discriminating against the homosexual lifestyle.
        And frankly if you blindly agree with anything the bible or any book says, you’re nothing more than a simple minded moron.

        Marriage is the financial and legal union of two people in a relationship recognized by the state.

        Any more questions?

        If not, then I’d like to ask you one.

        Let’s say that hypothetically there is a creator and that it is the creator according to Christianity;

        WHY do you choose to agree with that creator regarding what is and isn’t ethical? More specifically, why would you blindly follow ANYONE, creator or not?
        (Is it because you’re afraid that if you don’t you’ll be punished in hell?) 
        *Please don’t quote or cite the bible in your answer.

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      4. I would also like to add that marriage has existed for FAR longer than the religion of Christianity has existed (that goes for all Abrahamic religions).

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