God designed human relationships to reveal spiritual truth. (Is 54:5, II Co 11:2) Satan, like a bully with an eraser and a crayon, tries to smudge out God's revelation of Himself in the world. For marriage, he has been so successful that when Jesus taught about marriage, He had to go to before the Fall (Mark 10:2-9). In Genesis, we see how Satan distorted marriage with polygamy and with all sorts of illicit unions. But Satan's erasing is always incomplete because in biblical marriage people are happier, longer-lived, and children prosper more than in relationships such as polygamy. In Exodus, God reveals how salvation began in a family. Two Levites married and had a son, Moses. He fled Egypt, but God sent him back as deliverer. Later in history, God's salvation began with Elkanah and Hannah with their son Samuel, and in the NT, the first mention of Jesus' history begins with the betrothal of Joseph and Mary. The second thing we see in Exodus is how God engraved on stone the law once written on the heart. The law about marriage was, “You shall not commit adultery.” That law forbids one-flesh union anywhere outside of marriage. Finally, in Exodus, there was the Passover ceremony held in the family. The lamb looked forward to Christ, who gave himself for the church, and in doing so gave an example to husbands of how to love their wives. Satan's assault on marriage will fail for three reasons: marriage is built into the human DNA, God's laws about marriage are still on the books, and in the church the Word and Spirit witness to the true Husband, Jesus Christ, and in this way renew marriage. |
