Marriage today is seen by many as an antiquated notion, too fussed about and argued over by people who think it should be a minor event barely thought of. People get divorced and remarried on a whim, children are had by unmarried couples with nary a second’s thought, and co-habitation before marriage is argued as a reasonable course of action.
In the beginning, however, it was not so.
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:22-24
Some argue that the Genesis account should not be read as a template for all marriage. They say that it only applies to the first man and woman. Not so. Notice that God, after “officiating” the first marriage, then says “therefore shall a man leave father and mother…” Question: Who were Adam’s father and mother? Who were Eve’s parents? They had none (not in the traditional way). God is speaking universally. In the future, men would have fathers and mothers, whom they would no longer cleave to for support and care; in turn they would find a wife who would leave her mother and father and cling to her new husband.
Marriage is sacred. Marriage is holy (Hebrews 13:4). When man and woman are joined together to be one, they enter into a fellowship overseen by God Himself. It is not to be taken lightly.
~ Matthew