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24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. ~ Genesis 2:24-25
Today, we conclude our study of Genesis 2 where God has completed His work of creation by forming the first family now that He has brought Eve to Adam. The foundation to any good and operative society is found in the solidity of the nuclear family. The solidity of such is measured by the walk of each family member with the Lord. A family that is godly is a family that is defined by God. Largely, as the marriage goes, so goes the family, and, as the family goes so goes society.
In v.24 of today's passage we read, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
The first verse of today's passage sets the stage for the bonds of marriage which have followed man down throughout the ages. The word "joined" means "stick together like glue." This word is also used to describe the Old Testament woman Ruth the Moabitess who joined herself to her mother-in-law, refusing to leave her after the death of her husband, Mahlon.
When we read, "a man shall be joined to his wife," it is the man who is responsible to join his wife like glue. God has given the husband the responsibility to hold tightly to his wife. And if he demonstrates the kind of loving power reflected in this verse, she will naturally want to be held by him. The relationship must begin by severing one relationship so as to solidify another relationship.
The idea behind marriage is permanence. The idea is two people come together and make a commitment and a determination to be together permanently is at its root. It could be translated welded together or bound inextricably together. God's idea of a marriage relationship is that it is an ongoing, permanent bond resulting in the weaving of the two into one. This is much more than physical, however when a man and woman come together physically, it is a physical expression of the spiritual and soul oneness that should be happening. The phrase, "they shall become one flesh," indicates that this is a two-way union where both partners work at achieving oneness with the other. The best way oneness is achieved is through selflessness. The Hebrew word for "joined" indicates that the responsibility is on the husband.
When God breathed life into man, there was the intimate connection of God to man. That was lost through sin, but when God regenerated us with His Holy Spirit, that intimate connection was reestablished. It is the same with man and woman. A connection is lost between the two and a void exists until the two are joined in marriage. What man lost in the rib, he regains in the wife.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."
When God created man and woman, they were naked and there was no shame. God created them in a state of beauty and perfection and there was nothing to cause them to hide from either God or each other. Nakedness implies more than just the possibility of shame though. It also implies that there was nothing that could harm them. The temperature would have been perfect, none of the animals were a threat. They were naked, secure, and they were also unashamed.
Nakedness and not being ashamed is the product of true intimacy. Adam and Eve trusted because they were naked and not ashamed. And it's more than just physical; there was a psychological vulnerability, a trust, where they could completely be themselves and hide nothing and there was no fear of reprisal. The disease of self had not yet raised its ugly head. As a result, they enjoyed that intimacy until sin enters the relationship and then they sought to hide from one another and from God. Adam and Eve weren’t ashamed because evil had not invaded their space; they didn’t even know any evil. They didn’t know that sexual desire could be perverted and twisted. They didn't know that it could be used for wicked purposes. They didn’t have any wicked thoughts running around in their imaginations. They had no capacity to feel shame, because they didn’t know evil existed.
Before sin entered the realm of the Garden, Adam and Eve had nothing to hide. That all changed when sin gave birth to shame which is produced by the consciousness of selfishness. We feel shame in our lives as sinners because we have evil thoughts caused by selfishness. Before their evil selves were awakened, there was an unmatched beauty in the shameless wonder of that original marriage. And Adam and Eve enjoyed to the fullest their shameless oneness. God had given them the perfect environment, and, they experienced perfect love and trust.
Recently, I heard an atheist ask how could God create a world where children get bone cancer. God did not create a world like that. Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. Evil is like darkness which really does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good. Evil is the absence of God. God did not create evil, He allowed the possibility of evil. Free will is what made evil possible. And love cannot exist in an environment where there is no free will.
I close this study with a quote from C.S. Lewis, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened."
