The LORD Loves Marriage

Read Malachi 2:11-16
 
Malachi 2:15 Has not [the Lord] made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
 
TWO problems Malachi addresses in Judah center on marriage. The first problem is Israel’s men who marry foreign women. God’s law pointedly prohibited this: Exodus 34:15 “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.” This command and warning was repeated several times throughout Israel’s history. One of the first sins Israel committed in the Promised Land was to break this command. It led to the worship of foreign gods; thus, in disobeying this marriage command, Israel broke the first command to worship only the Lord. The eventual result was the dispersion of Israel’s 10 tribes and the exile of Judah. How deadly our fleshy passions are to cause us to ignore God’s holy fervor for our souls.
   The second problem is divorce. “Hate” expresses God’s disfavor with divorce and points to matrimony’s holy purpose. Although marriage is often ridiculed in our cultures worldwide and dismissed with indifference, it is a precious covenant relationship. God formed marriage to be the first human relationship. Why? He tells us one reason here: Malachi 2:15b Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.
   Marriage is to be an exhibition of the covenant relationship God has with us. And in turn, it is to be the foundation of faith development for the next generation. Families were formed in the image of the Holy Trinity to be as one harmonious life force, bearing witness of God’s love to the world. The family is very precious to God because it is to display God’s character.
   The Christ-like life must be the family’s life. We should see the family in the light of God’s grace. Defend the family against evil. Cause the family to prosper in God’s goodness. Those who are single, too, are in some type of family relationship. If you associate with others, you are to demonstrate God’s relational love. It is for all of us to know the primacy of family, so we can defend it against sin’s division.
   Failure of Israel’s husbands to be faithful to God and then their wives led to broken lives in Israel. Of course, it is still true today throughout the world. When we consider what is most important in our lives, let’s first consider how necessary and right it is to focus on our marriages and our family. This is God’s gift to you. Treasure, honor and savor the gift.
 
Ephesians 5:29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”