Marriage and the Church

Marriage is a beautiful thing when understood rightly and in the context of  the Christian faith.  Today, the definition of marriage has been twisted and perverted and made to be something it was never intended to be all in the name of "equal rights."  A marriage is so much more than two people who love each other.  You need more than just love to make a marriage work, and work well.  A marriage needs some sort of unifying force.  Something greater than the sinful and imperfect love of humans.  For the Christian, that is Christ.  Any marriage that is truly centered on Christ and Christ alone will not falter.  Yes, there will be ups and downs, but the bond between the couple, if centered in Christ, will not break.  A marriage that falls apart is due to the sinful desires of one or both partners, so the marriage that fails is not centered on Christ but sinful human desire.

Revelation 19:6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying:
Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty,
has begun to reign!
7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory,
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His wife has prepared herself.
8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure.
For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: Those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb are fortunate!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.” 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow slave with you and your brothers who have the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

This passage describes the marriage of Christ to his church.

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, 23 for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of His body.
31 For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two will become one flesh.
32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

These verses further the link between marriage of a man and a woman with Christ and his Church.  A man is to be the head of the home as Christ is head of the church.  He is to love his wife as Christ loves the church.  He is to keep her pure and clean and keep pointing her towards Christ.  Likewise the wife is to submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ.  For this purpose, men and women leave their childhood homes and become one flesh in marriage, a marriage that unifies them in Christ.

I know that submission is something that many women have issues with, but I think it is because it is misunderstood.  Just think of submission to your husband this way.  If you, as wife, are supposed to represent the church and your husband is supposed to represent Christ, then imagine that your husband IS Christ.  So if your husband, who is supposed to represent the Lord Jesus Christ looked at you and said, "Honey I don't think we need new curtains or a new whatever.  I think we can use that money in a better way."  What is your first reaction?  "But I really want it!" You grumble and complain against your husband for being denied something you WANT.  While you are grumbling against your husband, you are grumbling against Christ. Against Christ!!!  The one who loved you in such a way that he went to the cross and died the most horrible death to save you from the depths of hell.  He died, sacrificed himself, so you could have the most wonderful future with God and himself in the everlasting kingdom of God. When you do not submit to your husband's authority, then you are therefore not submitting to Christ.  Now, I am not saying that you must obey EVERYTHING your husband would want for you. Remember, he still sins.  He must represent Christ, but as a man, he is still under the sin nature and will not perform that duty perfectly.  You must use your own judgement to discern when your husband is requesting of you in Christ or requesting of you through sin.  If what your husband request of you would lead you, your husband or your family to sin, then, you have every right to speak to your husband and refuse the request by explaining why you will not fulfill it.  It does not have to be an argument.

I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who does his best to represent Christ.  We have only really had one real argument in the seven years we have been married.  We had just moved away from home, almost 10 hours away, the first time I had been away from home.  We had to use a laundry mat to wash our cloths, first time for that too.  Well, my husband was supposed to get quarters for us to use the machines.  He did not because he did not know where the machine was.  (It was located in another building that was not near the laundry mat)  Well, we only had enough to wash one load and we had 3 or so.   I made a comment to him that was something like "you were supposed to get the quarters or we should have gone to find the quarter machine" and I; not sure why my husband  got mad, I do not really remember, but he did.  He said something not so nice, again I don't remember exactly what, and he proceeded to leave the laundry mat and leave me by myself.  Of course I burst into tears, which my husband melted at and the argument was over.  He stayed and we had quarters every week from then on.  From then on, we have not really argued to the point of getting mad at each other.  If fact, there are very few people who have EVER seen me mad, and my husband has never see it, truly.  I was not mad above, just hurt.  Instead of arguing every time there is a disagreement or misunderstanding, you both need to sit and discuss it.  See what the Bible says about the issue.  Why do you want it this way and why does he want it another.  Sometimes the situation just needs some clarification or explanation that cannot be given if you two are yelling and angry.

Now a woman may say, "but my husband is not a Christian, so he cannot represent Christ, because he does not know Christ."  Well, the Bible says this:

1 Peter 3:1 In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the Christian message, they may be won over without a message by the way their wives live 2 when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

Even if your husband is not saved, you should  submit to him in so much that he does not hinder your walk with God.  If you continue to live as Christ would have you live, you my be able to win your husband to Christ without saying a word, but by the way you live your life and treat him and your family.  Just because your husband is not saved, doesn't mean you do not have to submit.

Marriage is so much more than "I love you."  It is a way of life in which you and your husband demonstrate Christ's love for his church through the way you live, in loving, caring, submitting, and every other good and pleasing thing to God.

Exodus 20:12 -- Honor Your Father and Mother

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Honor your father and your mother.  Do not disrespect them.  Hold them high in your mind.  Obey the commands they give you, so long as they do not go against the words of God.

Matthew 15:3 He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said:
Honor your father and your mother; and,
The one who speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death.

Those who break this commandment are to be put to death.  I see a theme here.  If you are and idolater, you will be put to death.  If you take the Lord's name in vain, you will be put to death.  If you break the Sabbath, you should be put to death.  God is very serious about His people obeying His commandments.

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

We should obey our parents simply because it is right and it is what they Lord commands of us.  The promise of God to us if we keep this commandment is that we may live long and prosper (Ha!) in the land the Lord has given us.

Exodus 3:1-4:18 -- God Calls Moses

Well, as you may have noticed, there hasn't been any blog posts for about a week or a little longer.  I've been out of town with family, vacationing at the beach.  We had no internet service, hence no posts.  It was nice, I will admit to just sit around and not have to worry about anything.  All I had to do was to enjoy a part of creation I do not see very often.  Well, now I can get back to blogging my way through the Bible.

Exodus 3:1 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?

If you saw a bush on fire, but not burning, would you go investigate?  I think I would.  I would be curious, just like Moses.

Exodus 3:4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
“Here I am,” he answered.

I probably would not have answer right away.  I would have first looked around to see who was speaking to me!  After seeing no one, I'd probably have to be called out to again and after realizing the voice came from the bush, I think I'd be a little frightened.

Exodus 3:5 “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then He continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Moses too was afraid, for the Lord had appeared to him.

Exodus 3:7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. 8 I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 The Israelites’ cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.10 Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

God has heard the prayers of his people.  He knows about their suffering.  He tells Moses that he will deliver the people out of Egypt and return them to the promised land.

Exodus 3:11 But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”
13 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what should I tell them?”
14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

And our Lord is still called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob today.  He is who he is.  He is God.  The only God.  The one God who exists forever, eternally.

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith,one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

One.  It is a theme in the Bible.  God is the ONE true God.  There is only ONE way to him and that is through Christ.  Any gospel/message that teaches otherwise is false.

Exodus 3:16 “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.
19 “However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, unless he is forced by a strong hand. 20 I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles that I will perform in it. After that, he will let you go. 21 And I will give these people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22 Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

So, why did God not just allow Pharaoh to simply let the people go?  Why did God have to harden Pharaoh's heart (as is mentioned in a later chapter) and not let the people go right away?  Hid Glory.  That is the simple answer.  If Pharaoh had let the people go right away, then God's glory would not have been on display at the magnitude it was.  Since Pharaoh did not let them go, God was able to demonstrate his glory and power through the plagues and the eventual destruction of the Egyptian army in the sea.

Exodus 4:1 Then Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, 4 but the Lord told him, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. 5 “This will take place,” He continued, “so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.
6 In addition the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow. 7 Then He said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin. 8 “If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. 9 And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”

First Moses doubted the people would listen because he did not know God's name.  Once he knew that, he said the people still will not believe me, so God gave him signs... next, as we will read, Moses said, "But I can't talk!"  Oh, just think of the excuses we give to God as to why we cannot do something he has commanded us to do... I do not have time... I don't know anyone who isn't saved... I don't know how... I... I... I... You see the problem with excuses?  They all have an "I" problem.  I am not good enough.  But just look at this... When you are saved, God makes you good enough to do the things he has called you to do.  Like with Moses, God will give you what you need to finish the tasks he has given you.  Stop focusing on what you (I) can do for God and focus on what God can do through you.  All that is done is done by him.  He uses you to accomplish his tasks.  He does not need you, and if you continue having and "I" problem, telling God all the reasons you can't do something, then he will find someone else to work through,  His will can be done even if you do not submit fully to him.  You may miss the opportunity to tell someone of Christ because of an "I" excuse, but if  that person is chosen by God to be his, then your missed opportunity will not hinder that person coming to God.  Someone else will have the joy and the privilege of revealing the greatest miracle of all to that person.  You have missed a blessing because you are too focused on yourself and your own "I" excuses that you have failed to embrace the gifts God has given you to accomplish the work he has set forth for you.

Exodus 4:10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”
11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12 Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.”

Here after Moses made another "I" excuse, the Lord puts him in his place.  Who made the mouth?  God did!  If you are afraid to tell someone about Christ, just know that God will give you the words to say.  He made the mouth and he knows all languages, he can speak through you if you are willing to open up and speak.

Exodus 4:13 Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

Even after God gave him his name, promised him signs, told him he can speak for him, Moses asks God not to send him, but to send someone else.  After all God promised him, he still did not want to do it.

Exodus 4:14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. 15 You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. 17 And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”

So, God makes one more promise to Moses.  Your brother can speak for you.  If, you, Moses, are so caught up in your stutter that you do not want to talk to the people, then I will give you Aaron to speak to the people for you.  Now, Moses, what other excuses do you have?  God covered them all.

Exodus 4:18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

Moses finally accepted the task God had given him to complete.  He would free his people from the oppression of Egypt.  I know Moses was still afraid of the task he had, but he still agreed to go after God wiped all his excuses away.