|
Index
|
Index
Bride and Groom sign the Register.
What therefore God did join together,
let not man put asunder.
Mark 10:9 YLT
The Creation of Eve.
See Covenant Marriage.
With the fall, Adam and Eve's marriage fell apart.
The narrative recounts the fall:
When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:6-7 (Tanakh))
It is obvious, from the narrative, that Eve is the guilty person. And it is equally obvious that Eve dragged Adam down into sin and error! Clearly, Eve was the guilty party! And Paul was right in calling out Eve and placing the entire blame on her: "And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner! (1 Tim. 2:14 NIV)"
Not so! The 'obvious' conclusion is as incorrect as it is blind.
In the light of the annulment of vows, the text raises an interesting question. What is the significance of, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened" (Gen.3:7 T)?
Why weren't Eve's eyes opened as soon as she ate the forbidden fruit? As a person who had disobeyed the Lord God, hadn't she already fallen into sin and error?
We return to the narrative once more:
When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate.
She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:6-7 (Tanakh))
We can state, quite categorically, that Eve was not a person!
Cue the audience rolling around laughing their socks off. Ho ho ho!
Eve was not a person because:
[24] Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24 NRSV)
The 'person' was AdamEve. The evidence is 'hiding' in plain sight for those who choose to open their eyes! Eve was the female component of AdamEve.
The implications of the annulment of vows, forces us to look once again at the true state of marriage:
The married state.
The schematic shows that neither Adam nor Eve existed as individuals. Each was a part of the single abstract entity 'HusbandWife' - here instantiated as AdamEve.
At the Physical Level, husband and wife are a complex, composite single being; at the Spiritual Level they are one person. At the Physical Level, it would appear that there are two individuals; but this is an optical illusion which can easily lead people astray.
It is all too easy to see Eve as an individual, when in fact she is the female component of the entity 'AdamEve'.
When Eve ate the forbidden fruit, husband and wife were no longer of one mind. Eve had fallen by the wayside, but at that time Adam had not done so. One might therefore say that AdamEve was in an inconsistent state at the Spiritual Level.
The fact that Eve's eyes were not immediately opened suggests that there was, as yet, no formal entry in the Books of Record. Why was that?
I think that the key is to be found with Jesus' explanation of their marriage (Matthew 19:3-6†). Adam and Eve were not separate entities; they were components of a single entity at the Physical Level and at the Spiritual Level.
[† [3] Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" [4] He answered, "Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' [5] and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? [6] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." (Matthew 19:3-6 NRSV)]
Necessarily, when Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, AdamEve was in an inconsistent state.
It is only when Adam partakes of the forbidden fruit that AdamEve is in a consistent state at the Spiritual Level. And it is now, in their unity of wrongdoing, that they become guilty and their eyes are opened. The pen now descends upon the page and records the details of their wrongdoing in the Books of Record; the state of AdamEve immediately changes from 'innocent' to 'guilty' (see: Books of Record).
Had Adam not eaten the forbidden fruit which Eve placed in front of him but then ignored her lapse, then he would have become complicit in Eve's wrongdoing and their guilt would have been sealed: for we know that silence gives assent:
6 If she marries, while obligated by her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her at the time that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. (Numbers 30:6-7 NRSV)
However, had Adam refused to eat the forbidden fruit and immediately called upon the help of the Lord God, then things might have turned out very differently! The pen, though hovering over a new page in the Books of Record, had not as yet recorded anything.
With the marriage in an inconsistent state, Adam's immediate cry for help would have avoided any hint of complicity; and Adam could have emphasised the extenuating circumstances of the Serpent's deceit, and perhaps Eve's inexperience due to her late arrival in the Garden Annex. Then, again, they had little experience of the married state, and no education as to the demands of marriage, or the dangers. They did not have the benefit of a Book of Teaching like we do today.
The Lord's own words lend support to this safeguard:
Consider, all lives are Mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child are both Mine. The person who sins, only he shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)
Therefore, had the Lord God written AdamEve's name in the Books of Record while the marriage was in an inconsistent state, then the Lord God would have violated His declaration - explained to us at the time of Ezekiel6C - that 'The person who sins, only he shall die'. The Lord God would have wrongly attributed sin to Adam which he hadn't committed. And so the pen hovers over the page in the Books of Record, while the Lord God awaits Adam's response to the forbidden fruit placed in front of him... The Lord's heart is saddened when Adam rejects His help and tucks into the forbidden fruit. With heavy heart He writes 'AdamEve' in the Books of Record, and commences to fill in the details...
The Lord God was always available; and He would have responded immediately to any cry for help from Adam. We have already seen that one spouse could annul the vows of the other outside of the Rescue Contract, provided it was dealt with as soon as it became known. And I am confident that had Adam acted promptly in similar fashion, then the Lord God could have forgiven Eve's lapse and put the pen back in His pocket.
AdamEve was very much like the vulnerable young girl who was living at home under her parents' protection within the framework of the Covenant.
Just like that young girl, AdamEve lacked maturity. Like the vulnerable young woman living in her parents' home, they were living in an annex to God's Home in the company of their Heavenly Father! Furthermore, like that vulnerable young woman, they were dwelling with their Heavenly Father in the framework of the current Covenant. And like that vulnerable young woman, the vulnerability of AdamEve would probably lay claim to the Lord's safeguards.
The parallel is far too close to dismiss out of hand! The safeguards far too similar to ignore!
Jesus explains that divorce was not a contradiction of God's original intention for marriage, but a concession occasioned by the hardness of men's hearts:
[3] Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" [4] He answered, "Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' [5] and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? [6] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." [7] They said to him, "Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?" [8] He said to them, "It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. [9] And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery." (Matthew 19:3-9 NRSV)
And, in Mat. 19:9, Jesus terminates the divorce concession. Marriage is restored to God's original definition.
The Messianically Amended Covenant is defiled by the House of Desolation and by Paul et al.
Necessarily, therefore, they have defiled Covenant Marriage.
See The Soul.
While it is true that the Day of Judgement will result in the separation of many couples:
[30] "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
...
[34] I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. (Luke 17:30,34 NIV)
... this need not necessarily be the fate of those who have married according to the terms and conditions of the Covenant.
Since the Lord God has defined the unity of marriage (Gen. 2:24), He is not going to separate them without due cause. Physical death of one partner will not affect the unity of the couple, for their unity will be restored upon the death of the surviving partner. The Most High is consistent, never capricious (Prime Axioms)!
With regard to marriage, Jesus puts the clock back to what it was in the Garden Annex:
4] "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' [5] and said,
'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?
[6] So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:4-6 NIV)
The hope had been that mankind would avoid falling into sin and error, in which case they would have eaten of the Tree of Life, been rendered immortal, and married and been given in marriage. And eventually had children...
The reality, however, was that mankind fell into sin and error, and had to be evicted from the Garden lest they eat of the Tree of Life and therefore be beyond redemption:
[22] And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." [23] So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. [24] After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24 NIV)
The Lord God was aware of the dangers associated with free will. There was a distinct possibility that some might prefer to go their own way. He had already experienced that with some of the angels. The Lord was forced into making a decision which would address the problem in the Garden Annex. The answer became a numbers game, where He suspected that there would eventually be widespread rejection of Himself and His values.
So, mankind were excluded from the Garden Annex. Furthermore, there would be no marriage at the resurrection - as Jesus Himself makes clear:
[30] At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. (Matthew 22:30 NIV)
[25] When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. (Mark 12:25 NIV)
A later review of mankind would confirm what the Lord had suspected all along:
[5] The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5 NIV)
What, however, can be said of Jesus' words in which He maintains the unity of marriage - a unity which should never be sundered:
[6] So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:6 NIV)
Jesus' words were spoken in the context of the Covenant as it had been understood by Moses† and which Jesus Himself amended (ie, the context of the 'Messianically Amended Covenant').
† [46] "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. [47] But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" (John 5:46-47 NIV)
As for marriage within the context of the Messianically Amended Covenant, the two become one person. The Lord will never sunder such unity (Prime Axioms). As for mankind, those who sunder such a relationship will be excluded from the New Jerusalem on the grounds of defiant disobedience to the Lord.
The death of a spouse will not cancel or annul the marriage. The marriage will transcend death. When the surviving spouse dies, then their unity will be restored and they will be one person again.
A schematic of marriage with regard to the soul in the context of the Covenant:
The unity of marriage and dependence on God.
The schematic shows the soul, since it is the soul which is carried over from this life to the next.
The schematic illustrates how Jesus' desire for unity can be achieved - in this case as a married couple:
[20] "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:20-21 NIV)
The Lord's definition of the unity of marriage will result in the potentiation of the couple's effectiveness as they undertake His work.
But the married couple's unity with Father, Son, Lord Spirit, and Covenant, will add an extra layer of potentiation as the couple seek to obey and carry out the Father's wishes within the Covenant Framework.
So, it's a 'win-win' for Covenant Marriage!
There can be no doubt that Peter is wedded to Judaic traditions and Paul's false doctrine:
[Critique: Peter's Practical Marriage Manual.]
[Critique: Peter's competence with regard to handling Covenant doctrine. What are the implications with regard to the Scriptures and the church?]
Version: 18-Apr-2024