From Background Notes [BN] for May 12th & 13th
written by Pastor Bob Brown:
1.
Companionship within the human species was important to God
because companionship eternally belonged to God's nature: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. In woman, man found his peer and his equal which consisted in a
physical union at his origin and in a physical union in his marriage. The
notion of the "helper fit for him" does not imply inferiority but
correspondence.
2. Revelation from God was required for humankind to understanding the nature of the marriage union. As we noted previously, the "deep sleep" in this story suggests that Adam received a revelation from God in the form of a vision which explained to him the true meaning of marriage as a "one flesh" relationship, and, as such, Adam and his wife were inseparable in the eyes of God. The symbol of divine surgery and the mechanics of the rib teach this union.
3.
God
"brings woman to man" in Adam's vision, the sign that this
creature is designed for him. It is not among the animals that Adam finds
his complement but in woman.
4.
Relationships
based on birth remain intact but they no longer control the life of the
one who enters into the marriage union. "Leave and cleave" expresses
the proper order for men and women who enter marriage. The act of leaving is
not a sign of disrespect but is an act of obedience to the divine order of
marriage. Failure to do this can result in all sort of problems between
husbands and wives, especially where parental control interferes with marital
companionship.
5.
The
absence of shame is also a sign of the new privacy which surrounds the
one-flesh nature of marriage. Should shame return (and it will in Genesis 3),
it is due to an interloper, Sin, which becomes the first "other man"
or "other woman" in human history.
[BN, 4]
Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene –
* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm
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