QT 7/16/2025 Gen 2:18–25, Saving your marriage

Genesis 2:18–25 (ESV) —

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

 

NOTE: This is another reason that I believe the days of creation represent ages. I just don't believe that man could understand aloneness in one day. Men are notorious at giving themselves to work. Caring for the garden and classifying animals would have consumed him for some time. And at some point he would realize that while all of the creation has a "pair," he did not.

 

In finding man a wife, God puts man in a deep sleep. I suppose this is the first arranged marriage. Of course, God does all the work in the creation and selection of Eve. Man speaks out loud for the first time in this passage, and we know that God would meet and speak with man in the garden. But the next person recorded to speak is the serpent, followed by the woman.

 

There is a lot of truth in this passage. A marriage is defined as a man and woman. Only a man and a woman can become one flesh. The man must leave his father and mother, and hold fast to his wife to make the marriage work. Not all men do this well. The man needs to communicate that the wife takes priority even over his family of birth.

 

PONDER:

1. It is good to stay in contact with your birth family (and to honor and respect), but for a man, he must be careful that he does not overdo his contact, especially with his mom or else he will hurt his wife. How am I doing?
2. A man needs to make his wife his new priority in life. Even when children come, both need to make their relationship the priority or they will destroy it over time. How am I doing at putting my wife first, even over our children?

 

PRAYER: Father, these truths are old but absolutely foundational for building a family. The husband and wife must become one flesh. The world does all it can to tear this bond apart and redefine it. Sin seeks to destroy that which is good and beautiful. Please help us to see our failures before we destroy our marriages.