For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24
Marriage is under such threat in the western world today that it is good to be reminded of its biblical basis. Genesis 2:24 is the Bible’s own definition of marriage; it is even more important because it was endorsed by the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 10:7). It is a relationship with five facets.
Heterosexual. It unites a man and his wife. A homosexual partnership can never be a legitimate alternative.
Monogamous. “A man” and “his wife” are both in the singular. Polygamy may have been tolerated for a while in Old Testament days, but monogamy was God’s purpose from the beginning.
Committed. When a man leaves his parents to marry, he must “cleave” to his wife, sticking to her like glue (as the New Testament equivalent implies). Divorce may be permitted in one or two defined situations. “But it was not this way from the beginning,” Jesus insisted (Matt. 19:8). Also, what is missing in cohabitation is precisely the element of commitment, which is foundational to marriage.
Public. Before the “cleaving” of marriage there should be the “leaving” of parents, and the “leaving” in mind is a public social occasion. Family, friends, and society have a right to know what is happening.
Physical. “They will become one flesh.” On the one hand, heterosexual marriage is the only God-given context for sexual union and the procreation of children, and on the other, sexual union is so much a constitutive element of marriage that willful nonconsummation is in many societies a ground for its annulment. Certainly Adam and Eve experienced no embarrassment regarding sex. “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Gen. 2:25).
Thus marriage, according to God’s purpose in its institution, is a heterosexual and monogamous union that involves the loving, lifelong commitment of each to the other, should be entered upon by a public leaving of parents, and should be consummated in sexual union.
