What The Bible Teaches About Marriage

What the Bible Teaches about Marriage:

Man Made in God’s Image * PCJB PP Presentation devised and prepared at Gujranwala Theological Seminary may be copied for non-commercial use only September 2008

Why We Begin With

Genesis • Why start with “At the beginning of Genesis? creation God made them male • Jesus did (Mk. and female [Gen 10:6ff and 1:27]… and the Matt. 19:4ff) two will become one flesh. [Gen 2:24]”

Understanding Genesis 1-3 When we read the opening chapters of Genesis we need to be careful how we interpret their language.

Genesis Chs. 1 – 3 Literary Context Written as an account in pre-scientific figurative language that was understood within the thought framework of the people of the writer’s time NB. Figurative does not mean

Genesis Chs. 1 – 3 Literary Context Significance for understanding what is being taught about Marriage:

Interpret sometimes figuratively, not always literally! Note: Figurative language may be the most accurate way to convey what is real, abiding and

Genesis 1 – 2 Summary At the beginning of human history God made the first man, endowed him with life, and placed him in a garden

Genesis 1 - 2 Why does it appear that there are two accounts of Creation in the first two chapters of Genesis? Actually the whole book of Genesis follows a structure of 12 sections, 11 of them starting with a Toledot* or “that which is born from or comes out of” something else. *variously translated; “generations”, “history”, “account”

Genesis 1 - 2 So Genesis begins • 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 1:1 - 2:3 • 2:4 “These are the toledot of the heavens and the earth.” 2:4 - 4:26 i.e this is what came out of the heavens and the earth…

Genesis 1 - 2 According to this toledot (“what came out of”) structure (found throughout the whole book of Genesis), the verse in Gen 2:4 does not start a second creation account, but tells us what has come out of the heavens and earth, which had already been created in the first section

Account of Creation

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Genesis 1:1-2:3 Textual Context In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… 1. 2. 3. 4.

light.. sky… land and sea… vegetation… lights in the sky… sun and moon and stars… 5. living creatures in sea and sky… 6. living creatures on land…man…

Gen 1:26 Then God said,

“Let us make man WHO? in our image, HOW? in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea WHAT? and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth

Gen 1:27 So God created man WHO? in his own image, HOW? In the image of God he created him; male and female HOW?

Gen 1:28 God blessed them (the male & the female) BLESSING and said to them, “Be fruitful COMMANDS and increase in number; fill the earth . and

To Discuss

(Getting the picture)

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• What does to be “made in God’s image” mean to you?

Made in God’s Image (Figurative language)

How should we interpret “in God’s image”? • Popular notions (taken from Greek

thought) – Possessing intelligence, will or emotions – i.e. like God in his nature (being)

• Ancient Eastern custom – The setting up of the king’s statue equivalent to proclaiming his domination over the region in which the statue was

Gen 1:26-28 Textual Context Creation defined in terms of activity, being fruitful and multiplying and subduing the earth Note: All functional terms (of doing rather than being)

Made in God’s Image

Man Made Responsible for Ruling Creation Interpretation:

• Man is set in the midst of creation as God’s statue • God assigns to man and woman (both made “in His image”) the mandate of representative rule, i.e. authority to look after creation in

To Discuss

(Who’s in charge?)

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• How do think of man “ruling the earth” today? Is it the same as what Adam was told to do at creation? • Is “rule” the same as “stewardship” ? Where does “subdue” fit in to the mandate given to Adam?

Gen 1:26-28 God made man and woman in his own image and likeness to be fruitful and so fill the earth by multiplying and to subdue it and

to rule over all his other creatures

Made Like God

(Figurative Language)

Interpretation: • As God rules over a large domain —the whole universe— so humanity is given charge of the entire earth to rule it for God as His stewards

The Toledot (what came out) of the heavens and the earth

Genesis 2:4-25

Missing Items of Genesis 2:4b-7a

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens – and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth

Missing from Creation When the Lord first made the earth and the heavens, the following were missing: shrubs plants rain man

Creation’s First Lack The first problem in creation: “There was no man to work the ground” i.e. to farm it So God formed man…

Genesis 2:7 The Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7-15 God shaped man (Hebrew: “adam”) from the soil of the earth (Hebrew: “adamah”) So man is given the enormous responsibility of being entrusted with God’s Garden

Genesis 2:4b-7 Textual Context When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens – and no shrub of the field had yet appeared… and there was no man to work the ground… the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,

Genesis 2:8-15 Textual Context Now the Lord had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and

there he put the man he had

formed… The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it

Man’s Task “To work, serve, till”: a verb often used of cultivating the soil (2:5; 3:23; 4:2, 12, etc.). Also often used in a religious sense of serving God (e.g., Deut 4:19), especially of the tabernacle duties of the Levites (Num 3:7–8; 4:23–24, 26,

Man’s Task “To guard, to keep”: the simple sense of “guard” (4:9; 30:31), but more commonly used in legal texts of observing religious commands and duties (17:9; Lev 18:5), particularly of the Levites

To Discuss

(What’s the difference?)

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• What more do we learn about man’s task from this second passage (the toledot)?

(For both passages see next frame)

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them (the male & the

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens – and no shrub of the field had yet appeared… and there was no man to work the ground… the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now The Lord had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed…

Boundaries Set The second passage ends with a permission, a limitation and a warning, before the narrative moves onto the next section.

Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat FREEDOM from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat LIMITATION from the tree of the knowledge

A Moral Boundary The principle of having boundaries in the order of creation is extended to moral responsibility (the knowledge of good and evil)

Next Session

Man’s Helper

Genesis 2:18 “A Suitable Helper” The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

The End