Sunday: The First Romance
“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen. 2:23).1
We need to begin with the initial chapters of Genesis for the first romance in Scripture, that of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve are special creations of God. Both male and female reflect His image (Gen. 1:26, 27). Both Adam and Eve receive their life as a result of God’s incredible creative power. The complexity of our physical bodies remains one of the most powerful testimonies to the wisdom and might of our Creator.
Read the biblical account of the creation of Eve (Gen. 2:21–25). How would you describe the kind of relationship between them as depicted in this account?
Perhaps the most obvious point from this account is just how intimately and closely tied together with one another these two are. God creates the woman out of the body of the man; they are, literally, of the same flesh and blood.
Adam then breaks out into what has been called the Bible’s first “love song” or “love poem,” in which he openly acknowledges just how closely tied they are with each other. In Hebrew, the word for “man” that he uses in verse 23 is ish; the word he uses for “woman” is ishah, again showing just how closely tied they are to each other.
In verse 24, the Bible says that a man will leave his parents and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be “one flesh,” another powerful indicator of the intimacy meant for them. (Some have wondered, What parents is the Bible talking about here, because there were none then? The point is, Moses wrote this account many centuries after it happened, and he used the story of their creation to explain in more detail what marriage meant.)
Finally, their nakedness also revealed the intense closeness and intimacy between this first couple.
Whatever else their relationship originally entailed, romantic love was certainly a major part of it. God is not against romance. On the contrary, He created us as beings capable of experiencing it. In fact, that seems to be one of the basic elements He created in us.
Romantic love is such a wonderful, God-given gift to humanity. If you are in a proper romantic relationship, what things can you do to protect it from all that can go wrong?
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Keep alive the commitment to love each other only; let no other enter between the sacredness of intimacy between the two. That means no personal intimate conversations or acts revealed to anyone but God and your spouse. It has been 30 years of marriage for us so far.
Stay faithful one to another and let no one come between both of you. Always keep God at the center of your marriage. keep the love flowing and the candles burning. Remember you are flesh of his flesh and God has made the two of you one. Love your mate even if he doesn't deserve to be loved because God loved even us.
Question_ Was Eve a hybrid or a clone? I always thought God took Adam's one rib and fashioned clay around this hybrid piece of anatomy but maybe cloned Eve from the rib's stem cells. In layman's language could it be that like the cells that our bodies make and then DNA 'customizes' each cell to liver or brain cell this is how she was created. Coning or hybrid each has a special nuance. I don't think we know but it causes us to marvel.
Tom, you ask the most interesting questions. 😉
Where do you get the idea that Adam was a "hybrid"??
The Bible tells us that God fashioned Adam out of the dust of the ground. He didn't start with any rib!!
And Eve was not a clone, because a clone would have to be named Steve, not Eve, and you have to admit that two clones could not have populated the earth. 😉
Loyalty, understanding and faithfulness are the best seasonings of marriage therefore love one another as God loves us.
Breaks out into a love song????
I love GOD's word, I love the Bible
but love song???
For me the most boring romance in the Bible.
What had Adam done before he felt asleep? He recognized the attributes of the animals and gave them names. That's what he did when he saw Eve. "Aaahh, I see, she has the same kind of bones and flesh as I. My name is Ish, so I'll call her Ishah..." Love song???
I'd like to know how can anyone see this as love song.
Kai, God loved us so much that the biggest compliment He could give us was to make us "in His own image". That's why we feel so close to our own babies - they are made "in our own image". So Adam was complimenting and confirming intimacy when He said, "This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh", an antiquated (but God-inspired) way of saying to your new baby who has just been born from your own flesh, "How beautiful you are! And I shall name you Christopher Michael - Christopher for bearer of Christ, and Michael for your father".
Dear Kai,
You are clearly a realist who sees only what's there, as opposed to a romanticist who sees what isn't there. 😉
The answer to how anyone can see this as a love song is this:
By using a little (hopefully sanctified) imagination.
You have to admit that most of the Bible only gives us the briefest of outlines, and we have to imagine the details to make it live. When we ask the Holy Spirit to help us see what's there for us, we may see what others don't, and others may see what we don't -- because we are each different, with different personalities and different needs.
The Bible is different from all other books in that it is more than objective facts or truth. It lives, because the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writers interprets it to us.
(Admittedly, I got a little off the subject of your final question. 😉 )
@ Cheryl
I agree that “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” is GOD-inspired, that's what handed down to us. For me this is more a relief, a huge thank you to GOD. If there was a love poem to Isaiah, (and I'm sure Adam must've said something more)... this is not handed down to us.
Like Adam, we should emulate the romantic approaches. What we call our wives and How we see them matters so much. See the magnified and romantic attitude shown by ISH( Adam) tn ISHAH (Eve). We see not only God's perfection in creation of Man and Woman but also the response on the side of man. Now the question is, what is the state of marriages now comparably? Is your romantic life fire prove? However, CHRIST will help us, He loves us. He will reveal His glory even in our marriages...AMEN.
I do thank God for giving us the thing that is really important to consider for us to reach the point where our Almighty God wants us to be.
Could someone out there please help me. Since I was born, I have never sung any song with happiness unless am happy. Adam's poem/song has a tone of happiness. Am I right? What makes Adam happy is that he appreciated Eva -"bone of my bone". Here comes my questions:
1. How do you view forced marriages (especially in cultures where parents choose for their children partners?
2. Should someone still pretend to love a partner chosen for them by parents when in reality they have no feelings for them (partner)?
3. Isn't pretense a sin?
4. Is it bad if one divorces such a person especially if they are not willing to move with God?
What you call "forced marriages" are more usually called "arranged marriages." These probably work better than the self-arranged marriages when they are done for the right reasons -- i.e. to arrange marriages between young people best suited to each other. (Self-arranged marriage often result in serious incompatibilities which make life difficult for both partners.)
Now here are some questions:
1) Who chose Adam's wife?
2) Who chose Isaac's wife?
In Samson's time, arranged marriage were the norm. Yet Samson insisted that his parents get him the wife of his choosing.
How did that work out?
Ultimately, genuine love is a choice. Partners must choose to love in an arranged marriage in order for both partners to be happy. And when they do, they can be very happy.
In a self-arranged marriage -- as is the norm in western culture -- partners must choose to love after the infatuation wears off. And that can be after about six months to two years. The high divorce rate in western cultures is testimony to the fact that many partners marry for selfish reasons and do not choose to love in the manner described in the Bible. (See 1 Cor. 13)
Hi Wangija,
I won't attempt to speak for all arranged marriage situations, especially since I am not from a culture that implements this. It should be noted that the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah was an arranged one. I'm sure they had much learning to do about each other.
Even in the context of a marriage where the participants have chosen themselves, there is much learning that takes place over time. For many, the real strength of the relationship is not reflected in the earliest attraction, but upon the knowledge-based love that comes from common growth. This, too, can occur in an arranged relationship, especially if the arrangement is for the benefit of the participants and not just for political advantage.
Dear Wangija
Its difficult and stressing I must confess, but no matter your situation. God can still see you through.
You certainly cannot pretend to love a partner, but you can learn to.
No matter how difficult your marriage or your partner is you can still show your true love and that can change your partner forever.
Forget about divorce for God is against it. Who knows, changing your partner could be the only reason God brought you here.
God is in control.
I think that it is quite interesting to take another look at "arranged marriage" as a viable option. As westerners we tend to look at this option with a level of scorn if not resentment. Notice the negative connotations , "forced marriage". This certainly implies an encroachment on our freedom of choice! However, from the very beginning God "arranged" Adam and Eve's marriage. In fact Adam simply woke up to a wife! He had no say. Subsequently, we see God either directly or indirectly arranging marriages. Consider this, what has our freedom loving selfish arrangements brought us? Skyrocketing divorce rates both inside and outside the church. While this might not be the only factor, it's a sure contributor. Most arrangers brings to the mix the advantage of experience (from hind sight visions) and crystallized knowledge. Have you also noticed that even in the western culture, relationships thrive better when friends hook up friends? Maybe there is some thing to be said about third party arranged marriages. Let God directly or indirectly do your hook ups.
The absence of divorce is no indicator of the success of arranged marriages. In fact, Jesus himself had to put the brakes on divorce in His time--and back then no marriages were voluntary! Divorce just became a tool of power to abuse women and take advantage of them.
The history of arranged marriage makes clear that this had become (from the earliest) an economic convenience for the transacting parties (almost never the woman).
Arranged marriages (or their accommodating cultures) to this very day remain the last holdouts of practices such as honour killings, FGM AND bride-stealing.
(No culture is "better" than another. All have practices that are un-Christlike).
As long as marriage is seen as a "right", we are going to have problems either way--whether or not they are arranged.