Sun Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

The wedding is over and the marriage is now official. Now, God himself gives the last instructions to the bride and the groom.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother.” (Genesis 2:24)

The Hebrew word for “leave” is most often translated “abandoned” as in “abandon ship.” In a sense, that is exactly what has to happen at the beginning of a marriage. The son has to abandon the ship of his parents and the daughter has to abandon the ship of her parents. The two of them have to get on their own ship called “marriage.” Before there can be a union of a husband and wife there must be in a sense a disunion of the child from the parent. The primary relationship in any family is always the husband and the wife. It is not the child to the parent, nor is it the parent to the child.

Don’t read more into this than what God said. It doesn't mean you are to ignore your parents or to disrespect your parents or to quit loving your parents. What we are talking about here is allegiance.

Moses is traditionally cited as the author of Genesis. Neither before, or after Moses was it ever the custom for a man to totally leave his parents when he took a wife. The custom of that day was for a man to marry and remain in his father’s household and the wife would join the family of her husband.

God did not give to Eve a father first to take care of her or a brother first to play with or a son first to watch over. The first thing God gave to Eve was a husband. The first person that God gave to Adam was a wife. That is why the primary allegiance of the husband is always to the wife and the primary allegiance of the wife is always to the husband. When two people get married they don’t just move into a new house; they move into a new home. The purpose of that home is for God to build that couple together just like He built their parents together. God brings us together to build us together.