Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I agree that neither Adam nor Eve was "born" of both a human father and mother, as everyone since them (except for Christ) has been. However, I think that the emphasis in the passage cited is the unique closeness and intimacy between a husband and wife that is indicated by the manner in which God originally formed Eve out of Adam's flesh and bone. It is a bond so close that there is no room for any other human parties to come between them or take greater precedence.

This is what is signified by a man leaving his father and mother through marriage. He (and his wife) will still love and honor their parents (as God later commanded in Exodus 20:12), but those parents will never again be of greater importance in their lives than the spouse. Each spouse's commitment to the other should be superseded only by their mutual commitment to God.

June 12 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Grant Abbott Child of Father, Follower of Son, Student of Spirit

It is important when we read the bible to understand who the author of the book was, when did they live and what audience they were writing for. The book of Genesis was written by Moses several thousand years after Adam and Eve were created and lived in the garden of Eden. You see Adam lived for over 900 years, and based on bible chronology, he was alive at the time of Lemech (Noah’s father) to pass on his eyewitness testimony of all his lifetime of experience with God. Then Lemech passed this information on to Noah. Since Noah’s family were the only ones to survive the flood it was his responsibility to pass this information on to subsequent generations and Moses would have heard all the stories from the people of Israel. In our modern world, we may view this oral method of communication with suspicion, but it was their only means of passing on their life stories since papyrus (written letters) were not invented until Moses time in Egypt. These oral communications had to be completely accurate because their lives depended on it.

This background is necessary to help us understand what the bible is trying to teach us. In the verse you have quoted (Gen 2:24) Moses is speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In the preceding verse Moses is quoting Adam as he was speaking to God and to Eve on the day that Eve was created. Moses knew what Adam had said because Adam’s life story was passed down through the generations and Moses was familiar with it. He was retelling Adam’s story. 

As Moses records in the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve were the first man and woman. They became the first married couple and proceeded to have the first family when their children were born. These children and subsequent generations of men and women getting married and having children have populated our earth.

But the Holy Spirit wanted to use the example of Adam and Eve to communicate that God’s “general will” for men and women is that they get married and have children. Sometimes families are not able to have children and the bible gives lots of examples of this (Abraham & Sarah). God’s reasons for closing the wombs of women are not always explained in scripture. Sometimes God has a specific will for certain people that precludes them from marriage and children. As the apostle Paul explains, it is so these people can serve God’s purposes full time without other responsibilities.

This general principle still applies to our world today. However, in the western world, many people do not get married or if they do, they do not have children. We also have many different definitions of family to accommodate children from divorced homes plus a growing number of homosexual relationships. But all of these variations are not God’s general will. They are variations created by the work of Satan to stop children from being born. You see, the human race is only one generation away from extinction. If every man and woman on the planet was deceived in some way not to get married and have children, then within a hundred years or so, the human race would cease to exist. Already in the western world, every country has a negative native population growth rate and it is only because of immigration that these developed countries are growing in size.

In conclusion, the Holy Spirit had a very important reason to communicate his message in verse 24. Without children being born inside the marriage of a man and woman to create a family unit, the human race would be in jeopardy. Also, in those ancient times many people died because of wars, disease, famine, plagues, etc. (which God knew was going to happen) so more children were needed to replace those that were lost and more children were needed to help meet the families need for food by farming and hunting. It is important that we understand how each bible book was written and why so we can interpret it for our day and time and apply its message to our daily lives in accordance with God’s general will.

June 15 2018 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report