P3 Biblical Foundations for Marriage - Communication

Genesis 2:23-24 Then the man said,“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Yesterday we looked at the second foundation for Biblical Marriage: Covenant.  In this blog series we have thus identified two fundamental foundations to Biblical marriage: Companionship and Covenant.  In today's blog we want to consider the third foundation of Biblical marriage: Communication.

Third Foundation of Godly Marriage: Communication – Gen 2:25

      When Genesis 2:25 states that Adam and Eve were “naked and not ashamed”, it is referring not only to their physical state, but also communication.  The idea of nakedness in the Hebrew language refers to “unhindered communication”, whereas shame refers to “confusion and breakdown in communication”.  As a perfect marriage, Adam and Eve enjoyed unhindered communication in body, soul and spirit.  Just as God Himself is all about communication, He desired to have reflected in Adam and Eve that same reality. 

As Jesus expounds upon this passage in Matthew 19:3-6, He notes first of all how God had created "male and female" as originally stated in Genesis 1:26-28.  The terms translated "male" and "female" are intended to communicate the diversity that exists within marriage.  Likewise Jesus then discusses in Matthew 19:6 this statement from Genesis 2:24 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh..."  God created marriage to be not only a diversity but at the same time a union between the husband and the wife. 

How communication as a "diversity" in "unity" pictures the Triune character of God Himself
These two ideas of "unity" and "diversity" are used in scripture to convey the reality of God Himself as One God (unity) who exists as three Persons (diversity) - hence the Trinity.  The reason why God is the God of communication or revelation is because He is unified in His essence - i.e His being.  His words are never contradictory.  If anything, God Himself is ever clear and truthful.  Since God is a three-fold Diversity, He as Father communicates perfectly to the perfect receiver - God the Son.  With the Holy Spirit perpetually cyling back and forth between the two, the ongoing communication between Father, Son and Holy Spirit is ongoing. (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-15)

As God had created Adam and and his wife in His "image" and "likeness", those two terms pointed to the capacity of Adam and his wife to communicate and receive communication from God and one another.  Adam, the recipient of God's revelation (Genesis 2:15-17) was to communicate it to his wife.  She in turn was to yield to Adam while at the same time co-ruling with him as God's delegated king and queen over creation.1

Satan's war on marriage - the breaking down of communication

Sadly in Genesis 3 Adam and his wife rebel against God in the garden.  Once Satan had destroyed communication between the husband and wife, their break of relationship with God naturally followed.  Since the covenant was broken with God, companionship was lost.  Satan knew that if he could disrupt communication, the other two foundations would fall like dominoes.  From Genesis 3 on the introduction of sin and death into the human race and the world would also affect marriage.  Since marriage pictures something true about God Himself, Satan's strategy in destroying marriages is not only to undermine humanity, but the picture of God Himself. 

More tomorrow.........

End Notes________________

1. The Hebrew word for "rule" in Genesis 1:26 speaks of exercising dominion or rule over creation.  Adam and his wife were delegated authority by God, an authority they forfeited in the fall.  The breakage of the Covenant of Works in Genesis 3:1-7 meant loss of the effectiveness to excercise authority.