HOW DOES GOD SEE MARRIAGE?
Part 4: God is Watching

“The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness!”
(1 Samuel 1:12 ESV).

We keep looking more into the Malachi 2 passage about marriage. Verse 14 says: “The LORD hath been WITNESS between thee and the wife of thy youth . . . yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.”

We often move along in our marriages without ever realizing how much God is involved. Yes, He is involved even if we don’t notice Him. Do we realize that God is witnessing all our words and interactions with another? When we are aware of this, it certainly makes a difference to how we act and speak to one another, doesn’t it?

God was witnessing as we spoke our marriage vows, maybe similar to these words: “I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband, and forsaking all others, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, according to God’ s Holy Ordinance.”

We spoke our vows before God. We made a covenant. That’s why God uses the word “treacherous” because when we break covenant with our marriage vows, we also break covenant with God.

The Message paraphrase says: “GOD was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage vows to your young bride, and now you’ve broken those vows, broken the faith-bond with your vowed companion, your covenant wife. GOD, not you, made marriage.”

Proverbs 2:17 talks about the wife who “forsakes the guide of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.” Her marriage vows are called the “covenant of her God.”

The word “covenant” is “berit” and means “a compact (made by passing between pieces of flesh as God did with Abram in Genesis 15:17-21), a contract accompanied by signs, sacrifices, and a solemn oath which sealed the relationship with promises of blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience.”

Do you notice the words, “FORSAKING ALL OTHERS”? These words are part of our marriage vows. When we marry, we no longer have a “personal” male friend. Of course, we’ll have loads of male friends as couples and families with whom we enjoy fellowship. But never again will we go out for lunch or a cup of coffee on our own with another man. The covenant of marriage makes us “glued” to our spouse. We are one. No longer two. If we don’t understand this concept, we don’t understand God’s concept of marriage.

And remember, God is WITNESSING.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Lord God, You were with us on our wedding day when we said our vows to one another. You witnessed as we made a covenant with one another and with You. Please help both of us to be covenant keepers. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am a covenant keeper!