Malachi Chapter Two, Biblically Defined Marriage

 

I believe the remnant (residue, KJV) of the Spirit simply implies that though God could have created our first parents differently, this was His chosen path. He did not lack power. The remnant of the Spirit remained, like the heaping baskets of fragments leftover when He fed the thousands. When He acts it is right, for our benefit, and designed to teach.

We come to the simple question: why one? This little question concretes the fleshed out rendering at the beginning of the verse. God made one, or made them one, alluding to the marriage covenant. Why? He seeks godly offspring. Here we have the reason why Paul warns Christians not to be yoked with unbelievers. This is why the Jews of Malachi’s time perverted the covenant of the fathers so terribly by marrying Canaanite women. God seeks from marriage godly offspring. One purpose of marriage (not THE purpose, but one purpose) is children. The first purpose of marriage is rather endearing. “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper (helpmeet) comparable to him,” Genesis 2:18. The term “comparable” is telling. It can be translated, “similar or equivalent.” God determined to make for Adam an equal with whom he could share his life on earth. Note that this did not mean identical, merely equal. Man is not meant to usurp a woman’s identity, nor a woman man’s role, Deuteronomy 22:5, 1 Corinthians 11:14, 15. We are equal, but not identical, and confusing the issue engenders manifold problems with relationships in general and marriage in particular. This was the initial, but perhaps not the primary purpose for marriage, otherwise marriage would not need to involve intercourse.

 

God’s first command to Adam and Eve as a married couple was this: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it,” Genesis 1:28. One husband and one wife united in a lifelong bond blessed by God were to procreate for the purpose of rearing godly children. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward,” Psalm 127:3. The word “heritage” means “birthright” or “legacy.” Our children succeed us, and biologically as well as mentally and spiritually take much from those that sired them. We read of Adam’s legitimate successor: “And Adam…begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth,” Genesis 5:3. This verse parallels the earlier passage when the Trinity holds counsel, declaring God’s intention: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,” Genesis 1:26. As God created a being after His likeness, now mankind would populate the earth with beings made after their own image, while still “according” to the likeness of God. Sexual union’s ultimate purpose then was procreation to fulfill God’s command to fill the earth. Any view of marriage that parts with monogamous, heterosexual, lifelong commitment with a view toward bringing another generation into the world has stepped out of God’s design for matrimony and does not constitute what the Lord accepts.

 

Of course marriage in general is also viewed in light of the passage currently being considered. Under the representative head of our first parents, every man and woman that are wed God “makes them one,” in body and spirit. And because a cardinal purpose for matrimony is children, Malachi cautions the Hebrews to “take heed to your spirit.” The Hebrew word “spirit” is “ruwach” and is the same term used when describing the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. The word can mean breath, wind or life. It can also incorporate the frame of a rational being, including its expressions and functions. The word is translated “spirit” 232 times in the OT, and as “mind” 5 times. The three times Malachi employs it, it is in verses 15 and 16. The first time is a reference to the work of the Holy Spirit, the latter two making mention of the human spirit. The Jews breaking the covenant of the fathers are warned to take heed to their spirit. It is saying something along the line of: “Be mindful of the deliberate choices you’re making.” We are not slaves to our passions; granted a dedicated pattern of sin can form addiction in whatever it is that we’ve chosen to succumb to, making the task of separating from it that much harder.

 

The second portion of the verse warns of, once again, being treacherous with the wife of one’s youth, the legitimate spouse and the only one God recognizes. In spirit we are to walk with God, and so walking with Him produce by virtue of His presence in our lives fruit fit for His glory and human good. Such spiritual fruit is, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, Galatians 5:22, 23. The first on the list is love. Love of God would manufacture a love for one’s wife that would never suffer them to endure the pain of divorce for our own selfish pursuits. The final fruit on the list is self-control, when, coupled with a fervent love, protects us and detains us from seeking pleasure where we ought not. Solomon writes, “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured by her love,” Proverbs 5:18, 19. Clearly this verse, addressing the bliss of marriage, also refers to the marriage bed, which the Holy Spirit commands to remain undefiled, and that God would judge fornicators and adulterers, Hebrews 13:4. The covenant breakers, referred to as dangerous seditionists, defiled the marriage bed, and are guilty of treason toward their wives and the God who is their witness.