Sometimes, people use the passage in Genesis 2 where Yahweh forms the woman and brings her to the man as an argument for monogyny to the exclusion of polygyny. While it does show something of the fundamental marriage pattern, the text itself mentions neither monogyny or polygyny. So what is it saying?

This is the first occurrence of this term »one flesh« in the Bible and it is a prophetic declaration concerning the sexual aspect of marriage and the union of Christ with his people. Note that it specifically says »one flesh«, not »one soul« or »one spirit«. Men and women are tripartite beings, each consisting of a spirit, a soul, and a body (1Th 5:23) Much Christian teaching on marriage seems to lean in the direction of one soul or one spirit in spite of the fact that their is no verse of Scripture which says »the two shall become one soul« or »the two shall become one spirit«. In this first recorded marriage in Scripture, the pattern is that the husband and the wife become one flesh in sexual intercourse.

»What God, then, YOKES together, let not man be separating.« Jesus uses the verb YOKE to denote this joining together. Thus, become one flesh is a yoking together between a man and a woman. When two oxen are joined together in a yoke, they never become one ox. They are yoked together for the purpose of pulling a burden or a plough in unison. A marriage is similar. Yahweh yokes together a man and a woman in sexual intercourse that they might move in unison, not so that they become one person.

Concerning the Yoke, Jesus said »Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my YOKE is easy, and my burden is light.« (Mt 11:28-30, KJV). We can then relate this to the marital principle, for if God be the one yoking a man and a woman together, then he is placing HIS yoke upon them. The purpose, then, becomes evident, that they might learn of Jesus and therein find REST for their souls as he gives it to them. He describes his Yoke as EASY, not hard. The way of the wicked is hard, but not the Yoke of Yeshua. And his burden is light. The word for souls in this passage is psukhais, the mind, the Psyche. When we take his Yoke upon us, and learn of him, we are promised rest in the realm of the mind, that is, in the realm of our thoughts and feelings and desires and will and reasoning. Marriage is meant to be a context in which we learn of Jesus and enter into his rest. But we must respond and TAKE his Yoke upon us. HE must be the driver, he must direct those in his Yoke.

Here Jesus explains that the two yoked together in marriage are no longer two, but one flesh. Again not one spirit, or one soul. Remember, marriage is defined as marriage by sexual union. Whatever else may be involved, it is nevertheless the sexual aspect which makes this relationship a marriage.

Paul understood that the passage in Genesis was a statement concerning sexuality. Prostitution is really a worldly substitute for marriage. Paul's usage of the statement in correcting this problem verifies that »they shall be one flesh« in Genesis was and is a purely sexual statement, regardless whatever it may point to in terms of spiritual things.

When Paul uses this statement in his letter to the Ephesian believers, he was speaking about Christ and the Ekklesia and used the Lord as an example to define further how the husbands were to love their wives and the wives were to respond to their husbands. But he was speaking about the Bridegroom! What do you think he was pointing toward?

What do you think the Bridegroom did with his virgins? »They that were ready went in with him to the MARRIAGE...« They entered in with him into being yoked together with him to become ONE FLESH with HIM! Remember, »they shall be one flesh« is a sexual statement.

As a pattern, this parable teaches us that the marriage of the Bridegroom is polgynous. Therefore, it is within the divine nature for men and women in Christ to be polygynous.

In terms of symbol, the ten virgins represent churches in a time of trial, for the number 10 is associated with trial throughout the Scriptures. The 10 virgins also point to the fulfillment of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in the realm of the Spirit, for Yom Kippur occured on the tenth day of the seventh month. This was during the Feast of Tabernacles. The seventh month is like the seventh day in that it points to a period of REST and COMPLETION in Yahweh's creative activity. When the 10 virgins divide into 2 groups of 5, we see the effect of the trial, rest, and completion. The number 5 is often associated with the Grace of God and the five-fold ministry. Each group of 5 virgins can be likened to the five senses. The 5 which were wise came under the Anointing and had Oil (a symbol of the Holy Spirit) in their vessels while the 5 which were foolish had none. Thus, in the 5 who were wise, their senses were delivered by that Anointing out of fixation upon the things of the flesh so that they were focused on the Bridegroom and prepared themselves in the Spirit for the marriage. The 5 who were foolish continued to focus on natural things and evidently saw no need for either the Oil or preparation until they had no time left to prepare. When in midnight's darkness, the 5 wise ones had Light. Both groups experienced the Grace of God. Both were virgins. The wise came out of the trial with Light and Oil, but the foolish were lacking. It is those who have Light and Oil who were able to become »one flesh« with the Bridegroom.

Let's look at Ephesians 5 again:

This is a mystery, that is, a sacred secret into which one must be initiated in order to comprehend it, a sacred secret which is also meant to be portrayed in the lives of the people of Yahweh. The key to this »great mystery« is in verse 23: »he is the saviour of the body«. Everything that follows pertains to this. The first principle moving toward the Salvation of the Body is the Patriarchal principle as it pertains to authority and submission: Christ is the head of the Church and the Husband is the head of the Wife. That authority is exercized in LOVING unto the laying down of the husband's life and in WASHING through the Word. Do we yet truly understand the Christ loves the Church »as his own body«? Remember, the union is in becoming »one flesh«. Then Paul says that we are members of his body, of his flesh, and his bones. The man Christ Jesus who appeared to his disciples after his death, having flesh and bones, not being a spirit, when he appears, will not only appear as one immortal man, but as an army of immortals! This will be the result of the Body of Christ becoming »one flesh« with him, when she comes into the fulness of his Image, having no spot or blemish.

What glory was revealed in Christ? It shall likewise be revealed in the Sons of God. When Paul says to the Ephesians that Christ is the »saviour of the body«, he is speaking about the Creature (see Ep 2:8-10) being »delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God«. Our Redeemer has a redemption for our bodies, and that redemption is the Adoption, that is the placing of sons in authority as sons! I sometimes say that the we are not fully mature or perfected until we put on immortality. So, what about this »redemption of the body«? Paul described it this way:

This kind of metamorphosis is the purpose of that Loving and that Washing of water BY THE WORD. Thus the purpose of marriage upon the earth is for the husband to sanctify and cleanse the wife through the Word, loving her as Christ loves the church toward the end that they, being joint-heirs together of the grace of life (1P 3:7), may prepare for that »one flesh« with Christ. In other words, a husbands instructions and teaching through the Word, through the rhêma, the utterance of God, should be moving toward immortality. We should also remember that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life! And from this identity is he the Saviour of the Body:

I wonder sometimes whether anyone actually believes this. All through the third chapter of Philippians, Paul was being subjected to the work of the cross in his life that he might be fully conformed to the Image of Son of God and be literally made immortal IN HIS BODY through the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what he meant by »the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus« (Ph 3:14, KJV). As we who are husbands love our wives as Christ loves, and giving ourselves, bringing forth the utterance of God for their setting apart, for their cleansing unto glorification, we need to understand that we are paralleling on a small scale what Christ is doing on a large scale. The focal point of the marriage is not so much the relationship itself, but rather Jesus and the fulfillment of his purpose to bring forth a Bride in a glorified incorruptible immortal state of being which extends beyond the spirit and the soul into the physical body.

Having said this, I now want to turn to some things in Moses pertaining to marriage. The definition of marriage in Genesis 2 is actually the foundation for all later statements regarding marriage. I will not bring out every verse about marriage, but rather to touch on a few which illustrate and elaborate the notion of becoming one flesh further.

It is through becoming »one flesh« that men and women procreate children. Remember, Paul wrote that »it is sown a natural body«? Yahweh's purpose in manifesting the Sons of God and displaying his glory in them requires that people exist, and to exist, they must be coinceived and be born. This is one of the reasons why Yahweh was so opposed to the practice of sacrificing children to other gods and why he did not allow Abraham to slay Isaac even as a sacrifice to him. Yahweh wants many children to be born so that he can impart his life into them and raise up brethren unto Jesus.

All three things required of the husband in this verse were things pertaining to the BODY. Food nourishes the flesh and sustains it. Raiment is a covering for the body. And duty of marriage is that joining of the two bodies to become »one flesh«. In other words, the husband was to provide food and clothing for the body with which his own body was to join in sexual intercourse. And Jesus does the same for each church which is to be joined unto him. Remember the Parable of the Ten Virgins? Each one can be understood as a church as was the church at Ephesus. He provides the food in giving himself for her, for he said »I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst« (Jn 6:34, KJV). And he clothes her with his own Righteousness and Presence: »For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.« (2C 5:2-5, KJV) and also »Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment...« (Rv 3:3-4, KJV). And yes, there will certainly be the marriage supper of the Lamb: »Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.« (Rv 19:7-8, KJV). Bear in mind that this wife consists of many wives. In the beginning of the revelation, there were seven churches, but here they have come into such union with him that they are as one wife.

Let us not follow the example of some who attempt to apply these verses (including verses 1 through 3) as COMMANDMENT. Notice that Paul does not say that the husband and the wife have power over one another's souls or spirits, only over one another's bodies. Each one must work out their own salvation in fear and trembling (Ph 2:12-13). This was the verse which preceded the verse above:

So we know that Paul was talking about husbands and wives becoming one flesh. Note that when he tells them not to defraud or deprive one another, but to come together again after fasting and prayer, it is for the purpose of avoiding temptation. In other words, they were to continue becoming »one flesh« on a regular basis to hinder any influence from the devil which might come against them in areas of weakness. The man whom Paul rebuked for having his father's wife, was said to have participated in »fornication« (1C 5:1). The Greek word for »fornication« is porneia, which literally means 'prostitution' or 'harlotry', and referred to pagan religious practice of worshiping deities through laying with the priestesses of the various deities' temples. This man had succumbed to temptation and gone in unto his faher's wife, probably in one of these pagan rituals. When the husband and wife are joined together as »one flesh«, there is power moving over their bodies from each other. Further down in the epistle, Paul explains that the unbelieving spouse is sanctified or set apart unto God through the believing spouse, and that their children, those who came forth from the parents becoming »one flesh«, are likewise holy because of this (1C 7:12-14).

There is no doubt much more I could say about this and many more examples we could look at in the Scriptures. We have seen that this principle of becoming »one flesh« parallels the relationship of Christ to the church, Jesus himself being the foundation of all things. We have seen that this principle works in Biblical polygyny. And we have also seen that this principle defines the term »marriage«. One final note I will make is that, since this definition is the underlying principle and foundation of those regulations in the Law of Moses which pertain to polygyny, the passage in Genesis 2 cannot be used to support any doctrine which mandates monogyny to the exclusion of polygyny as a marital option in Christ. Genesis 2 simply shows the pattern for marriage. In polygyny, the husband has a distinct marriage with each wife, and each one is identified as marriage through sexual intercourse. Each wife is yoked to the husband. And their husband is their head. Jacobs wives were yoked to him by God. Wherever Yahweh wanted to lead the house of Israel, he led Jacob, and his wives moved with him, being yoked to him.

Perhaps more later...