Cornerstone

Gen 2:24

God set the standard for the marriage covenant before there were in-laws. In spite of this fact, he did not overlook the fact that there might be problems with insecurity and dependency. Thus in Gen 2:24 God set the boundaries when He used two important words that we must never overlook or forget: Leave and Cleave.

The Hebrew word in Gen. 2:24 for leave means “to leave” “to let go” or “leave behind.” The Hebrew word for word for cleave means “to cling or adhere,” “to be joined together,” “to stick” like something glued together. The Greek words for leave and cleave in Matt 19:5 and Mark 10:7 have the same meanings.

For the verses to be understood correctly both concepts have to be accepted. It is not a leaving without a cleaving or a cleaving without a leaving. It does not mean that one person in the marriage must leave and cleave while the other only cleaves but does not leave. To leave must include not only location but dependency. Each person in the marriage covenant, husband and wife, must leave their parents and both of them must realize they have been “glued together” by God in a new inseparable bond. To break the bond means to tear up something that God has created and that was meant to have a separate identity.

To leave does not mean “to forsake” in the sense of rejecting love or loyalty but it does mean the “to forsake” in the sense of accepting a marital love that surpasses the familial love. “To Leave” does not mean to turn away from parents in the sense of rejection but in the sense of moving into a new a greater sphere of allegiance.

To leave and to cleave is beautifully pictured in Eph 5:22-31

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. KJV

Dr. Gayle Woods

John 14:1-6 (1)

The mental patient holding his ear close to the wall, listened intently. The attendant approached. “Sh!” whispered the patient, beckoning him over. The attendant pressed his ear to the wall. “I can’t hear a thing,” he finally said. “No,” replied the patient, “it’s been like that all day!”

Often we are confident that things are going to go wrong. If things dont go wrong they should have. When we get outside the sphere of the customary we get nervous, pessimistic and uncertain. Jesus faced this as He talked to his disciples in John 14. In the John 13 Jesus said He would soon leave. He also told them that Peter was going to deny Him. Then seeing their agitation He told them not to be concerned!

What He was trying to teach them was faith dependence. They were already dependent upon Him but they needed to have a faith dependence. Faith dependence will continue constant even when the visible evidence of the source of our dependence is absent.

Elizabeth Cheney stated it well:

Said the Robin to the Sparrow,

“I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and hurry so.”

Said the Sparrow to the Robin,

“Friend, I think that it must be

That they have no Heavenly Father

Such as cares for you and me.”

Christs Mission

Psalm 147:1-12 (3)

Pungent Statement: To see Christs vision and realize His sense of mission you must be more concerned about the lost than your own comfort or convenience.

As William Booth walked among the poor, hungry and sick people of London his heard was moved with compassion. The situation seemed to be hopeless. The people were not able to find jobs. They lived in small dilapidated quarters that were deteriorating, vermin infested and dangerous. They were lost and without a Savior. It seemed that know one cared whether they knew that Jesus died for them.

William Booth told his wife, “I have given myself to work for God among those sick souls.” He made up his mind that God would have all there was of William Booth as he tried to bring the needy face to face with Jesus. As a result of this vision and sense of mission a new army was formed. It was soon to be called the Salvation Army.

Every successful work of God has been the result of a man or woman first seeing people through the eyes of Jesus. As they looked upon the degradation, destitution, and depressed situation surround the lives of doomed people they began to realize that the mission of their Master to saved a lost world was also to be their mission.

Until you become more concerned about the condition of the lost than your own comfort or convenience you will never see Christs vision or realize His sense of mission.

Dr. Gayle Woods