Bible Discussion Thread

Thank you Chris on those great verses on fornication you gave. You presented it as a broken relationship between "two" it made me think of a key word in marriage, "Joined". (To be yoked together). That brings me to also think of spiritual fornication, If fornication was any other way than the way you described it, we wouldn't understand the meaning of spiritual fornication. I believe God gives us marriage not just for barring children, but to communicate Christ relationship to the church, and Gods relationship to Israel. Not to mention how would we understand the book of Hosea? We see often in the old testament God called Israel his wife and he was a husband to them. Here is one of many:

Isaiah 54:4-5. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. Here is one of many verses Israel committing fornication, Jeremiah 3:8. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. Fornication defined properly is essential to understanding scripture.

I very much agree with you Steven. The marriage that God had designed for the union of man & woman on Earth is indeed the clear reflection of the intimate union of God with His people, first Israel & now those under Christ's Blood. When we examine the two (the spiritual & the physical sides of marriage), we do see so many similarities of intimacy, of belonging, dependency, openness, heartache when one is absent, to name a few. And the Spirit of God's Passion is to ensure that the marriage bond remains strong, vibrant & spontaneous, giving special meaning to our call: "Our Father Who art in Heaven". He is more than a Creator Who oversees our lives & activities yet estranged from us by distance - God is our Father Who longs that we look to Him & respond to Him as His very own, enjoying the same intimacy that His Son had with Him while on Earth.

Can we then, with the eye of anticipation & longing, even imagine what the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be like? Both the Bridegroom & Bride longing for that day, & that waiting & watching by faith finally realized, when faith becomes sight. So what a witness the world has of a Christian marriage: one devised & sustained by God alone; & how important that we present Christ, not only by the Gospel, but also by our lives/our marriages/our God-fearing children, or else, all sense of the knowledge & consciousness of God will be gone.