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אחר בשר
Chapter One
The Beginning
Even the most devout readers of the Holy Bible will often overlook many aspects about what GOD called marriage from the beginning. For example, although it cannot be refuted that Adam and Eve were husband and wife, evidently Adam did not know his wife until after which time they were both expelled from Eden. Some have stated that this biblical account is merely a metaphor and that such an obviously Freudian event did not actually occur in the literal sense of the story. I would beg to differ, as neither contender on either side of that argument is able to prove otherwise; but that is not my purpose to this particular work. Ultimately, all stories are metaphors and all accounts are symbolic. Different words mean different things to different people. Howbeit, according to scripture, Adam knew his wife in the biblical sense of the word and in the carnal sense of that same word. It is also here, in the Book of Genesis, that the reader might derive from the symbolism of the text that knowledge can be a good deal more than mere information. That is to say, that for one to act-ually “know” a thing one must also truly experience that thing. Adam knew his wife.
The student learns that Adam, according to the biblical account, did indeed have a wife. The student also learns that they became one flesh; that is to say, they were married in the Sight of GOD. Often at this point in the story all manner of convoluted doctrines frequently arise among various religious denominations concerning the marriage of Adam and Eve. That the reader fully understands and appreciates the fact that the LORD GOD did not “miss” something here is of vital importance in this biblical account. The LORD GOD knew the very moment that Eve was with child and the LORD GOD formed that child in the womb of its mother. Now there is no question concerning the legitimacy of that child. The child was indeed conceived of flesh and blood (although some have suggested otherwise) as there was only one human male present at the time having exactly the right number of human chromosomes to share with the mother in the conjugal act of marriage in the Sight of GOD. The process of conception in human beings involves the joining of two haploid cells (each containing 23 chromosomes), one from the man and one from the woman, to produce a human baby: And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD, says the scripture. (Genesis 4:1) I am certainly confident that if Eve had spoken falsely concerning the conception of Cain, the scripture would have stated so. I do not believe that Eve joined in the flesh with the Serpent to produce a man-child as some suggest. Eve had gotten a man from the LORD. The births of Cain and Abel were both living testimonies to the scriptural truth that Adam and Eve were, in no ambiguous terms, one flesh. The offspring of these two human beings are a testimony to this truth. In every respect, the twain, even at the cellular level, joins to become one flesh. One flesh defines marriage in the Sight of GOD.
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What is important to bear in mind is that no matter how many times Adam and Eve were one flesh, they were always one flesh and that no matter how many times Eve gave birth to one flesh, Adam and Eve were still always one flesh thereafter. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24) This is the very first account of marriage recorded in the Holy Bible and one flesh is what the LORD GOD still recognizes as marriage today. This very scripture that Christ referred to, describing union between man and wife from the beginning, in the Book of Genesis, is precisely what the LORD GOD both honours and recognizes as lawful marriage between man and wife. GOD has never deviated from this. Marriage is one flesh — every time it happens. Nothing outside of rape is an exception to this rule because marriage constitutes the voluntary joining of two to become one flesh. (See: Deuteronomy 22:25-27)
Clearly, a man and a woman, whom have freely engaged in the act of marriage, are correctly called one flesh in the Sight of GOD and this description may well apply to them in multiple ways. Whether metaphorically, symbolically, by proxy, or progeny, unions between a man and a woman certainly exist, but according to the fullest scriptural account, the truest form and example of one flesh is that which is granted to the student of scripture and that which existed from the beginning. For this is the very example that Christ pointed to and there can be no better example than the one the Messiah has given.
There can be no doubt among those who would take credence in the scriptural account that this union between man and wife is indeed marriage and cannot be called anything else except what the LORD GOD called it. If the student of scripture intends to be sincere with respect to the written word of GOD as declared in the volume of that Book, the student must call marriage what GOD called marriage and reject all subsequent, new age interpretations of the Word of the LORD. Yet, how many today actually know what indeed defines marriage between husband and wife? How many people today, in the western world are fully able to define marriage without resort to the ambiguity of some new age dictionary? Practically every single debate or discussion I encountered concerning the subject always points back to the time of the beginning of creation where the LORD GOD and Christ bear witness of Adam’s forthright declaration addressing his virtuous betrothal to Eve, written in the Book of Genesis, Chapter two, verse 23. “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”. This statement alone should provide the basis of all criteria concerning marriage in the flesh.
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Lest any shadow of doubt be cast upon this truest definition of marriage, or upon the mind and heart of the honest reader, I sincerely invite the diligent reader to search the scriptures in the New Testament touching this subject as well; for there can be no room for doubt left in the honest mind of the forthright scholar concerning the complete volume of the book, to which Christ did readily refer. A fair assessment of what GOD first called marriage can be substantiated in the verses of the books and epistles of Matthew (19:5-6), Mark (10:8), 1 Corinthians (6:16), and Ephesians (5:31). Marriage, in the Sight of GOD, is “one flesh” — even from the beginning. It can be put no plainer, nor can it be refuted that this union is precisely what GOD has called marriage as it pertains to husband and wife in each, and in every example; for whether the reference to marriage in the Greek is gamisko, ekgamizo, ekgamisko, or just plain gamos, each and every verse cited points directly to that union, joining, coupling, conjugation, etc. which the LORD GOD first called one flesh from the beginning. So profound and so great is the gravity of this fundamental truth that it largely explains why there is so much trouble in present-day marriages as few pastors, ministers, clergy, judges, lawyers, priests, politicians and the like, who would so boldly lay claim to being “public servants”, ever testify that this is the case! Should the stark reality of this basic truth ever strike the reader with full force, regarding the depth, the breadth, length, width, height, scope, and the sheer, overall magnitude at stake touching the traditional and generational condoning of this basic truth, they might well be astonished. No matter how far back the student of scripture should care to go, or resort to the Aramaic halal, chathlan, or 'ownah, all of these Old Testament words still record (even in the ancient Sumerian cuneiform) marriage to be what the GOD of the Hebrews first called, Basar 'echad — אחר בשר — Aramaic Iudean for “one flesh”.
From the beginning, the meaning of marriage has always been the same up until the day that Christ set foot upon the earth as the Son of man and this doctrine was still taught by the Apostles long after his ascension. Marriage, between a man and a woman is indeed a union in the flesh. Neither is the state of marriage a temporary condition to be frivolously cast aside for want of fornication, because the act of fornication (ungodly conjugation) is an affront to marriage in the Sight of GOD. There is no escaping this basic, biblical fact, upheld by the scriptures, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation and there are absolutely no exceptions to the rule: If the said union is not one flesh then it is not marriage between a man and a woman. The shocking part of this revelation requires that the student fully embrace the concept that if the proposed union between man and wife is indeed one flesh, then the very act of conjugation is also marriage in the Sight of GOD — not only the first time it happens, but also every time that it occurs! I need not remind the reader that GOD is not blind. He has seen every single union and joining, conjugation, and every “situation” in the flesh that ever occurred on the planet. Every one of these conjugal unions was indeed a marriage when it occurred between a man and a woman. Nor can it be refuted that not all marriage is honourable, as Christ plainly stated marriage could also be adultery and fornication. I suggest it is high time Christians own up to the truth! How many have the humility to confess that one flesh is marriage in the Sight of GOD?
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What is considerably more important than debating whether or not the Maker of all things ever “misses” a thing, is the full acceptance of the responsibility that remains to all those who have freely conjugated in the flesh to regard such unions as marriages in the Sight of GOD. I have frequently experienced a well-meaning friend, or acquaintance, approach me, saying to the effect, “Brother, are you saying that when a man joins with an harlot that they have married?” Well, what does the Holy Bible say? It does not nearly matter what this brother from another mother says if his words do not agree with the word of GOD. Rather judge in yourselves: Is it possible for a man to actually marry an harlot? I should say yes, but more importantly, the Holy Bible states that not only is this possible, but that this act should be forbidden in the church! The question that would be better proposed here is not so much whether it is possible that a man might marry an harlot, but whether such a thing should be done. In the First Book of Corinthians, Chapter Six, verses fifteen through twenty, the Apostle Paul declared the following words:
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians, 6:15-20 - emphasis added)
I would draw the reader’s attention to the fact that even suggesting that the cited scripture is only some symbolic metaphor using an earthly example simply written to illustrate that the holy church should refrain from committing “spiritual harlotry” is a moot and weak argument. Considering that the Apostle Paul referred to both the body and the spirit in the above passage, surely the reader must then also witness that the Apostle Paul has indeed correctly identified precisely what such a joining, or marriage, act-ually constitutes. This sort of union is nothing less than fornication and such a marriage cannot be honourable. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul has made the matter perfectly clear in this scripture, that when a man is “joined to an harlot” that the “two, saith he, shall be one flesh.” Again: GOD verily called marriage, from the beginning, one flesh. I think it is quite possible for a man to marry an harlot. In nowise do I suggest that a man ought to marry an harlot and I certainly don’t advise it. Admittedly, such an union as described in the passage does not constitute godly marriage between an husband and his wife. I will not dispute this truth as I have already identified that union and joining with Paul’s own words, calling it marriage by its appropriate, biblical description, so there should be no lingering doubt concerning the ungodliness of such an union. Nonetheless, it is still in every respect, and in every wit, marriage in the Sight of GOD; for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. Yes that is right: I am saying that marriage can indeed be fornication because Christ said so himself. I did not state that godly marriage is fornication, but I do declare that marriage to an unrepentant harlot is an abomination in the sight of GOD. Without GOD, even marriage is a vanity under the sun. Without Christ even a union of two virgins is doomed in the Sight of GOD.
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Are pastors today actively teaching this truth according to the admonishing of the apostle Paul? Are the elders, the deacons, and the bishops warning our youth that most marriage is indeed abominable? Are the sisters likewise warning the young women and teaching them that not all marriage is honourable? Brothers and sisters, I would beseech you this day, to please read the Holy Bible precisely as it is written: “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers GOD will judge.” (Hebrews 13:4) So, where then, does the Holy Scripture read, “All marriage is honourable”? It does not; nor shall it ever read this way, as the Word of GOD cannot lie. Rather, the scripture plainly reads: “Marriage is honourable [able to be honoured] in all”. How is it then, that by some sly and subtle trick of the enemy the sincere student of scripture is then so frequently led to believe a lie? Are those noble and well-meaning authorities so blinded that they now think to equate the idea of godly and honourable marriage with every sort of marriage, union, or conjugation under the sun? Is it any wonder why churches today are full of fornication and adultery? “After all”, says the lying minister, “all marriage is honourable”. Friend, if you should gain anything from reading this book, I hope and pray that you understand and fully concur that not all marriage is honourable; but rather that marriage is honourable in all who are married in the Body of Christ. Marriage, in the Sight of GOD, can only be so honoured and there is no other sort, excepting that which GOD first called marriage from the beginning. To say that all marriage is honourable is a treacherous lie.
There is nothing of greater import to Mankind, next to salvation in that most blessed name of JESUS, than marriage between man and wife. In the Book of Ephesians, Chapter five, the student learns that godly marriage is of such sacred import and significance that GOD uses this very union in metaphor and parable to describe His relationship to the church of true worshipers. As to whom the institution of marriage belongs, should be no question in the mind of any who follow the doctrine of Christ. Yet even in this passage, just before the chapter draws to a close, the Apostle once again reminds the reader, that marriage is one flesh: “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.” (See: Ephesians 5:31) We see then, that not only can a man be “joined to an harlot” in marriage, (1 Corinthians 6:16) but also that a man can join “unto his wife”; for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. So while both of these examples constitute marriage in the Sight of GOD, only one of them is truly honourable. “Marriage is honourable in all” does not mean that all marriage is honourable. So, who is the man who claims that if a man joins to an harlot that the twain are one flesh? Who, of all people, would dare to even suggest that joining to an harlot should be called marriage? Where would the Apostles get such radical idea? Did the Apostles of GOD perhaps make a terrible mistake? Could it possibly be that what churches are calling marriage is actually the mere act of two people (regardless of status) joining in the flesh of their own volition? Is it likely then, that there is nothing in the flesh, in and of itself, that can be justified of GOD? Who is the man who dares to declare that there is no good thing in the flesh? The answers can be found within that text which GOD so lovingly suffered to provide Mankind. One need not search far back in the scripture to learn the answers to these honest questions.
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In fact, the New Testament declares those answers in a fashion that is easily understood. Howbeit, the reader is likely to learn that all the answers in the New Testament always point back to the very beginning of creation, where the LORD GOD first defined marriage as one flesh. In Chapter nineteen of the first book in the New Testament, the reader learns the story of the Pharisees as they approached Christ, testing him, to set a snare before him concerning what the LORD GOD called one flesh. In the Book of Matthew, Chapter 19, the dialogue reads as follows:
The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.*
Now it should be clear to the honest student of scripture that Christ stated that the wife who is put away is still the wife of the man who put her away; for any other who marries “her which is put away doth commit adultery”, saith the Lord. (See verse nine) The only exception, which Christ allows for concerning this, is the cause of fornication. So then: Is it indeed possible for a man to marry another man’s wife? The answer should be readily obvious. Christ Jesus would not speak falsely. Not only does the Lord plainly reveal that it is possible for a man to marry another man’s wife, but in the same breath he also calls the very act adultery. Therefore, in the verse provided, Christ has also called marriage of particular sort adultery. Is the act of adultery in marriage then considered honourable? GOD forbid, says the Apostle Paul. No, not all marriage is honourable; but many pastors and public servants would have us to believe otherwise. What “thus saith the LORD” is to be the final arbiter in the final determination of truth, but the people have rebelled against the truth to serve their own selfish ends. For it is here, where one learns that the sheep are being fed a diet of worms which few dare to examine while the majority readily receives the lie that is preached from the pulpit. In the fabrication of a paper writ of license for the purpose of marriage more fornication and adultery in marriage has been falsely justified at the altar of GOD than any other exploit known to humankind. Please consider the fact that in less than a single century the sanctioning of marriage by means of a secularist writ has subtly resulted in more false covenants, manipulation, and malicious merchandising of human lives than ever before in the course of human history!
* (Matthew Nineteen, verses three through twelve - emphasis added)
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In the account provided, the first matter of the dialogue actually addresses the subject of the putting away of a spouse for every cause. At this point there is no mention of what the Pharisees already knew in their law to be the only lawful cause for the putting away of a spouse, and that, with a writ of divorcement. (See: Deuteronomy 24:1) They were setting a trap. Christ Jesus already knew that the “issue” presented was not really the issue at all; he also knew that they were trying to set a trap and simply turns them back to the writing of their own law:
“Have ye not read”, says the Christ, “that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Matthew 19:4-6 – emphasis added) Christ makes a profound statement in declaring these words because in so doing, he immediately points them all the way back to the beginning, before the flood, even before that ancient Sumerian law, which indubitably preceded both the Egyptian law and the law of Moses, having originated in the early account of creation, in the second Chapter of the Book of Genesis. The Messiah then reminds them of what was first written in their own Torah. He reminds them that a man shall cleave unto his wife and that this makes them one flesh. He tells them that what GOD “joins together” are a man and a wife. Christ does not tell them that GOD “joins together” a man and an harlot, or a man and an adulteress, or a man and a fornicator; but rather, it is GOD who does the joining between a man and a wife. This is so very important to bear in mind. It is further proof that not all marriage is honourable; for two, saith he, shall be one flesh, and the LORD GOD does not mince words. The act of conjugation was first ordained of GOD.
The student learns that when Christ repeated a thing in the account of the Gospel, it was always of the uttermost importance. There are several examples of this in the scripture of the Son of man repeating the same words that he first declared. So it bears repeating that this passage is certainly no exception, for Christ Jesus repeats yet again, in the following sentence, that the two are one flesh. It would seem that he does not desire to risk not being heard the first time. By this observation, the reader can be fully confident that marriage is verily, verily one flesh in the Sight of GOD. Howbeit, there is still the matter of an harlot joining to a man as opposed to a wife joining with a man. (See: 1 Corinthians 6:16). Is the conjugal act still marriage in the Sight of GOD when a man joins himself to an harlot, an whore, or if he takes a prostitute in the flesh? Is there actually a difference? I should think that there is certainly a difference between a wife and an harlot, but what of the conjugal act? What follows verse six, in the Book of Matthew, Chapter Nineteen, should give the student some idea as to what that difference might be. The reader will also learn that much repetition will indeed be presented in this book as well, lest the matter of what GOD first called marriage be lost due to some oversight. Christ would not have used the example from the beginning if the example were obsolete, expired, temporary, or no longer valid. Clearly, Christ used the very best example of marriage existing between a man and his wife.
