GOD’S MARRIAGE COVENANT – DON’T SABOTAGE UNITY

“You shall not commit adultery.”  Exodus 20:14

This sounds simple on the surface, but it has deep implications. The roots of this command come from who God is.  Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” was the Hebrew confession of faith. The Hebrew word for unity is ECHAD, unity in diversity, not as a single unit but in a team sense. God is ECHAD, and we are made in His image – ECHAD.  In the church, we are many members but one body. When one member suffers, we all suffer because we are one.

The world is ECHAD – everything functions as a unit e.g., the ocean currents affect the climate of the earth. God’s creation reflects His image. Since God is one and we are created in His image, we find our fulfilment in pursing wholeness -ECHAD, and if we do anything that sabotages ECHAD we bring destruction on ourselves and cause our world to unravel around us.

Since God is ECHAD, He keeps everything together in ECHAD. The force that holds the universe together is called ECHAD – oneness.  Since we are part of the universe and are therefore, part of ECHAD, when we sabotage unity, we are a part of what is tearing the universe apart. Adultery leaves a person disjointed and fractured.  Adultery is not only the act of illicit sex. Anything we do that sabotages ECHAD is adultery. Division in the church is the opposite of ECHAD. Whatever is in the environment that destroys unity is adultery, for example, gossip, division, quarrelling or self-seeking. Whatever arises out of selfishness destroys unity and is classified as adultery.

God indicted His people for spiritual adultery because they worshipped idols, behind which were demonic spirits that tore their lives apart and destroyed their EHAD-ness with each other and with God. Idolatry affected their behaviour towards one another. Parents burnt their children alive as sacrifices to these gods, destroying families, and disrupting unity. Think of what alcohol, drugs, gambling, and promiscuity does to families. These are all aspects of the broad term, “adultery”.  Physical union outside of marriage is the seal of a union already broken.

The deepest cry in our hearts is to be connected in oneness because God is one. A hypocrite is one who divided inside of himself. Genesis 2:24 – marriage is not just companionship for life, a cure for loneliness, or a sexual partner.  At its core is a picture of what God is like. Sexuality is much bigger than just a physical act. To a Hebrew person, having sex meant that two people were creating a union which constituted marriage.

To rape a woman meant you were married to her.  There is no sex in heaven because we won’t need the picture anymore. We have a strong sex drive because it expresses our need to be connected to another person to be one.  Marriage is to reflect God’s nature; therefore, marriage must be always protected to keep our lives and families intact.