Reflection for Bereisheet
“One Flesh”
Matthew 19:3-9
Mark 10:2-16
1 Corinthians 6:15-20
Ephesians 5:28-33
excerpted from TorahScope Apostolic Scriptures Reflections
Realistically speaking, Bereisheet (Genesis 1:1-6:8) covers a large swath of time, from “in the beginning” to Noah finding favor with the Lord. Estimates of how long a period this actually ranges is debated: from a few thousand years, to millions or billions of years. Consequently, when a Torah student turns to this section of Holy Writ, there are a multitude of subjects to consider. The act of creation, in and of itself, is most fascinating. Scientists and theologians, not to even mention laypeople, have been debating the origin of the universe for millennia, without any absolute determinations. Yet in the midst of such cosmic discussions, there is one topic inserted in the text which does have significant amplification in the Apostolic Scriptures, as its consequences just happen to be the cause for the propagation of humanity. The concept of becoming “one flesh” in marriage, is a major theme seen throughout the Bible, and throughout history.
Before one is introduced to the institution of monogamy, a description of how God created a woman from the rib or side (Heb. tzeila) of a man, who himself had his body formed from the dust, is incredible to contemplate. Of course, the Creator can do anything He desires with what He has created. While imagining an anatomical operation, with the attendant reconstruction of another body, seems beyond comprehension—perhaps the author was really trying to convey a more profound concept, designed to maintain the species down through the ages. The fact that the first man poetically waxed eloquent, as he noted the intimacy of bones from his bones and flesh from his flesh, was an indication of how God always intended one man for one woman. When you read this, note the author’s observation of a beautiful image, of a naked man and woman possessing no shame:
“The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:21-25, WMB).
Regrettably, it is right after this awesome scene, that readers encounter the talking serpent intrude, and the temptation for humanity to “be like God” overcame the requirement to be in total dependence upon Him. Without elaborating on the details, the consequences of disobedience, were some specific curses upon both genders:
“To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire [urge, NJPS] will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.’ To Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it,” the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.’ The man called his wife Havah because she would be the mother of all the living” (Genesis 3:16-20, WMB).
Here, one finds some of the results of the original disobedience to God. It includes pain in childbirth and physical death, as the human body will return to the basic elements from which it was made. The original intention of God, was for man and woman to be united as one flesh—but instead a woman’s teshuqah will be for her husband, who will then be forced to dominate her (cf. Genesis 4:7)—as the two sexes will be locked in combat. Still, as this selection concludes, Adam continued to be impressed by his wife, as he named her Chavah, in recognition of her ability to bring forth their progeny.
After examining these condensed episodes about the origin of life and human relations, we turn to the Apostolic Scriptures. The concept of husband and wife being one flesh is elaborated upon by not only Yeshua, but also the Apostle Paul. We see how Yeshua was questioned by some Pharisees about the merits of divorce:
“Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?’ He answered, ‘Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh” [Genesis 1:27; 2:24]? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.’ They asked him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her [Deuteronomy 24:1-4]?’ He said to them, ‘Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery’” (Matthew 19:3-9, WMB; cf. Mark 10:2-12).
These Pharisees were “testing” Yeshua. They wanted to know if He was going to contradict instruction delivered by Moses. Instead, Yeshua added significant weight to the institution of marriage, declaring that God had ordained it when He put a man and woman together. But it is noted that according to Moses, the opportunity to issue a certificate of divorce was permitted, as originally given in Deuteronomy 24:
“When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a certificate of divorce, put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. If the latter husband hates her, and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife; her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to the LORD. You shall not cause the land to sin, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance” (Deuteronomy 24:1-4, WMB).
Yeshua recognized the possibility of divorce, primarily because of the hardness of heart which plagues many individuals. There is also the common problem of sexual infidelity. He further clarified that when a divorce takes place which had not been justified by sexual immorality, and divorce occurred solely with the intention of marrying another, the divorcing spouse becomes an adulterer. In fact, according to Moses’ original words, a divorced spouse who has remarried, but whose second spouse died, is not permitted to remarry the spouse who was previously divorced.
Yeshua upheld the validity of Moses’ commandments, but did amplify the need for a husband and wife to remain married by imploring how, “what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:6, NRSV). We could view this how when two people come together in holy matrimony, they are no longer two individuals, but rather one whole or completed person considered “one flesh.” This is the intention of adult human life, which goes full circle back to the Garden of Eden, when Eve was made from the very side of Adam, and the two were to be lifelong companions. God joins a man and a woman together and makes them one flesh in marriage—and it is not right for any other man or woman to ever separate them.
In the modern era, the problem with divorce has become greatly rampant, even more so than previous generations. Many (including myself) have become victims of this insidious action, as statistics indicate that somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. Lamentably, many of those who claim a belief in the Bible, do not have a measurable difference in these statistics, from those who are less inclined to follow Scriptural admonitions. For Believers in Yeshua who have been on either side of a divorce, His sacrificial work certainly covers any transgression, and is able to bring forgiveness to those who have been victimized or have succumbed to divorce. Confession and repentance of this sin is available, but as many know, the consequences of failed marriages still resonate. All reap what has been sown.
The Apostle Paul used the Genesis analogy of “one flesh,” as he had to address the problems of sexual immorality among those to whom he ministered. To the assembly at Corinth, Paul quoted from Genesis, in order to make the point that sexual promiscuity is a sin against one’s own body:
“Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Messiah? Shall I then take the members of Messiah and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, ‘The two’, he says, ‘will become one flesh [Genesis 2:24].’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee sexual immorality! ‘Every sin that a man does is outside the body,’ but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:15-20, WMB).
Paul tried to point out that once someone had become a redeemed child of God, and had been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then one ran the risk of bringing degradation upon Him for this act of immorality. Sins of sexual perversion inevitably make their way into the Body of Messiah as a whole, which is to not be filled with iniquity, but instead the presence of the Spirit. For Believers in the Messiah, getting involved in perverse sexual intercourse, is a vile transgression which should be avoided at all costs. The strong admonition is to flee immorality. There is no doubt that if someone is consistently in sexual sin, that the power of the indwelling Spirit is not actively at work, overcoming the lust of the flesh. The incredible price paid for your sin is not that appreciated.
As Paul put it later to his disciple Timothy, “Flee from youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22, WMB). Another suggestion, if sexual immorality and temptation continually plagues a person, is perhaps testing to examine whether one is truly in and of the faith: “Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Yeshua the Messiah is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5, WMB). Putting these words in an ancient Mediterranean context, rife with temple prostitution, homosexuality, and many other forms of lewd behavior, only intensifies the need to turn to the Lord for deliverance.
Paul also elaborated upon the mystery of man and woman becoming “one flesh,” in his general letter to Believers in Asia Minor, making reference to Genesis. The union of a husband and wife, is analogous to a union which is supposed to exist between the Messiah and the assembly of redeemed:
“Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly, because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones. ‘For this cause a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife. Then the two will become one flesh’ [Genesis 2:24]. This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Messiah and the assembly. Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:28-33, WMB).
Paul admonished that a husband should love his wife so much, that he puts her needs above his own. The nurturing and cherishing, of the wife by the husband, should be to the point of his willingness to die for her. On the other hand, when a woman discerns that her husband loves her to this extent, then the respect she has for her husband will naturally result. When the love of the husband is shown and known, then the respect of the wife follows, and the intimacy of two becoming one flesh resonates. Both the husband and wife can live as marriage partners in mutual submission to one another (Ephesians 5:21ff), hopefully ending the curse which incurred from the Garden of Eden, with the two sexes being in constant conflict (Genesis 3:16).
On a personal level, let me just say that having lived in a failed marriage, and now living in a wonderful marriage—the difference between the two is like night and day. Living in a situation where the two parties to a marriage, are not equally yoked, is difficult. Lamentably, some find themselves in this situation, and the ramifications are challenging. So having learned from experience, it is critical that prior to marriage, a potential husband and wife both discern that they are able to become one flesh and complete one another, so that their marriage can actually be used to further glorify the Holy One of Israel. This requires spiritual leaders to be there to counsel engaged couples, and speak openly and candidly about various relational, sexual, social, and even financial issues, which they will encounter in their life of marriage together.
Finally, for those blessed with the oneness, wholeness, and sense of completion, which comes from becoming one flesh with the love of your life—please relish in the joy of knowing that you are truly blessed by the Almighty! Never take your spouse for granted. Recognize that you are indeed living examples of the intimacy the Messiah Yeshua desires with the ekklēsia. Seek Him, and pray together for what He has brought you two together to accomplish for His Kingdom. The two of you have a great responsibility to be available for His service! Truly desire to enjoy the companionship of one another, and the life He has given you on this Earth.
