The marriage institution is under attack these days by voices of dissent and winds of change. Traditionally, marriage has been defined as the sacred union of a man and a woman in holy matrimony. This custom is said to have originated with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We are told that this is one of the two original institutions ordained by God, the other being the Sabbath. We are told by religionists and sociologists that the marriage involving a husband and a wife provides the best environment for the nurture of children. However, the increasing incidence of divorce which results in single parent homes, the advances in medicine to meet the challenge of infertility such as in vitro fertilization, test tube babies, surrogate mothers, and even possibly cloning have blurred the traditional picture of marriage and its purpose. Also, the present trend for the union between gay couples is becoming a political as well as a social issue because it is a radical deviation from the traditional concept of marriage. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in the courts as civil rights collide with social and religious mores.
Many are saying that if marriage dates from the union of Adam and Eve, then why is that marriage not mentioned in the Bible? The only command given by God was to be fruitful and multiply, but He also gave this same edict to the animals. It seems strange that the Sabbath played an important part in the creation story, but that there is no mention of marriage. Did Adam and Eve actually have a wedding ceremony or not, and if so, where is the record? I believe that this is found hidden in the fifth chapter of Genesis, but it takes some imagination to convert this very brief statement into a marriage ceremony.
There are four entities involved in every wedding ceremony, a presiding minister, a bride, a groom, and a group of witnesses. The minister takes the couple through their vows, gives them counsel, pronounces them man and wife, and then introduces them to the assembly as Mr. and Mrs._______. A possible scenario for the wedding of Adam and Eve could be as follows: The wedding invitations have been distributed throughout the inhabited universe, and delegates have assembled to represent the populations of other worlds, and a large contingent of angels are present. No doubt Satan and some of his cohorts are there as uninvited guests. A very beautiful area of the Garden has been chosen amid a profusion of flowers and beneath towering redwoods. All is hushed as God pronounces His blessing on the couple, and then He turns to the assembled throng and introduces them as Mr. and Mrs. Adam. "Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam in the day they were created" (Gen. 5:2, KJV). And so in one brief sentence we have recorded the precedent of God's blessing on the union of a man and a woman in matrimony, and of Eve becoming Mrs. Adam in "the first wedding."
