How old is the concept of marriage? Where did it come from?

Genesis 2:18-25Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Marriage was God’s idea from the beginning of creation. He created Adam and Eve as distinct individuals, and, at the same time, he created a special relationship between them in which the two became one. The act of physical intimacy, shared exclusively and uniquely between a husband and wife, is a model of the vulnerability and unity that should be experienced in all other aspects of the marriage. Among Christians, it is also a picture of the intense spiritual intimacy that should exist between a person and God, a model of our relationship with him. Just as he is our only God; our spouse is our only mate. Just as we love God more than anyone or anything, we each love our spouse more than any other person. Just as we are able to be completely vulnerable and intimate in our relationship with God, we are to share intimacy and vulnerability with our mate that we should not share with any other person. Just as God designed the marriage relationship to be exclusive and permanent, he designed our relationship with him to be exclusive and permanent.

Mark 10:6-9“But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

Marriage was God’s idea from the very beginning. It is as old as Eden, yet as fresh as the next wedding. Marriage is ordained by God, a sacred relationship, and not one to be entered lightly.