By Herbert E. Douglass
A Commentary on the Sabbath School Lesson for June 30–July 6, 2007
The sun was setting on that first Friday; Sabbath was about to begin. Adam had had a very long day. Earlier that day, God had already asked Adam to name every animal of the field, every fish of the sea, and every bird of the air. Everywhere he looked, Adam saw the web of life, the love of male and female as the lions played and the bluebirds built nests. By nightfall, it finally dawned on him that he was the only one alive without a mate. He was overcome with loneliness. He turned to his Creator Friend and wondered out loud: "Am I the only one alive who does not have a mate?" Adam had seen the miracle of love and he was painfully lonely.
Ah, his Creator Friend had been waiting for this moment—for Adam’s loneliness to overpower him. If he had created Eve when he created Adam, Adam would never have gotten the point. God was saving this moment so that Adam could get the big picture. He wanted Adam to understand that he was made for love and for sharing—that he would never be complete without a mate who also could love and share. If Eve were created when Adam was, it would have been natural to look at Eve as only the co-president—kind of a business partner to run Plantation Earth.
But Adam’s partner was to be something special—more special than the lioness to the lion or the doe to the buck. Eve was going to be real special! She was going to be Adam’s other half. And Adam’s earlier wonder was well worth the wait!
So, the angels played the organ and the violins as Adam watched Eve walking toward him, and he could only say, "Wow!"
We all wish that Adam had written out his Creator Friend’s wedding homily. We get an idea of what their Heavenly Father did say about the mystery of marriage, by reading what he later said through the Scriptures as the years went by.
One of the first clues is his special advice that could have saved this planet much grief: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). The Hebrew is even clearer than the English—They were to "cling" to each other—and never to anyone else, as long as both shall live.
What was our Creator up to when he put Adam and Eve in the Garden to have dominion over all the earth? Adam and Eve were beginning "a new and distinct order" in the universe. No other planet had a man and a woman who together would reflect the image of God as they began the population of this planet.
Why did God think this "new and distinct order" was necessary? Because Satan had gone to war against everything that God stood for. His lies had become very believable. Among other allegations, Satan had flatly said that no created being (such as an angels) could obey God and still be happy and at peace. To offset these lies, God set up the human family to become God’s laboratory in which he would prove Satan wrong—for all the unfallen worlds to see for themselves.
How would this work out? Through the coming of children, Adam and Eve would be duplicating God’s work. Angels and other worlds would watch parents love and educate their children—especially after sin messed up God’s original plan. Now these angels and other worlds would see how love related to children when they disobeyed—then they would think how God relates to sinners.
God took an enormous risk when he put so much of his own future on the line in creating this "new and distinct order" where a married couple could just as easily rebel as did one-third of the bright, intelligent angels! How long would it take for God’s experiment to work out to prove Satan wrong?
Every time we set up a new home, we are starting up another experiment in God’s laboratory. On the universe’s scoreboard, each new marriage is either going to score for God or give points to Satan’s lies. Each new marriage will be adding points to the scoreboard every day of their married lives—but God will not force them to score for him. He will help husband and wife day and night to stand up for truth, integrity, and genuine joy. But he will not force them to say the right words. God only invites and appeals—but he will not coerce rebels.
Weddings are not mere social events, not with a Great Controversy going on. We are all players on the field—none of us sit in the bleachers. Weddings are solemn spiritual events for all of us.
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