What God Has Joined Together: Biblical Foundations for Marriage – Book

In our times, the definition of marriage has come into question: what exactly constitutes “marriage?” When is a marriage legitimate, and when is it not? And furthermore, is marriage even necessary?

The moral decline of our society and world has even questioned whether a legitimate marriage can exist between people of the same sex, so it is no wonder that the traditional views of marriage are all considered out dated and irrelevant for our modern world. In reality, the question has become one of whether marriage is even necessary. Wouldn’t it be just as acceptable for two committed individuals to form a private agreement together regarding their relationship? Who needs the recognition of others? “If it’s right for us, that should be enough!”

In the face of these questions, we are driven back to our foundations, namely, that we believe God is the Creator, and as such, He has the right and authority to prescribe the manner in which He desires His creation to function. Or to put it simply: God is both the Creator and the Law-giver. So the more fundamental question that we always face is this: are we willing to accept God and His revelation of truth as the basis for how we live our lives, or do we believe that we can exist independent of Him and make up our own minds about what is right and wrong?

In What God Has Joined Together, Tim Hegg starts by looking at the creation narrative and how Adam and Chavah (Eve) were created and what their role was in the Garden. Tim then looks at the fall and the effects of sin on the man and woman and how this effected their relationship. This short study that fills the first two chapters of this wonderful book then moves to marriage as a covenant and how the Bible discusses covenant relationship between us and God and within marriage.

Tim’s vast knowledge of biblical covenants and his unique perspective as a Messianic Jew shines through in these chapters. Tim then moves to the characteristics of a godly husband and wife so that we can better understand what the Bible expects from us as believers when we are in a marriage relationship.

Tim covers all the bases in this book as he then turns to betrothal and marriage and looks at how the bible discusses believers finding    spouse. Also included is a chapter on divorce in the fallen world and what the Bible says about this topic.

Perhaps one of the most important chapters in this book looks at forgiveness in the Bible and how we as believers should practice forgiveness in our lives especially towards our spouse. In this chapter, Tim suggests that forgiveness is the foundation of every great marriage and that we should practice forgiving as much as possible.

This book comes from a unique perspective and is a wonderful guide for married couples, engaged couples, dating couples, or single adults that are looking for a spouse. It approaches the important subject of marriage from a biblical perspective and attempts to place the Word of God at the center of the conversation.