Clanking Chains 06-05-21-B. Cc02-609

44. 
    God’s plan is designed to achieve His ends. In order to do this His plan includes marriage with the provision of sex between one man and one woman. The sexual experience that He has designed for them reaches its maximum when marriage as defined by Him is protected, revered, honored, and practiced.
    
45. 
    In order for marriage and family to achieve their desired ends then God must reject any attacks against them and impose severe penalties upon those who attack it from within or without the institution.
    
46. 
    Therefore, those who commit verbicide on marriage and family and those who partake of the pleasures of marriage without accepting the responsibilities that go with them are sowing the wind and they will reap the whirlwind.
    
47. 
    Principle: God knows what He is doing. He is the One who created us and gave us human life. He invented marriage and sex. His righteous standards have imposed boundaries and limitations on the exercise of both: (1) marriage is between one man and one woman for life and (2) sex is the exclusive privilege of this arrangement and any expression of sex outside its constraints is a violation of divine policy.
    
48. 
    Finally, a comment on premarital sex from the standpoint of post-pubescent youth. Sexual maturity occurs before mental maturity. Pubescence occurs around the age of 12 for girls and 14 for boys. At some point following this come passions and desires. These sensations are properly assuaged in marriage. However, there are laws in our country that forbid marriage without parental consent until around age 18. Thus for four to six years, boys and girls must deny their marital impulses before they may marry and enjoy legally and biblically approved sex.
    

The latter two problems are typical to the industrialized society that has emerged out from the Industrial Revolution which is defined by:

The term, when capitalized, refers specifically to the first historical instance of this transformation, which began in Britain in the 18th century, spread from there to the Continent and to offshoots of Europe overseas (the United States, in particular), and transformed in the span of a century the life of Western man, the nature of society, and his relationship to the other peoples of the world. (p. 229)

One of the ramifications of this transformation was the need for specialized training in the new fields of knowledge that were associated with these technological advances. The article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia continues:

At the heart of the Industrial Revolution was a cluster of innovations in the technique and mode of industrial production: (1) the substitution of inanimate for animal sources of power (in particular, the introduction of steam power fuelled by coal), (2) the substitution of machines for human skills and strength, (3) the invention of new methods for transforming matter (in particular, new ways of making iron and steel and industrial chemicals), and (4) the organization of work in large, centrally powered units (factories, forges, mills) that made possible the immediate supervision of the production process and a more efficient division of labour. These innovations in industry promoted and were, in turn, supported by major changes in the technology of agriculture and transport.

Underlying all this was the systematic application of knowledge to the devising of more efficient production. The Industrial Revolution was essentially completed in the first industrializing countries by the late 19th century. By then they had made their passage to the new technology and were pursuing new paths of change. Again, there was a clustering of innovations that gave the impetus to this further growth: electrical power, the internal-combustion engine, petroleum fuel, the automobile. Some have called this array of changes a second Industrial Revolution. In the second half of the 20th century, a similar clustering of innovations (e.g., atomic power, electronics, and computers), is effecting perhaps a third Industrial Revolution. Each of these stages has been marked by important gains in the production and delivery of energy; in the speed, precision, and convenience of tools and machines; and in the effectiveness and usability of final products (standardization of parts, refinements of tolerances, miniaturization of components). (p. 229)

All these technological advances translated into economic growth—that is, increased productivity and income per head … which made it possible for the populations of advanced industrial countries to devote a smaller portion of their income to necessities, and to spend more of it on luxuries or “extras.” (pp. 229-30)

Countries that make up the “industrialized world” are still trying to cope with the transition away form an agrarian lifestyle. Prior to the Industrial Revolution livings were made raising crops and tending livestock on farms and practicing trades in the cities. At around age 13 young men were put to work on farms or trained by their fathers in his craft or trade.

This enabled the young men to acquire a means of making a living and to consider marriage at a much earlier age then is considered advisable today. Boys as young as 16 would marry girls as young as 14 and would immediately begin to raise a family. Their children would in turn contribute their efforts to the family enterprise as soon as possible. Thus knowledge of the father’s vocation was learned by his sons and passed down from generation to generation.

This lifestyle enabled young people to become married at the time their passions and desires for sex were reaching their peak.

Today, industrialization and its resultant cost of living have changed the playing field so that marriages at such an age are not only economically impossible but are considered to be illegal. The modern lifestyle is far more enjoyable and requires less physical labor but it also demands well-trained talent. To qualify for such jobs young men must graduate university. This adds four more years of schooling which takes him to the age of around 22.

When young women and men enter college they are often away from the restraints of home for the first time. Their passions and desires have at most been left unattended for four years for the guys and six for the girls. The influence of twelve years of sex education that has stressed mechanics and condoms while ignoring the soul takes its toll when young adults enter the amoral environment of the academy which expresses itself through the instruction of Progressive ideology during the day and the availability of co-ed dormitories during the night. This makes for temptations that are extremely difficult to manage even for believers with doctrine.

The way that Christian gentlemen and damsels can endure the stress imposed by a modern economy is to utilize rebound consistently while constantly reminding themselves of the promises related to marriage, the doctrines that define their place in the plan of God, and the confident expectation of abundant happiness as a result of their compliance.

Such is the situation with the Shulammite. She has identified her right man, her soul is united with his, and she has no interest in any other suitor. Her ability to focus on the plan of God and look forward to the fulfillment of His promises enables her to resist Solomon’s advances.

The plan of God for her is marriage to the one God provides and in her case she is betrothed to the Shepherd and has absolute confidence that God will protect her until they are married.

49. 
    This is the confidence that the young damsels need in order to evaluate and assess the young men who ask for the pleasure of their company. This confidence is based on an unwavering faith in the doctrine of right man-right woman and biblical principles related to the divine institution of marriage.
    
50. 
    These principles reflect the plan of God with reference to the four divine institutions which must be maintained in order for the Angelic Conflict to move towards its ultimate conclusion.
    
51. 
    If the young damsel does not have occupation with Christ then she will not be able to concentrate on her right man. The love of Christ is going to be reflected in the soul of the man God has designed for her. She must have this same love for Christ in order to recognize it in her right man.
    
52. 
    The Shulammite is the recipient of the love of Messiah and she responds with love for Messiah. By the same token, the Shulammite is the recipient of the love of the Shepherd and she responds with love for the Shepherd.
    
53. 
    Without this virtue love, any relationship with a man is based on blind faith in human viewpoint. When such a young damsel fornicates with a young paramour she does so out of ignorance.
    
54. 
    A young man who is a believer with doctrine would not attempt to have sex with her. He would have the integrity to desire her company but be submissive to the principles of right man-right woman and marriage.
    
55. 
    When a young paramour fornicates with a young damsel he is either (1) stealing another man’s property or (2) damaging the soul and body of his own if she should turn out to be his right woman. The young damsel of his conquest is either (1) giving away another man’s property or (2) diminishing her value were she the right woman of the paramour.
    
56. 
    Solomon is unable to talk the Shulammite into submitting to his advances because her occupation with the Shepherd is far too strong for him to overcome.
    
57. 
    It is at this point that the Shulammite speaks and in so doing expresses her occupation with the Shepherd and in so doing expresses her occupation with Messiah:
    

© 2006 by Joe Griffin Media Ministries. All rights reserved. www.joegriffin.org