The First Words ever uttered upon the Earth
By Professor Tommy MacKay
The first recorded words ever uttered upon the earth were about Christ and the Church. They were spoken by the first man, in Genesis 2.23,24: “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”.
These words contain great mysteries. One mystery is the simple fact that a man spoke. Speech in itself is a mystery, even when it is acquired in the normal way in a child’s development from infancy onwards. Understanding how it is possible has led to a great division in the field of psychology and psycholinguistics. There are those who claim it can be explained as a natural learning process, by which vocabulary and grammar are built up simply by constant exposure to language; however, they are more than answered by those who declare that this is impossible, and that there has to be something already “given” in human beings, a “language acquisition mechanism” which is built into our nature from the beginning. However, in the case of the first recorded utterance on earth it was a still more wonderful mystery. A man who had never been an infant and never heard the voice of another human, spoke. And he had language so advanced that God gave him a sophisticated task of linguistic classification, that of giving names to all the animals God had created (Gen. 2.19).
Relationships
Another mystery is that when the man spoke, he spoke of relationships which did not exist upon the earth. Here was a man without father, without mother – yet he said* that a man would leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife.
There is, however, a mystery in these first words that is yet more wondrous still. The Apostle Paul quotes these words with this explanation: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5.32). Just as Eve was of Adam’s flesh and bone, so also we, as the Church of God and the bride of Christ, ‘are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones’ (5.30).
These words not only teach us great truths regarding the Church, but they also teach great truths that affect our conduct in family life, and the conduct God requires of a righteous society. In terms of our family life, two absolute conclusions are drawn by Paul. First, the extent to which wives are commanded to be subject to their own husbands is set forth as absolute: “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing”. Second, the extent to which husbands are commanded to love their wives is also set forth as absolute: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5.24,25). In short, God sets forth a standard which seems impossibly high, but it is nevertheless the perfect standard. Also, it should be noted that it is not as if God seeks out apt examples and illustrations from random relationships that exist on earth. The very existence of these relationships from creation has been brought into being in order that they might serve as types of something that far transcends any earthly arrangement: these relationships point us to Christ and his church.
Righteous society
In terms of what God requires of a righteous society, the first words ever uttered upon the earth set forth immutable standards by which society will be judged. They are standards which are particularly pertinent to our own society at the present time, and on the basis of which it must stand condemned. The first words stand against divorce, adultery, promiscuity, homosexuality and transgender.
In terms of divorce, it is stated that a man “shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” The verb cleave, in Hebrew as in English, conveys the sense of two items stuck together, adhering fast as if glued. They have become one flesh, intended to be forever inseparable. In terms of adultery, it is stated that the one to whom a man shall cleave is “his wife”. It is to her, and exclusively to her, that he is joined. In terms of promiscuity, we have two parties and only two parties joined the one to the other: it is “a man” and “his wife”. In terms of homosexuality, the matter is clear and beyond controversy in the same two terms: it is again “a man” and “his wife”. The one is male, the other female. In terms of transgender, the matter is again clear. There abide these two parties. The one is “man”; the other is “woman”. Thus the voice of God declares from the beginnings of creation his immutable decrees by which society must be ordered.
Divine imperative
That divine imperative, with all its implications, has been maintained throughout all of Scripture. It is taught throughout the Old Testament in the Law and the Prophets, and it is confirmed throughout the New Testament in the Gospels and the Epistles.
Regarding divorce, the Lord says regarding the man and his wife that they are bound by a covenant and the question is asked, “And did he not make one?” When that oneness is breached the reply of the Lord is that he hates divorce (Malachi 2:14-16). Christ himself takes up the first recorded words of Adam and says regarding the man and his wife that “they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19.4-6). The same condemnation of adultery is maintained throughout Scripture as the first words imply. The law defines the matter in absolute terms: “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Jesus confirms it: “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery” (Luke 18:20).
Regarding promiscuity, the matter is equally clear. Fornication is condemned throughout the Old Testament. The Lord says, “Thou hast also committed fornication … to provoke me to anger” (Ezkiel 16:26). Jesus confirmed it, saying, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications” (Mark 7:21), and Paul reinforced it, saying, “Flee fornication… he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).
As far as homosexuality is concerned, its utter condemnation as an abomination is definitive, repetitive and final. The current generation, whether ecclesiastically or in society generally, may adorn and indeed celebrate it in whatever terms they choose. It detracts nothing from the clarity of Scripture. In the Old Testament it is written, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination” (Leviticus 20:13). Does Jesus condemn homosexuality? He did not require to do so directly, for he upheld the whole of the law and the prophets. He speaks of the judgement of God on Sodom and Gomorrah, selecting them as the epitome of wickedness, if only to show that Capernaum where he had done mighty works was even more accountable to God for rejecting him.
Judgement
Now it must be recognised that the judgement on Sodom went much further than homosexuality. The iniquity of Sodom was “pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness … neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). But against that general background of ungodliness, they specifically “committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good” (Ezekiel 16:50). The nature of that abomination is clearly defined in Genesis and is universally known. It was immediately following the homosexual outrage of the men of Sodom that the judgement of God fell and they were swept away. And lest we think that Sodom was a special case because of its extreme nature, we have the statement of the general position in clear terms in the teaching of the epistles: “God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly” (Romans 1:26,27).
Regarding transgender, we need go no further than the definitive creational statement: “Male and female created he them” (Genesis 1.27). Christ on earth reinforced it in immutable terms: “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4). There is really nothing more to be said. God did not create a further category of “non-binary”, or of “transgender”. The creation of mankind was a perfect and finished work, but “they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7.29). The weakening of this distinction was not to be tolerated at any level – not so much as to confuse in terms of apparel. While the common dress in any nation and at any particular time in history is culturally determined, wherever there is a boundary between male and female dress it must not be crossed. “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 22.5).
Rebellion
The rebellion against the creational imperatives of God is being led by the nations of the West – the nations which in time past were blessed above all the peoples of the earth because of the impact of the gospel on their societies. The changes have crossed every boundary of what God has commanded. Previously, obtaining divorce in law was a hard and slow process. Now it is easy and fast. Taxes supported marriage; they do so no longer. Sexual arrangements outside of marriage were publicly shamed by terms such as “living in sin” or being born “out of wedlock”. Now the “partner” has replaced the wife or husband, and co-habitation is the norm. Previously public homosexuality was forbidden. Now it is promoted. Shame has become “pride”. Until relatively recently, “transgender” was treated as a rare disorder. Now it is glorified as a mainstream lifestyle choice.
The outcome is clear. “Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?” (Jeremiah 5.29). Unless we repent, God will come in judgment. And in these matters His judgment will be in the terms of the first words ever uttered upon the earth.
*Some commentators on Genesis believe that these words were added by Moses, the inspired author of the book.