Marriage OH 1:8

What the Bible Teaches about Marriage

Intimacy
Genesis 2:25
Nakedness without Shame
The man and the woman were both naked,
and they felt no shame.
Adam’s Response
The earthy sexual appreciation of
the perfect woman standing naked before him.
Adam is overcome with delight (at Eve) and desire (for union)
- a good and joyous thing (he feels no shame).
Adam and Eve were not ashamed, because they were not aware of evil and
had no sinful thoughts. The “knowledge of good and evil” had not entered
into Adam's and Eve's lives, though the potential danger was there, (v.17).

Nakedness and Shame

Nakedness
speaks of the total sexual awareness (leading to the arousal of desire)
between a man & a woman within marriage - a beautiful and good thing.
But the writer of Genesis 2:25 in speaking of “no shame”
(before he comes to recount the Fall),
alludes to the feeling of guilt that would be attached to it after the Fall.
To Discuss
Where is verse 25 placed in the total passage (Chapter 1 to 3)?
What significance can you see in it being placed here
(rather than earlier, or later perhaps)?

“The verse serves as a transition.

Not only does it close the preceding narrative about creation and marriage,
but also it provides a general contrast to Chapter 3,
which describes the tragedy of sin and its consequences.”
Note: “The Hebrew word for ’naked’* is a play on the Hebrew word for
‘crafty,’ a word used to describe the serpent in the next verse, Gen 3:1.
Thus, as a transitional verse, Gen 2:25 is loaded with meaning.”
 * This does not mean that the couple were “crafty” – only that the
word used for “naked”, having the same sound as “crafty”, draws our
attention to the following verse.
Nakedness within marriage is still the beautiful expression of
the sexuality that God created in man and woman.
Song of Songs is the most positively erotic text in Scripture,
extolling the physical (naked) beauty of the beloved.
Nakedness and Shame
“It is not just anybody who is naked here
- it is the man and his wife, a married couple.
The fact that the man and the woman are married
is significant for two reasons.
1. The previous verses have described marriage in covenant terms.
The phrases "bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh" and "one flesh"
(Gen 2:23-24) are often used in Scripture to denote and seal covenant
relationships (e.g, David with the tribes of Israel 2 Sam 5:1-3).
Thus, in this verse there is a solemn bond between the man and the
woman that invokes reciprocal promises and obligations.
Only in that solemn context does their nakedness take place.
2. The couple’s marriage is significant is that it means their nakedness
occurs within established boundaries. In Gen 2:24 we are told that
• first a man leaves his father and mother,
• then he marries a woman, and only then
• do the man and woman become one flesh (in the sense not only of
covenant, but also of sexual union).
Just as this sequence in verse 24 establishes a boundary of marriage
for intercourse (sexual union), verse 25 also emphasizes that same
boundary for nakedness (the appreciation of the sexual aspect of
marriage ).
After the Fall nakedness (outside of marriage) became
something that required covering up.
Sexual arousal outside of marriage, in whatever form,
becomes, what it as never intended to be, a thing of shame.
What did the word "naked" signify to the original readers of this text?
Among the Hebrews, the state of nakedness was most often associated
with humiliation.
It was used as
•a description of poverty (Job 24:7),
•a reference to sexual offences (Lev 20:18-19),
•an indication of indecency (Gen 9:20-27),
• a recognition of being under God’s judgment (Deut 28.48),
•a sign of guilt as well as shame (Gen 3:7,10-11; Exod 28:42-43;
Hos 2:3).”
For the Hebrews nakedness was not considered to be a good thing.
How “all the more shocking for the original readers of this verse
to learn that the man and his wife were naked and not ashamed.
For the Hebrews, this revelation would have been a dramatic indication of
how deeply into sin the human race had fallen.
Pre-Fall Innocence
In marked contrast to the shame and humiliation associated with
nakedness,
we see a married couple perfectly at ease with one another.
In their relationship there was no hint of greed, lust, or exploitation
because God had provided them with everything they could possibly need
- food, abundant resources, companionship,
and Sabbath rest in His presence in His tabernacle (the Garden itself).
The relationships between God and Man, Man and Woman, and
Man and Creation were in perfect harmony.”
Modesty
Modesty in dress, speech and behaviour now becomes
the antidote of all forms of shameful nakedness
By saying neither the man nor the woman felt any shame,
the writer introduces the idea of a future sense of guilt associated with any
form of sexual immorality.
 Note:
The absence of any such feeling
does not mean no guilt is attached to such (extra-marital) “nakedness”.