14/03/2023
God’s View of Singleness
In Genesis 2:18, did God say, “It is not good for man to be single”?
No, He said, “…It is not good that the man should be alone…”
God had no problem with the man’s separateness, his uniqueness, or his
wholeness. As a matter of fact, Adam did not know that he was alone. God’s
statement was predicated on His own observation of the situation, on His own
wisdom.
The implication is that Adam was so totally unique and so whole that he did
not miss anybody. He was so “together,” so separate, and so complete in himself
that he did not even know he needed anyone else. Having a companion was not
Adam’s idea, but God’s.
Another thing that you need to see is that Adam did not need a wife. That is
another misconception we have gotten from traditional thinking.
God did not say, “Adam is not a whole being, so I will make him a wife to
complete him.”
In essence, God said, “I am going to make him a helper who will be
compatible, or suitable, or like him; another being who will complement him and
be complemented by him.”
The “marriage” came a few verses down. We put the marriage in verse 18
when it is not there. Verse 18 simply tells us of God creating a second human
being. In verse 22, Moses wrote that God made the woman from Adam’s “rib”
(some say the Hebrew word really means “a cell”) and presented her to the man.
What we need to understand is that God made a second human being, not just
for Adam to marry, but in order that he would not be alone. Therefore, you do not
have to marry in order not to be alone—all you need not to be alone is to have
some other humans to be your companions and close friends.
A lot of people are not married and yet are not alone. So we need to stop
pressuring unmarried people to move into something that could prevent them
from achieving the goal of total singleness. Marriage was not instituted, as you
can see from God’s attitude in Genesis 2, to solve the problem of being alone—
human beings
