Shotgun Weddings

Shotgun Weddings
Words of Faith 1-6-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 22
[16] "If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. [17] If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.

Apparently, there were shotgun weddings long before there were shotguns. But what does this say to us today? What is God's Word communicating?
This part of the societal Law elaborates the seventh commandment protecting the marital bed. While our postmodern culture literally celebrates every manner of sex outside of marriage, such activity was a severe intrusion into the family institution. The seduction of a girl who was betrothed to another resulted in stoning for both parties (Deut. 22:23-24).
Here, the consensual seduction of a woman not pledged to be married resulted in the payment of the "bride price," a fee customarily paid to the woman's family upon her betrothal or engagement. In the case of premarital relations, if the father was willing, the two would be married. But there was no guarantee of this. The father might not want such a person in his family!
Scholars point out that premarital sex was damaging in several ways to the family. First, it usurped the father's authority to arrange the marriage contract. It also prevented the husband from being assured that his first child was indeed his offspring. Finally, it diminished the value of the "bride price" generally paid to the bride's family.
As a father of a daughter, I understand this stuff perfectly well. Whenever my daughter brought a young man around, I made sure he understood precisely how precious my daughter is to me. Later, she would typically ask, "Daddy, do you like him? He said you seem scary." To which I would reply, "It's not my job to like him. It's my job to scare him."
When she brought one around with a ring and plan, we talked about "liking," and things grew from there. I rejoice that she grew up treasuring the gift of intimacy and committed to remaining pure until marriage. God blessed us with a wonderful son-in-law who had remained pure for her. No bride price or shotgun.
Christian psychologists point out that premarital sexual activity has many deleterious effects upon people and families. There are the physical problems of disease. There are problems with marital trust and emotional difficulties that prevent enjoyment of sexual intimacy as God intended in marriage. Later, there are spiritual difficulties in submitting to God, spiritual leadership, and partnership because of guilt. These problems are not irreparable. God's grace is wonderfully sufficient and does much more than a shotgun wedding or payment of a bride price could ever do.
So what is the point here? First, we must recognize that the Lord established the covenant of marriage, not the state legislature. God's Word says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). The Apostle Paul declared that this is a profound mystery (Eph. 5:32). The Lord declares through the writer of Hebrews that "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral" (Hebrews 13:4).
This passage of Scripture reminds us that it has never been God's design that people would "shop around" or experiment through the practice of sexual promiscuity. These were and are pagan practices. Marriage between one man and one woman is the context for which God designed His beautiful gift of sexual communication. Adultery (sex with a person outside an established marriage) and fornication (sex before or outside of marriage) tear at the family's fabric and undermine God's rich and wonderful plan for us.
This does not mean God has abandoned those who have fallen in this area. Restoration is always the work and intention of the Lord by His grace. We rejoice in the knowledge that, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17)
"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7-9).
Most of all, the Word of God calls us to honor marriage. The Word calls us to protect the marriage bed. The Word calls us to walk today in the light, no matter what the past may have held. The Word calls us to be the New Creation as we walk with Christ.

Father God, I give thanks for Your plan and design. I give thanks for the wonderful gift of intimacy that You have provided within the covenant of marriage. Give me Your grace to honor marriage in all I do and contemplate. Give me the grace to walk in Your light. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.