Many around the world believe that homosexuality is as natural as life itself and therefore should be accepted in all aspects of society, even celebrated. The marriage institution is the next pillar to fall, inevitably. Right? ♦

In Genesis 32 the Bible relays a story of Moses coming down from the mountain with the law of God written on stone tablets. He has been delayed and has been gone for some time. The people of Israel, having recently lived through an amazing adventure of rescue and mystery as they were released from years of bondage by the Egyptians, are nevertheless restless and forgetful as their leader has apparently abandoned them.

You know the story. They fashion a golden calf to worship from collected gold and party and dance around it. Think Burning Man, though with hundreds of thousands.

Not all were in support or participating in the debacle. The story does not end well for 3,000 of them.

The Quiet Majority
While there were thousands observing the Israeli party that night long ago, you know not everyone in the crowd supported it. I’m sure there were some upstanding Israelites merely standing in the crowd looking on with disgust or walking away, wanting nothing to do with what was going on. Though their leader Moses was away on his trip for a very long time, they had not lost hope to the point of succumbing to the base and irreverent behavior of others, even a loud and boisterous group.

Or centuries later think of the numerous reigns of foolish and evil kings of Israel in both the southern and northern kingdoms (see Kings 1 and 2) who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” You have to believe that there were people in those cities and regions who did not buy into the leadership of the latest foolish king who long abandoned the precepts and teachings of the God of their forefathers.

I’m sure many quietly held firm, probably some tried to speak up against the corrupting tide change. Some probably changed over to the other side and supported the foolish king and practices of worshiping stone altars and Asherah poles built on high hills and sacrificing their infant sons and daughters to Molech (Jeremiah 32:35).

For some it probably seemed like “everyone was doing it” so they might as well go along. After all, it’s a new day. We have to get with the new program, right?

Wrong.

If All Your Friends Jumped Off a Bridge…
Remember what your mother used to say whenever you cited popular opinion as a reason to support your disapproved-of actions: “If all your friends jumped off a bridge then would you too?” Sadly, many today have jumped, or feel it’s inevitable, so they conclude they might as well go along to get along.

It’s a weak and unprincipled position to take. Movements of the masses, or those with the largest megaphones, are not indicators of what is right and true.

But we are modern-day products of public opinion. The message we are constantly given by our newspapers, magazines and major media outlets is that there is a massive shift in public opinion. Would that people realize that we the public are bombarded with data by media forces that are used more to influence public opinion than to inform. Most of the public doesn’t see or understand the distinction or manipulation. Big headlines translate naturally to importance. Front page stories take our focus off issues left off the front page or even the entire newspaper. If you’re told that blue is green over and over again, then after awhile when asked, you might acknowledge that blue is sometimes considered to be green. It’s subtle but powerfully true and real.

And therefore, the foolish and undiscerning jump.

So What Do the Polls Say?
The polls say anything the editor wants them to say. Here’s recent polling data from NOM (National Organization for Marriage) and Gallup:

• Marriage is between a man and a woman
  • 2014: 60% yes; 34% no
• Same-sex couples should have the same legal rights as traditional marriage
  • In 1996: 27% yes; 68% no; 5% undecided
  • In 2014: 55% yes; 42% no; 3% undecided

The people that cite the changing trends in public opinion about the squishier issue of status and rights (tax breaks, etc.) roll this into a need to change moral law about the definition of marriage.

So What Does the Bible Say?
The Bible does not equivocate. It doesn’t mess around. The very law that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai to the disbelieving but boisterous few contained the foundational concept of marriage bestowed by God originally in Genesis 2:24, restated by Jesus Christ in his teachings on marriage in Matthew 19:3-6 and Mark 10:2-10, and cited again by the Apostle Paul in his marriage lessons to the early Church:  ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’…each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:31-33)

No change in public opinion will change scriptural Truth. Even if polls change, judicial courts rule, media darlings and public figures prognosticate, newspapers blast headlines, or even if very nice homosexual couples are loving and kind. God’s Word trumps. Marriage is not a man-made institution but a God ordained institution. Whether society through weak and unprincipled leadership wants to go along to get along or sway with the voice of the loud masses, we the people may be like those watching from the sidelines in quiet support or quiet desperation.

Don’t be swayed.

Are you Bible-based or otherwise in your view of marriage? 
_______________________________
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and unashamed. – Genesis 2:24

Categories: Church, Creation, Devotion, Evil, Faith, Family, Israel, Jesus, Manhood, Marriage, Old Testament, The Church, Theology

Tags: gay marriage, homosexuality, man and a woman, marriage, media bias