The Vows Of Marriage Are Missing

[Baruch]

I cannot seem to find any Biblical reference anywhere of vows being made in marriage in the King James Bible.

There is a hint of it here:

Proverbs 31:1The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 2What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

But it is vague since the vows could be regarding the raising of her son. One can do a word search at Bible Gateway and not fnd vow and marriage or vow and marry together at all. When one does a word search on vow, the above verses are the only thing that comes close, but it cannot mean marriage vows since it is of the mother regarding her son.

Have mankind added to God's covenant of marriage with unnecessary boasts of the flesh to love one another for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, and in sickness and in health till death do them part?

If we look at the covenant of marriage and see what God does:

Mark 10: 5And Jesus answered and said .... 6But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

... have mankind become vain by adding boastful vows of love?

1 Corinthians 13:4Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Oh, I admit to being swooned by the lovely words of Shania Twain as she sang her song, "From This Moment On" which is a combination of hers and her first husband's wedding vows spliced together in forming that song, but as much as I had watched that music video and seeing her sing it that I could believe those words, the reality is, she is divorced and has another man as an interest in her life.

So the reality of the situation is: have we become religious in our marriage that it is susceptible to failure? Could that be the reasons for the many divorces today?

Back around the year 1994, a believer in Jesus Christ was asked by the parents of the girl he wanted to marry to make a commitment to follow Christ before he got permission to marry their daughter. He did. Three months after the marriage, the believer complained that he dod everything he could to please his wife, and she is off having that consoling relationship with another man... the same man I heard that girl talked about in passing by her one day at work about how she felt sorry for him and how much he needed her. By His grace, I stopped and reminded her about her engagement. She agreed and informed me that she knew all about commitments and trailed off to whatever she was mumbling in lower volume in saying that I had nothing to worry about. Well, that marriage is over.. as she went on to marry another as the believer did as well; much to my trying to correct them both by the Word of God to come back together again after praying and fasting, but the rug got pulled out from ministering any further when the senior pastor brown-nosed to the popular and the rich by preaching that it was not an unforgiveable sin to get a divorce:

The same preacher who seemed to have much confidence in the Promise Keepers' program to get men where they belong in the home, church, and community.

So not only are religious prideful men and women are making man-made bondages in God's covenant of marriage, but they are adding to God's New Covenant in living the christian life by the flesh as well.

Sometimes believers need to take a step back and relook at what God has done before thinking about adding anything to it, and walk humbly before their God.

I mean, really. Marriage vows has not proven to keep a couple together anymore than the commitment to follow Christ can help a believer follow Jesus.

Marriage is God's idea: not man's. Does anyone think that if two homosexuals or two lesbians get married legally in the USA, that God has joined them together by their vows? Certainly not.

So neither is there a necessity for marriage vows when God is the One joining them together, male and female, as one flesh.

And neither does God have any confidence in the flesh for any believer to live the christian life by keeping that commitmeent to follow Him because when we came to Jesus Christ for salvation, we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ as we are to live by that same faith by the grace of God in living that christian life also, thus just shall live by faith as we are known as the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ to be witesses of the Good News to man: Galatians 3:26 Galatians 2:20-21

Brings the whole meaning to ... Galatians 5:1 John 6:28-29 Philippians 1:6

[Bro. Allen]

Good point. I can not recall a single marriage in the Old Testament where vows were exchanged.
Marriage , although instituted by God , was governed by law of the land and Jewish customs.
They may have recited vows at the feasts but I'm not familiar enough with Jewish customs so I can't say?

It's alarming to me that divorces among Christian marriages and secular marriages are close to the same percentages.
This being said , if more couples would stay grounded in God's Word and patterned their lives after the Scripture , thus forsaking sin ; these numbers would fall on the Christian side.
The vows at American weddings , although important to the couple at the moment when getting married , mean very little when they're sitting in front of a lawyer filling out the divorce papers.
 

[Baruch]

And yet I wonder if in those incidences where those vows were exchanged, the couple placed each other under the law and under their own  religious expectations that eventually led them to the divorce lawyer.  In other words, they were religious in their marriage and began keeping a record of wrongs when love is not to do that.  They need to do away with vows to see that it God has made them one and if He went through the trouble of making them as one, then they should know He will help them in their marriage.