Marriage and the Sabbath are the twin institutions of Eden, established by God Himself before the Fall and given to mankind in Eternity. Not only did God create and found these two great institutions, He shared with us. Therefore, Every marriage engagement should be carefully considered, for marriage is a step taken for life. Both the man and the woman should carefully consider whether they can cleave to each other through the Change of life as long as they both shall live. AH 340.2
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Gen.2:18,21-24
God celebrated the first marriage. So, marriage is begun by the Creator of the universe. ‘Marriage is honorable’. It was one of the first gifts of God to man. And it is one of the two things that, after the Fall, Adam brought with him out of the gates of Eden. When God’s principles (rules) are followed and obeyed, marriage is a blessing. Marriage guards the purity and happiness of the race. It meets man’s social needs. It raises humankind’s physical, mental, and moral nature. PP.46 & Hebrews 13:4.
The divine love emanating from Christ never destroys human love, but includes it. By it human love is refined and purified, elevated and ennobled. Human love can never bear its precious fruit until it is united with the divine nature and trained to grow heavenward. Jesus wants to see happy marriages & happy firesides. AH 94.3
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. Mark 10:9-12
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matt.19:4-6
Love is a plant of heavenly origin. It is not unreasonable; it is not blind. It is pure and holy. But the passion of the natural heart is another thing altogether. While pure love will take God into all its plans, and will be in perfect harmony with the Spirit of God, passion will be headstrong, rash, unreasonable, defiant of all restraint, and will make the object of its choice an idol. In all the deportment of one who possesses true love, the grace of God will be shown. Modesty, simplicity, sincerity, morality, and religion will characterize every step toward an alliance in marriage. RH. Sept.25, 1888
And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Gen.1:31
Christ came not to destroy this institution, but to restore it to its original sanctity and elevation. He came to restore the moral image of God in man, and He began His work by sanctioning the marriage relation. Thus He sanctioned marriage, recognizing it as an institution that He Himself had established. He ordained that men and women should be united in holy wedlock, to rear families whose members, crowned with honor, should be recognized as members of the family above. AH 99.3
The plan that Satan is using to destroy the Marriage:
1) Polygamy after the Fall:
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Gen.4:19
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. Gen.6:1-2
Polygamy had been early introduced, contrary to the divine arrangement. The Lord gave to Adam one wife. But after the fall, men chose to follow their own sinful way. DG 272