Husbands & Wives in Heaven

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on January 26, 2011 at 5:47am

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²³ The same day ^sSadducees came to him, ^twho say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ^u‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ So too the second and third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ After them all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, ^vbecause you know neither the Scriptures nor ^wthe power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither ^xmarry nor ^xare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹ And as for the resurrection of the dead, ^yhave you not read what was said to you by God: ^{32 z}‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

^s ver. 34; ch. 3:7; 16:1; Acts 4:1; 5:17; 23:6

^t Acts 23:8; [Acts 4:2]

^u [Deut. 25:5]

^v John 20:9

^w 1 Cor. 6:14

^x ch. 24:38; Luke 17:27

^y See ch. 21:16

^z Acts 7:32; Cited from Ex. 3:6

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Mt 22:32

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Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 26, 2011 at 9:48am

It depends on what you mean by the word "relationship", Bradley.  We have every reason to believe that our relationships with each other will be better in Heaven than they are here, but the interractions between men and women who were husbands and wives will certainly be different.  Heaven is about being enraptured with the LORD, not about being enraptured with each other.  Our hymenal relationship will be with the God who created us for his pleasure.

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Permalink Reply by John Lemmon on January 26, 2011 at 5:03pm

Hi Bradley,

It is evident from numerous scriptures that marriage as we know it is of this age only. Rita has posted the main scripture relating to this where Jesus responded to the Sadducees regarding marriage in heaven where they are neither married nor given in marriage. Paul also wrote that marriage was for this lifetime only. In Romans 7:2 he says, "...a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning her husband." So marriage as we know it ceases at death, otherwise if the remaining partner were to remarry they would be adulterers.

However it is also evident that there will be some kind of relationship between men and women in God's Kingdom, for there will be children. Isaiah spoke of the future hope of Israel in God's kingdom in Isaiah 11 where we see the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the calf and the lion, the leopard and the kid and the lion will eat straw like the ox. Clearly this has not happened yet so he was speaking of a future time in God's Kingdom. We also see in verse 8-9 that, "The suckling child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adders den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

So if there are children there is of necessaity a relationship between men and women to produce those children. How they will be bonded together though without marriage as we know it has not been revealed, at least not to me. I'll watch this thread further with interest to see what others have seen in their studies so that I too might learn something new. All the best.

Your brother in Christ,

John

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Permalink Reply by Michael Vernon McEntire on January 27, 2011 at 1:26pm

Egad, John, the passages you cited from Isaiah are not referring to men and women reproducing children in Heaven.  Chiliasts can look at these passages as promises of the peace that will be present on Earth during the Messianic Age when there will still be mortal men and women marrying and cohabiting.  Amillenialists look at these passages as metaphorical references to the divine peace that we now enjoy in the spirit in Christ.

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Permalink Reply by John Lemmon on January 27, 2011 at 10:12pm

Hi Michael,

Ahh... this is the problem of looking at prophecy of future events. We too often don't know exactly what or when the prophecy describing. You may or may not be right. It is my belief, opinion if you will, that there will be children in God's kingdom, and if there are children there must be some kind of relationship between men and women to produce them. I believe the description in Isaiah is describing a time yet to come, after the close of this age. Whether it is in the millenium or after I do not know.

Going back to the original question though, it is clear that marriage as we know it does not extend into eternity but is of this time and life only. What I believe though is that if there are children in a future age, then I would expect God will have some kind of relationship between a man and a woman to create them. How that might look and work though has not been given for us to know.

I tend to put this future stuff in the bag of, "I need to wait and see" and also, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) If God is preparing something, it will be worth the wait.

All the best.

Your brother in Christ,

John

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on January 29, 2011 at 12:16pm

 

Bradley

 

Great question and I can only speculate on this here topic and I do not feel like doing that now, so I will only say that we don't really know what the relationship of husband and wife will be in heaven, but heaven is not our final resting place for there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

 

Personally I believe that on the new earth, we will be given the liberty of having a relationship with our Eve. We won't in heaven because we have no resurrected body at that time, but at the time of the new Heaven and earth, we are already clothed with our glorified bodies.

 

That is my take on it. Blessings beloved

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on January 31, 2011 at 1:04am

It's gonna be the bomb yonster. It's gonna be beautiful. 

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