Genesis 28:2. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
"The first part of this chapter is not theological, for it does not relate examples or spiritual doctrine concerning faith and other spiritual acts of worship. Yet the things dealt with here require and include both faith and the fear of God. But it is a section pertaining to morals. It deals with marriage, a topic that should be retained in the church and should be diligently urged because of the necessity and the dignity of marriage. For after the doctrine of the Gospel and faith, which is the proper doctrine of the church, marriage should be honored and respected above all. And this should be done because the world and the flesh do not understand what marriage is and how highly it should be esteemed. To be sure, men usually define it in the following way: “Marriage is the union or companionship of man and woman; it maintains inseparable companionship for life.” But this is not the whole definition, for the final cause and the efficient cause are lacking. It is taken only from the material cause, for the union of man and woman is material. But the following definition is truer and is complete: “Marriage is the lawful and divine union of one man and one woman. It has been ordained for the purpose of calling upon God, for the preservation and education of offspring, and for the administration of the church and the state.”
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