Here, in part two, Karl looks specifically at the word 'marriage.' He focuses on its ultimate purpose as a reflection of the Lord's union within himself and the mercy this embodies. He feels that a renewed focus on the true meaning of words would offer more to people than if the church were to bow to secular interpretations of spiritual concepts and thereby attract more people by mirroring the culture's own decline. -Editor

Unfortunately, because we are steeped so long in our own traditions, lost meanings have an unfortunate side effect. For instance, there is a sense in which a certain word immediately springs to mind on hearing the phrase, "joined together" with respect to the Bible, and that is "marriage." We think of this phrase in particular: "What God has put together, let no man put asunder" (Matthew 19:6, Mark 10:9). Consequently, whether thinking from a secular perspective, or a spiritual one, most people tend to think that this refers to nothing more than a union between a man and a woman. There is a certain coincidence, and hence a similarity, on a literal level, but it comes at great cost. This sense of mere commitment is unable to represent what is meant by that joining together at the deepest level, except in this superficial manner. After all, what are we to understand when we find this word "marriage" used in reference to land as in this passage from Isaiah 62:4:

"You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and you shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight is in Her, and your land married; for the Lord delights in you and your land shall be married."