Assuming you are 30 and your Dad wants to join you at your “Date”. Well, that’s where this is going. I personally we should apply the following on our younger girls….We left off last week suggesting that the father of the intended bride is the one who should oversee the courtship relationship of his daughter and her suitor.
For those curious as to where in the Bible we would find support for this notion, not only will we demonstrate this now, but we will find that it will also lead to our second principle, that of purity. II Corinthians 11, verse 2 tells us, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
While Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church in reference to doctrine, he uses the illustration of the Jewish marriage custom to give them a better picture of what he is saying. In it we see the authority of the father as he is jealous “over” his daughter. You need to understand that in Paul’s day, virginity was of supreme importance. So much so, in fact, that when they became legally man and wife, they did not consummate that relationship immediately, but waited until about a year later. During this time of separation there was ample time to demonstrate the young lady’s virginity. And thus we see that the father has authority so that he may guarantee his daughter’s purity.
Thus we come to our second principle, or law if we may call it that, the law of purity — keeping our daughters virgins until marriage. Now let’s be honest here. We live in a very promiscuous society. Promiscuity is encouraged by the entertainment industry, and if it isn’t found on the programs you watch it is found in commercials. It is encouraged by those who advocate “safe sex” as though the only harm is if you produce a child or get some disease. And it is glamorized by the fashion industry that, among other things, gave us the miniskirt for the sole purpose of cheapening our daughters.
