I was listening to a radio preacher some time ago speaking on marriage and the family and he quoted the scripture we always associate with marriage. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined (shall cleave) to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24
Two other scriptures also came to my mind about cleaving or adhering firmly to what is right and good.
“Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” Romans 12:9
“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling [cleave] to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.” Psalm 101:3, 4
As I thought more on the idea of cleaving, I realized that the word cleave, depending on the context of its use, can mean both “to adhere firmly and closely … unwaveringly” or “to split or divide.” Two people can be so close that they appear as one in thought and action, adhering firmly to each other. But those same two people can also be cleaved apart, divided by a cutting blow.
A thoughtless word or unkind action can cut [cleave] to the very quick. The idiom, cut to the quick, is descriptive of how a person can be deeply affected to the most sensitive and fragile parts of themselves by the actions or words of others, particularly from those they trust and love.
For a moment, picture the image of cleaving yourself to Christ, being held firmly against His chest. Then, picture the cross, realizing that yielding to our sinful nature and rejecting His offer of love and forgiveness, we figuratively cleaved His heart in two. We killed the Son of God.
“Jesus offered Himself to the Father in man’s behalf, that those who had been separated from God through sin, might be brought back to God through the merits of the divine Petitioner. …
“The prayer of Christ in behalf of lost humanity cleaved its way through [cut through] every shadow that Satan had cast between man and God, and left a clear channel of communication to the very throne of glory.” Our High Calling, 156
“The injunction to cleave to the Lord will be precious to us if we will understand and obey it. Trust constantly in God. Have unswerving faith in Him because of the unmistakable evidence given you of His love and power. Never does one stretch out his arms in faith to the Saviour but there are placed around and underneath him the everlasting arms, and he is comforted and sustained.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 13, 125
Lord Jesus, help us to cleave our connection with this world and all its temptations asunder, to cleave or cut away every spot of sin in our hearts, that we might cleave firmly into Your strong and loving arms.