Jeremiah 29:5-6 “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished”.
The first requirement for a man before marriage is to “work”. He is to prepare the ground before the coming of the wife. The Bible said that God first gave man a garden and asked him to cultivate it.
Gen 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to CULTIVATE it and to keep it”. God took him and put him in a place where he should be working.
To cultivate means to bring out the best in everything around you, to maximize the potential of everything around you, to make everything fruitful and multiply. If a man can’t cultivate and keep things around him, how can he cultivate and keep a wife? In Jeremiah, we have an outline of what a man should do before thinking of getting married. The scripture said:
Build your house:
The first requirement is for the man to build his house; that is to prepare a place for the coming of the wife. This is in conjunction to what God told Adam, “So shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife”. It is wrong to marry a wife and still leaving under the roof of your parents. What defines your manhood is your ability to live on your own and make it in life even without the support of your parents.
Dwell in it:
The second thing to do is to dwell in what you build as a man. The Bible said in Prov 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children”. He is not a liability, but an investor; a dweller and not a wanderer. He has a home and not a hotel. Whatever he builds will last for generations. This is a man that is qualified to marry a wife.
Plant gardens:
This refer to doing business, ministry or working as an employee. He is not a lazy man but active and productive. In Prov 18:9, we are told that a man who is “slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster”. Women, do not marry a waster, he will waste you away. Marry a man that is diligent in his work and both of you will soon stand before Kings and great people.
Eat the fruits:
The mandate of the man is to plant gardens and start eating the fruits before bringing in a wife so that when she comes in, there will be no lack. Just as the Lord is our Shepherd, the husband is the Shepherd of the wife and he has to make sure that she does not lack anything. Ps 23:1 “Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!” Hmmm may my wife say “because Jabari is the representative of Jesus my Shepherd, I have everything I need”.
It was after God gave man a garden to “cultivate” that He finally said, it’s not good for the man to be alone. He gave him a wife and “blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth…”. Genesis 1:28
