What is the purpose of marriage biblically?

Can you help explain the purpose of marriage according to the bible?

and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'
Matthew 19:5

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Genesis 2:18

Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth... And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Gen 1:28; 2:22-24)

Christian marriage is a type of the Marriage of Christ and the Church. Adam was a type of Christ and Eve was a type of the Church.

I am curious as to why you would ask that question.

My understanding of marriage. The purpose for marriage is serving together. Also the multiplication of happiness and members.

To bring light to the world and bring forth godly children that fear the Lord.

the purpose of marriage is to have a companion to talk to: and to procreate!

I asked because, Christian marriage in my country especially in my community is going wayward. I do advice or educate people on marriage when I go out to preach, that why I want more knowledge on marriage.

Because men need help, and its the only way to guarantee someone will stick by their side to help them. On their own men are pretty weak.

Unless...they grow their hair long like Samson.

wayward in what way if you don’t mind my asking?

Genesis 1:27 is perhaps the most important verse: "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them". First God made them male and female, so He could join them back together again and they could become one. We have both male and female hormones and even as a individual we need to be reconciled with ourself and with God. I believe the atonement is two fold, that Jesus died to reconcile us with the Father and with each other.

If we go back to vs 26 we see: "let Us make man in OUR image" From the beginning we are the work of Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Jesus is the word that became flesh and the Holy Spirit is the breath of life.

Fire can purify and fire can destory. God puts people together so we can learn and grow. The enemy wants to kill, steal and destroy. He does not want us to prosper according to God's plan for us.

The Bible also references roles in a marriage, specifically that the husband's role is to lead the marriage, and the wife's role is to submit to the husband's authority. The purpose of Biblical marriage is to symbolically represent the covenant between God and the church.

https://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-of-marriage.html

Now, this thread caught my attention.

It seems a bit confrontational:

"Because men need help."
And,.
Women need a "guarantee..."
And,
"On their own men are pretty weak."....
unless we grow our hair long..
Ouch.
That sounds a lot like the movie, "Top Gun."
"You didn't learn a [dang] thing, didya... except to quit. You got that maneuver down real well."
[Paramount. 1986.]

I'm called as a spiritual warrior, and haven't seen the new movie yet, but it applies to many situations in life. This could be a great discussion about how men and women need each other in different ways. I would agree women are stronger than men in many ways. I was just thinking recently about how dependent on my car I am, and many people in modern Life, especially here in a frontier area. I used to drive in traffic many hours delivering pizzas, and we driver's feel pretty powerful - right until the engine stops in the middle of traffic or even the wilderness.
60 MPH and anywhere in 10 minutes to walking speed.
One time, I got stranded all night. No cars. The wolves started howling.
I was scared. But I didn't feel weak, just vulnerable.

Trying to think of the Bible.
Mary said to Jesus, "They have no more wine.". It sounds like a command in a way. Then she commanded the servants under her authority to obey Him.

This was in John 2:3.
The wedding at Cana.

The marriage was symbolic in many ways, but others in this topic have already mentioned some comparisons.

Speak for yourself. I’m sorry if all of the men you had in your life were weak. Would you suggest Christ is weak, and that’s why He died for His bride the Church? Or, was His Bride weak and that’s why He suffered?

I dont know I think God made men weak in general. He made Adam first and Eve second.
Jesus was the second Adam but he never married. He had the holy spirit as the helper.

Christians cannot do a single thing without the holy spirit. Would you agree?

I've never seen God work in anyone who just totally relied on their own strength.

Hello @Geophery,

Great question! So far, you've gotten some good answers.........

We know that in heaven there is neither male or female and no one is given in marriage, so...... human marriage is just for this age (time frame) on the Earth - it has a beginning and an end and must serve a purpose in God's plan or there would be no marriage.

(Personally, I think it's how God is creating the Lamb's Wife. He wants a suitable mate for Himself - bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. God does not want to exist alone and He wants us to be in His image.)

God wanted to make "man" in His image - male and female with the ability to procreate and bring forth children, more males and more females to fill the Earth for many generations. It appears God tweaked it after Noah and doesn't allow people to live as long. However, we are still mass producing all over the place! God is still playing with the clay! lol!

Anyways, as @Magenta posted, "God said, It is not good for man to be alone." So, He made a helper - a woman for Adam. Notice God only made ONE WOMAN for Adam......just saying.

Marriage is a journey that teaches us to follow the same pattern as the 7 letters to the 7 churches.........

1 - Starts with First Love, then just becomes works - got to learn how to keep "First Love;" (Church of Ephesus)

2 - Total death to self, total sacrifice for the other, even death; (Church of Smyrna)

3 - Faithful to the covenant, fully committed - no adultery, forsaking ALL others; (Church of Pergamos)

4 - Man leads and woman submits as unto the Lord - no Jezebel which is pride; (Church of Thyatira)
(NOTE: women need not submit to a man that is telling his wife to commit sin or do something not pleasing to the Lord - submission to God is always first, then to our husbands.)

5 - Both agree and walk together and both agree with God and walk together with God; (Church of Sardis)

6 - Unconditional love for each other and God, pure forgiveness, love covers a multitude of sin, always hopes, never fails - no divorces; (Church of Philadelphia)

7 - Retirement years together, have diligently worked together and with God through time, now you are rich in many ways, have a history of good clean holy living, and great wisdom at the end of your days that cause you to see clearly what life was all about and together you await departure to be with the Lord in heaven; (Church of Laodiceans)

There were warnings to the churches about not doing it God's way, the same is true for our marriages.

For anyone contemplating marriage................. I wish you all the best but, proceed with caution!

Do you know that the Hebrew words used for "help meet" in Scripture are ezer kenegdo (or k’enegdo)? Do you know what they mean? It is an interesting study Since Eve was taken out of Adam, man cannot function alone... and God said it was not good for him to be alone, also. Some men seem to have a problem with this concept, but it is Scriptural. Why see it as weakness?

The noun ezer occurs 21 times in the Hebrew Bible. In eight of these instances the word means “savior.” These examples are easy to identify because they are associated with other expressions of deliverance or saving. Elsewhere in the Bible, the root ezer means “strength" The word is most frequently used to describe how God is an ezer to man.

I was going to say "A model of faithfulness for life" but then I see this and how could anyone say anything else!