It is an infinite mercy also that we possess our present remnants of generation. Although, in the state of original innocency women, as we know, would have brought forth without pain; yet there would have been a much more extensive fruitfulness. Whereas now the blessing of generation is impeded by numberless diseases. It often happens that the fruit of the womb does not arrive at maturity and birth and sometimes the woman is barren altogether. All these defects are the punishments of the horrible fall of Adam and of original sin. Just in the same manner, to this present day, is the woman the "building," and house, and home of the husband. To the woman the man devotes himself. With her he lives; and together with her, he undertakes the labor and care of bringing up the family; as it is written below, verse 24, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife," etc. But this living together as man and wife is not only attended with those other trials, which afflict the marriage state in great number and variety on account of sin, but is also astonishingly deformed and marred by perverse nature; seeing that there are not only those who consider it to be very wise and great to reproach the female sex and to despise marriage, but who even forsake the wives whom they have married, and cast off all paternal care of their children. Such men destroy the building of God by their perverseness and wickedness. Men of this description are a kind of monsters in nature. Wherefore let us show our obedience to the Word of God by acknowledging our wives to be the building of the Lord; through whom not only our house is built up by generation, and by whom other necessary domestic duties are performed; but through whom we the husbands themselves are also built up, by our rising offspring around us. For wives are, as we have said, a certain nest and center of habitation to which the husbands resort, where they dwell and live in pleasure and happiness. When Moses adds, "And he brought her unto the man," this is a certain divine description of espousals especially worthy our observation. For Adam does not take hold of Eve when created and draw her to himself, according to his own purpose and will, but he waits till God brings her to him; just according to the saying of Christ, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder," Math. 19:6, for the joining of male and female is a lawful joining and ordinance, and an institution divine.