Today is Friday, July 21st, A.D. 2023. This is The Africa Review in Five, written by Paul Schlehlein and presented by Yamikani Katunga.

Namibia Gets It Right on Same-Sex Marriage

On Wednesday, July 19th, Namibia’s upper house of parliament passed a law banning same-sex marriage. This law defines marriage as a union between “persons of opposite sexes”. One member of parliament, Elder Filipe, said that “the marital union is between a man and a woman and that must be respected.”

In ruling against same-sex marriage, Namibia is in lockstep with nearly every other African country, the only exception being South Africa, which has far more progressive laws on marriage and family issues and is the only African country that performs and recognizes same-sex marriage.

Previously, Namibia had recognized same-sex marriages that were performed abroad. But this ruling now contradicts that earlier decision that was made by the Namibian Supreme Court in May.

According to Scripture, government has the responsibility to recognize, restrain, and reward marriage. First, civil governments must recognize marriage by defining it for its citizens because this fulfills part of their biblical responsibility to “do good” for society. Romans 13:3-4 says:

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴ for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”

Part of the government’s role in “doing good” for society is defining marriage as God does—a covenant between one man and one woman. Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Of course, churches must also define marriage, but their authority covers only that particular congregation, whereas the magistrate covers the entire nation.

Second, government must restrain marriage because, according to Romans 13, it is to be a “terror” to “bad” conduct. God tells magistrates to use the “sword” (that is, their authority) to prohibit evil actions in society, including marriage. For example, it is good when governments “restrain” marriage by requiring a legal marital age because this prohibits child brides. Governments often restrain marriage by demanding consent, thus prohibiting marriage by force. They also restrain marriage by prohibiting incest and polygamy. 

So when African nations like Namibia restrain marriage to one man and one woman, they are no different than other nations that also restrain marriage by prohibiting, for example, a man from marrying his 15-year-old daughter. Namibia is just being more consistent in their application of biblical principles. 

One may argue that such-and-such nation is not Christian and therefore is not bound to follow biblical mandates. But God’s rules always apply to every member of society, regardless if that nation recognizes God’s laws or not, just as God’s law applied not only to Jewish people in the Old Testament but to every nation.

Sodom and Gomorrah did not associate with the Jehovah God, but the Lord destroyed the city nonetheless for breaking his rules for marriage. Abimelech was no follower of Yahweh, yet God still punished him for taking Abraham’s bride. John the Baptist rebuked Herod Antipas for taking another man’s wife, even though Herod never pretended to be a Christian. 

Finally, civil government must reward marriage. This is why 2 Peter 2:14 says the magistrate must “praise those who do good”. Government rewards marriage because it brings order to society. Marriage encourages fidelity, it curbs sexual immorality and it brings greater economic stability. Children from homes with a married mother and father surpass children from broken homes in virtually every way, including educational, economic, physical, and moral achievement. A couple of simple ways government may reward marriage is by giving tax breaks to married couples and eliminating grants to single mothers.

But governments should not only reward the good but punish the bad. As all good laws should, Namibia’s recent legislation includes penalties for breaking that law. No penalties effectively means no law. If, for example, there is a law against ten-year-olds driving vehicles on the highway, but that law is never enforced, then there is a real sense in which it is not really a law. The Namibian courts have thus ruled that solemnizing a same-sex marriage is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for up to six years and a fine of up to 100,000 Namibian dollars ($5,500).

Marriage between a man and a woman is a fundamental institution of society. If governments do not properly recognize, restrain and reward marriage, society will descend into chaos. Pray for these rulers as they seek to carry out their God-given role to do good for their people.
And that’s it for The Africa Review in Five on this Friday, July 21st in the year of our Lord 2023. Subscribe to the Missionary Minds podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts. I’m Yamikani Katunga. Be not weary in well-doing.