I can see why an unbeliever like Twain (Samuel Clemens) would utter the above words. Being guided by reason or emotion alone a person might well come to the same conclusion as Twain. This same kind of human reasoning might also question why God put restrictions on sexual pleasure, why there should be such sins as fornication or adultery, or bestiality, or pedophilia, or any other sexual immorality. This type of reasoning leads to there being no restrictions on sexual activity and is the kind of reasoning we see so prominent today where homosexuality and its concomitants are not only tolerated but promoted. Such reasoning questions or denies God's right to place such restrictions upon people.
So, how would we respond to Twain? Why will resurrected saints, citizens of heavenly Jerusalem, no longer marry, have children and sexual pleasure? In the previous two chapters we saw how great pleasures and delights await those who will dwell there. So, why is sexual pleasure not one of them? After all, sexual pleasure between Adam and his wife Eve was part of their life experience in Eden or Paradise.
This is in fact a primitive question debated and discussed. Christ, thankfully, gave us an answer as we will see. Further, as we also see, though the resurrected saints will no longer enjoy sexual pleasures, yet the still mortal nations who enter into the millennial new heavens and earth will be able to marry, have children, and enjoy sexual pleasures with their spouses.
Resurrected Saints & Sexual Pleasure
"27 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 28 saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second [g]took her as wife, and he died childless. 31 Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven [h]also; and they left no children, and died. 32 Last of all the woman died also. 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”
34 Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." (Luke 20: 27-36 nkjv)
Matthew's account ends the above reading like this:
"Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven." (22: 29-30 nkjv)
These verses are clear about whether the "sons of the resurrection" will marry. They will not. Further, since sex is only permitted in a marital relationship (Heb. 13: 4), then the fact of no marriage entails the idea of no sexual pleasure.
However, I must disagree with some inferences that some bible believers see in the above passages. The first false inference states that the text proves that the angels cannot marry, have sex, or procreate. The second false inference says that the words of Christ deny that any occupant of the new heavens and earth, or of the millennial kingdom age, will marry and have children.
It is my view, as well as many others, from ancient times, that "the sons of God" of Genesis chapter six who lusted after "the daughters of men" were angels and that this is what Peter and Jude are referring to when they speak of the fall of the angels.
"And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." (Jude 1: 6-7 nkjv)
"For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;" (II Peter 2: 4 nkjv)
The passage in Jude seems to indicate that the sin of the angels was similar to the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, to sexual immorality. Angels often appeared in physical bodies and were able to eat and drink. So, if they can do this, they could procreate. But, doing so was their fall from heaven, from the condition in which they were originally made and constituted. What Jesus said about angels not marrying is true of the angels who did not abandon their "proper domain," being the "elect angels" (I Tim. 5: 21), to "the angels of heaven" in contradistinction to the angels who fell from heaven and became angels of Satan. (Matt. 25: 41)
Another false inference from the text is to interpret the text as affirming that everyone who "obtains that age," the next age of a thousand years of Christ's reign, will all be celibate so that the human race stops being what it was originally constituted to be, i.e. a self propagating species. We addressed this issue in the early chapters of this treatise. Those who are saved at the time of Christ's destruction of the wicked, and of the Antichrist, will enter the millennium in their mortal bodies, as we have seen. These will marry and have children, as we have also seen. They obtained that age but they marry and have children. So, how does that square with the words of Jesus? Answer: Jesus did not say "all who obtain that world" would not marry, but "all who obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead," or who are "sons of the resurrection." Those who do not marry meet both qualifications but the mortals who enter into the kingdom age meet only one. As we will shortly see, these saved souls who were not of the group called "sons of the resurrection" but who were saved after the resurrection of the just and these will be the seed of a new race of humans. The conjunction "and" is important in the text.
So, why does Christ exclude sexual pleasure from the sons of the resurrection? I believe it is because they will be in that state where they will be holy in body as well as in spirit, being married to the Lord, and being gifted to that end.
The Nations of the Ongoing Race & Procreation
Speaking of the millennial age of the new heavens and earth Isaiah wrote:
"Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed." (Isa. 65: 20)
"They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD." (vs. 24)
We cited these words in earlier chapters when writing about the new heavens and the new earth and how Isaiah's new heavens and earth apply particularly to the thousand years of the coming age under King Jesus and his resurrected saints. Notice that Isaiah pictures children being born in that next age to come. So, does Isaiah contradict Jesus when he says that "those who obtain that age and the resurrection of the dead" will not marry or procreate? No, for Jesus is talking about how things will be with the resurrected sons and not those who are saved after the resurrection and at the end of this age and who will enter the millennium as mortals. Isaiah also, in speaking of this millennial age of the kingdom wrote:
"The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den." (Isaiah 11:8)
So, if there are babies in the age when this change in the nature of animals is realized (which can only be interpreted to mean the time after Christ returns and creates new heavens and earth) then there must be people on earth who are married and having children.
Other text swhich show that children will be born in the millennial kingdom age are these:
"Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. 3 Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." (Zech. 8: 1-5 kjv)
"For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow." (Jer. 31: 11-13 kjv)
Recall also from earlier chapters is analysis of Ephesians 3: 21 and Paul mentioning "unto all generations of the ages of the ages." Children being generated in all ages.
So, in conclusion, the words of Jesus are only true of resurrected saints. They are the ones who will no longer marry or have conjugal relations or beget children.
But, to answer Twain, why has the Lord not made sexual pleasure one of the manifold pleasures of life in eternity for the resurrected saints? The following are what I think are the reasons for this decision by Lord God.
Holy In Body
"For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." (I Cor. 7: 7-9 kjv)
Saints or sons of the resurrection will not "burn" with lust. There will therefore be no need to marry. There are four major reasons why people marry (marriage being ordained as being solely between a male and female). First; God created Eve to be Adam's wife because he saw Adam alone and made this declaration: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Gen. 2: 18 NIV) Second: to procreate, as the Lord said to Adam and Eve "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1: 28). Third, to satisfy the burning lust for the opposite sex that Paul speaks of in the above text. Fourth, to give this pleasure to those who marry, as Solomon said:
"Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. May her breasts satisfy you at all times, may you be intoxicated always by her love." (Prov. 5: 18-19 kjv)
The "sons of the resurrection" however will be in a state where none of the reasons above, for getting married, will be present with them. The loneliness will be gone for Christ and his people will be their companions, Christ himself their spouse. How could they ever be lonely and thus need a spouse to alleviate that need? They also need no longer procreate for that is what God has purposed shall be for the non resurrected, for "the nations." And I repeat, they will not lust for they will be immutably holy. Upon this we will enlarge in following chapters. Further, the joy of being united to Christ, the sons of the resurrection, and to the holy angels will be far greater than any sexual pleasure.
The state that Paul wished for will be realized by the sons of the resurrection. He said he wished that all were unmarried as he was. In the eternal ages to come the sons of the resurrection will all be as Paul wished and they will become eunuchs for the Lord (but more on that shortly). Paul also says that being unmarried offered him more time and energy to devote to serving Christ his husband. He said it was a "gift of God" to be in such a state. This gifted state will be the state of all the sons of the resurrection. He says "it is good for them" to be unmarried as he was, and for using that extra time to serve the Lord. They will not be distracted in their service to God by being married. About this Paul wrote further, saying:
"But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband." (32-34)
Being "unmarried" is what the resurrected sons of God will be per Jesus throughout eternity; And, being so, they "care for the things that belong to the Lord, how they may please the Lord," and no longer "care for the things that are of the world." They become "holy both in body and in spirit." That is one major reason why the sons of the resurrection will not marry, have sexual relations, or have families to look after. They will have become eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. Said the Lord Jesus Christ:
"His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.” (Matt. 19: 10-12 nkjv)
Though most commentators say that this becoming eunuchs for the kingdom is fulfilled in the cases of men and women like Paul who was single, unmarried, and who wished all to be like he was, there is more to be deduced than that. It is true that Paul became a eunuch for Christ. However, it is also true of all the sons of the resurrection.
Resurrected saints will be married to the Lord and the pleasures flowing from that union will far exceed any pleasures that flowed from any human marriages they had when they lived on earth.
As I have suggested in earlier chapters, I don't believe that resurrected saints will ever have to use the toilet, a point we will consider more in depth when we get to studying on the nature of the resurrection and glorified bodies of the saints. Also, since they will not procreate or have sexual relations, then the question naturally arises: will they have sexual, that is, male or female, body parts? It seems that if men no longer have to urinate nor have sexual relations, why will they still have male genitalia? Also, if women no longer need to breastfeed babies, nor have sexual relations, then why will they have breasts and female genitalia? In other words, will there still be gender among the resurrected saints?
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