Jump Start # 4090
Matthew 19:6 “So they are no loner two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Throwback Thursday: an article written from the past
Why the Fourth Finger?
There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given long ago as to why wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger. Each finger represents a relationship:
Ä Thumb: your parents
Ä Second (index) finger: your siblings
Ä Middle finger: yourself
Ä Fourth (ring) finger: your spouse
Ä Last (little) finger: your children
First, open your hands (palm to palm), bend the middle fingers, and hold them together– back to back. Second, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb –tip to tip.
Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents). They will open—because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong. Jesus said a man must leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.
Join your thumbs as before and separate your index fingers (representing siblings). They will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will lead their own separate lives.
Now join the index fingers and separate your little fingers (representing your children). They will open too, because the children will grow up, move out, get married and settle down on their own some day.
Finally, join your little fingers, and try to separate your ring fingers (representing husband and wife). You will be surprised to see that you cannot, because husband and wife have to remain together all their lives—through thick and thin.
Inseparable—that is God’s intention for marriage!
And, this is why the wedding rings go on the fourth finger and why it is commonly called “the ring finger.”
Roger
August, 2008