Unity Candle or Unity Sand? A Christian Perspective

This is part three in a series. Click here to go to The Bibical Meaning of the Christian Unity Ceremony, part one

My Unity Candle Set

Now that we’ve established what unity is and why we commit to it, it’s time to decide how. I have heard of several variations of a unity ceremony. Some are beautiful while others are silly and some are actually pagan. In this article, we’re going to compare the unity candle ceremony with the unity sand ceremony.

Starting with the unity candle ceremony, I thought it’d be interesting to see what the bible has to say about candles. As always, what I found blew my doors off! I found a verse in Proverbs that got me so excited I kept my poor husband up half the night. This is just the coolest thing. Ready?

Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” Some of the other translations say “lamp” instead of candle. In antiquity, all lamps were some type of candle so this makes sense.

In light of what we discovered about unity in part one, how awesome is this verse? What a rich spiritual symbolism this adds to the unity candle ceremony. The candles take on a double meaning – the individuals getting married AND the Lord searching the innermost man – or the heart – presumable to purify and transform. See why I find this so exciting?

The other key verse about candles is found in all four gospels. Picking one, Matthew 5:15 says, “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” This again ties in with our study on unity in that unity is a witness.

Looking at the unity sand ceremony, I found two themes in Scripture. Throughout the bible, sand means a multitude. For example, Genesis 32:12 says, “And thou saidst , I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” There are other verses in the OT where sand is used to describe the multitude of enemies attacking Israel so it is not always associated with good. Sand was just a figure of speech to describe a quantity too big to count.

The one notable exception is found in Matthew 7:26 where Jesus said, “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:”

Now I’m not one for legalism. Do I believe God will not bless a wedding because your unity ceremony uses sand instead of candles? Absolutely NOT! That is so contrary to the character of God. Your marriage is a heart commitment and that is what God searches.

As with everything, this is something for you and your beloved to pray about. (Speaking of unity!) I can only say that I personally would not use sand for my unity ceremony just because the candle has such a rich and positive biblical meaning attached to it. Of course, this is just my humble little opinion which has been known to be wrong. Take it with a grain of sand. (Pun intended.)

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