In this week’s post we’ll be continuing with our theme on Adonai.
This was a particularly pivotal revelation for me and really what propelled me into these studies, the privilege and joy of realising what we have been provided with in Christ and how we come to be partakers in that.
We really have been provided for with everything in God’s word, just like Joseph stored up the grain in Israel, God’s word is a rich store and a treasure house for us to draw on in every situation.
We have been fully equipped with everything that we need, and through Jesus, we have full access to all God’s resources for ministry, we are well provided for!
The Husband and the Bride of Christ, the Marriage of the Lamb
Jewish Marriage
We see this relationship reflected in Jewish Marriage and also in the Last Supper.
In Jewish marriage, the wife has full access to ALL HER HUSBAND’S RESOURCES!!!
Adonai is our Husband, so we have access to all His resources – my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory!
The Last Supper is a symbol of Jewish Marriage.
The purpose of marriage in Jewish society is for companionship, worship and the creation of family.
Firstly the bride prepares a meal for her suitor
The suitor and his father come to her house and knock on the door – if she opens the door, they go in and share the meal together – Revelation 3.20 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
The groom’s family bring 3 items:
There are 3 cups of wine drunk throughout the marriage process:
The first cup is the Cup of Betrothal – The potential groom offers the person he wants to marry a cup of wine, if she accepts this first cup, she accepts his proposal of marriage – she drinks the cup.
When we drink the cup of communion, we are accepting Jesus as our Bridegroom!
The fiancée then goes away to build a house for the couple to live in.
John 14.2 – In my father’s house there are many mansions, if it were not so, I would not have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, you may be also.
And where I go you know and the way you know.
Vs 6. I am the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the Father except through me.
Matthew 24.36 -But of that day and hour no-one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Only the Father knows when the house is ready! That is why we have to wait vigilantly for Jesus’s return, because only the Father knows when our house is ready!
Cup of Sanctification
The second cup is the Cup of Sanctification – all parties then drink the cup and commit to serve each other.
Cup of Dedication
The third cup is the Cup of Dedication – the Groom and the Father drink and the Bride and the Father drink.
This is a Salt Covenant where families are joined together by the mixing together of shared salt.
Salt symbolizes grace and the unmerited favour of God in the hearts of believers, it celebrates our adoption into God’s family.
It represents the preservative power of fidelity and purpose of heart to be true to covenant.
We are kept faithful by the power of God.
In marriage the salt of God’s grace is necessary to take both fallible parties through the ups and downs of covenant life.
Likewise, we are also in a covenant relationship with our heavenly Husband.
The letter Tav in the Hebrew alphabet (or aleph-beit) is in the shape of a cross and represents the cross and covenant, so the cross represents God’s covenant with us, made through Jesus!
The Bride’s Price
Leviticus 27.4 – The price set for a female was recorded in Leviticus as 30 shekels.
In Zechariah 11.13, this was the price given to the potter. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces or shekels of silver.
Jesus paid for His Bride, for us in His blood, by giving up His life.
We go from being a servant to being a friend – Adam was a servant, we are God’s friends.
Sandal Covenant
The fourth cup is the Cup of Redemption and Inheritance – In the Sandal Covenant, we become heirs to one another’s estate.
How great and wonderful is our inheritance is in Jesus!
In Ruth, Boaz confirms his betrothal to Ruth by giving his rival his sandal to seal the deal (Ruth 4.8).
The letter Tav in the Hebrew alphabet (or aleph-beit) is in the shape of a cross and represents the cross and covenant, so the cross represents God’s covenant with us, made through Jesus!
Praise God for His redemptive plan, running through His Word!
The Cup of Redemption represents the New Covenant Jesus makes with us.
The groom then goes to build the house.
The Cup of Praise & Salvation
The final cup will be at the wedding, the Cup of Praise.
Jesus is also named the Cup of Salvation – Kosh Yeshua – Jesus is poured out as a drink offering, poured out as a ransom for many souls.
On the wedding day, the bride’s dress had pockets or wrinkles sewn into it where people would put money to pay for the wedding.
Jesus came for a bride without wrinkle or blemish and paid for the price of His bride in full with His own blood.
The Torah was an agreement between God and Man called the Kettubah, the marriage agreement.
If the bride was not fruitful or unfaithful she would pay the price, of death. Jesus paid this for us at the cross.
Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer, just as Boaz was for Ruth.
He is our Goel (our Redeemer.)
In Matthew 26.26-29, at the Last Supper, Jesus said to His disciples, “Take and eat, this is my body.”
Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom”!
Ours is a new covenant, brokered and paid for by Jesus, our Bridegroom!
Waiting for Our Bridegroom to Return
We will drink that final cup with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when we are all safely gathered into His Kingdom.
But only the Father knows the day or the hour and so we wait patiently and vigilantly.
What will we do to keep our oil jars full, to keep our lamps burning while we wait for His return?
For me, studies like this fill my jar with fresh oil, I hope your jar will be filled with inspiration and new passion also. I hope you will find yourself more in love with Jesus than ever before.
You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms/mansions; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
The Parable of the Ten Virgins – Matthew 25.1-13
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
We are the Bride waiting for the Lord, the Bridegroom, our Husband, Jesus and we need to be ready– we wait with longing for Him to return.
After preparing the house for us, when the Father (Adonai) says it is ready, Jesus will return for His Bride.
He has made full provision for us (oil) and we have full access to it so that we can be ready for His return.
A failure to be ready for the bridegroom to return, was like saying, “I don’t care about you anymore!
Almost as if we said, “You took too long, I found somebody else!”
Let us beware of rejecting Jesus by a lukewarm heart, being drawn away to other loves!
What other loves could be drawing your heart away from Christ today?
God placed a high price on Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him in the Old Testament, He wants a bride who says, “I am my Beloved’s and He is mine! My heart longs for Him!”
Let’s make sure we don’t fall asleep!
If the bride was not faithful:
- She would pay the price for adultery – death – Jesus paid the price for us, so we could have life, He has the words of life, so we wait for Him, he wants us to choose life!
- She would be issued with a writ of divorce. (Joseph considered divorcing Mary)
- Joseph pretended that the child was his – acting as a Kinsman Redeemer – Go’el – Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer.
We have this provision through abiding in Christ:
The Vine and the Branches
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The Vine and the Branches
Through intimate fellowship, abiding in Christ the Vine, we receive everything we need to do the work set before us, a full supply, we are fully provided for. We are fully equipped to do the work given to us to do – see what the Father does, do the work which are Father has for us.
Fruitfulness
Fruit comes through our union with Him, becoming One in unity and harmony (just as in human marriage). The husband is the head of the wife and a bride price is paid. Relationship relies on absolute faithfulness and trust and is built on intimacy and transparency. Adonai requires absolute submission.
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus, He will supply us fully with everything we need.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will -to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s gracethat he lavished on us.
With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
We thank the Lord for His glorious provision, I am reminded of this by the following hymn, “Who can thirst while such a river, ever flows their thirst to assuage, grace which like the Lord, the Giver, never fails from age to age?”
We are well supplied as His people, His sons and daughters, and so we will not be ashamed.
1 Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God.
He whose Word cannot be broken
formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
2 See, the streams of living waters,
springing from eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river
ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.
3 ‘Round each habitation hov’ring,
see the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a cov’ring,
showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner
light by night and shade by day,
safe they feed upon the manna
which He gives them on their way. 4 Savior, since of Zion’s city
I through grace a member am,
let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy name.
Fading is the worldling’s pleasures,
all his boasted pomp and show;
solid joys and lasting treasures
none but Zion’s children know.
Very inspiring.
I am looking at The Song of Solomon with new insight, as it also contains similar Messianic themes.
That’s great Sarah, I’m glad you liked it, this was the crux of what sent me on my current journey.