The third step in the marriage was the “marriage supper,” actually a seven-day wedding feast took place to which guests had already been called and assembled. Once the marriage had been consummated by the bride and groom, that same night the wedding guests would begin to feast and make merry! They often celebrated these feasts twice a day during those seven days. The feast was the part of the “marriage” that Jesus attended in Cana of Galilee when He turned water into wine. And this is also the scene at the “marriage of the Lamb” in the Revelation! It is called the “marriage supper” or marriage feast of the Lamb. This is not espousal, but the time of union. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage (union) of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready (for this union). And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb!”
If we stand back and get a correct perspective of the sweep of the entire picture I think we will understand it. You go back to the very beginning — marriage was the first institution that God made for man. And it was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (the Word, the Voice of God) that brought the first woman to the first man. He introduced them and performed the marriage for them and made them one. In that far-off beginning, at the dawn of human history, the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). What fathomless and holy truth lies buried in this remarkable statement! While God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone,” I would like to give another rendition and it goes like this: “It is not good that GOD should be alone.” You see, my beloved, God’s creation is the mirror, the reflection, and expression of God’s own personal character and state of being. How can we know this? Because God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Would you like to know what God is like? You can see it in man! God did not create just a man! “Male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply…” (Gen. 1:27-28). The message is just this: If it was not good for man in the image of God to be in that image alone, if the man needed a wife to complement him and reproduce their life in the world, then it was likewise not good for GOD to be alone! That is the mystery! It takes the mind of the Spirit to understand that when God saw Adam in his loneliness and said, “It is not good that the man should be alone,” God was expressing the great mystery of His own Being within Himself. God had need for companionship. God had need for a union of love! This divine need is expressed by the apostle Paul in these words of revelation and truth: “According as He hath chosen us in Himself before the foundation of the world, that we should be…before Him in love: having predestinated us…according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:4-6).
God’s ultimate desire and need was for the companionship of beings like unto Himself, of His own kind, with whom He could share His mind and heart, and through whom He could expand Himself, incorporating them into the outworking of His own eternal purposes. As we view from the Father’s heart it becomes obvious that God in His social and paternal nature has “marked out for Himself” a vast family which shares His own life, nature, mind, spirit, purpose, and power. I do not believe that any creature or entity that existed before man either in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, even came close to providing what God needed. This is the condition which prompted God in that long ago beginning to issue the wonderful fiat, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…” (Gen. 1:26).
Little wonder, then, that we read from the literal translation of the Hebrew text these remarkable words: “And Jehovah God saith, Not good for the man to be alone, I do make him an helper — as his COUNTERPART” (Gen. 2:18, Young’s Literal). The Goodspeed translation reads, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I must make a helper for him WHO IS LIKE HIM.” Another interesting translation says, “…and God made for Adam a COMPARABLE helper.” There we have the very first symbolism of the bride of Christ! God made for Adam someone with whom he should have complete and total correspondence and intimacy. This only mirrored the desire within God Himself, so we find that He came in the cool, or spirit of the day, as it reads in the original, to fellowship with this man and woman made in His image and likeness. The message is just this — if the Christ is to have a bride then the bride must be COMPARABLE to Christ! She must be HIS COUNTERPART! She must be one who is in every respect LIKE HIM! And that’s awesome, isn’t it! But how could Christ become intimate, on all the levels that intimacy implies, with anyone who is not comparable to Him? A human would not marry a monkey, a horse, a dog, or a chicken. There is no correspondence! There are no grounds for union of mind, desire, emotion, knowledge, understanding, body, or love. And even within the same species, not everyone is suited for the marriage union. Would Christ become intimate with a little girl who is not mature and cannot comprehend the ways of love or responsibility? Would He share all that He is and has with a child who is physically and emotionally incapable of returning mature love, relating to His deepest thoughts and heart, or participating in His divine activities and purposes?
Preston Eby
Thursday, February 7, 2019
The Marriage of the Lamb - Part 2
The second step in the marriage was when, on the appointed day, the groom came with his friends to take the bride back to his home. This “taking” of the bride was usually done at night approximately one year after the betrothal. This led to the consummation of the marriage through physical union of the bride and groom on the first night at the groom’s house. Since this second step was the essence of the marriage ceremony, it was regarded as the wedding or marriage. Thus the actual “wedding” or “marriage” was not a ceremony at all — it was union! We constantly read in scripture of a man taking a wife unto himself. We get our attention, in modern marriage customs, fixed on the ceremony: forgetting that in the biblical pattern the real marriage is “this man taking unto him this woman” to be his wife in all that it means. The espousal only announces it; just as the wedding feast only celebrates it! The perfect picture of Christ taking His virgin church as His bride is seen in Genesis chapter twenty-four, where Abraham would “make a marriage for his son.” He sends Eliezar, his steward, to far away Mesopotamia, to find and woo Rebekah by showing her the “things,” that is, a sample of the wealth of Abraham and Isaac (as the Holy Spirit now shows us “the things” of Christ, the firstfruits of the Spirit); and eventually Rebekah says to Eliezar, “I will go.” And then, the journey over, the record states that when upon their camels Eliezar and Rebekah arrive in the land of Canaan, “Isaac took Rebekah (into his tent); and she became his wife; and he loved her.” The same scenario is repeated a number of times in the Old Testament and this second step corresponds precisely to the expression “marriage of the Lamb” in the book of Revelation. It signifies the ultimate completeness and fullness of UNION WITH OUR LORD!
Preston Eby
Preston Eby
The Marriage of the Lamb - Part 1
The next mystery that we need to understand, in order to comprehend what the Holy Spirit is really saying to us, is that not only does this virgin church company keep itself wholly unto the Lord, but while she is truly espoused unto the Lord the marriage of the Lamb has not yet been consummated. She has not been joined in marriage union with the Lord, else she would not be a virgin. When we speak of the “virgin church” we must understand that we speak of the bride of Christ who is espoused to Jesus Christ as His wife. We often entertain very faulty ideas concerning this beautiful truth because many of our Western customs are so different from the Eastern customs. Many people think that the true church is not yet the bride or wife of Christ and will only become the bride or wife of Christ at the time of the “marriage of the Lamb” as revealed in chapter nineteen of the Revelation. But such is not the case! Let me explain the Eastern custom of betrothal and marriage, the traditions from which the analogy of marriage in scripture is drawn.
The Israelitish marriage customs in Bible times involved three major steps. The first step was betrothal, the establishment of the marriage covenant that bound the man and woman together as husband and wife (Mal. 2:14; Mat. 1:18-19). The apostle Paul referred to this great mystery when he wrote, “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (II Cor. 11:2). The meaning put on “espousal” is vital. The Basic Bible reads, “You have been married by me to one husband…” Wuest says, “I gave you in marriage…” Both show the marriage as a past event. In Bible days, prior to the actual wedding and marriage consummation, there was what was known as betrothal or espousal. This was somewhat like our modern engagement, except that it was much more binding and obligatory. It was more than a mere promise between two individuals to eventually “get married,” for it was in fact the marriage — at least the first step of the process. At the time of the espousal the families of the man and woman were involved in the negotiation of a contract between the two parties. It was a notable occasion! The payment of a suitable dowry was usually a feature of the contract. The groom or his father had to pay a price to the girl’s father for the bride. When the contract was signed and sealed in the presence of witnesses, the contract meant that the couple were legally married — they were husband and wife. Matthew makes this plain when he records, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away (divorce her) privately” (Mat. 1:18-19).
This period of engagement or betrothal was taken so seriously that any violation of the engagement was considered adultery and any break-up of the espousal required a legal procedure — a bill of divorcement. This reveals the seriousness of the situation when Joseph learned that Mary was with child. The news did more than stun him! It forced him to make a decision; either to expose Mary publicly or divorce her privately. In either case, Mary would have been dishonored by her family and friends, and degraded by the Jewish community. Even worse, her son would have been born an outcast with no rights of citizenship, and prohibited from worship in the temple. Under these circumstances, Joseph chose to be as gracious and kind as Jewish law permitted; he decided to put her away privately. But then the angel brought the message to Joseph and he took Mary home as his wife, accepted her child as his own, and became legally the father of Jesus. What explains his change of heart? Just this — his belief in God’s message that Mary’s child was a special creation, conceived of the Holy Spirit, to bring salvation into our world!
Now let us return to the marriage customs. After the espousal, at a later time, usually about a year, the second step in the wedding took place. During the interval, the two were not joined physically in intimacy. The bride remained a virgin. The girl continued to live in her own home, and the man in his. The groom begins to prepare a home for them to live in. This period also gave the bride a chance to “prepare herself” and “make herself ready” for the coming union. She learns many needful things and beautifies herself in every way. She wants to be perfect for her lover. One of the most important parts of her beautification was her gown. The white wedding dress was then chosen and knit together into a beautiful garment for her to wear when the groom comes for her. The wedding dress symbolized her pure and chaste life.
Preston Eby
The Israelitish marriage customs in Bible times involved three major steps. The first step was betrothal, the establishment of the marriage covenant that bound the man and woman together as husband and wife (Mal. 2:14; Mat. 1:18-19). The apostle Paul referred to this great mystery when he wrote, “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (II Cor. 11:2). The meaning put on “espousal” is vital. The Basic Bible reads, “You have been married by me to one husband…” Wuest says, “I gave you in marriage…” Both show the marriage as a past event. In Bible days, prior to the actual wedding and marriage consummation, there was what was known as betrothal or espousal. This was somewhat like our modern engagement, except that it was much more binding and obligatory. It was more than a mere promise between two individuals to eventually “get married,” for it was in fact the marriage — at least the first step of the process. At the time of the espousal the families of the man and woman were involved in the negotiation of a contract between the two parties. It was a notable occasion! The payment of a suitable dowry was usually a feature of the contract. The groom or his father had to pay a price to the girl’s father for the bride. When the contract was signed and sealed in the presence of witnesses, the contract meant that the couple were legally married — they were husband and wife. Matthew makes this plain when he records, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away (divorce her) privately” (Mat. 1:18-19).
This period of engagement or betrothal was taken so seriously that any violation of the engagement was considered adultery and any break-up of the espousal required a legal procedure — a bill of divorcement. This reveals the seriousness of the situation when Joseph learned that Mary was with child. The news did more than stun him! It forced him to make a decision; either to expose Mary publicly or divorce her privately. In either case, Mary would have been dishonored by her family and friends, and degraded by the Jewish community. Even worse, her son would have been born an outcast with no rights of citizenship, and prohibited from worship in the temple. Under these circumstances, Joseph chose to be as gracious and kind as Jewish law permitted; he decided to put her away privately. But then the angel brought the message to Joseph and he took Mary home as his wife, accepted her child as his own, and became legally the father of Jesus. What explains his change of heart? Just this — his belief in God’s message that Mary’s child was a special creation, conceived of the Holy Spirit, to bring salvation into our world!
Now let us return to the marriage customs. After the espousal, at a later time, usually about a year, the second step in the wedding took place. During the interval, the two were not joined physically in intimacy. The bride remained a virgin. The girl continued to live in her own home, and the man in his. The groom begins to prepare a home for them to live in. This period also gave the bride a chance to “prepare herself” and “make herself ready” for the coming union. She learns many needful things and beautifies herself in every way. She wants to be perfect for her lover. One of the most important parts of her beautification was her gown. The white wedding dress was then chosen and knit together into a beautiful garment for her to wear when the groom comes for her. The wedding dress symbolized her pure and chaste life.
Preston Eby
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Our Deeds; Our Motives
Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20
The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in motive because he has been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to put into any man who would let Him a new here-dity which would exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus says--If you are my disciple you
must be right not only in your living, but your motives, in your dreams, in the recesses of your mind. You must be so pure in your motives that God Almighty can see nothing to censure. Who can stand in the Eternal Light of God and have nothing for God to censure? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that by His Redemption He can put into any man His own disposition, and make him as unsullied and as simple as a child. The purity which God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is what Jesus has undertaken to do by His Redemption.
No man can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations; His teachings are truths that can only be interpreted by the disposition He puts in. The great marvel of Jesus Christ's salvation is that He alters heredity. He does not alter human nature; He alters its mainspring.
- Oswald Chambers
you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20
The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in motive because he has been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to put into any man who would let Him a new here-dity which would exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus says--If you are my disciple you
must be right not only in your living, but your motives, in your dreams, in the recesses of your mind. You must be so pure in your motives that God Almighty can see nothing to censure. Who can stand in the Eternal Light of God and have nothing for God to censure? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that by His Redemption He can put into any man His own disposition, and make him as unsullied and as simple as a child. The purity which God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is what Jesus has undertaken to do by His Redemption.
No man can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations; His teachings are truths that can only be interpreted by the disposition He puts in. The great marvel of Jesus Christ's salvation is that He alters heredity. He does not alter human nature; He alters its mainspring.
- Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 24, 2019
What if Christians did not fight evil?
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. –Philippians 3:13, 14
When in a country that was formerly a part of the USSR, several questions can come to the forefront of any conversation. At the center of the debate is what Christians should have done. We know what many did do, but what should have been done? First, I do not want to condemn anyone for what they did do. Liberians in Africa have told me of their own city's bombing. Everyone in the market, upon seeing the bombs coming, began to run. Old people and babies that had been dropped in the melee were trampled to death. How do you suppose the babies' mothers felt the next day? Fear causes many instinctive reactions.However, once the crush of fear is past, it is possible to think more rationally about what a believer should do. I always like to build a foundation before attempting to discuss such questions. 1) God is love. 2) He permits what He could prevent. 3) He does not cause all things, but He causes all things to work together for good. 4) He could send evil to hell as easily today as tomorrow.
There are several ways of looking at things from this foundation. What would happen if every believer followed the command of Christ to love an enemy without reservation? What if tonight every Christian were killed by evil? What would the world be like if evil men helped the rapture of believers by killing them? If every believer were killed, earth would instantly become hell, because God's Holy Spirit would be dwelling in no person, a case of men on their way to hell when hell actually came up to them. Would the killing of every believer hasten or hinder the coming of Christ? If evil is present in the form of a physical force, army, or government, and if Christians are tricked into fighting it in the power of the flesh, would we actually be hindering the coming of Christ?
I talk to so many who came to a personal relationship with Jesus in a concentration camp in Siberia. What do we have to say about those things? Would the people have come to Him without Siberia? Some were persecuted and died immediately, and some lived years in a prison before eventually regaining their freedom. Did those who died miss out on something? I believe that we must see God, believe all things are in His hands, and rest. If we do not see Him, we will try to make sense--in a carnal, intellectual way--of all that happens. I think I can answer all questions with one word—God—because of the knowledge that we rest in Him!
- Mike Wells
When in a country that was formerly a part of the USSR, several questions can come to the forefront of any conversation. At the center of the debate is what Christians should have done. We know what many did do, but what should have been done? First, I do not want to condemn anyone for what they did do. Liberians in Africa have told me of their own city's bombing. Everyone in the market, upon seeing the bombs coming, began to run. Old people and babies that had been dropped in the melee were trampled to death. How do you suppose the babies' mothers felt the next day? Fear causes many instinctive reactions.However, once the crush of fear is past, it is possible to think more rationally about what a believer should do. I always like to build a foundation before attempting to discuss such questions. 1) God is love. 2) He permits what He could prevent. 3) He does not cause all things, but He causes all things to work together for good. 4) He could send evil to hell as easily today as tomorrow.
There are several ways of looking at things from this foundation. What would happen if every believer followed the command of Christ to love an enemy without reservation? What if tonight every Christian were killed by evil? What would the world be like if evil men helped the rapture of believers by killing them? If every believer were killed, earth would instantly become hell, because God's Holy Spirit would be dwelling in no person, a case of men on their way to hell when hell actually came up to them. Would the killing of every believer hasten or hinder the coming of Christ? If evil is present in the form of a physical force, army, or government, and if Christians are tricked into fighting it in the power of the flesh, would we actually be hindering the coming of Christ?
I talk to so many who came to a personal relationship with Jesus in a concentration camp in Siberia. What do we have to say about those things? Would the people have come to Him without Siberia? Some were persecuted and died immediately, and some lived years in a prison before eventually regaining their freedom. Did those who died miss out on something? I believe that we must see God, believe all things are in His hands, and rest. If we do not see Him, we will try to make sense--in a carnal, intellectual way--of all that happens. I think I can answer all questions with one word—God—because of the knowledge that we rest in Him!
- Mike Wells
He Is Our Refuge
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
I once heard the following statement from a simple old man, and I have never forgotten it: "When God tests you, it is a good time to test Him by putting His promises to the test and then claiming from Him exactly what your trials have made necessary.
There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and then to be
thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger
blessing than we have ever before experienced, and to accept it with delight as an opportunity of receiving a greater measure of God's divine grace.
In this way, even the Adversary becomes a help to us, and all things that seem to be against us turn out to assist us along our way. Surely this is what is meant by the words "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Rom 8:37
A B Simpson
Not always OUT of our troubled times,
And the struggles fierce and grim,
But IN--deeper in--to our sure rest,
The place of our peace, IN Him.
Annie Johnson Flint
I once heard the following statement from a simple old man, and I have never forgotten it: "When God tests you, it is a good time to test Him by putting His promises to the test and then claiming from Him exactly what your trials have made necessary.
There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and then to be
thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger
blessing than we have ever before experienced, and to accept it with delight as an opportunity of receiving a greater measure of God's divine grace.
In this way, even the Adversary becomes a help to us, and all things that seem to be against us turn out to assist us along our way. Surely this is what is meant by the words "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Rom 8:37
A B Simpson
Not always OUT of our troubled times,
And the struggles fierce and grim,
But IN--deeper in--to our sure rest,
The place of our peace, IN Him.
Annie Johnson Flint
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