God’s covenant with His church, and our mission in the earth as His disciples, before He comes to take us home…

“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me,

to render to every man according to what he has done”

Rev 22:12

Jesus has said that “No man knows the day or hour of His return, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the father!” Mat 24:36

But He said also: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. ² There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you.³ After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4

The Jewish wedding tradition is very relevant for us today, not only as it relates to the marriage covenant today, that is taken between a man and his wife (for better or for worst, richer or power, in sickness and in health, until death do us part), but also as it relates to our covenant with Jesus, and His coming back for His bride, the church.

The marriage union and covenant is something which God has both ordained and created; and it is intended also to be the model of the relationship that exists between Christ and His church.

Your marriage vows that are taken before the Lord, as a Christian, are sacred.

Here is an outline of how the Jewish wedding happened in the Jewish culture, in the time of Christ, and it is also relevant to us in our day, not only because it shows the sanctity of the marriage covenant, but it also speaks of our current condition in the Church, as the bride of Christ, as we are awaiting His return:

• Kiddushin is derived from the word Kadosh, meaning holy! Once a bride and bridegroom enter into this initial phase of marriage they are considered married.  In other words, they would have to get a divorce, called a “get” to break of the engagement.  This period lasts from one to two years.
  

  The betrothal is a parallel to the engagement in most ways except that in the ancient Jewish custom, it was binding! It was so binding that it could not be broken without an orthodox divorce. You were considered bound together from the period you entered the betrothal contract until the wedding day.

  When Joseph discovered that his betrothed wife Mary was with child he had real grounds to obtain an orthodox divorce and would have if the angel had not appeared unto him and explained what was going on.  

  Even though the couple is engaged they do not have a physical relationship and they do not live together either.
  

• The Arrangement: The groom’s father made and approved the choice of the bride. In traditional Jewish customs, marriages were arranged by their fathers.  It is quite often that the Bride and Groom have never seen one another before they are engaged.
  

• In Judaism the Sabbath is seen as the bride.  In Biblical Christianity, the Church, the Body of Believers is the bride and the Messiah is the bridegroom. 
  The Father makes and approves the choice of a bride.

  	John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
  	2 Corinthians 11:2 – For I, Paul have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to the Messiah.

• The Groom’s Promise: Tenaim – Conditions

  	The Groom makes a covenant or contract promise. The Ketubah is a document that is used for the purpose of assuring a bride will be provided for.  Once this document was signed and witnessed by two people then it was binding and the couple was considered married.
  	Drink the cup of wine to seal the covenant. Kiddush
  	Groom pays a price to show he is serious; today the wedding ring is used for this purpose.
  	Groom’s speech of promise to his bride is that he would come to claim her soon, this is the Engagement Promise.

• The Covenant Relationship –
  

  God made a New Covenant with Israel and Judah to replace the one He made with Moses.
  

• Yeshua drank cup of redemption at Passover. Yeshua paid the bride price of redemption for us on the cross.
  Jeremiah 31:31, Matthew 26:27-29, 1 Corinthians 6:20 John 14:2-3
• The Groom goes to his father’s house and Prepares a Place for His Bride: Chuppah
  

• Groom prepares a bridal chamber where they stay for seven days. He works on it until it pleases his father. Then he may go after his bride.  The Chuppah canopy is derived from this type of a bridal chamber.
  

• Yeshua tells us that He does not know when He will come; only His Father knows. We must be alert and ready! For, He is preparing our place now. Be alert: Be ready: Do all He asks while you’re here. Develop an active prayer life. Offer yourself in ministry opportunity. Keep ourselves from doubt and failure.
  

  John 14:1-4 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
  

    (from http://www.yeshuatyisrael.com/messiah_wedding%201.htm)
  

God also has a calling on every Believer’s life; a plan and a purpose that will fulfill your God ordained destiny in life.

Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In the world however, before we committed our lives to Christ, before we believed the Gospel’s message and accepted Jesus’ propitious sacrifice for our sins; and then made Him Lord over our lives; before that day when we were born-again, we each followed our own desires, our own inclinations, and ambitions without any thought as to what God’s will, God’s purpose, and what God’s plan was for our life.

This very attitude. which is common to every man, in a nut shell is what SIN is all about, our presumed independence from the will and purpose of God for our individual lives.

Sin is anything at all that goes crosswise against the original will and purpose of God; and Jesus let it be known that it begins in our attitude and in our thought life, even before any outward action is taken. The reason being that our thoughts are what give birth to our actions.

This condition is terminal to every human being, and that very SIN nature which we ALL have, that we have inherited from our father Adam is the very thing that disqualifies all of us from entering into heaven, and it is what has also estranged us from our Creator and God!

The ONLY cure for this disease, called SIN, which keeps us out of heaven is Jesus Christ!

Jesus said that He came that we might experience real life, and experience it more abundantly.

What better person to know what will really satisfy our lives, other than our Creator, the one who gave us our life to begin with!

The truth is we ALL, as members of this human race, in all the sons and daughters of Adam, are as fish out of water, without our connection and relationship with our Creator.

It is for that reason, for God’s pleasure, that we are created, to have communion and relationship with God throughout eternity.

The point of the Gospel and of Salvation through faith in Jesus is that our only opportunity to be reconciled back into God’s family, as per our Operations Manual’s (Book of Instructions Before Leaving Earth, called the BIBLE) is sometime between the time of our birth, and the time of our departure from this life, in death. This is the only time which we have to make our peace with God.

The Bible tells us that our spirits are eternal; and though our physical bodies all wear out and die eventually, our spirit man (which is made in the image and likeness of God, who is Himself a Spirit) lives on forever.

Where we will spend eternity after we depart this life will depend on whether or not we have accepted God’s remedy and cure for sin, and have received by faith God’s forgiveness and offer of reconciliation, which is offered ONLY through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Bible says that it’s His will that every man and woman would come home and be reunited with Him, but He will not force His will on any man.

The decision is ours completely!

For those who have rejected the Gospel message throughout their lives here on the earth, or have ignored it because they considered it of little importance, for those people God will not force upon them in eternity what they have rejected all of their lives.

This decision is the MOST important decision any of us can make in our lifetime, and it should NEVER be put off; tomorrow is guaranteed to no man, and every beat of our heart and every breath that we take is only by God’s grace.

God is the one who has given us our life, but He leaves it to us to decide how we will choose to spend it; whether to spend it on Him and serve Him, or whether to just go along with the world , and eat, drink and be merry?

Life is a party… right?  Is it really?

That is the attitude of so many people today, and I’ve oven even heard the joke that they only want to spend eternity where most of their friends are going to be… well that will not be with God and that is your choice!

The choice is whether to serve God or to serve yourself, and the Bible says that most will choose the latter, and will reject God’s offer, how sad!

That means that most of the people you know and see everyday, among your neighbors, your family, and your friends,  the people you work with, most of these people are living their lives for themselves, and they could care less what God’s desire and plan is.

This is so very true for ALL off us, and that is we don’t know what we don’t know, until we are taught, until someone tells us. But how can that happen unless someone is sent?

Would you be that person?

Unless the unsaved change their minds and repent (meaning to change the way they think) sometimes between now and the day they pass from this life, then that decision to live separate from God will be set in stone for all eternity!

The only remedy for all of this, as I said before, is Jesus Christ!

Yes it is Jesus who has made all of this possible for you, because He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit love you.  

Jesus purchased our salvation by taking away the retribution owed to us, because of the sin in our lives, which is best described as the tendency which we all have to shine God on, taking our own rabbit trails in life, and doing whatever we damn well please in life!

Folks it is that very attitude that best describes what the sin nature is, and the reason it cannot be accepted in heaven is because it would bring the same disharmony and discord to heaven, that we see in the world today… and God will NOT allow that!

Our calling and mission as God’s children and His disciples (followers of Jesus) is that we are to be His occupational force and His foot soldiers in the earth; and the Bible says that we are also to be His ambassadors, and as such it is our mission to represent God’s interest in the earth, as it is in heaven.

We are also called Kings and Priest before God.

Kings and Priests
By Billy Joe Daugherty
 
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.(Rev. 1:5-6 ) 

You are loved by Jesus. He washed you from your sins in His own blood. No man will be cleaner than one who has been washed in the blood of Jesus. Soap and water only clean the body. The blood of Jesus cleans your soul. Your old life with its past sins is cleansed.

Jesus has made us kings and priests in His kingdom. And the kingdom of God is in us. We have been given authority to use Jesus’ name to accomplish God’s will in the earth.

You are an heir and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. (Rom. 8:15,16.) Royal blood flows in your veins. As a result, you are a partaker of God’s divine nature.

Furthermore, God has made you a priest. You are part of the kingdom of priests. As a priest, you are to go before God on behalf of men and go before men on behalf of God.

In the Old Testament, only certain men and women who were anointed as prophets, or prophetesses, and priests could contact God and hear from Him directly. However, in the New Covenant, every believer has received an anointing to serve as a priest. You do not need another person to go before God on your behalf. You can go directly to the Father through Jesus.

You are freed from all sin to live for God as His king and priest. Accept your office. Use your authority in prayer to bring God’s will to pass in the earth. As you minister unto God, He will equip you to share with others. Our DECLARATION OF FAITH: I am a king and a priest unto God. I have been washed in the blood of Jesus. I walk in the authority and in the anointing of God.

Shalom and Amen… have a blessed day,

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