Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You (23 page)

They are
worthless
, a work of mockery;

In the time of their punishment they will perish.

The portion of Jacob is not like these;

For the Maker of all is He
,

And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;

The
Lord
of hosts is His name (Jer. 10:2–16).

Theology Math

The God of the Old Testament claimed to be the only true and living God.

Jesus equated Himself with the God of the Old Testament.

Therefore, Jesus is the only true and living God.

Postmoderns claim that Jesus is “a way.” Jesus does not agree.

Chapter 21 — Jesus Is the Bridegroom

You are cordially invited to three weddings. Don’t panic, you don’t have to bring a gift or endure awkward toasts.

As you attend the first wedding in human history, you will discover why you are married and what the purpose of marriage is.

As you attend a first-century wedding, you will see how the Bible uses marriage as a picture of Jesus.

As for the third wedding, you are cordially invited, but you may or may not be attending it.

The First Wedding

God finished creating everything and saw that it was good. Adam, God’s representative on earth,
“gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:20).

God saw that “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a
helper
suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18). Men are not good alone. Men are better with a suitable helper, and that suitable helper is a woman. There are two important lessons here:

1.
It is not a second-class role to be a “helper.” God uses the same word to describe Himself as the “helper of Israel” (Ps. 115:9–11; Hosea 13:9; Isa. 41).

2. Woman is the best companion for man. Buddies are good to have, but women are the ideal lifelong companions for fellas.

As God presented Adam’s new mate to him, we hear the first recorded words of man. These words were actually Adam’s wedding vows. See if they sound familiar to you.

The man said,

“This is now
bone of my bones
,

And
flesh of my flesh
;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man.”

For this reason
a man shall leave his father and his mother
, and be
joined
to his wife; and they shall become
one flesh
.
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed
(Gen. 2:23–25).

Your wedding vows alluded to the first wedding vows:

> Two shall become one flesh.

> “Till death do you part” comes from being “joined together,” which is to cleave to one another until you die.

The Hebrew word for “man” means “hard one”; the Hebrew word for “woman” means “soft one.” We complement each other and are equal in God’s eyes (Gal. 3:28), but we are unmistakably different. Woman is the nurturer by design and man is the worker and provider by design.

What’s the Point?

There are five reasons God created marriage:

1. Procreation. We are supposed to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28).

2. Sex (Song of Sol.).

3. Companionship (Gen. 2:18).

4. We do better together than apart (Gen. 2:18).

5. Marriage was created as a picture of something greater (Eph. 5).

In creating marriage, God gives us a shadowy earthly picture (type) of our relationship with Jesus. In a marriage, the man plays the role of Jesus and the woman plays the role of His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5:22–24). Clearly, marriage was created by God to be an analogy.

When a man and woman get married, they are taking the stage of a great big cosmic play. When the two players play their parts correctly, the world can look at them and understand how Jesus loves the Church and vice versa.

Marriage is a shadowy picture of our relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the Bridegroom and His Church is the Bride (Matt. 9:15; 2 Cor. 11:2).

New Testament Weddings

Prepare to attend a wedding in the first century A.D. By the time Jesus walked this earth, the Jewish wedding ceremony had been expanded from Adam’s few simple words to a lengthy custom that was vivid with symbolism. The Bible uses the imagery of a first-century marriage to describe Jesus and His relationship to His Bride, the Church.

First-Century Jewish Wedding

1.
The bridal selection or
shiddukhin
was made by the father and a matchmaker.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He
chose us
in Him
before the foundation of the world
, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
He predestined us
to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Eph. 1:3–6).

2.
A legal contract/covenant or
ketubah
.
In this contract, the groom promised to care for his wife and give himself for her. The bride promises to pay her dowry — her financial status.

For you have been
bought with a price
: therefore glorify God in
your body
(1 Cor. 6:20).

3.
The bridal payment or
mohar
was paid by the groom to the bride’s family. This set her free from her parents’ household to be with the groom. We see an example of that with Isaac and Rebecca in Genesis 24:53 and Jacob and his wives in Genesis 29:20, 27. We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 that we have been purchased, redeemed with a price.

. . . you were not
redeemed
with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
but with
precious blood
, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ
(1 Pet. 1:18–19).

4.
The Betrothal or
Eyrusin
or
kiddushim
, meaning sanctification or set apart. This was a time for the couple to prepare to enter into the covenant/marriage. This is much stronger than an engagement; a breaking of the betrothal was only available to the husband through divorce (Deut. 24:1–4).

God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16) because it ruins the picture of God’s relationship to us. To get a divorce is to confuse the world about the gospel and God’s relationship with His people. When God pays for us and unites us to Himself, He commits for life. God never “divorces” us.

I give
eternal
life to them, and they will
never
perish; and
no one
will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:28).

God has married you to His Son. You cannot divorce Him and He will not divorce you.

5.
The betrothal ceremony
:
the bride and groom would appear together under a
huppah
(canopy) and publicly express their intention to become engaged. The canopy symbolized a new household being planned (referred to in Ps. 19:5 and Joel 2:16). An item of value would be exchanged (such as rings) and a cup of wine was shared to seal the vows.

And when He [Jesus] had taken a
cup
and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;
for this is My blood
of the covenant
, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
But I say to you, I
will not drink
of this fruit of the vine from now on
until that day
when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:27–29).

6.
The betrothal period
was to last one year and the couple was considered married, but were not intimate. They lived separately until the end of the betrothal period. Joseph and Mary are a good example of this in Matthew 1:18–25.

Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, “Where I am going,
you cannot come
” (John 13:33).

7.
After the betrothal ceremony
, the groom would return home to fulfill his obligations during the betrothal. Before he left the bride at the betrothal ceremony, the groom would leave a gift as a reminder that he would return to receive her.

You were sealed in Him with
the Holy Spirit of promise
,
who is given
as a pledge
of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory (
Eph. 1:13–14).

8.
During the betrothal
, the groom was to focus on preparing a dwelling place for the bride. Typically this was done not by building a new dwelling, but by adding a room to his existing home. The rabbis determined that this was to be a better place than what she had been living in. The groom would not decide when the place was ready, but his father would make the determination and give the go-ahead to receive the bride.

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for
I go
to prepare a place for you.
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 (John 14:2–3).

But of that day and hour
no one knows
, not even the angels of heaven,
nor the Son
, but the Father alone (
Matt. 24:36).

9.
During the betrothal
the bride was to keep herself busy for the wedding day by preparing wedding garments.

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
. . . so then let us not sleep as–others do, but let us
be alert and sober
(1 Thess. 5:2–6).

Be on the alert
then, for you do not know the day nor the hour (Matt. 25:13).

While the bridegroom was preparing their new dwelling, the bride was to be preparing herself so she could be presented “in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:27).

10.
The wedding day
was a surprise to the bride. Remember, the father of the groom determined when everything was ready. A member of the bridegroom’s party would appear at the bride’s house and shout, “Behold, the bridegroom comes.” Then a shofar horn would blow, announcing the arrival of the groom.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout
, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet of God
, and the dead in Christ will rise first (
1 Thess. 4:16).

11. The entire party would come with the groom and the bride and groom would go under the
huppah
(to establish a new household), they would say a blessing over the cup of wine, and the ceremony would include final vows. The pinnacle of the ceremony was the marriage supper, at least seven days of celebration. When it was all done, the groom would bring his bride home in a full covenant marriage.

And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
were following Him
on white horses (Rev. 19:14).

And He will send forth His angels with
a great trumpet
and
they will gather together
His elect
from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other (Matt. 24:31).

Blessed are those who are invited to the
marriage supper
of the Lamb (
Rev. 19:9).

Cross references:

Revelation 19:14 :
Rev 19:8

Revelation 19:14 :
Rev 3:4; 19:8

12. The new couple would then dwell in their
new home
, which was not new, but improved.

Then I saw a
new heaven
and a
new earth
; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
And I saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem
, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.