Post by Cindy on Apr 25, 2023 8:28:15 GMT -5
The Engagement
Historically, Jewish children would often be engaged by the age of two or three—sometimes before they were even born. That is, families that shared the same values and social standing would say, “If you have a daughter and I have a son, let’s agree right now that they will marry each other.” You see, the Jewish people looked at marriage as far too important to be left up to the decision-making skills of young adults. So it was up to the father specifically to arrange with other fathers to whom his son or daughter would be engaged.
Scripture does record a few cases when men chose their own brides. But each of these marriages ended in heartache or disaster.
Betrothal
The engagement led to the betrothal—usually between the ages of twelve and fifteen for a young lady. At this point, bride and groom would perhaps meet for the first time, as the father of the groom would negotiate the bride price. The price would be based upon three variables.
First, it would be predicated upon the father’s wealth. If the father of the groom was a rich man, he would pay a high price so as not to look like a cheapskate.
Second, the price would be determined by the bride’s worth. If she was attractive or otherwise gifted, her bride price would be higher.
Thirdly, the price was based upon the groom’s work. That is, in some cases it was up to the groom to pay the price.…
Because Jacob chose his own bride, he paid for her himself with seven years’ labor (Genesis 29:18).
“He who marries my daughter must conquer the enemy city of Kirjath-sepher,” declared Caleb. Othniel took the challenge and won (see Joshua 15:16, 17).
A Gentile named Shechem who fell in love with Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, was informed her price would be the circumcision of himself and all of the men in his city as a sign of identification with the Jews (Genesis 34:15, 16).
A portion of the bride price would go to the bride to use as security in the event she was widowed or divorced. This explains why Rachel and Leah accused their uncle, Laban, of “devouring their money” (see Genesis 31:15).
The remainder of the bride price went to the bride’s father in compensation for the fact that, unlike a son, his daughter wouldn’t be able to carry on his name, help defend him, or take over the family business.
After at least a portion of the bride price was laid upon the table, a contract would be signed to further validate the agreement. Then, the prospective bride and groom would sip from a single cup of wine, at which point they were legally betrothed.
For the following year, the couple would not drink of the vine nor live together. The bride would begin to wear a veil, signifying that she was “taken.” She would also begin to prepare her wedding dress, sometimes from material provided by the groom (Ezekiel 16:10).
Meanwhile, the groom would begin construction on what is called in Hebrew “a little mansion”—a room built onto his father’s house. When the father decided the preparations were complete, his son, wearing a crown, would be sent off to his wedding (Song of Solomon 3:11).
Wedding
Although the bride didn’t know the exact day of her wedding, she knew it would most likely be in autumn to allow for the completion of harvest, and that it would most likely be on a Wednesday. Wednesday was the day couples got married because Thursday was the day the courts were opened. If it was discovered on her wedding day that the bride was not a virgin, she could easily be divorced the next day.
As the preparation of her “little mansion” neared completion, the bride would begin to gather her friends to await the arrival of her groom.
On the day of his wedding, the groom and his friends—particularly his best man—would walk through the streets with trumpets blaring, taking the most circuitous route to the bride’s house. Already attired in her wedding dress, when the bride heard the sounding of the trumpet, she would arise and receive a blessing from her father. Then she would run out the door to be met by the groom in the streets.
Together, they would make their way to the four-postered canopy under which they would be married. The ceremony itself consisted not of vows, which were Roman and Greek in tradition, but simply a reading of the contract that had been drawn up a year before, along with a blessing.
The procession would then continue on to the “little mansion,” where the best man would stand outside the door while the marriage was consummated. Why would he stand outside the door? To wait for word from the groom that the bride was a virgin—as evidenced by a blood-spotted bed-sheet. If the bride were, indeed, a virgin, the wedding celebration would continue for seven days. If not, the guests would go home, and the bride would face either divorce or death by stoning.
Although seven days spent in an addition to one’s father’s house while friends and family partied just outside the door may not sound like the ideal honeymoon to us, but in the Jewish culture, being waited on for a week was glorious. You see, this would be the only time in their entire lives when the bride and groom would do no labor. Remember, there were no vacations in those days—no holiday cruises, no jets, no Maui. The one and only time people were able to kick back was during their marriage week. During this week, the bride would never be seen. The groom, on the other hand, would occasionally come out and greet the guests before bringing back food and gifts to his bride.
After seven days, the groom would present his bride to his family, friends, and community—at which time the marriage feast would begin.
Looking again at this process, it becomes a picture-perfect analogy of our Bridegroom’s relationship with us.…
Just as the Jewish father chose whom his child would marry, it’s mind-boggling to realize that our heavenly Father elected us to be the bride for His Son (1 Peter 1:2). As proof of this intent, He paid the bride price, based first upon His wealth. How rich is God? Neither all the gold in the world nor all of the galaxies in the universe would begin to reflect His wealth. Instead, the “bride price” God paid for us was something of which He had only one: His Son (John 3:16).
Second, the price had to be according to the bride’s worth.
The story is told of an Arabian man who had one daughter so plain he doubted anyone would ever want to marry her. One day, however, he received word that a man from a distant village was so taken with her that he was coming to see him with bride price in hand. Prepared to take whatever he was offered, imagine the father’s surprise when the visitor offered him six cows for his daughter’s hand.
Six cows! thought the father in amazement. “The highest price ever paid in this village has been three cows!”
So it was that the father gave his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Two years later, the daughter and her husband returned to her home village, where everyone was startled by her exquisite beauty.
“How is she so beautiful?” they wondered.
The answer was simple: Because her husband saw her as worth six cows, a six-cow beauty is what she became.
That’s how God views me. I don’t understand it, but I rejoice in the fact that God looks at me and says, “I am in love with you so passionately that I’ll give everything to bring you into the kingdom in order that you might live with Me forever and ever throughout eternity.” To this end, God gave not six cows or even six galaxies—He gave Himself.
Third, the bride price was determined by the groom’s work. Jesus outdid Jacob five-fold when He labored on earth as a Man for thirty-three years. And He not only conquered a city, as did Othniel, but He conquered the whole world when He thrust Himself into the very heart of hell to pay the price for my sin (Ephesians 4:9). Finally, when God became Man to identify with us in the Incarnation, it was an infinitely greater step than Shechem took to identify with the Jews, for Jesus was not only afflicted momentarily, but was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
The bride price paid, just as a contract was signed and a cup of wine shared by the bride and groom in a Jewish betrothal, we hold in our hands the “contract” of the Word of God, along with Jesus’ promise that He would not drink of the cup again until He did so with us in the kingdom (Matthew 26:29). And as a bride wore a veil that, although it obscured her vision, signified her relationship with the groom, so at present we see through a glass darkly, but shall one day see our Bridegroom clearly (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Like the Jewish bride whose wedding dress was made from material provided by her groom, we are invited to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) and robe ourselves in His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
Like the groom who added a “little mansion” to his father’s house, Jesus went to His Father’s house to prepare a place for us (John 14:2). Then, at the time appointed by the Father, the Son, wearing many crowns (Revelation 19:12), will come for us, His bride (Mark 13:32). Like the Jewish bride, we don’t know the day or hour of His return, but like her, we know the season (1 Thessalonians 5:1). We understand the place of Israel, the problems in Jerusalem, the coming together of the European Union. We understand from Bible prophecy that the Lord’s coming is near, even at the very door (Mark 13:29). Thus, like the Jewish bride, we ready ourselves for the day we will hear the trumpet and the shout (1 Thessalonians 4:16), before we are caught up to meet the Lord, not on earth, but in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
In the context of a Jewish wedding, John’s position as “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29) and his message of repentance in preparation for the coming Bridegroom (Matthew 3:3) becomes clear.
“Therein lies the problem,” you say. “If the marriage is to be validated on my purity, I deserve only divorce or stoning because I sin miserably; I mess up constantly; I fail continually.”
Good News! The validation of our relationship with our Bridegroom doesn’t depend on our sinlessness, but on His. It is the vesture dipped in His blood (Revelation 19:13) that allows us to be presented to Him without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).
You mean we don’t have to clean up our act, do this, or accomplish that? No, Jesus said blessed are those who are simply watching for His coming (Revelation 16:15), blessed are those who realize the price has been paid, the work done.
Precious people, that’s what true Christianity consists of, marveling at the love of the Father and of the Son for me and for you.
We then are afforded a glorious honeymoon with Him—not for seven days, but for seven years as He serves us, His bride, in heaven (Luke 12:37). At the end of seven years, we come back to earth with Him in the Second Coming (Revelation 19:14) where, at the marriage feast of the Lamb, we are presented as His bride forever and ever.
And that is why we see the marriage feast in Revelation 19 rather than in chapter 4. The analogy is perfect.
Dear friend, if you have said, “Lord, I know I have sinned and failed, but I believe You love me and that You paid the price for me,” Rejoice! Be glad! Celebrate! In the Lord’s sight, you are a six-cow woman, a beautiful, glorious bride.
Jon Courson’s Application Commentary.
Historically, Jewish children would often be engaged by the age of two or three—sometimes before they were even born. That is, families that shared the same values and social standing would say, “If you have a daughter and I have a son, let’s agree right now that they will marry each other.” You see, the Jewish people looked at marriage as far too important to be left up to the decision-making skills of young adults. So it was up to the father specifically to arrange with other fathers to whom his son or daughter would be engaged.
Scripture does record a few cases when men chose their own brides. But each of these marriages ended in heartache or disaster.
Betrothal
The engagement led to the betrothal—usually between the ages of twelve and fifteen for a young lady. At this point, bride and groom would perhaps meet for the first time, as the father of the groom would negotiate the bride price. The price would be based upon three variables.
First, it would be predicated upon the father’s wealth. If the father of the groom was a rich man, he would pay a high price so as not to look like a cheapskate.
Second, the price would be determined by the bride’s worth. If she was attractive or otherwise gifted, her bride price would be higher.
Thirdly, the price was based upon the groom’s work. That is, in some cases it was up to the groom to pay the price.…
Because Jacob chose his own bride, he paid for her himself with seven years’ labor (Genesis 29:18).
“He who marries my daughter must conquer the enemy city of Kirjath-sepher,” declared Caleb. Othniel took the challenge and won (see Joshua 15:16, 17).
A Gentile named Shechem who fell in love with Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, was informed her price would be the circumcision of himself and all of the men in his city as a sign of identification with the Jews (Genesis 34:15, 16).
A portion of the bride price would go to the bride to use as security in the event she was widowed or divorced. This explains why Rachel and Leah accused their uncle, Laban, of “devouring their money” (see Genesis 31:15).
The remainder of the bride price went to the bride’s father in compensation for the fact that, unlike a son, his daughter wouldn’t be able to carry on his name, help defend him, or take over the family business.
After at least a portion of the bride price was laid upon the table, a contract would be signed to further validate the agreement. Then, the prospective bride and groom would sip from a single cup of wine, at which point they were legally betrothed.
For the following year, the couple would not drink of the vine nor live together. The bride would begin to wear a veil, signifying that she was “taken.” She would also begin to prepare her wedding dress, sometimes from material provided by the groom (Ezekiel 16:10).
Meanwhile, the groom would begin construction on what is called in Hebrew “a little mansion”—a room built onto his father’s house. When the father decided the preparations were complete, his son, wearing a crown, would be sent off to his wedding (Song of Solomon 3:11).
Wedding
Although the bride didn’t know the exact day of her wedding, she knew it would most likely be in autumn to allow for the completion of harvest, and that it would most likely be on a Wednesday. Wednesday was the day couples got married because Thursday was the day the courts were opened. If it was discovered on her wedding day that the bride was not a virgin, she could easily be divorced the next day.
As the preparation of her “little mansion” neared completion, the bride would begin to gather her friends to await the arrival of her groom.
On the day of his wedding, the groom and his friends—particularly his best man—would walk through the streets with trumpets blaring, taking the most circuitous route to the bride’s house. Already attired in her wedding dress, when the bride heard the sounding of the trumpet, she would arise and receive a blessing from her father. Then she would run out the door to be met by the groom in the streets.
Together, they would make their way to the four-postered canopy under which they would be married. The ceremony itself consisted not of vows, which were Roman and Greek in tradition, but simply a reading of the contract that had been drawn up a year before, along with a blessing.
The procession would then continue on to the “little mansion,” where the best man would stand outside the door while the marriage was consummated. Why would he stand outside the door? To wait for word from the groom that the bride was a virgin—as evidenced by a blood-spotted bed-sheet. If the bride were, indeed, a virgin, the wedding celebration would continue for seven days. If not, the guests would go home, and the bride would face either divorce or death by stoning.
Although seven days spent in an addition to one’s father’s house while friends and family partied just outside the door may not sound like the ideal honeymoon to us, but in the Jewish culture, being waited on for a week was glorious. You see, this would be the only time in their entire lives when the bride and groom would do no labor. Remember, there were no vacations in those days—no holiday cruises, no jets, no Maui. The one and only time people were able to kick back was during their marriage week. During this week, the bride would never be seen. The groom, on the other hand, would occasionally come out and greet the guests before bringing back food and gifts to his bride.
After seven days, the groom would present his bride to his family, friends, and community—at which time the marriage feast would begin.
Looking again at this process, it becomes a picture-perfect analogy of our Bridegroom’s relationship with us.…
Just as the Jewish father chose whom his child would marry, it’s mind-boggling to realize that our heavenly Father elected us to be the bride for His Son (1 Peter 1:2). As proof of this intent, He paid the bride price, based first upon His wealth. How rich is God? Neither all the gold in the world nor all of the galaxies in the universe would begin to reflect His wealth. Instead, the “bride price” God paid for us was something of which He had only one: His Son (John 3:16).
Second, the price had to be according to the bride’s worth.
The story is told of an Arabian man who had one daughter so plain he doubted anyone would ever want to marry her. One day, however, he received word that a man from a distant village was so taken with her that he was coming to see him with bride price in hand. Prepared to take whatever he was offered, imagine the father’s surprise when the visitor offered him six cows for his daughter’s hand.
Six cows! thought the father in amazement. “The highest price ever paid in this village has been three cows!”
So it was that the father gave his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Two years later, the daughter and her husband returned to her home village, where everyone was startled by her exquisite beauty.
“How is she so beautiful?” they wondered.
The answer was simple: Because her husband saw her as worth six cows, a six-cow beauty is what she became.
That’s how God views me. I don’t understand it, but I rejoice in the fact that God looks at me and says, “I am in love with you so passionately that I’ll give everything to bring you into the kingdom in order that you might live with Me forever and ever throughout eternity.” To this end, God gave not six cows or even six galaxies—He gave Himself.
Third, the bride price was determined by the groom’s work. Jesus outdid Jacob five-fold when He labored on earth as a Man for thirty-three years. And He not only conquered a city, as did Othniel, but He conquered the whole world when He thrust Himself into the very heart of hell to pay the price for my sin (Ephesians 4:9). Finally, when God became Man to identify with us in the Incarnation, it was an infinitely greater step than Shechem took to identify with the Jews, for Jesus was not only afflicted momentarily, but was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
The bride price paid, just as a contract was signed and a cup of wine shared by the bride and groom in a Jewish betrothal, we hold in our hands the “contract” of the Word of God, along with Jesus’ promise that He would not drink of the cup again until He did so with us in the kingdom (Matthew 26:29). And as a bride wore a veil that, although it obscured her vision, signified her relationship with the groom, so at present we see through a glass darkly, but shall one day see our Bridegroom clearly (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Like the Jewish bride whose wedding dress was made from material provided by her groom, we are invited to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) and robe ourselves in His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
Like the groom who added a “little mansion” to his father’s house, Jesus went to His Father’s house to prepare a place for us (John 14:2). Then, at the time appointed by the Father, the Son, wearing many crowns (Revelation 19:12), will come for us, His bride (Mark 13:32). Like the Jewish bride, we don’t know the day or hour of His return, but like her, we know the season (1 Thessalonians 5:1). We understand the place of Israel, the problems in Jerusalem, the coming together of the European Union. We understand from Bible prophecy that the Lord’s coming is near, even at the very door (Mark 13:29). Thus, like the Jewish bride, we ready ourselves for the day we will hear the trumpet and the shout (1 Thessalonians 4:16), before we are caught up to meet the Lord, not on earth, but in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
In the context of a Jewish wedding, John’s position as “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29) and his message of repentance in preparation for the coming Bridegroom (Matthew 3:3) becomes clear.
“Therein lies the problem,” you say. “If the marriage is to be validated on my purity, I deserve only divorce or stoning because I sin miserably; I mess up constantly; I fail continually.”
Good News! The validation of our relationship with our Bridegroom doesn’t depend on our sinlessness, but on His. It is the vesture dipped in His blood (Revelation 19:13) that allows us to be presented to Him without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).
You mean we don’t have to clean up our act, do this, or accomplish that? No, Jesus said blessed are those who are simply watching for His coming (Revelation 16:15), blessed are those who realize the price has been paid, the work done.
Precious people, that’s what true Christianity consists of, marveling at the love of the Father and of the Son for me and for you.
We then are afforded a glorious honeymoon with Him—not for seven days, but for seven years as He serves us, His bride, in heaven (Luke 12:37). At the end of seven years, we come back to earth with Him in the Second Coming (Revelation 19:14) where, at the marriage feast of the Lamb, we are presented as His bride forever and ever.
And that is why we see the marriage feast in Revelation 19 rather than in chapter 4. The analogy is perfect.
Dear friend, if you have said, “Lord, I know I have sinned and failed, but I believe You love me and that You paid the price for me,” Rejoice! Be glad! Celebrate! In the Lord’s sight, you are a six-cow woman, a beautiful, glorious bride.
Jon Courson’s Application Commentary.