Gen 24 a illistration of How God seeks a Bride for His Son

One of the first and best story’s in the bible that best illustrate the first part of the bridal imagery is found in Gen 24. In that passage Abraham sends his servant to the land of his kin to find a wife for his son Isaac. Now if the servant could not find a wife, he would be freed from this oath.

The first thing we said about the Jewish marriage customs is that the Father chooses the bride. However as we see in Gen 24 that sometimes this does not always mean that it was a certain woman that was picked, in fact sometimes as is this chapter it was a woman of a certain place or region.

There is a idea out in Christianity that God chooses some to be saved. This idea is called Calvinism or Predestination. So did God predestine some to be saved, while others were not chosen? I don’t believe so, and I believe Gen 24 is a type that we can look to as we go through the bridal imagery and try to understand how God choose a bride for His Son.
As you read Gen 24 we find that Abraham sent his servant to go and find a bride from the land of his kin. I believe this will help us understand a bit more about how God choose his Bride. Abraham desired to find someone from a certain destination or location. God did not choose one person to be saved while not calling someone else. We read in John 3:16 His destination….”For God so Loved the WORLD”…there is the destination there is the location. It was not that God choose a person to be saved, but rather God had a destination for where the Bride of Christ would come from. We find that it is not Gods will that anyone should perish (2 Peter 3:9). It is not that God predestined some to be saved, while not willing to offer salvation to others. Salvation has appeared to all men : For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, - (Tit 2:11). God has given to every man a measure of faith by which one may have the opportunity to receive salvation (Rom 12: 3)

We also find in Gen 24 about this servant…now we know he was the eldest and that he was in charge of all that Abraham had. We should not look at this servant as just a common slave…but we see here he was a servant with authority. In the same way God sends us His Holy Spirit to come and seek a bride for His Son Jesus Christ. Notice that in the case of Abraham’s servant, finding a bride was the goal, but if he could not find one he would be freed from the oath. We know through scripture that the Holy Spirit was sent from the Father (John 15:26) (John 14:16). We know that the Holy Spirit reproves sinners of there sin (John 16:8), and with out this reprove it is impossible for a sinner to get saved(Rom 3:11).

We also know that the Holy Spirit can be resisted (Acts 7:51). Abraham sent his servant to find a willing bride for her husband. Abraham did not desire to find a slave, a robot, someone who had to come…but wanted to come out of their love (though she could not physically see Abraham’s son) for Abraham’s son. In the same way God does not wish for a robot, he dose not desire a devotion that is mandated, he desires a worship that is done out of love, a worship out of a desire to know him more…even though we too can not physically see Jesus Christ. And notice that Rebecka had the opportunity to say know, the choice was hers she could have said no to this marriage and that was her right to do so. In the same way each person has that opportunity to accept or deny Jesus Christ as there Lord and Savior.

Last thing I want to share with you is the message the servant gave to the family. In Gen 24: 34-36 we find the message that the servant gave to the family of Rebekah. The servant showed how the hand of God was on his master, how powerful he is, how rich Abraham was, He did this so that even though she could not see Isaac physically she could understand something about him. You know you and I are unable to understand God unless God himself through the Holy Spirit reveals it to us (Rom 3:11). However though we can not see Jesus physically, though we can not see Jesus with our eyes and put our fingers in His nail scared hands…we do have his word, His message, that we may understand more about who God is and what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary for you and I.

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ, let me say that it is the most important step you will ever make in your entire life. The bible say that you are a sinner, that there is nothing in you that can make you able to stand justified before God (Rom 3:10)(Rom 3:23). Because of your sins there is a wage or a debt that you have, and that wage ultimately one day must be paid up. The bible says that the wage for your sins is death, eternal separation from God for all eternity in the lake of fire (Rom 6:23)…But Jesus Christ who is sinless who had no debt, died for your sins that you may be free from your debt, and have eternal life with Him. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ, you can today, by asking Jesus Christ into your heart and asking him to wash your sins clean….if you would like to know more how you can be saved,…how you can be apart of the Bride of Christ…please e-mail me at colvin5776@yahoo.com

So what was the plan?

When Jesus ate with His disciples in the upper room on Passover. It seems very normal, and yet there is a strike difference than a normal Passover meal. Jesus in an unusual way takes the cup of wine and says :”Likewise also the cup after supper, saying , this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you “(Luke 22:20). The disciples knew the meaning behind such common language, you see to them it was not foreign as it is to us. They would have understood this language to be different from a normal Passover meal. After all these were Jews who had many a Passover meal, and Jews some of which we know to be married and who would have had first hand knowledge of what Jesus was saying and doing. We looked earlyer as we studied the history of the Jewish wedding, that when a groom wished to take a bride, he would take a cup of wine from His father and say "this cup of wine represents my blood that I freely give to you". Another words what the groom was saying is that "I am willing to lay my life if I have to in order to make sure you are safe" This cup is known as the cup of the covenant. This completed rite is known in Hebrew as Kiddushin, which means “Sanctification: Now when you read Luke you will see that Jesus states "this is the New Testement"...the word Testement is the same word in the Hebrew "Covenant" You find in the Old Testment that this new Covenant was told to us in the book of Hosea. "And at that day, says Jehovah, you shall call Me, My husband; and you shall no more call Me, My Baal. For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth; and they shall no more be remembered by their name. And in that day I will cut a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and the creepers of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword, and the battle out of the earth, and I will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and in compassions. I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you shall know Jehovah. And it shall be in that day, I will answer, says Jehovah. I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. And the earth shall hear the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her to Me in the earth. And I will have mercy on No Mercy. And I will say to Not My People, You are My people! And they shall say, My God!
(Hos 2:16-23)You see this was much more than a Passover, it was a marriage proposal to his new bride. A proposal that was written about in Hosea and is seen in Jeremiah and was proclaimed by Jesus him self.

This scripture describes the situation perfectly. “Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him”. (2 Samuel 14:14) God procured a plan to bring mankind who had been estranged from Him since the Garden of Eden, so that we do not have to face death. This plan is so wonderful and incredible that Satan wouldn't even see it coming. “No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8 )
So we see the prospective husband came down from heaven and paid the bride price, by offering his life to God on the cross. What we see is Jesus demonstrating his love for God and for mankind through his complete submission and obedience. Obedience to the point of affliction is something that Satan would never comprehend. Jesus allowed God to orchestrate events that bought him before the ruling bodies and saw him condemned to death by crucifixion(Isa_53:7).

While Jesus was on the cross God covered him with our sin. Jesus became sin. Jesus died spiritually as well as physically on the cross and cried out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). Just like with mankind, God was forced to turn his face from him. Now God asked Satan: "Why did you cover my servant in death? You who point your finger at me and accuse my beloved mankind. You now tell me, what sin did my Son, Jesus has committed! For he did not sin (IICor 5:21), and because he did not sin, there was no wage he had to pay (Rom 6:23), and so there was no death that could contain him. Satan, the Accuser of the Brethren, was dumbfounded. He never saw it coming. It was CHECK MATE!

As the scriptures say: “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:18-19) God stripped Satan of the keys to death and gave them to Jesus because He did not deserve death (the punishment of sin)for there was no sin found in Him (Rev 1:18).So we see in all this, Jesus paying the bride price of death, with the unexpected resurrection from the dead, unexpected by Satan that is. God demonstrated through all this, to the powers and principalities in the heavenly realms, his awesome wisdom (Eps 3: 10-11).

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

What this is saying is that so long as our independence from death was dependent upon our perfection we were condemned. But thanks be to God, Jesus conquered death and provided a way to life through a union with him, who was resurrected from death.

A marriage is based on faith. A man and a woman have faith in one another and make a verbal profession of that faith before God and man. This union results in the creation of a new being, the husband/wife, and lasts until death separates them.Our union with Jesus Christ is exactly the same. We come to know him, we believe his proposal and we make a verbal profession of our faith before God and man. We enter into a new creation that lasts forever, because death will never separate us because he who has entered into life is free from death (John 5:24; IICor 5:17).A relationship with God is based on faith. This is true now and has always been true. (Heb 13:8) Mankind couldn't fix the fact that they rebelled since the Garden of Eden. But God, through Jesus Christ, paid the price of rebellion, and provided a way that through faith in what Jesus did, and faith in his promised union with us, we can once again stand before God in holiness and righteousness, because of the sacrifice that was paid on the cross of Calvery (Luke 1:74-75).

Looking back to the description of the biblical marriage we can see that Jesus paid the bride price and he has gone back to his Father's house to prepare a place for us "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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."
(John 14:1-4).

It is not coincidental that it was during the betrothal phase of their marriage that the Holy Spirit conceived in Mary the Holy Child. It is during the present age, the betrothal age, the Church age, that the Holy Spirit enters into the heart of the believers marking them as the Lord's betrothed. The Holy Spirit is a pledge sent from God promising and guaranteeing that he will return for us and receive us as his own (Eps 1:13-14, IICor 1:22).

We see that the Study of the Bride of Christ contains with in it many other aspects of theological relivence. We see that contained with in the Jewish marriage custum we find a wonderful love story from our Creator to mankind. However it is just the begining of a wonderful jorney, and explors the fantastic truths that the bible holds for the betorthed.

Explaining the symbolisim of the Marriage Custum Part 1

It has been some time since I have been able to write a blog. I have had to move, started working in a church in Southern Illinois. It has been a Busy couple of months...But I am finnaly situated, most of the boxes are now empty...at lest the ones that I plan on looking through.

So now I can begin to start agian on this project that I started some months ago.

Now we have seen, 1. The symbolisms in the bible, the history of the Jewish marriage custums. Now we need to look more indepth in some of the truthes behind the Jewish marriage custums.

So Let us now examine the scriptures to further explain the significance of the Jewish marriage and that of Christ relationship with his followers. Let us think of the Israeli marriage custom as a parable for Christ relationship to His people. In order to do this properly we need to identify all of the players and places, this will help us fully understand the marriage custum as it relates to the Bride of Christ and Jesus Christ.

First we see that the unmarried daughter is mankind, and the prospective husband is Jesus Christ "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." -(2Co 11:2)

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. - (Eph 5:25-27)


The unmarried daughter’s father is Satan, and his house is the world. To establish this look at Luke Chapter 4 verses 5 and 6.
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. - (Luk 4:5-6)
Here we see Satan tempting Jesus, when I looked at this many years ago I was at a loss. I thought now wait a min what kind of temptation is this. I mean here is Jesus, God in the Flesh, Why was the devil saying to Jesus that he would give this world to him...did not God control this...yet we miss something when we do not look at all of the scriptures.

You see the earth belonged to Satan and he had power over all who were in it. The bible says that we are of our father the Devil...
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
(2Co 4:4)

Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. -(Joh 8:41-44)

The future husband, Jesus Christ came from his Father’s house, Heaven, to Earth to acquire his bride. In fact if you read the passage that we just looked at, we read "If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." We also read in other passages that Jesus was sent from His fathers house.

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. -(Joh 3:13)

I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. - (Joh 16:28)

Now the unmarried daughter’s father (Satan) is not at all compassionate. The charge set for his daughter is death (Rom 6:23;4:25).

Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
(Rom 4:25)

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Rom 6:23)

When God originally made the first man and woman they were alive, spiritually as well as physically. (Gen 2:7 (living Being)) To summarize the fall of man we can say that God said: “I have made you living beings, but in the day that you turned hostile to me, my justice or Holiness will force my Spirit out of you and you will be dead spiritually”.

Satan, the devil, who’s name accurately means, “The Accuser”, always points out your fault to God (Job 1:1-12) and points out the fact that since you are guilty God can’t have you and still be righteous. We know God is a Just or Holy God (Lev 11:45), and can not have sin in his company. So we see the daughter is spiritually dead, or cut off from God, that is life. The only way to unite with her is to give up your spiritual life.

Lucifer probably thought that this was a pretty amusing trick. If God wanted his beloved back he would have to die, and Satan had the power over death Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. - (Heb 2:14-15)

Jesus could have the bride, if he paid the bride price, but then he would be dead and thus under Satan's power. This is right where Satan wanted Jesus, it is at the core of why Lucifer tempted Jesus (Matt 4:1-11). In fact that is the reason for Satan’s fall, he desired to become god and try to take over his authority over God (Ezekiel 28:12-17). In Satan’s mind this was “check mate”, He thought that he had God right where he wanted him. God can't overlook our guilt and still be holy, at least as things were in that present time. If God wanted mankind back, with out compromising his holiness he would have to formulate a plan.

.......TO Be Continued