The Promised Son Needs A Bride

God's servants need to prayerfully find a bride for his son.

Genesis 24:36-40 “When Sarah, my master’s wife, was very old, she gave birth to my master’s son, and my master has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me take an oath. He said, ‘Do not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. 38 Go instead to my father’s house, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son.’ 

39 “But I said to my master, ‘What if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to go back with me?’ 40 He responded, ‘The LORD, in whose presence I have lived, will send his angel with you and will make your mission successful. Yes, you must find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.

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In the previous post we looked at the concept of foreshadowing, a lot of prophecy and events of the Old Testament are symbolic of events in the life of Jesus or they are pointing us to events when Jesus returns. The symbolism that is seen throughout the Bible helps verify that all of the writers of this book were inspired by God.

It took forever for the promised son to be born but now Isaac is about forty years old, his mom has already died, his dad probably won't live much longer and Isaac still doesn't have a wife. How will Abraham have so many descendants when Isaac doesn't even have a wife? How could this rich bachelor still be single?

The foreshadowing continues in the life of Abraham and Isaac as the father sends his servant to his homeland to get a bride for his son. If we see Isaac as a type of Jesus, then take the next step and look at Rebekah as a type of the church, the bride of Christ. The story of the servant being sent to get the bride suddenly takes on new meaning that God's people need to understand more fully.

The faithful servant has taken an oath to go back to Abraham's family to find a bride without taking Isaac with him. The servant loves the son and wants to make him happy but how can he persuade the lady to willingly come back with him without a photo or a social media profile to show her?

Genesis 24:12 “O LORD, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.

The servant went straight to God, this huge task didn't seem to cause him any worry, he is confident that with God's help he will be successful. The servants prayer was answered quicker than any of my prayers, in fact his prayer time ended as the answer to his prayer walked up to the well. (Genesis 24:15)

The answer to the servants prayer was so obvious, Rebekah was willing to do everything that the servant requested. The servant was eager to tell the potential bride and her family about his master. He shared about the fame, the goodness and the riches of his master so that a longing grew in Rebekah to meet the father and his son. 

Genesis 24:58 So they called Rebekah. “Are you willing to go with this man?” they asked her. And she replied, “Yes, I will go.”

A lot of marriages in those days were forced but the decision to be the bride was left up to Rebekah, the servant was convinced and Rebekah's relatives were also sure, but she was allowed to have the final say.

Ephesians 5:31-32  As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

Throughout scripture marriage is a metaphor for the relationship of God with his chosen people and for Jesus relationship with the church. Every time the Bible mentions marriage we can find a message from God about our relationship with him.

If you love the father and his son then you will be the faithful servant, you will take the oath to go get a bride for the son, no matter how difficult it may seem. The son is in his home country preparing a place for his bride. He is counting on his faithful servants to fulfill their duty out of love for him.

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A Bride For Isaac (ligonier.org)

Satisfying Relationships

God's word reveals to us the importance of relationships.

Genesis 2:21-25 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man.

23 "At last!" the man exclaimed. "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'"

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

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In The Beginning when God created the world he didn't set out to give us the details of how his work was accomplished. All that we really need to know is that God spoke everything into existence from out of nothing. The story of the Bible is so much bigger than knowing any more details about our world than what God told us.

The creation story ends and from this point on the focus of the Bible is about God's favorite subject, it's all about relationships, the relationship between God and man and also the need for mankind to have human relationships.

We cannot imagine how it must have been to be able to relate to God before sin. It must have been amazing to have him walk in the garden and have him talk directly to you, we don't know how long it lasted but I am sure Adam always longed for the good old days.

We cannot imagine how amazing it was to have a marriage that wasn't affected by sin. Have you ever been in a fight with someone and stopped to wonder if the thing that you think is important isn't really what you are fighting about? Probably not. I think that we are clueless about how far reaching the effects of sin are on our world and how much it has damaged our relationships.

Adam had a special relationship with God that the animals couldn't have but God knew that Adam needed more. It is difficult to understand that some religions believe that their clergy should be without a wife because it is supposed to be a more excellent way to live when God makes it clear that it isn't good for man to be alone. If God says that about sinless man living in the most awesome neighborhood ever then it must be way more true now that we are living outside of Eden.

God gave the first bride away to Adam to fulfill his need for a companion, Eve wasn't a subordinate or a slave, she was created in the image of God with equal status and she would have the same work and the same commands to follow.

Many people decide that God's design isn't good enough, some want to make slaves of the woman, make her a lesser being or they want to disregard God's original design by taking a partner for themselves of the same sex.

Ephesians 5:25-27 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

Throughout scripture marriage is a metaphor for the relationship of God with his chosen people and for Jesus relationship with the church. Marriage is supposed to be a picture of his covenant love for his people. Adam's bride and the bride of Christ both came from their side, from Adam's open side came Eve and from the side of Christ came the church.

The metaphor doesn't work with same sex marriages, two Adam's or two Eve's can never illustrate the holy union and symbolism that God intended earthly marriage to be. If the marriage has two husbands or two wives then who is the head of the marriage that lays down their life for the other? Which one is going to be submissive as to the Lord?

Revelation 19:7-9 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear." For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people. 9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And he added, "These are true words that come from God."

The promised future restoration of our relationship with God is beautifully demonstrated in marriage. We will enjoy his presence again as we are united with him in a pure relationship that will never again be influenced by sin.

I have a peaceful relationship with God as his child because of Jesus but our relationship is still a struggle because I am still bound to this sinful world. Because of sin I cannot fully know him and relate to him as intimately as I will some day. I cannot love him or worship him as I will some day when all of the distractions of my carnal nature has been removed.

A husband and wife pursuing the gospel as their goal will grow closer than a husband and wife focused solely on their own happiness.

-Richard Coekin, Ephesians For You

Until that day, I need to show the world the love of God through my marriage, I need to pursue my relationship with my wife just as God pursued me and I need to love her sacrificially just as God has done for me.

My appreciation and gratitude for the grace that has been shown to me through the gospel needs to be lived out daily in a covenant relationship so that the world can see the love of God on display.

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What Makes Sexual Sin Such A Big Deal? (gotquestions.org)
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Unbelieving Waterboys

The servants knew where the wine came from but they didn't believe.

 

John 2:1-12 The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,  2  and Jesus and His disciples were also invited to the celebration.  3  The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother told Him, "They have no more wine."

4  "Dear woman, that's not our problem," Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."

5  But His mother told the servants, "Do whatever He tells you."

6  Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons.  7  Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." When the jars had been filled,  8  He said, "Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies." So the servants followed His instructions.

9  When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over.  10  "A host always serves the best wine first," he said. "Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!"

11  This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed His glory. And His disciples believed in Him. 12  After the wedding He went to Capernaum for a few days with His mother, His brothers, and His disciples.

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Jesus told his disciples that there would be greater proof of who he is and now it's just a few days later and they are getting to see it. (John 1:50) Jesus has spent 30 years in private with his family and now the time has come to step out into public ministry. He has recently gained a few disciples and now his first miracle that initiates his public ministry is about to happen with his family present.

Wedding were a big deal back then and it is a major embarrassment to run out of wine. This is the biggest social event that they had and it was a chance to forget about how hard life is and have a good time. It's interesting that Jesus ministry was different from that of John Baptist, "who came neither eating nor drinking," Jesus was involved in the everyday events of life. (Matthew 11:18-19)

Mary is concerned about the potential embarrassment and she knows that Jesus has the power to fix the problem. However she doesn't push Jesus in a corner and try and force him to do it. She makes him aware of the problem and then tells the servants to do anything that he asks them to do.

Imagine being a servant in this home and you are probably tired from working this week long wedding event and now Jesus asks you to fill some water pots that total over one hundred and fifty gallons. You probably groan as you think about the extra work that you are forced to do.

Now imagine being told immediately to dip some of the water out and take it to the head waiter, allowing him to have a sample and finding out that the water that you put in those pots was no longer water. You are standing there as the man announces that the best wine has been saved for last. What would your reaction be?

Help Me Believe
Mark 9:24  The father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!"

The purpose of miracles to to reveal God's glory to us and help us believe in Jesus. It is too bad that when the supernatural is revealed to us we don't always see it. There were two different reactions to Jesus first miracle.

Everybody remembers that the miracle helped the disciples grow in their belief in Jesus. That fact is documented at the end of the story but what about the guys that were up front and close to the miracle?

The guys that were directly involved, the ones that did everything as Jesus told them, that knew that Jesus didn't even touch those water jars and they knew that there wasn't anything deceitful going on. The scripture states that they knew (John 2:9) without question that the water was changed into wine. They just walked away and pretended that nothing happened.

Miracles can be so difficult to see. It wasn't just this group of servants, almost everybody in Jesus hometown missed out, and there was the crowd that was mourning the death of Jairus' daughter that actually laughed at Jesus.

Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. – C S Lewis

We can be just as blind to the miracles in our own lives. Every day of our lives are filled with miracles great and small that are a result of God's love for us. Some of them are everyday things that we just expect with little thought about why they happen. Some of them are big things that we prayed for and yet when they happen we just don't think about where it came from.

Happy Anniversary Baby

11th anniversary! How can 11 years be gone already?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8  “Love suffers long, and is kind; love does not envy; love does not promote itself, is not puffed up, does not behave badly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails”

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How can it possibly be that 11 years are past, our kids are twenty-something and we are still not old? Time flies and rushes us along through the good times and the bad times.

I want to take a minute to thank you for your love for our kids, for doing your best to nurture them and to help them to become young adults that embrace our faith, thankfully they have made it their own. It took a lot of years to accomplish but our families have blended together into one new family.

Thank you for being my wife and friend, for loving me in the good times and the bad, for richer and poorer. Thank you for your heart for God and for missions, some of our best times have been on mission trips. Thank you for your compassion, your smile, your laugh and your determination.

I love you and thank God for you and for our family.

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