Bitterness and Rebellion Gave Birth to Salvation

If you have heard of Jesus, you have almost certainly heard of his mother Mary.  However, she was never called Mary in real life.  Her name was Miryam.  The name Miryam comes from the older sister of Moses, who watched over him while he floated in a basket on the Nile River.  She was the one who ensured that he survived when other young baby boys were being killed.

In Egypt, one of the meanings of the name Miryam is love.  So Jesus was born of Miryam, or you could say, Jesus was born of love.  Love certainly from his mother but also born of the love of the father.  God was the father of Jesus and out of his love for the world, He sent Jesus to us. The name Jesus means salvation.  Out of the love of God, salvation was born.

In Hebrew, the meaning of Miryam is quite different.  It means bitterness and rebellion.  Out of bitterness and rebellion was born salvation.  God takes those who are bitter and rebellious and brings forth salvation to them.  

Look around the world and you will see bitterness towards others everywhere.  Rebellion is the rule rather than the exception.  Solving one source of bitterness in your life will only make room for something else to be bitter about.  The answer to all this is found only in Jesus because salvation is found only in Jesus.

Salvation is more than just eternal life in Heaven forever.  Salvation is also freedom from bitterness. It means instead of rebelling, to be supporting what is good and right.  It is a new life that is abundant, free, joyful and full of peace.  No guilt!  No fear! No emptiness! No hate! Just a life that is worth living.

"...I come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10b

Photo Credit: Violence! [Explored] by Riccardo Cuppini 

Sacrificing Isaac and Jesus

The Akedah is the Hebrew word meaning "binding".  It is the word used when referring to when Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed.  It was a test which sealed God's covenant with Abraham.  This type of covenant, each party had to be willing to do what the other was willing to do.  Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son as a sacrifice, therefore God would have to be willing to sacrifice his beloved son as well.

Abraham took Isaac to the region of Moriah and took his son to a mountain God directed him to. Jesus was taken to the exact same mountain.
Abraham laid the wood on Isaac's shoulders.
Jesus carried the wood up the mountain.
Abraham laid his son upon the wood of sacrifice.
Jesus lay upon the cross.
Abraham bound his son.
Jesus was fixed to the cross by nails.
Abraham lifted up the knife to strike the death blow upon his son but was stopped.
Jesus died on the cross.

Just as Abraham loved his son Isaac, God loved Jesus.  Abraham loved his son but out of his love for God, he was willing to sacrifice him. God loved his son but out of His love for us, he sacrificed him.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

The Bridal Chamber

The Groom and Bride enter the bridal chamber.  This is the first time that they are alone.  It is during this time that they shall have physical union which consummates their wedding.  The groom then informs the shomer (best man) who has been guarding the door, and the wedding party.  They then announce it to everyone who has come to the wedding and the celebration begins.

The festivities go on for seven days.  There is much feasting, dancing and singing.  The celebrating continues for the seven days, but the bride remains in the bedchamber for those seven days.  No one sees her during this time.  When she finally comes out, she is no longer wearing her veil.  This is the first time that anyone sees her face and sees who the bride is.

When Christ comes and takes us away to be with him, we shall at last see him face to face.  There will no longer be a go between.  We will have more than just love letters written to us in the scriptures.  We will not just pray to Jesus, but will be able to speak directly to him and actually hear his voice answering us.  For the first time we will be look into his eyes of love and everything else that exist will all fade away into the background.

Just as the bride was hidden for seven days before she was revealed, (I believe) we shall be hidden from the world for seven years during the tribulation.  Then Christ will return to the earth to save mankind from destruction and the bride shall be revealed to the world.  For the first time the world will see for sure who the righteous ones are.  They shall at last know, without a doubt, that those who followed Christ were correct in what they had been saying.

Today we can not enter into the bridal chamber, but we can enter the prayer closet.  We can get to know our groom by reading his love letters to us.  We can study about who God is and what He desires of us.  We can know him better by spending time alone with him everyday.  He desires to let himself be known to us.  He prizes that time which foreshadows the day we shall be with him face to face.

To read other posts from this series:
Part one  "Purchasing the Bride."
Part two  "Preparing the Bride"
Part three "The Brides Future Home"

Part four "The Snatching of the Bride"

Photo Credit: The First Dance by Will fisher

The Snatching of the Bride

The bride would not know when the groom would come to take her away.  He has not seen her since the covenant of marriage had been made a year ago.  Usually the groom would come at night to take her off with him.  He and his men, with lit torches, would lead a procession of his family and friends to the brides house.

The shomer (best man) would give a shout to the brides house warning her that her groom is coming. Quickly she would have to get ready for his arrival.  When the groom arrived she would be waiting adorned in robes and precious stones.  Her maidens would be standing at her side as the groom and his procession gathered around them.

The bridegroom's men would then lift up the bride and groom on a sedan chair and carry them back to the home of the groom.  The procession would be singing, shouting and dancing.  The brides family and friends would follow behind as if trying to catch up and bring back their kidnapped daughter.

When they arrive at the groom's home, the wedding guest have all assembled.  The wedding celebration would now start and continue for seven days.  Soon after arriving the bride and groom would go into the bridal chamber to be alone for the first time while the shomer would stand guard outside the chamber.

Soon our groom Jesus Christ will come to take us away.  1 Thessalonians 4:16 says that Jesus will descend from Heaven with a shout. He shall come down and take all Christians who follow him back to Heaven as his bride to live with him.

We do not know the day or hour of his coming.  We only know that he will come.  We must be ready to go to him.  There is nothing on this world worth missing out on compared to our groom coming to take us to the home he has prepared especially for us.  We need to gather eternal treasures to adorn ourselves. To learn more of exchanging temporary earthly treasures for eternal Heavenly treasures, click here.

To read other posts from this series:
Part one  "Purchasing the Bride."
Part two  "Preparing the Bride"
Part three "The Brides Future Home"
Part five "The Bridal Chamber"

Photo Credit: Jewish Hora Chair Dance at Nate & Bekah's Wedding by Zachary Long

The Brides' Future Home

Just as the bride prepares for when she will leave the house she was born into, the groom prepares a house for her to go to.  Her old life, in the house she grew up and lived until now, is past.  The bride no longer will be a part of that house and must have a new place to live.

The groom must prepare for the bride by making a new home built out of love for her.  It is especially built just for her.  He might find out that she has always wanted a shelf to put her most treasured possessions on, and he builds it because of his desire to make her happy.

Jesus said "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: 2-3  Jesus, our groom, has left and is preparing a place for us. He will come back and take us away to our new home so that we may be with him forever.

What is it like?  We have some descriptions of Heaven in the Bible and how beautiful and awesome it is, but no descriptions of our mansions which Christ is building.  We can only imagine how wonderful the homes Jesus is building for us really are.

It took God 6 days to create everything in the universe.  He has been working almost 2000 years so far on our new homes.  Go ahead and imagine the most wonderful creation of a home ever.  God is going to create a home for you that is far greater, more awesome and magnificent then anything your little mind can fathom.

Jesus' love compels him to do far beyond what we can hope for or imagine.  Our groom will bless us with a place that perfectly fits our desires and hopes.  We will dwell with Jesus forever in the Heavenlies perfectly blessed in all ways.

To read other posts from this series:
Part one  "Purchasing the Bride."
Part two  "Preparing the Bride"
Part four "The Snatching of the Bride"
Part five "The Bridal Chamber"

Photo by Vadim Sherbakov on Unsplash

Preparing the Bride

The groom has left the home of the bride.  They are both legally married, but there is a waiting period before they can live together.  The length of time was usually one year.  During that time the bride would still live at her home and get ready for her life as a married woman.

She will still sleep in her own bed,  do the chores she did before, and live the same life she had before this.  Her life is the same, but one thing has changed.  She is now The Bride.  She has a future set before her that she never had before.

 Everything in her life seems the same except for the future she must prepare for.  She must gather her trousseau of clothes, household linens and other belongings she will need as the wife of the groom. She may live in the home of her parents, but she does not belong to that home anymore.  She belongs to her groom.

The price has been paid for us by our groom and while he is away to prepare a place for us we must prepare for our new life with him.  We do not belong in this world anymore.  We belong to the house of God.  We are now part of his family.

While the bride prepared for her future life, the Shomer (best man) would act as the go between between the bride and groom.  Everything she needed to know the Shomer would inform her of and communicate to the groom everything that came from the bride.

The Holy Spirit is our go between with Christ and us.  When we have needs that our groom could help with, the Holy Spirit informs Christ who then comes to us with the answer.  He speaks as the voice of Christ to us.

The word shomer means 'guard'.  The Holy Spirit guards us for the future day when we shall meet our groom Christ Jesus.  He helps make us ready by guarding our purity and guides us to all things righteous.

Today we are the bride preparing for our eternal future with our awesome groom Jesus Christ.  We do not know when he will come for us.  He might come before your next breath.  Are you ready?

To read other post from this series:
Part one "Purchasing the Bride"
Part three "The Brides Future Home"
Part four "The Snatching of the Bride"
Part five "The Bridal Chamber"

Photo by STIL on Unsplash

Purchasing the Bride

Jesus told his disciples "In my father's house are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you." John 14:2  In this verse Jesus is drawing the analogy of Him (the bridegroom) and us (the bride) to the wedding practices of his day.  Over the next five days lets examine the significance of the two. There is so much to this comparison that will surprise and delight you.

The wedding starts with the bridegroom making a trip to the home of the bride.  It doesn't matter how far she may be, he must make this trip.  The bride never makes the trip to the groom.

The groom arrives at the home of the young woman he desires to marry and meets with the father to negotiate the price he must pay to purchase the bride.  Once the price has been paid the marriage convanent is established and the man and woman are then regarded as man and wife.  The woman is now considered holy, separated, exclusive for the groom.

Two thousand years ago the groom (Christ) made that same trip to the home of the bride (us).  He entered into our world after traveling through time and space to reach us.  Jesus then paid the bride price to purchase us when he died on the cross.  His life was the cost to make us his bride.

Those who opened the door of their hearts to him, and accepted the price of his death on the cross to purchase them, are now holy and separate to Christ exclusively.  We no longer are of this house (the world) but rather of the house of God (in Heaven)

To read other post from this series:
Part two "Preparing the Bride:
Part Three "The Brides Future Home"
Part four "The Snatching of the Bride"
Part five "The Bridal Chamber"

Photo by cindy baffour on Unsplash