Betty's posts with tag: bride of christ
Rosh Hashanah and the Bride of Christ - Part 1
The Feast of Trumpets
Carl and Julie Parker
www.messianicisrael.comGenesis 21:1-34; Numbers 29:1-6; Samuel 1:1 to 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17
The Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah, is the fifth of YHVH’s seven Levitical feast days and is the last trumpet call for the Bride, announcing her forthcoming wedding. On Yom Teruah, the blowing of two silver trumpets alerts the Bride that her Bridegroom is on His way. This feast day falls on the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew (Biblical) calendar, and is dependent on the sighting of the New Moon called Rosh Chodesh. It is the first lunar sighting of the New Moon that determines the beginning of each month. Only YHVH knows when that first sighting will appear. The day and hour of Jesus' return is unknown to man. (Leviticus 23).
In the parable of the five wise and five unwise virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, the shout (shofar, trumpet) was heard, “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” All the virgins who had waited upon the Bridegroom’s coming had fallen asleep. At that sound, they immediately set about trimming their lamps. The virgins who had prepared themselves in holiness by not going their own way but had bathed themselves in His Word, the Torah and examined their ways by knowing the difference between clean and unclean, holy and unholy and His Sabbath moedim/feast days, they were the virgins who had enough oil to go out to meet the Bridegroom at His coming. The virgins who had not prepared by making teshuvah (repentance), or had not chosen a walk of holiness according to His Word –were the ones who lacked oil in their lamps. Instead of making adequate preparations, at this point the unwise virgins tried to rely upon others. The wise virgins were not able to share their oil with the unwise virgins, for holiness was something that could only be obtained by a heart of obedience to Yeshua, and His ways and could not be purchased. The foolish virgins sought after their own resources instead of seeking to know Yeshua or be known by Him. The five wise virgins knew the season and the times of their Bridegroom and were able to meet Him. They came prepared and knew to gather extra for the Sabbath, the eternal feast of YHVH, part of His 7000 year plan called the Sabbath Rest. The unwise were not aware of the seasons and times of YHVH or the eternal ramifications and were accustomed to purchasing on the Sabbath. The sign of Yeshua’s Bride, the wise virgin, is the one who keeps the Sabbath holy. She is the one who will go out to meet the Bridegroom when the trumpet sounds. She keeps her lamp trimmed and full of Holy Spirit oil.
THE INVITATION
His Majesty, the King of the Universe,
Requests the honor of your presence
At the Royal Wedding of the Ages (Rev. 19:7)
Between Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Messiah),
His only begotten Son,
And His Bride,
The called-out ones.
You are cordially invited to partake
At the Marriage Supper of the Lamb
By being cleansed in His blood (Hebrews 9:14),
Which He shed for your deliverance (Hebrews 2:14).
By pledging your heart (Romans 10:9-10)
To His plans and purposes for your life,
He promises to lead (Romans 8:14)
And guide you in the ways of truth (John 16:13),
Provide for all your needs,
physically and spiritually (Matthew 6:32-34),
Shower you with gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-10; Romans 12:6-8)
by His Ruach Ha Chodesh (Holy Spirit),
with whom He will fill you (Joel 2:28-29; Ephesians 5:18),
and
Wash you in the water of His Word (Ephesians 5:25-26)
so that you may be used (2 Timothy 3:16)
to tell others about this glorious feast.
As a token of His love for you,
you will be given a ring to seal you as His own (Ephesians 1:13)
as He rejoices over you,
His bride (Isaiah 62:5),
and clothes you in the wedding garments of salvation
and righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
His Majesty Requests -
An Invitation to the Royal Wedding of the Lamb by Rebecca Park Totilo
Match Made in Heaven
“ ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you’ (John 15:16).
Since ancient times, the significant role of the Shadkhan (matchmaker) can be seen from its root word, shidukh (match). Its Aramaic translation, sheket (silence) implies tranquility, or peacefulness. The matchmaker’s lineage traces back to YHVH Himself.
“Though it was customary for the father to choose the bride for his son, in many cases the father relied on the services of a matchmaker to help him choose a person of the highest virtue and integrity. From the beginning, YHVH acted as the first Shadkhan, creating Adam and Eve and commanding them to cleave together as one flesh. Eve, taken from Adam’s body, became the first bride.
“In Genesis 24 Abraham’s servant Eliezer (YHVH’s helper) acted as a matchmaker modeled after the Divine and found the suitable bride for Abraham’s son, Isaac. Abraham sent Eliezer to find the perfect match from among his own family and of his father’s house. In the same way, YHVH the Father has sent His helper, the Ruach Ha Chodesh, the Spirit of YHVH, to His family and body of believers to take a bride for His son, Yeshua.
“YHVH has chosen you to be a part of the Messiah’s bride. Yeshua’s bride will be taken out from His body (of believers), just as Eve was taken from Adam. However, not everyone who has received the gift of deliverance (salvation) will RSVP. Believers who continue to live a worldly, or carnal lifestyle will not be ready to meet the Bridegroom because they lack the purity (holiness) of a spotless bride. Come away with the lover of your soul now and make yourself ready for His return! (1 John 4:19)
THE PROPOSAL
The Bride Price
“ ‘For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify YHVH in your body, and in your spirit, which are YHVH’s’ (1 Corinthians 6:20). In biblical times, it was customary for an Israelite to pay a mohar, or price, for his bride to her father. Though this practice seems archaic to us today, a bride price is still used in many cultures. Marriage by purchase reflects how much the prospective bridegroom values and cherishes his bride. It also reveals his own wealth and generosity.
“As His beloved bride, we have been bought with a price and no longer belong to ourselves. We are His – totally. Treasure the priceless gift of Yeshua’s love; hold it close to your heart. He paid it for you! (1 Peter 1:18-19)
Tears of Myrrh
“Yeshua returns to a quiet garden on the Mount of Olives, yearning for comfort this evening. But this night The garden offers only anguish and solitude. Bruised under the weight of agony, Yeshua earnestly prays. Beads of sweat, mingled with blood from His pores fall upon the earth. Alone, Yeshua prays, “If Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me.” (Luke 22:42,44).
“His heart aches with a dying love for His bride. Is there any other possible way besides death? He questions Abba. YHVH knows the deep friendship He once enjoyed with man in the Garden of Eden can only be recaptured if He lays down His life for him. With unconditional acceptance, Yeshua trusts His Father’s decision and says, “Nevertheless, not My will but Thine, be done.”
“During the Messiah’s final agonizing hours in Gethsemane, the weight of the world’s sins crushed our Savior like a winepress, causing Him to sweat great tears of blood. His bitter suffering can be compared to myrrh, a highly-prized spice used for perfumes and incense, extracted by piercing the tree’s heartwood and allowing the gum to trickle out and harden into bitter, aromatic red droplets called tears.
The Cup of the New Covenant
“ ‘Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you” ’ (Luke 22:20).
“ ‘Behold, the days are coming, says YHVH, when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says YHVH. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says YHVH: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their El, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, “Know YHVH,” for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says YHVH. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’ (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-10)
“The prospective Hebrew bridegroom pops the question by pouring a cup of wine for his beloved, then anxiously awaits her response to his proposal. If she sips from the Kiddush (sanctification) cup, she shows her willingness to enter this union by saying yes to his proposal. Their shared cup of wine at a betrothal ceremony called B’rit (covenant) symbolizes the sealing of their marriage covenant in blood. The betrothed couple, for all legal purposes, is married.
“We see Yeshua drinking from the B’rit cup with His disciples after the Passover meal, sealing the marriage covenant with His bride. Lifting the cup with His right hand, the Messiah recites the blessing over the wine. As the True Vine speaks, He blesses the fruit of His Father’s vine and praises the Creator for His bride – His choice fruit. He continues saying, “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).
“Yeshua invites all believers to say yes to His proposal and share in this cup, so that all who choose may become His promised bride.
To Die For
“ ‘So when Yeshua had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit’ (John 19:30).
“It is finished. Fitting words spoken from a bridegroom to his bride. In Hebrew, the root word for finish is ka’lal, (complete, make perfect, or finish). It also shares the same root for kallah (bride). With Yeshua’s final and dying words, He sealed the marriage covenant to His beloved with His blood.
(to be continued...)
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