The Hebrew Roots of our Faith
Last Updated:
06/23/2008 02:56
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Researching... See Also:
The Rapture - A
Wedding Model
Lost In Translation: Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of our Faith
by John Klein and Adam Spears
The following is excerpts from
this thread on Prophecy News Watch:
they talk about the covenant and how
it is progressive......
The Blood covenant, entering into a relationship of servitude, wherein
we must learn obedience. Next is the salt covenant, that explains the
perpetual covenant of friendship.....cannot be broken... then the sandal
covenant, also called the covenant of inheritance, and they explain the
ancient Hebrew custom of using sandals to define boundaries..... This
equivalized in human parenting where if a parent does a good job of
training a child in obedience (blood covenant), the child will become a
friend (salt covenant).. a son or daughter who matures and becomes a
responsible adult eventually qualifies for an inheritance (sandal
covenant). As with the covenants we make with God, progressing to the
salt and sandal covenant is a major goal of parenting, but neither one
is where effective parenting begins. If you start by being a child's
friend instead of training him or her in obedience, you have the whole
thing backwards. Likewise in our evolving covenants with God. The
relationship offered by each of the preceding covenants makes the next
covenant possible. And all of this leads into a major point: As we enter
into each new or "renewed" covenant with God we do not leave behind the
responsibilities - or the benefits - of the preceding one. all of this
points to the final covenant, the one of betrothal. The most intimate
relationship we can have with God.......
All these covenants point to the
progressive nature of our purification, relationship, and partnership
with God. We do not acquire our salvation through any “works” connected
with each covenant. Only Yeshua’s death on the cross and our acceptance
of His forgiveness, provide for that. To illustrate this literally,
recall the Last Supper in the Upper room (John 13:4-14. Yeshua offered
the inheritance of His heavenly kingdom to His disciples. By removing
their sandals and washing their feet He was giving them a new
inheritance, His own. He was establishing a relationship of purity
without manmade barriers, at the same time fulfilling the promise in
John 1:12-13: “To them He gave the power to become sons of God … “ Some
of the disciples protested at first, but His response was very clear:
“If I don’t do this you’ll have no part of me.” Nowadays, many believers
think you can get saved and have all the intimacy you’ll ever need by
accepting the free gift, with no additional effort on your part. But
salvation is only the beginning – it’s only the first step toward
establishing the intimacy that God desires. At that moment (or very soon
afterwards) God gives to each one of us the choice of increasing the
maturity and intimacy of our relationship with Him…….many people miss
that…. The Lord will give us a step-by-step increase of His kingdom in
our lives if we choose to walk out our faith (Philippians 2:12)… But we
have to consciously make that commitment to move beyond basic salvation
and enter into true covenant relationships with Him. When we do, He will
give us the strength, the knowledge and the stamina to move continually
forward. As we show that we can be faithful with one step, He will show
us the next. The final step in the process of restoration is in the hand
of the bridegroom alone. Why marriage? Because that is the ultimate
fulfillment of all the covenants. God’s goal for us is a marriage
relationship with Himself, involving complete intimacy. Marriage is the
renewed relationship He desires. Just in the little bit I
have read has helped me to understand things much better........for
example, the verses that tell of Jesus removing the sandals and washing
the feet, and his telling the disciples that if they didn't let him,
they would have no part of Him. Now, I know I can be really slow at
grasping some things, but this is one that was just eluding me, it just
made no sense. Now, understanding the sandal covenant, it makes complete
sense .... same with the rich man story.......Matthew 19:16-29
This story shows us what Yeshua is looking for in someone who aspires to
be both a servant and a friend. the young man was obedient to God's
commandments, but he found it difficult to enter into Yeshua's offer of a
deeper relationship. Yeshua basically said, "You are already my servant
and my friend; now come and be my son." But the young man wasn't quite
ready to trade in his earthly inheritance for an increased share in the
Heavenly kingdom. Therefore, his poor decision prevented him from
entering into a deeper relationship and getting any farther than the
friendship (salt) covenant. This does not mean, that the rich young
ruler "lost out" on what he had settled with god up to that moment. His
salvation\ was never in question. but like many today who are called
into deeper relationships, the rich young ruler simply failed to draw
closer when the opportunity came. This lines up with my studies of
scripture and explains much to me. I never could understand why the
implication was that because the young man didn't sell all he had to
follow Jesus, why he lost out. Many people accuse Christians
today........you haven't sold all you have, so you're not following
Jesus.........
Rev. 3:20….Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear
my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with
him, and he with me.
Most of us believe that verse to be the voice of Yeshua, reaching out
to mankind. He’s standing at their’ heart’s door, asking to come in and
save them from their sins. That’s true, but it’s not the whole story.
Because most of us have no awareness of the ancient Hebrew culture in
which the OT and B’rit Hadashah were set, we often miss the true import
of a thoroughly familiar, deeply meaningful, yet barely understood
metaphor. ………There are some pages that discuss the Hebrew tradition of
the marriage process…….from interest/offer to finish…… Once the
prospective bridegroom made his first official move, he brought his
father to the intended bride’s house. They carried a betrothal cup, wine
and the anticipated price in a pouch. When they got there, they knocked.
The prospective brides’ father would be on the other side of the door,
but before he opened, he would peek through a little window, identify
the visitors, then look to his daughter to confirm what, in most cases,
she had long since settled in her own mind. Should he open the door? If
she said yes, for all practical purposes the commitment to work through
the betrothal process and arrive at a fully functioning marriage was
made at that moment. Therefore, hers was not a lightly made decision,
for the issue was not, “Can we have a wedding?” Once the door was opened
the only remaining question was, “We can have a marriage if we can work
out the terms … so what will they be?” In other words, opening the door
was the first major step toward making a marriage, which is precisely
what Yeshua is saying in the verse. You open the door, He comes in, and
the restoration process begins. At that point, you have salvation. But
beyond that, He is asking you if you will enter into the covenant of
betrothal with Him. Will you walk in a loving relationship with your
bridegroom? But that’s not the only significant parallel here. The
choice is “ours” exactly as the choice was always that of the ancient
Hebrew bride. If she refused to open the door the groom would make a
u-turn and head for home. And even after the bride opened the door, she
could end the whole process at any stage. In fact, once the initial
agreement to be married was “darashed out” (ie.e., worked out through
intense, animated discussion) and formalized in a written contract, the
bride was the onlhy one who could still back out, right up to the very
instant of marriage consummation. She could stop the whole process at
any moment, and she didn’t even need any special reason ……….. The
Betrothal
The betrothal was binding and could only be undone by a divorce with
proper grounds, such as the bride being found not to be a virgin, (see
Joseph and Mary - Matt 1 v18-19 ) The young man prepared a Ketubah, or
marriage contract (or covenant) which he presented to the intended bride
and her father. Included in this was the " Bride Price ", which was
appropriate in that society to compensate the young woman's parents for
the cost of raising her, as well as being an expression of his love for
her.
Acceptance
To see if the proposal was accepted, the young man would pour a cup of
wine for his beloved and wait to see if she drank it. This cup
represents a blood covenant. If she drank the cup she would have
accepted the proposal and they would be betrothed. The young man would
then give gifts to his beloved, and then take his leave. The young woman
would have to wait for him to return and collect her.
The wedding chamber and the Chuppah
Before leaving the young man would announce, " I am going to prepare a
place for you ", and "I will return for you when it is ready". The usual
practice was for the young man to return to his father's house and build
a honeymoon room there. This is what is symbolized by the chuppah or
canopy which is characteristic of Jewish weddings. He was not allowed to
skimp on the work and had to get his father's approval before he could
consider it ready for his bride. If asked the date of his wedding he
would have to reply, "Only my father knows." Meanwhile the bride would
be making herself ready so that she would be pure and beautiful for her
bridegroom. During this time she would wear a veil when she went, out to
show she was spoken for (she has been bought with a price)
The Wedding
When the wedding chamber was ready the bridegroom could collect his
bride. He could do this at any time so the bride would make special
arrangements. It was the custom for a bride to keep a lamp, her veil and
her other things beside her bed. Her bridesmaids were also waiting and
had to have oil ready for their lamps. When the groom and his friends
got close to the bride's house they would give a shout and blow a shofar
to let her know to be ready. When the wedding party arrived at father's
house the newly weds went into the wedding chamber for a seven day
honeymoon and the groom's best friend stood outside waiting for the
groom to tell him that the marriage had been consummated. The proof of
this was the bed-sheet bearing the blood shed by the bride as a result
of her first sexual intercourse. This is notable for two reasons. It
speaks of purity before marriage, but it also shows a blood covenant
(the most solemn and binding kind) such as God's covenant with his
people. Then all the friends really started celebrating for the seven
days that the couple were honeymooning. When the couple emerged there
would be much congratulation and the Marriage Supper could begin. Gives
a whole new meaning to Jesus preparing a place for us as well as taking
the cup unworthily. At the same time, once his initial proposal had
been made and accepted, the groom was utterly and totally committed.
Only by a writ of divorce, on extremely limited grounds, could he ever
back out. Ok, this is what really hit me.......this completely lines up
with my studies that we can walk away from our salvation .......having
said that, I don't want this to turn into a OSAS thread.....Also, my
studies of body of Christ/Bride of Christ.....please just look at what
is offered here and take to the Lord each individually..... You are
invited to compare the above to the betrothal covenant between ourselves
and Yeshua. Opening the door is the same as accepting Him as our
redeemer and formig a lasting relationship. It's the first step in the
process.
On the other hand, we can accept eternal salvation and even avail
ourselves of all the benefits of a servant covenant with Him, including
heaven itself, without ever moving beyond that to betrothal. In fact, if
we decide to go a little further than simply opening the door, we might
een be able to establish and maintain the servant covenant, then the
friendship covenant, and perhaps even the inheritance covenant without
ever moving beyond that last point. Becoming the actual bride of Yeshua
requires a committed, intimate relationship with Him that goes well
beyond all the preliminaries. How many of us are willing to separate or
distance ourselves from those things that are not created, designed by,
or pleasing to God? Even so, if we do desire to take the betrothal step,
we can still back out at any time, and many of us do. Yet the invitation
to be part of the bride is always there, except for those times when we
give back the free gift of salvation. II timothy 2:11-13 (NIV).
The four cups of wine
Think once again in terms of the four types of covenant.
Remember, they are progressive in nature, meaning that you must
enter into the first three covenants - in order - before you can
enter into number four. Remember also the names and the implications
of each one, for you're about to see how the servant, friendship and
inheritance covenants are woven into covenant number 4. Each one
helps to establish, to support and to reinforce the ancient Hebrew
betrothal contact, In turn, the progression of commitments about to
take place during the betrothal process, beginning on the evening
when the groom comes and knocks, mirrors the sequence of commitments
in the 4 covenants.
In his capacity as the Ultimate Master of Symbolism, God established
4 cups of wine as milestones, or"markers", to signify exactly where
the betrothal parties were in their negotiations. Each cup
corresponded to a covenant, but it also represented something that
all the participants had to physically grasp, to physically consume
and make part of themselves. It goes without saying that each person
would also have to participate mentally and spiritually at each step
of the way, or the process would break down.
Now, refer back to the reference to "sup with him" from Rev. 3:20,
for it has to do with what traditionally happened next. Once the
prospective groom and his father were inside the prospective brides
home, as they worked out all the details of the wedding they would
eat dinner together with the prospective bride's family,. In this
instance, the visiting father and son represented their entire
family.
Members of the two families would also drink 3 of the 4 betrothal
cups of wine, one cup each at certain well-established points
throughout the negotiating process. Cup number 1.
The first cup was the cup of Sanctification (Barry and Steffi Rubin,
The Messianic Passover Haggadah - Baltimore: Messianic Jewish
Publishers, 1989, page 7)
which equated to a servant (blood) covenant between the two
families. this cup was consumed almost as soon as the door closed.
the groom, his father, and every member of the bride's family above
the age of accountability participated, for each member of each
family was agreeing to serve the other family.
Sanctification embodies the idea of setting ourselves apart for God.
Just as God sanctified the Nation of Israel, these two families
were doing the same with respect to each other. In effect they were
making a sacred commitment to become one giant family, each person
to unilaterally serve all the new members. that's partly why the
support structure underlying ancient Jewish marriages was so strong.
Cup number 2.
The second cup was the Cup of Betrothal, Cup of Plagues (Ibid.) Cup
of Bargaining, or the Cup of Dedication (Marvin R. Wilson, Our
Father Abraham), which presented a salt covenant between the
families. This cup was consumed by the bride and groom and their two
fathers only. The two families, represented here by the fathers,
were covenanting to become eternal friends with their joint son and
daughter, and with each other.
As they ate, the members of both families haggled over the details
of the marriage contract. this is usually where the negotiations
would break down if they were ever going to. But if they managed to
surmount all the difficulties, the families entered into a
friendship
covenant even as they established the terms of the upcoming
marriage. In similar fashion, we are admonished to "work out your
salvation with fear and trembling" Philippians 2:12) when we accept
the Lord's offer of servant hood, which then matures into friendship.
The issues the families established were straightforward and direct,
just as the ancient Hebrews themselves were. How much would the
groom's family contribute to the wedding feast? Were would they hold
it? What skills would the bride need to acquire to become a Proverbs
31 wife? What possessions would she bring with her? Did she fully
understand her responsibility to remain pure?
The bride's family would also want to know how the groom intended to
support her. Just as it was the bride's primary responsibility purify
and prepare herself, the groom's chief responsibility was to go away
and prepare a place for her to live. Many times her new quarters
would be no more than a room, built on the side of his father's
house. This would hardly equal what Yeshua promises us in John 14:2,
yet the whole process certainly corresponds to the reference in that
verse. Ok, a little side note here…there is no advocating of
“works” or any doctrine thereof. They are simply pointing out how
the sacred betrothal system works, a system set up by God himself to
reclaim the bride who divorced Him back in the Garden of Eden. (I
thought it was the nation of Israel)…….to review that system in the
light of what is talked about so far, salvation occurs when you open
the door of your heart and ask the Savior to come in. the first
reciprocal commitment you can make occurs when you drink the first
two cups of wine. But you don’t have to drink ANY cups, or perform
ANY works to be saved.
Cup number 3.
The third cup was the Cup of Redemption. (Wilson). Or the Cup of
Inheritance. Which represented a sandal covenant and signified the
shared inheritance of the marriage partners. This cup was drunk at
the end of the meal, by the bride and groom only, to symbolize their
exclusive commitment to each other, along with their increasing
level of intimacy.
It also officially “sealed” the marriage agreement between them.
Once the bargaining was over, the families brought in a scribe who
wrote out all the terms of the marriage covenant in a formal
agreement, called a ketubah.
At that point the young men of the family would hit the streets and
blow their rams horn trumpets (shofars), announcing to all the world
that the marriage contract had been signed. For all intents and
purposes the bride and groom were now officially married, even
though neither the ceremony nor the consummation had yet occurred.
Nevertheless, from that moment onward, if either one died, the
survivor would fully inherit the deceased partner’s possessions,.
The third cup also corresponded to the cup Yeshua shared with His
disciples during the Passover feast, or the Last supper, when he
washed their feet and thus transferred His inheritance to them
(sandal covenant). He also made further reference to His coming
marriage to His kalah, His “called out ones,” knowing that it was
customary for the groom not to drink wine again until the wedding
ceremony. That explains why He said he would not touch the fruit of
the vine again until He could do so with them in the Kingdome of
Heaven. He even maintained his vow as He hung on the cross when He
refused the pain numbing wine that the Roman soldiers offered.
The meaning of communion......
None of this can be modified by our opinion or interpretation. We
don't get a list of options, except for choosing whether we'll
participate in the first place. Once we're in a covenant with Yeshua
we don't get the option of restructuring that relationship to suit
ourselves. Yet sadly, the modern Church has altered the very fabric
of the Hebraic relationship that God began with Adam and Eve. We
have literally thrown away our understanding in favor of doing it
our own way. Yet God has shown us very clearly how He wants to be
approached. It's not our option to say that we, on the contrary,
have a better idea. God says, This is how you go about mending and
restoring your relationship with Me."
Given that dynamic, it's totally presumptuous and futile of us to
try to alter our relationship and our approach to God. From God's
perspective, neither is the meaning and import of any of the four
covenant types up for discussion. god offered mankind a betrothal
contract starting 6,000 years ago, and sealed the terms 2,000 years
ago. It's also not accidental that the cups of wine of the betrothal
covenant overlay - and thus reinforce - the individual covenants in
the sequence. All this happens on purpose, for God was building a
seamless mosaic of concepts that has, at its foundation, a
commitment to establish and maintain a relationship leading to
marriage. and this is the ultimate responsibility. Hence it
requires the ultimate covenant. Cup number 4.
The fourth cup of wine was the Cup of Praise (Rubin). Shared between
the bride and groom only during the wedding ceremony itself. This
fourth cup also awaits all those who are chosen to be the bride by
Yeshua. It will be taken on the wedding day and will forever seal
Yeshua’s union with His beloved.
We become eligible for the fourth covenant only after we’ve met all
the previous requirements by entering into the first three. The
decisions to do so are ours alone. However, Yeshua chooses His own
bride, to whom He promised the crown of life in Revelation 2:10.
What is a ketubah?
Ketubah is the Hebrew word for marriage contract. As talked about
above, the terms of the contract were worked out between the two
families during the meal they shared together. When both sides were
satisfied they brought in a scribe or a rabbi to write the actual
document itself, which had five parts.
1) First came a combined family history of the bride and groom,
which included detailed family trees and anecdotes.
2) Second came a personal and family history of the bride, with a
detailed family tree and anecdotes.
3) Third came a personal and family history of the groom, also with
a family tree and anecdotes.
4) Fourth came the story of how the bride and groom met, with
related anecdotes.
5) Fifth came a final section detailing both the bride’s and the
groom’s responsibilities before an d after the wedding.
Look at the significant parallels to the marriage contract itself,
one from the beginning of scripture and one from the very end.
The first five books of the Bible correspond to the five parts of the
ancient Hebrew ketubah.
1) Genesis provides the combined family history of the bride and
groom.
2) Exodus gives the personal and family history of the bride.
3) Leviticus provides the history of God’s family, the Levites.
4) Numbers tells of god’s love affair with His people in the
wilderness and records His joys and sorrows as He reaches out to His
bride.
5) Deuteronomy specifies the responsibilities that both bride and
groom must fulfill.
What is this saying? That the first five books of the Bible are
written as a marriage contract between God and His people. This is not
analogy….It this is what it is. I go to prepare………
By the time the happy couple had drunk the third cup of wine, only three
more “milestones” remaind.
1) First, the groom had to pay the bride price (which he’d
brought with him), equaling 30 pieces of silver in Yeshua’s time. It
was 100% refundable if the bride turned out be impure. This specific
amount was also the price of a male bondservant (Exodus 21:32) and
came to symbolize the redemption price of a bride (Lev. 27:4).
2) Second, the groom now had the sole responsibility to go and
prepare a home. … In this enterprise the groom was under the
ironclad rule of his father, who was the only person empowered to
judge when the groom’s bridal preparation (as per the ketubah ) were
sufficient and complete.
3) Third, the groom finalized his preparations he would let the word
slip out that the wedding day was near………….
The groom could come anytime between 6 and midnight, on the second
thought the 4th day of the week. When he did so he had to see his
bride's welcoming light in her window. If she let it burn out he would
take it that as a sign that she had either changed her mind or simply
didn’t care anymore, and he would turn away and leave her in darkness.
After the ceremony itself came the moment of yachid, or physical unity.
The parents of the bride would invite the guests to enjoy the feast. The
music would swell, the dancing would begin and the wine would flow for
the first of seven days.
Meanwhile the bride and groom would slip away to a private room, set
apart from the noise and provided especially for them. Soon their
marriage would be complete in every sense.
On the other hand, if the groom discovered that his bride was not a
virgin, or worse pregnant, the whole situation would immediately change.
Within the ancient Hebrew culture, the groom had four choices:
1) He could let her pay the price for her unfaithfulness, which
was death.
2) He could quietly give her a writ of divorce and walk away, which
is what Joseph started to do with Mary before the angel intervened.
But this approach was risky for her; later on, if other witnesses
came forward to accuse her of adultery, the law would still require
her to pay the death penalty (matthew 1:19).
3) He could pretend the child was his. If he discovered the truth
before the wedding, he could forfeit the ceremony and simply begin
living with his new wife, who was already married to him anyway from
a legal point of view. This is essentially what Joseph did with Mary
4) He could choose to be her goel (redeemer) and take her punishment
upon himself. In the case of sexual impurity, he would pay her fee …
death. The groom could also redeem his bride \for violating Torah in
other ways as well, whatever her violations might involoved
including monetary debts of all kinds. The biggest drawback I n this
approach was that the groom could never again refuse to pay for any
“required redemption” as long as they stayed married. He’d
established a potentially harsh precedent; once he’d redeemed her
even one time he had to pay the same price every time she violated
torah after that, as long as she was his wife.
What does this all mean?
This is the introduction of the fundamental concepts that underlie B’rit
Hadassah and the book of Revelation. This will aid in understanding
Revelation as never before. Right now themessage is still quite simple.
Eachof us has both the obligation and the privilege of choosing the
relationship we will have with God. We can be His servant, his friend,
His son, or his daughter.
Beyond that, we can purify ourselves, accept each of the covenants He
offers and accept the ultimate union. We can be part of His bride.
But becoming part of the bride doesn’t happen automatically. This is
probably the most important point of this whole chapter. Many assume
that salvation alone is all they need to become “one with Christ,” now
and forever united with Him as His Chosen One, His bride dressed in
white.
It isn’t that simple. Salvation equals … salvation! Nothing less, but
also nothing more. Salvation / covenant / betrothal is not a
three-for-one sale. Salvation means you can come to the wedding, which
is quite an invitation all by itself, but you can’t be a guest and a
bride at the same time.
one more example.......
Matthew 23:37
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones
those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your
children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
and you were unwilling.
Most of us understand this verse on the simplest level, as saying
that He loved them and still loves us, as a mother loves her chicks. But
from a Hebrew perspective this verse means much more. Remember, Hebrew
scripture works on four levels! The Hebrew word translated as "wings" is
kanaf and can mean wings, but here it is also used to describe the
corners of Yeshua's prayer shawl, His talit. Hanging from the corners of
the talit are the tzit-tzit, what most people call "fringes" but which
are actually four cords doubled over and knotted in a distinct pattern,
numerically spelling out the name of god.
Yeshua Himself provided the "hen" metaphor, but in addition He was
referring to what a loving groom would do for his wife. At the end of a
Hebrew marriage ceremony he would spread his arms around her and wrap
her up in his talit, thus protecting her but also making them as one,
even as he "covered" both of them with the name and the word of God.
Thus He was also saying how much he yearned to be in a marriage
relationship with His people.
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