{"id":886,"date":"2025-02-19T18:41:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T18:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=886"},"modified":"2025-02-19T20:08:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T20:08:08","slug":"the-marriage-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=886","title":{"rendered":"The Marriage Metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Bible is a love story, God\u2019s love letter to us. God is LOVE\u2014it\u2019s who He is and what He does.The Creator of the universe is head over heels in love with us and wants to be married to us for all eternity. When we get saved, it\u2019s like getting engaged. Paul alluded to this, \u201cFor I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband<\/strong>, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ\u201d<\/em> (2 Cor. 11:2). We are betrothed to Christ now but the wedding is still to come when He returns. While we enjoy many blessings of a deep, love relationship with Jesus now, after the wedding, we\u2019ll experience all the bliss and benefits of a full marriage union with Him forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human marriage is a metaphor for something greater\u2014a spiritual marriage God longs to share with us.Remember, Jesus\u2019 ministry began at a wedding where He worked His first miracle (Jn. 2:1-11), and it will culminate at another wedding\u2014our wedding (Rev. 19:7-9). God used the marriage metaphor to describe His relationship with Israel, \u201cYou shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah <\/em>[My delight is in her], and your land Beulah <\/strong><\/em>[married];<\/em> for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (Is. 62:4). Squire Parsons\u2019 classic song says it well, \u201cBeulah Land, I\u2019m longing for you and some day on thee I\u2019ll stand. Where my home shall be eternal, Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.\u201d Beulah means \u201cmarried\u201d and it describes a future time when we\u2019ll be married to God in an eternal spiritual union.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God desires a passionate, love relationship with His bride, not a sense of duty or obligation, but delight. \u201cAnd as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you\u201d (Is. 62:5b). Christ had one complaint about the Church of Ephesus, \u201cNevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (Rev. 2:4). They had lost their passion, zeal, and desire for Him. They were distracted with other things, and Jesus said, \u201cHey, what about ME?\u201d If you truly love someone, you want to spend time with them and make them your top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul used the same analogy of the marriage relationship with Christ and the church, \u201cFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (Eph. 5:31-32). In human marriage, two people become one flesh physically, emotionally, and sexually. Spiritual marriage is a spiritual union with God who is a spirit being\u2014\u201cHe that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit\u201d<\/em> (1 Cor. 6:17). We know from Scripture there are only two genders\u2014\u201cMale and female created He them\u201d<\/em> (Gen. 1:27). Don\u2019t get hung up on the gender terms. Men are in the bride of Christ and women are called \u201csons of God.\u201d These are just general terms used for all God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While gender is a big issue now, it won\u2019t be in heaven. Jesus explained, \u201cThe children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage<\/strong>: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection\u201d<\/em> (Lk. 20:34-36). Human gender and marriage are temporary and they serve God\u2019s purpose in this world for stability in the family and in society and for the reproduction of the human race. In Christ, however, there is no male or female, Jew or Gentile, black or white, rich or poor because we\u2019re all ONE in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis 24 records one of the greatest love stories in the Bible, a romance from 4,000 years ago. It\u2019s an allegory of Christ\u2019s deep love for His bride. An allegory is a story that has a deeper, symbolic, or spiritual meaning in addition to its surface meaning. Rebekah\u2019s selection to be Isaac\u2019s wife is a beautiful type of how we have been chosen as the bride of Christ. Meet the cast of characters: Abraham represents God the Father who sent out His Spirit in search for a bride for Christ. Isaac, the promised son whose name means \u201claughter,\u201d represents Jesus who brings true joy to our lives. Eliezer, the steward of Abraham\u2019s household, is a fitting type of the Holy Spirit. His name aptly means \u201cGod is my helper.\u201d Rebekah represents the church, the bride of Christ. Just as Abraham sent Eliezer to a distant land to find Isaac\u2019s wife, God sent the Holy Spirit into the world to find the bride of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Abraham told Eliezer not to take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites (Gen. 24:3). Why? They were a cursed people (Noah cursed His grandson, Canaan, and the Canaanites were his descendants\u2014Gen. 9:25). They would later be destroyed during the conquest of Canaan as Israel possessed the Promised Land. The Canaanites were pagan idolaters, immoral, and wicked people. Abraham didn\u2019t want Eliezer to just go out and randomly recruit someone. God is looking for a certain kind of bride who has a faithful, compatible spirit. So, Eliezer took a caravan of ten camels loaded with gifts to Mesopotamia to the City of Nahor, Abraham\u2019s brother (Gen. 24:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Eliezer arrived at the well of the city, he prayed that God would send Isaac\u2019s future bride to pour him some water and to offer to water his camels also. Before he finished praying, a gorgeous girl named Rebekah showed up at the same time at the same place (Gen. 24:11-21).Coincidence? Albert Einstein said, \u201cCoincidence is when God remains anonymous.\u201dThis wasn\u2019t coincidence; it was providence! Some say God doesn\u2019t care about love, marriage, romance, and sex. Are you kidding me? He invented it! It was all His idea and design from the very beginning when He formed Eve from Adam\u2019s rib in Eden. Hollywood, Disney, and the Hallmark Channel didn\u2019t invent love stories, God did. And He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives including our relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebekah\u2019s beauty is implied in her name which means \u201ccaptivating.\u201d The KJV says she was \u201cvery fair to look upon.\u201d<\/em> She was so beautiful Isaac later lied to King Abimelech and the men of Gerar and said she was his sister for fear they\u2019d kill him and steal her (Gen. 26:6-11). But Rebekah had inward character to go with her outward charm. She was willing to work and to get her hands dirty. She offered Eliezer water plus she watered all his camels. (Camels can drink 30-40 gallons of water at a time and he had ten camels, so she drew and poured 300-400 gallons of water.) She was kind, generous, hard-working, and hospitable which all speaks to her character. God isn\u2019t seeking for a bride who just appears religious on the outside; He seeks for one who has a pure heart and is righteous inwardly. \u201cChrist also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church,<\/strong> not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish<\/strong>\u201d <\/em>(Eph. 5:25-27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliezer gave Rebekah a sampling of Isaac\u2019s treasure\u2014a gold nose ring, two bracelets, plus other silver and gold jewelry (Gen 24:22, 53). Paul called the Holy Spirit \u201cthe earnest\u201d of our spiritual inheritance three times (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5, Eph. 1:14). An \u201cearnest\u201d is a downpayment, a pledge, a promise, a guarantee to pay more later. Eliezer brought ten camels loaded with gifts (food, clothes, jewelry, riches) to bless Rebekah and her family with a dowery. Some scholars see the ten camels as a type of the nine gifts of the Spirit, plus love which makes all the gifts work effectively. Eliezer showered Rebekah and her family with gifts that were just a portion of Isaac\u2019s riches and basically said, \u201cThere\u2019s a whole lot more where these came from.\u201d Likewise, God has given His church many spiritual gifts and blessings as a downpayment on all the benefits heaven holds for those who make up His eternal bride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, it all came down to Rebekah\u2019s choice\u2014was she willing to go with Eliezer to marry Isaac? \u201cThen they called Rebekah and said to her, \u2018Will you go with this man?\u2019 And she said, \u201cI will go\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (Gen. 24:58). Think of it, Rebekah was willing to leave her home, her family, and everything she knew and held dear, to believe in, love, and marry a man she\u2019d never met. She was willing to go to a strange land she\u2019d never seen. She heard enough good things about Isaac from Eliezer to gladly forsake everything to marry him. Even so, God is looking for a bride that is willing to forsake all to follow Him.Like Rebekah, we believe in and love a God we\u2019ve never seen and we\u2019re willing to go live in a land we\u2019ve never visited. The Holy Spirit has told us enough good things about Jesus that we are willing to forsake everything to be His bride. \u201cThere is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear\u201d <\/em>(1 Jn. 4:18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, save the date, because our wedding day is already booked. \u201cLet us be glad and rejoice, and give Him glory: for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and<\/strong> his wife has made herself ready<\/strong> . . . Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb\u201d<\/em> (Rev. 19:7, 9). Think about how much preparation goes into a wedding. Months of planning goes into just a few moments on one special day. From the venue, to the dress, clothes, flowers, music, food, cake, d\u00e9cor, make up, hair, nails, and much more. Well, a special day is rapidly approaching\u2014God\u2019s wedding with us! Are you ready? If not, it\u2019s time to get ready and stay ready. God\u2019s love proposal to us is \u201cWill you marry Me and be My bride eternally?\u201d And we say \u201cYes, Lord!\u201d \u201cAnd the Spirit and the bride say, \u2018Come!\u2019 . . . Even so, come, Lord Jesus!\u201d<\/em> (Rev. 22:17, 20)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bible is a love story, God\u2019s love letter to us. God is LOVE\u2014it\u2019s who He is and what He does.The Creator of the universe is head over heels in love with us and wants to be married to us for all eternity. When we get saved, it\u2019s like getting engaged. Paul alluded to this, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=886"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":889,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions\/889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}