From:          Glen Davis
To:             "'heb_roots_chr@geocities.com'" <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject:      The Jewish Wedding

Shalom, family.

It is a great blessing for me to be in this family and to receive the
e-mail that keeps the Hebraic Roots of Christianity in my heart and on
my mind.  I do very much enjoy the things shared through this ministry.
I pray Messiah richly blesses you all.

I read a story about the Jewish wedding ceremony.
I don't remember this exactly, but it seems the groom would go to the
house of the bride (usually at night) and take her to his father's home.
There she remained for seven days (I think) while preparations were made
for the wedding. 

Do you have anything you could share with us,
Eddie, on the Jewish wedding ceremony?

Good shabbos!

Glen

***********************************************************************

From: Eddie Chumney
To:      heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: The Jewish Wedding

                                      From the Book
                   "THE SEVEN FESTIVALS OF THE MESSIAH"
                                  by Eddie Chumney


              Rosh Hashanah: The Wedding of the Messiah

      The Bible is a marriage covenant. Both the Tanach (Old
Testament) and the Brit Hadashah (New Testament) describe
how G-d through the Mashiach (Messiah), the Bridegroom, is in the
process of marrying His bride, the believers in Him who will
ultimately live and dwell with Him forever.

      G-d ordained and established marriage and its divine sanctity in
the Torah, the very first book of the Bible, Genesis
(Bereishit), when He brought Adam and Eve together to become one flesh
(Genesis 2:21-24). In doing so, we have a vivid foreshadowing of the
Messiah being married to those who would believe upon Him. Let's
examine this closer.

      Adam is a type of the Messiah Yeshua. Adam was made after the
likeness of Yeshua (Romans 5:14). Yeshua (Jesus) was
made in the likeness of Adam (Philippians 2:8). In fact, Yeshua is
called the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). In Genesis 2:21, G-d
had a deep sleep fall upon Adam. Sleep is synonymous with death
(Daniel 12:2; John [Yochanan] 11:11-14; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54;
Ephesians 5:14). The deep sleep that G-d caused to fall upon Adam is a
picture of the crucifixion and death of Yeshua, as Messiah ben Joseph.
G-d brought a deep sleep upon Adam so He could take a rib from the
side of his flesh. This required the shedding of blood. This is a
picture of Yeshua who was pierced in the side of His flesh, shedding
His own blood when He hung on the tree (John [Yochanan] 19:34).

      From the rib of Adam, G-d made Eve. Likewise, by the death of
Yeshua and faith (emunah) in Him, G-d established the
assembly of believers known in Hebrew as the kehilat. The believers in
the Messiah, His bride, become wedded to Him by faith (emunah). This
marriage can be seen in the Tanach (Old Testament) as well as in
Jeremiah 23:5-6, as it is written, .... this is His name whereby He
shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu]
23:6). In Jeremiah 33:15-16, it is written, "...this is the name
wherewith she shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah
[Yermiyahu] 33:16). So from these passages in Jeremiah, we can see
that a wedding is taking place. Therefore, by accepting, trusting, and
believing in the Messiah, the bride of Messiah, His followers, become
one with Him. These people would include both Jew and non-Jews who
have lived since Adam and would include Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Moses, David, and Solomon as well as the prophets.

      G-d gave the wedding customs, service, and ceremonies to the
Jewish people (Romans 3:2; 9:4) to teach us about the
Messiah Yeshua (Colossians 2:16-17). With this in mind, let's examine
the biblical wedding ceremony that G-d gave to the Jewish people. The
ancient Jewish wedding ceremony G-d gave to the Jewish people to teach
us about the wedding of the Messiah consisted of 12 steps.

   1. The selection of the bride.

       The bride was usually chosen by the father of the
       bridegroom. The father would send his trusted servant,
       known as the agent of the father, to search out the bride. An
       excellent example of this can be seen in Genesis 24. In this chapter,
       Abraham (a type of G-d the Father) wishes to secure a bride for
      Isaac (a type of Messiah) and sends his servant Eliezer (a type
      of the Holy Spirit [Ruach HaKodesh]) to do this task (Genesis
      [Bereishit 24:2-4; 15:2). It is the role of the Holy Spirit
      (Ruach HaKodesh) to convict the world of sin and lead them to G-d
      (John [Yochanan] 16:7-8). Just as the bride was usually chosen by
      the father of the bridegroom, so the believers in the Messiah are
      chosen by G-d (John [Yochanan] 15:16). The bridegroom chose the
      bride and lavished his love upon her and she returned his love.
      This can be seen in Ephesians 5:25, as it is written, "Husbands,
      love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave
      Himself of it." In Genesis (Bereishit) 24, Rebekah (Rivkah)
      consented to marry Isaac (Yitzchak) even before she ever met him.
      Today, the believers in the Messiah Yeshua consent to become the
      bride of Messiah even though we have never seen Him. First Peter
      (Kefa) 1:8 speaks of this, as it is written, "Whom having not
      seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing,
      ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

   2. A bride price was established.

       A price would have to be paid for the bride. The agreed
       upon price was called a mohar in Hebrew. Yeshua, being
       our bridegroom, paid a very high price for His bride, the body of
       believers. The price He paid was His life. Yeshua considered the
       price He had to pay for His bride before His death as He went
       into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray in Matthew (Mattityahu)
       26:39, as it is written, "And He went a little farther, and fell
       on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible,
       let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as
       Thou wilt." Yeshua was, in essence, saying, "Father, You have
       chosen this bride and I have agreed to the terms, but do you
       realize the price that is being asked for her?" Our mohar, our
       bride price, was His life. First Peter (Kefa) 1:18-19 says,
       "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
       things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
       by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of
       Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." In First
       Corinthians 6:20 it is written, "For ye are bought with a price:
       therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
       God's."

   3. The bride and groom are betrothed to each other.

       This is the first stage of marriage known as kiddushin. I
       have spoken at length of betrothal in Chapter 6, concerning
       Shavuot. Remember, betrothal is the first of two steps in the
       marriage process. Betrothal in Hebrew is known as erusin or
       kiddushin. Betrothal legally binds the bride and the groom
       together in a marriage contract, except they do not physically
       live together. Historically, G-d betrothed Himself to Israel at
       Mount Sinai (Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 2:19-20). Whenever you accept
       the Messiah into your heart and life, you become betrothed to Him
       while living on the earth.

   4. A written document is drawn up, known as a ketubah. This
       betrothal contract is called, in Hebrew, a shitre erusin.

       The ketubah is the marriage contract that states the bride
       price, the promises of the groom, and the rights of the
       bride. The word ketubah means "that which is written." The groom
       promised to work for her, to honor, support, and maintain her in
       truth, to provide food, clothing, and necessities, and to live
       together with her as husband and wife. The ketubah was the
       unalienable right of the bride. The ketubah must be executed and
       signed prior to the wedding ceremony. The Bible is the believer's
       ketubah. All the promises that G-d provided for the believers in
       the Messiah are legally ours, as it is written in Second
       Corinthians 1:20, "For all the promises of God in Him are yea,
       and in Him Amen...."

   5. The bride must give her consent.

       As we saw in Chapter 6, which dealt with Shavuot
      (Pentecost), G-d betrothed Himself to Israel at Mount Sinai
      as stated in Jeremiah 2:2. Israel consented to the marriage
      proposal from G-d and said, "I do," as it is written in Exodus (Shemot)
      24:3. Likewise, the personal application (halacha) to those who
      desire the Messiah to come into their hearts and lives is to
      accept His invitation to do so by faith (emunah), as it is
      written in Romans 10:8-10:

      What, then, does it say? The Word is near you in your mouth
      and in your heart: that is the word about trust [emunah]
      which we proclaim, namely, that if you acknowledge publicly
      with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and trust in your heart
      that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered.
      For with the heart one goes on trusting and thus continues
      toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on
      making public acknowledgments and thus continues toward
      deliverance (Romans 10:8-10 Jewish New Testament Version).

     So, even today, to become the bride of Messiah you must still say
     "I do" to Him.

   6. Gifts were given to the bride and a cup called the cup of the
       covenant was shared between the bride and the groom.

       The rite of betrothal (erusin) is completed when the groom
       gives something of value to the bride and she accepts it.
       The gift most often given today is the ring. When the groom
        places the ring on the bride's finger, the rite of betrothal is
        completed. This completed rite is known in Hebrew as kiddushin,
        which means "sanctification."

        The gifts to the bride are symbols of love, commitment, and
        loyalty. The gift G-d gives to those who accept the
        Messiah is the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) (John [Yochanan]
        14:26; 15:26-27; Acts 2:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22). When Yeshua
        ascended to Heaven, He gave gifts to men (Ephesians 4:7-8). These
        gifts included righteousness (Romans 5:17-18), eternal life
        (Romans 6:23), grace (Romans 5:12,14-15), faith (Ephesians
        2:8-9), and other spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1,4). These
        included wisdom, knowledge, healing, the working of miracles,
        prophecy, the discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation
        of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-11), as well as the gifts of helps
        and administration (1 Corinthians 12:28).

        In addition, at this time the cup of the covenant was
        shared and sealed between the bride and the groom with the
        drinking of wine. In doing so, the couple drinks from a common
        cup. The cup is first given to the groom to sip, and then is
        given to the bride. This cup, known as the cup of the covenant,
        is spoken of in Jeremiah 31:31-33, as it is written:

        Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 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 bring
        them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake,
        although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but
        this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house
        of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My
        law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and
        will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah
        [Yermiyahu] 31:31-33).

       Yeshua spoke of the cup of the New Covenant (Brit Hadashah) in
       Luke 22:20.

   7. The bride had a mikvah (water immersion), which is a ritual of
       cleansing.

       Mikvah is a Hebrew word that means "pool" or "body of
       water." Mikvah is a ceremonial act of purification by the
       immersion in water. It indicates a separation from a former way
       to a new way. In the case of marriage, it indicates leaving an
       old life for a new life with your spouse (Genesis [Bereishit]
       2:23-24; Ephesians 5:31). Immersing in the mikvah is considered
       spiritual rebirth. The reason is that a mikvah has the power to
       change a person completely. Concerning the marriage to Israel at
       Mount Sinai, G-d said in Ezekiel 16:8-9, as it is written, "...I
       sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee... and
       thou becamest Mine. Then washed I thee with water...." The
       washing, or immersion, here refers to that of Israel before the
       people received the Torah when G-d betrothed Himself to Israel at
       Mount Sinai (Exodus [Shemot] 19:14-15). Yeshua spoke to the
       Pharisee, Nicodemus (Nakdimon), that he must be born anew
       (immersed) to enter into the Kingdom of G-d (John [Yochanan]
       3:1-7). The believers in the Messiah are to be immersed in the
       name of Yeshua (Acts 19:4). The Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) is
       the immerser of G-d (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5; 11:15-16).

   8. The bridegroom departed, going back to his father's house to
        prepare the bridal chamber.

        At this point, the bridegroom leaves for his father's house
        to prepare the bridal chamber for his bride. It was
       understood to be the man's duty to go away to be with his father,
       build a house, and prepare for the eventual wedding. Before he
       goes, though, he will make a statement to the bride. "I go to
       prepare a place for you; if I go, I will return again unto you."
       This is the same statement Yeshua made in John (Yochanan) 14:1-3
       before He went to His father's house in Heaven, as it is written:
    

      Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe
      also in Me. In My Fathers' house are many mansions: if it
      were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place