Tuesday, March 26 2024

The Wedding Ceremony

In the beginning, the wedding ceremony was very simple.

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. And the man said:

“This is now bone of my bones
     and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
     for out of man she was taken.”

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Genesis 2:23-24

And...

Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Matt 19:4-6

There were about 20 generations from Adam to Abraham. During this time, there is very little evidence of any ritual or ceremony accompanying the process of marriage.

When Isaac married Rebekah there was at least one ritual added to his marriage ceremony. But it was still a relatively simple act:

And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.

Genesis 24:67

No doubt, a multitude of other rituals and customs were added in the generations that followed.

Some today will cite "the Jewish Wedding model" as a template for interpreting eschatological events. While many of these traditions contain metaphors that allude to the Tanakh (Jewish Scriptures), they weren't prescribed there. They came after.

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Friday, March 22 2024

"now and not yet"

Everyone champions the statement that the kingdom of God is both "now and not yet." It's very easy to test the sincerity of that statement. When you say the kingdom of God is now, they all heartily agree. When you say the kingdom of God is not yet, they all disagree. - Joel Richardson  […]

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Sunday, March 10 2024

removal of peace

I could be wrong, but I think the seals of Rev 6 have begun to break. btw - there is nothing in the text that suggests these seals are confined to the time period of the final "seven years". That's an assumption. I believe the breaking of these seals are describing general conditions on  […]

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Friday, March 8 2024

these 10 "rise from this kingdom"

The field of eschatology is filled with assumptions that people have made. The point of prophecy is to draw attention to the One who sits outside of time and space and who is ultimately in control. Remember what happened long ago,      for I am God, and there is no other;      I am God, and there is  […]

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Monday, March 4 2024

"born again"

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one  […]

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Tuesday, February 27 2024

Polycarp of Smyrna

Polycarp was an early disciple of John the apostle. He served as a bishop in the church at Smyrna. He was arrested by Roman soldiers when he was well into his 80's, taken to Rome, and then martyred. After refusing to renounce Jesus, the proconsul intended to burn the elderly Polycarp alive, but the  […]

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Monday, February 26 2024

Expectations and God's Timing

Expectations and God's Timing by Travis M. Snow The eschatological reading of Scripture is so important if you want to avoid discouragement in this life. For example, let's take the famous line in Isaiah: "No weapon formed against you will prosper...this is the heritage of the servants of the  […]

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Sunday, February 25 2024

"You have made them to be a kingdom"

A now elderly John, who was one of Jesus' closest confidants, was serving time in the Roman penal colony of Patmos - off the coast of modern day Turkey. It is here that he receives the revelation of Jesus Christ. Most will tend to compartmentalize this prophecy. But remember, Jesus told John in  […]

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Friday, February 23 2024

"I am coming"

With so much emphasis in the modern church being placed on the concept of "kingdom now", it's helpful to recall Jesus' closing statements at the close of our "New Testament Canon". First he identifies the audience. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the  […]

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Tuesday, February 6 2024

"Sola Scriptura" - revisited

Sola scriptura (Latin for 'by scripture alone') is a fairly modern Christian theological doctrine that came out of the Reformation period. It was a response to papal athority and abuses that crept into the church through traditions. It's a doctrine that's held by most Protestant Christian  […]

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Friday, February 2 2024

"The Great Multitude"

Considering the days we live in, I can appreciate Paul's statement here. He's torn between wanting to serve the needs of the church - and dying so that he can be with the Lord. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.  […]

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Sunday, January 14 2024

Genesis and John

I've often thought that the entire gospel of the kingdom could be summed up in four chapters - Genesis 1 - 3 and John 1. John understood the importance of Genesis and the role Jesus (who was the embodiment of the Word of God) had in the beginning. Genesis and John are inseparable. For the sake of  […]

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Thursday, January 4 2024

The Great De-Churching

"America is experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in its history—greater than the First and the Second Great Awakening and every revival in the U.S. combined. But instead of a massive shift into the church, what we’re seeing is a mass exodus." - Michael Graham An  […]

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Tuesday, January 2 2024

When God flips the switch

If you've been a Christian for some time, one thing should be pretty obvious by now. There is no one way or template God uses to shake us out of our slumber and draw us to Him.  For me, it was the words of a friend that shook my foundation as a young adult. I don't know that he was even Christian at  […]

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Sunday, December 31 2023

The "Word" of God

Gutenberg_Bible.jpg, Dec 2023

The current Bible is an important collection of Judaeo-Christian writings from approximately 40 different authors over the course of about 1500 years. I understand the desire to protect and place high value on the statements recorded by these various authors. But in doing that, we risk placing the  […]

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Tuesday, December 19 2023

"See, your Savior comes"

Savior_Comes.jpeg, Dec 2023

There's something special about Isaiah. It's unparalleled in terms of the sheer number of "kingdom statements". Behold, the LORD has proclaimed      to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion:      See, your Savior comes! Look, His reward is with Him,      and His recompense goes  […]

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Sunday, December 17 2023

The Apostle Paul and Patriarchy

Critics have used the term misogyny to describe some of Paul's statements. The reason? Virtually all the statements in the New Testament describing women as submissive partners in marriage and subservient to male leadership within the church, come from Paul. But I want you to understand that the  […]

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Monday, December 11 2023

All Our Heroes Fall

heroes.jpg, Dec 2023

Autumn Crew has made it a habit of being timely and relevant. This is a good read. All Our Heroes Fall  […]

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Sunday, December 10 2023

Polygamy and Concubines

Moses, in Genesis, documents the institution of marriage: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” ... Then the LORD God  […]

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Justice and Mercy

“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold,      My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him,      and He will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice,      nor make His voice heard in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break      and a smoldering  […]

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