ALL Doves:

In this series on "The Theme of The Bride" we are going to look at the next step of the Hebrew wedding, which is the drinking of a glass of wine; a toast, and communion, that seals the covenant between the parties.

When you take the communion cup in your church, you are actually saying "I do" to the invitation of the Lord to be His Bride.  You may never have thought of it in that way but it is true.

The story of Hamor, mentioned in a previous post, it mentions three times how they communed to establish the agreement of the Bride Price.  They also communed with the men of their city to get them to agree to the terms of the marriage agreement.  Marriage was a community event.

Genesis 34:6  - "And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him."

Genesis 34:8  - "And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you giver her him to wife."

Genesis 34:20  - "And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,"

David had a "communion" with the servants of King Saul, prior to marrying his daughter.  At this communion, the bride price of 100 foreskins was established.

1st Samuel 18:20  - "And Michal Saul's daughter loved David and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him."

1st Samuel 18:21  - "And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.  Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain."

1st Samuel 18:22  - "And Saul commanded his servants, saying, commune with David secretly, and say, Behold the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law."

1st Samuel 18:23  - "And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David.  And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?"

1st Samuel 18:24  - "And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David."

1st Samuel 18:25  - "And Saul said, This shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies.  But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines."

David also communed with Abagail before taking her as his wife.

1st Samuel 25:36  - "And Abigal came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken; wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light."

1st Samuel 25:37  - "But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone."

1st Samuel 25:38  - "And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died."

1st Samuel 25:39  - "And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head.  And David sent and  communed with Abigal, to take her to him to wife."

The word for communion in Hebrew is "dabar", which means to speak, promise, say, talk, tell, commune, pronounce, utter, command.

Exodus 25:22  - "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things, which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

In Old Testament times, God would "commune" with the people through the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple.  In New Testament times, our bodes are the Temple, and God "communes" with us directly.  See below, regarding the vail, and in Hebrews.

Luke 2:16  - "For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God."

Luke 2:17  - "And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:"

Luke 2:18  - "For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come."

Luke 2:19  - "And he took bread and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you:  this do in remembrance of me."

Luke 2:20  - "Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you."

Matthew 26:28  - "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

Matthew 26:29  - "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

1 Corinthians 10:16  - "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?  The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?"

Luke 24:35  - "And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread."

Acts 2:42  - "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

Acts 2:46  - "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."

Acts 20:7  - "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."

Genesis 14:18  - "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God."

Today, it is common at weddings to make many toasts with the drinking of wine to signify agreement.

Jesus turned water to wine at a wedding as His very first miracle.  This is an example of the "Principle of First Mention" in the Bible.  Added significance is always placed on the first occurrence of something in the Bible.

John 2:1  - "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:"

John 2:2  - "And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage."

John 2:3  - "And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine."

John 2:4  - "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee?  mine hour is not yet come."

John 2:5  - "His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."

John 2:6  - "And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece."

John 2:7  - "Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water.  And they filled them up to the brim."

John 2:8  - "And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.  And they bare it."

John 2:9  - "When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants which drew the water knew); the governor of the feast called the Bridegroom,"

John 2:10  - "And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now."

John 2:11  - "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and disciples believed on him."

The interesting thing about this wedding feast is that it took place on the third day.  The allusion is that Christ Jesus will return on the third day after 2 days or 2,000 years, based on Peter's statement and the words of Hosea.  Traditionally, Jewish weddings were always conducted on the third day of the week, which isTuesday. 

Hosea 6:2  - "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight." 

There are many allusions and hidden metaphors in the text of John, beyond what the focus of this series deals with.  Even the expression "two days" appears nearly thirty times in the Bible.  The expression is often related to the Church Age being "two days" or two-thousand years.  Nearly every verse of the Gospel of John exudes multiple messages, insights, or spiritual significance.  The Gospel of John is my favorite Gospel for preaching from.

In the next step of "The Theme of The Bride" we will look at the "Betroathal" of the Bride and Groom.

God bless,


Pastor Bob