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Sunday, March 28
In the ancient, betrothal tradition, Hebrew fathers thought it their duty to provide a bride for their sons in imitation of God, as Father, Who provided a wife for Adam. When a son came of age to marry, the father, or sometimes the father and mother, chose a bride for their son from their own clan.
A betrothal usually lasted about one year, as the bridegroom left to prepare a place for his bride, usually within his father’s compound. There was to be no contact between the espoused couple during this time.
Therefore, all communications were made through an intermediary, or as we might think of him, a “best man.” He was the one who interceded, relaying messages of love from the groom to the bride and from the bride back to the groom.
As the assistant who also helped plan the marriage, this man was called the “friend of the bridegroom.” This was how John the Baptist referred to himself in John 3:29, saying, “The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” (NKJV)
When Christ went ahead to prepare a place for His Bride within His Father’s compound, He sent the Holy Spirit as the Friend of the Bridegroom to be the communicator for Him.
Now, the Holy Spirit, as the intermediary, comes to woo the heart of Christ’s intended, to passionately whisper in Her ear and delicately relay the Bridegroom’s messages of love to Her heart.
If you do not take time to listen, you will not hear those precious whispers of love.
Are you listening?
“If ever you were willing to listen, listen now!” (Matt. 11:15 TLB)
=-O O' my LORD... Yes, LORD! I am listening... whisper to me what You will. O' Lover of my soul. Praise be to YOU! Amen.
Thanks for this, Lynn. May we be sensitive to His speaking.
Listening is so right and beautiful when the Lord is speaking to us.
Nice Lynn, thanks for sharing! Karen :)
Lynn, my devotional, this morning explained how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8) when we are in crisis. He tenderly cares for us as we await the Bridgroom, keeping us from being alone in this corrupted world.
Thank you for reinforcing the message God was sending me.
Be blessed,
Lynnda
Your post left me speechless. Beautiful! Just simply beautiful! Thanks so much for allowing God to use you in our lives! You bless me, my sister! :-)
Fantastic post, Lynn! I love the similarities you pointed out between the friend of the bridegroom and the Holy Spirit of God. Thanks for the reminder to listen for His whispers of love! God bless you!
I love how God works. In my blog today I spoke about the journey we're on and how I'm getting prepared to meet Jesus in Heaven- just like a bride preparing for her husband! I'm so glad I found you, Lynn. Your words are beautiful like you.
Please keep me updated on your book. Excited is an understatement. I can't wait to see the finished product! Can I be first in line to get a copy? Pleeese?
Listening includes thinking about what He is saying to us. And we can't listen if we are talking over the top of Him. Great post.
Happy Tuesday Lynn Mosher,
Your site has been added as a favorite on Mosaico Writing. I feel bad about the wait - I had to go back to school suddenly on short notice. Please forgive me?
Please let me know if you have any other sites you feel might be helpful to list.
Also, I am working with Free-Ed.Net to develop FREE courses on various types of writing from business writing to novel writing to song writing. I am looking for volunteers to work with me to facilitate/teach/critique student's work.
Are you interested? Or, do you know of anyone else that would be interested?
If interested I will forward some emails to you that are pretty informative in regards to what I and Free.Ed.Net are developing as free on-line "official" courses.
I am really excited about this project - I hope you are also?!?
God Bless,
Rebecca L. Hotz
rebecca_hotz@yahoo.com