The Betrothal
December 22nd 2007 05:29
And as he went his way, his mind was made up and he knew he was in love with Esther. There was no doubt in his mind and soul of how much he loved her. Jarrod walked the last mile to her parent’s home in the hope that they would give their consent to his marriage to their daughter Esther. He also knew of the accountability of what such a proposal means to her and to them and to his parents and to him, and to all of their neighbours.
He knew for example that most of his friends would make fun of his offer of marriage to her in the traditional formal way, that used to be regular and normal in their society for over a five thousand years, but in the past two hundred, there had been a huge walking away and turning from these previously accepted norms among his people, and mankind generally, by the majority of their kind.
He was eighteen years of age now and had just been hired to work in his neighbour’s factory, making shoes and all manner of leather and tanned goods. He was to be a trades man and was looking forward to this new life he was just entering upon, and he wanted Esther to share it with him. Thankfully for him the day was sunny and bright and a cool steady breeze was coming in from the south east and making every thing even better, for him. He remembered this day a year ago, and of how his parents had taken his news of how much he had loved Esther and how he was planning to ask her to marry him, and after the initial shock they were mighty happy for him, as they knew Esther was a very uncommonly bright and happy young lady and had a lot of musical talent and was endowed with a lot of kindness toward others. So they knew she would make a good wife for their son. But his father had cautioned him back then to become employed as soon as possible and of how he had to consider what type of work he wanted to do from now on which would last him his whole life long. He had thought long and hard on this problem for two years already, till he finally realized that he wanted to work with all manner of hides and leather and that becoming a shoe maker and tanner was the work for him from now on. He also remembered how his father had shook his hand and had counselled him over the past year about the accountability and manner of a man about to become married and to his wife and to their children and so on. Then his father had said, when you are ready and in a job, then let him know and he will talk to her parents to see if there was any one else interested in Esther or had already asked her for her hand in marriage.
He had to wait another year before he could be allowed to approach Esther by himself. Today was that day, and he was both nervous and very happy as well. As he walked that last mile he knew how happy they were going to be, and he was looking forward to her response and to the Betrothal Ceremony after wards. If all went well today then it was only a week after wards that the betrothal ceremony would take place at her parent’s home.
As he was walking over the low bridge he was met by some of his other friends who knew why he was walking this way and he hoped they were going to wish him well, but he doubted it. He stopped to let them come up to him, as he come off of the bridge, and every one of them was smiling and he thought all would be well after all; but Anthony Newmine had other ideas (1), as he was the leader of this bunch of ruffians and drifters. Anthony blocked his path and stood face to face with him with only three feet between them. He was just a bit taller than Jarrod and a bit heavier, but Jarrod had always been the athlete and hard worker, and he had learned a lot of fighting tricks from old man Genner who lived out side of town behind Hushai mountain three miles from the end of town to the north east with his three sons and two daughters and wife (he had been a midshipman and ship wright for eighteen years and had been a ruffian himself for over thirty years before he settled down in the Hushai Swamplands – and he had taught Jarrod a lot more than any one knew about than making ships and canoes), so he was not over worried about this encounter with Anthony. Anthony had set every one up to make a circle around Jarrod so that he had to stay where he was and listen to all of the reason’s why he should not go through with these silly old ways (as he called them). As Anthony was winding up his long speech, Jarrod put his hand up in front of Anthony’s face and said to him “may God bless you with a wiser mind and faith to repent of your ways and believe in the Gospel of Jesus the Christ who could save him from his wretched ways.
(1) The Holy Bible in the English language of the Authorised King James Bible Version -- Genesis 6:1-7; 6:11-13; 17.
And thanked him for his attempt to be a friend to him, when he most needed as many blessings from his family and friends as much as possible.” Then he shook each of their hands before they could react and he walked past them on his way to Esther’s home.
As he walked to her parent’s gate, he saw her standing on the verandah in front of the front door, just waiting for him, in her best clothing which had been prepared for this moment by her aunty. She was like an angel from heaven, and her smile as radiant as the rays of the sun at dusk and sun rise. Her hair was as shiny as the stars in the night, and her eyes, teeth and lips were as sparkling jewels. In that moment as his hand touched the top of the gate he knew he could ask her with utter confidence and knew what her response would be as well.
His eyes held hers as he walked up to her and in that moment of moments her hand went out to his and his went to hers. Their touch was like a hot flaming spark of a welders iron as he had begun his weld, and in this it was a spark of welcome and of peace and of acceptance and honour for her and her for him. He held his breath for just a moment longer and then those words he so longed to say to her came slowly and quietly from out of his soul through to his conscience and from his lips “Esther I have come to make you my wife and I to be your husband, for I love you with all that is in me to love you with; will you therefore consent to be betrothed to me and marry me as soon as we can be according to the Law and Commandment and Way of God?” He was so lit up inside that the whites of his eyes were crystal clear and he shone with that inner glow of faith and love for her. Esther had so longed for this moment as well, and she knew what her answer was going to be, and her words came out from her soul and lips just as confidently as they had come from Jarrod’s “My Jarrod, of this city Iddo welcome you in to my life and to my heart and soul, and I do love you and do hereby consent to be betrothed to you and to marry you and be your wife and you my husband as soon as the Law of God and His Commandments and Ways allow us to be so married.”
There they stood hand in hand locked in that wonderful moment of total peace and acceptance of being in one with each other, from that moment on, till ten minutes later, when her parents came out to meet them there and to congratulate them on their betrothal and acceptance of marriage between them, which they had witnessed it, as they had stood to one side in the hall way of their home, to allow them this time together. Her father invited the newly betrothed in to his home for the mid day meal, and to send his son down to the cross roads to make the call on the families conch horn, which was the signal for the whole town to know that the betrothal had taken place and accepted by them both. It was also the signal that Jarrod’s parents and uncles and aunties and cousins and old man Genner and his family to attend the betrothal ceremony that would take place in two hours time. It was also the signal for all of Esther’s family and relatives and friend to turn up at the appointed celebrations as well.
In the betrothal ceremony Esther’s parent’s provided her with a dowry of money, of fabrics, and of land grant holdings, and of jewellery, and of cattle and of herbs and spices, and seeds for corn, and wheat, and barley and fruit trees, and of buffalo, for the plough and a wedding gown, and many wonderful sets of clothing, and large barrels for water and bathing, and washing, and a small wagon in good condition. Jarrod’s parents had given him, the wedding rings, and enough money to build his own home, and a block of land should he want to buy land close to home or out side of town, and many kinds of tools for the farm and for his work, and for the wedding ceremony, and the musicians and foods for that day, and for the priestly Minister of god in the township, who was to officiate in the betrothal and marriage ceremonies (his parents also gave him secretly several land grants that belonged to his grand parents and to his ancestors for seven hundred years, as he was their first male son born, and loved him very much).
During the betrothal ceremony the priestly minister Harbonah Hanun, made it all known as to why every one was their, and followed the biblical way for betrothals, according to God’s Law and Commandments, and afterwards held their hands in his and anointed them with the oil Gemeriah which was the oil of baptism and betrothal, and announced them to be betrothed and then signed the marriage registry of both families, and of his own registry record and sealed it with his signet ring also of Gemeriah and with a wax seal.
Now that this was all done the gathering and festivities could get under way in earnest and happiness and in the freedom of the Lord. Now Jarrod had to make good, with where he was going to live with his wife Esther and how they were going to live and how he was going to have to provide for them and their children to come from now on. He had no idea what gifts his parents had given him, except for the tools and the money in four heavy leather bags.
Every one marvelled at the gifts Esther’s parents had given her, and she was very happy in deed. Every one including her knew there was absolutely nothing wrong with her and her husband and their lives from that moment on.
And yet any sort of proposal as a betrothal between a man and a woman back then and now is more than just a legal procedure. It is the most powerful of all binding moral obligations between a man and a woman and between one family and another out side of their love and faith and worship of God almighty himself. To enter in to such a betrothal and wedding, was tantamount to fully committing one self, in mind, body and soul, and with all that one has available to them, to being completely accountable for ones actions before, during and in that betrothal and marriage from that time on, for the man to his woman and their children and for the woman to her man (husband to wife and wife to husband and both of them to their children) and to God and to His laws, Commandments, and Ways from that time on, no matter what else happens to them or to others around them. They were fully committed to honour their betrothal and marital vows in every aspect of their daily lives even more so than before they were betrothed and married to each other in the presence and sight of God almighty. For their lives are accountable in heaven to God as it is in the earth for how they live it, whether they be married or single, according to God’s Laws, Commandments and Ways.
There is how ever an even more binding betrothal and marriage that not even God can break. That one is the one which is in heaven which God himself made to the people who have their names already listed in His Lambs Book of Life, since before the beginning of time. These are the ones to whom He has said “I will be your God and you will be my people:” but earlier on in the Holy bible in Genesis before the fall of mankind, He said this “let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” And in this He had set up the precedence by which all of mankind had to honour their lives and eternal existence to Him, from that moment on.
This is the first part of the whole picture by which God is setting the stage for His betrothal and Marital vows for His people that he had previously predestined to be His people, even before He created all things and after the fall of mankind in Adam and in his Seed after him (2). It was His way of preparing the way for His betrothal vows and marital vows which he would establish in Jesus, the Christ and saviour of the world and of His chosen people according to His In fallible Word in Scripture. And He said it again in this way to Adam and Eve after the fall in Genesis chapter three “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” And to Noah he said in genesis chapter six “But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy son’s and thy wife, and thy son’s wives with thee.”
So it has been since those times that God in His predestinated preparations has placed His Covenant of Betrothal before mankind to be a witness of Him self to himself to these things, but more importantly for His chosen people aware that they are now in a betrothed state with Him from time onwards, for them to be faithful and obedient and honourable in their ways towards Him from that time onwards.
Unfortunately for us today, as in those days of olden times, some six thousand years ago, His chosen people as well as mankind normally fell away from their intended purposes that God has intended for them, to become as moronic and disobedient and pagan as they were before He sent upon mankind the world flood, which swept all of mankind and all of the animals and birds and creeping things from off the face of the earth, for their disobedience and dishonouring of Him, as their God and Creator (3). And again God made His covenant vows with Abraham so that His betrothal vows would never pass away from living memory of mankind, in remembrance for them to remember that he is the Almighty God and creator of all things, and that He has chosen a people to be His Bride for ever more (4). And again he said of His chosen people "If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
(2) The Holy Bible in the English language in the Authorised King James Bible Version --
Genesis 1:27; 2:7-17; 20-25; 3:1-24; 6:8-10; 18; 7:17-24; 8:1-4; 13-17; 21,22; 9:1-10;
11-17;
(3) as another example Genesis 11:1-4; 5-9; 12:11-16; 18-20; 13:7-13;
(4) as another example Genesis 12:1-3;7; 13:14-18; 2 Chronicles 7: 14; Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Psalm 100:3; Hebrews 8:10;
The vows that God had entered into mankind with even before He had created them and all things were as those as they are set out in the Ten Commandments, for He alone can give eternal life in heaven with Himself and the Son and the Holy Ghost; as much as He can set those apart to whom He has set apart to enter into eternal hell and damnation, for their totality as being of Satan their eternal father of all lies.
It is these vows that God has enabled mankind to live well with each other rather than have them at war with each other as they had done from the time Adam fell in Sin, and up to the time of the world wide flood that God had determined to send upon the world for their total disobedience and denial of his sovereignty over them. It is useless for any of us to cry out in our souls, minds and bodies either to each other or to God “Hey You, Yeah you up there, yeah you God! No one of us asked to be born let alone created, let alone have been able to fall in sin, so leave us alone to follow our own path rather than be in obedience and honourable to you, as if we owed you any type of marital vows or allegiance, which we don’t. So leave us alone. We don’t need you nor want to know you, let alone have any remembrance of you.”
But as far as His marital vows of betrothal are concerned His People are to be the example of how well God really does look after His children and Wife in Jesus’ name; to the whole world. God knew before hand that we would suffer from any amount of defects of character, and of short comings, and still He never faltered to keep His Vows to Himself in us through Jesus Christ from the very beginning of time. I mean to say, that every one has a defective character (nature) which can never be over come by our own will: And we have short comings (a singular short coming to want to do evil than good, to deny God rather than to believe in him, to follow the ways of Satan and immorality, and all manner of perverse things and ways and Idolatry, and Necromancy, to want to destroy the image of God in the image of mankind and especially in man himself, and break up any and al of God’s betrothal vows He has established with mankind and His chosen people from before the beginning of the world and all things and so on) - "Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…" Exodus 19:5-6 - "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession." Deuteronomy 14:2 - "Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100:3 - "I'll put My Laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people." Hebrews 8:10. - And turn from their wicked ways "…but now God commands all people everywhere to repent." Acts 17:30 - "Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Acts 3:19 - "…unless you repent, you too will all perish." Luke 13:3 - "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him and to our God, for He will freely pardon." Isaiah 55:7 - "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret." - 2 Corinthians 7:10 - "Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Joel 2:12.
Which can never be stopped entirely by the singleness of purpose of ones own will and self determination, nor by any form of medical treatment, nor medicines, for we are not dealing with a wayward part of our brain cells, nor by any amount of law reforms and bi-laws or constitutional laws and punishments. For such is our normal make up in our character and nature, that they lead us to more and more actions that reveal just how powerless we are to over come our short comings in the actions which sped us on to more and more recklessness and sexual perversions of every kind, including man with man, and woman with woman, and man with beast and woman with beast and so on. For we are in great need to be helped by God in His Providential Powers over all things that can lead us to avoiding these many pit falls with which we are always prone to committing, without His Providential help and support.
So is it our turn in our times in this year and in the years to come, up to and including the last day, in that day, when Jesus the Christ of God, and of His Holy and Chosen and Effectually Called People will come back to judge once and for all the quick and the dead, for their time in the world, and to Judge Satan and his fallen angels and cast them and his off spring in to eternal hell and damnation, for all eternity – For God did utter these words “Then will I hear from heaven, Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord…because you tore your robes and wept in My presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord." 2 Kings 22:19 – “So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He answered our prayer." - Ezra 8:23 - "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly." Acts 4:31 - And will forgive their sin - "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace." Ephesians 1:7 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 "He forgives all my sins…" Psalm 103:3 - "But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared." Psalm 130:4 - "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." Matthew 6:14.
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Matthew 11:25 - "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32 - "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13 - And will heal their land - "How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished." Jeremiah 12:4 - "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." Proverbs 14:34 - "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; it is He Who will save us." Isaiah 33:22 - "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14…So that in the day that the virgin was with child of the Holy Ghost in Jesus’ name, it declared to the world and to all of creation and to Satan and his fallen angels and his off spring in the world, that He has established His marital vows in Jesus, which is the second part of the Betrothal Vows, that in the fullness of time that the husband when he was ready would come forward and complete the betrothal and marital vows: for in that day, the Word became flesh, and the Kingdom of God was at hand and in his going to the cross Jesus consummated His Marital Vows for his people and Bride as He spoke his last words from the cross “it is done.”
So there is a holiness imbedded in us and in the marital vow and processes that we can never ignore nor disregard let alone want to destroy, with out it coming back on to us and hardening our souls more and more and when we harden our souls, we also harden our minds and consciences at the same time as God reminds of these very truth’s from Scripture – And for you to seek my face - "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13 - "But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 4:29 - "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." Psalm 105:4 - "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.: Isaiah 55:6 "…break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord…" Hosea 10:12 - "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11 - "Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you who are double-minded." James 4:8.
For such is our ways that are always perverse toward God and toward His Commandments and toward Jesus Christ and to His betrothal and marital vows, which he has established and maintains for all eternity and toward His Justification and Mediatory-ship for all of His effectually called and chosen and predestinated people. That we in our own defective character and nature through our shortcomings, always want to displace Him and His Headship and Kingship and over all of the World and over all of His People, that we never fail to amaze God and our selves as to our attempts to break away from God and His creatorship over us all, and over all of His chosen people.
It is a noticeable fact that when ever His Commandments, and His Lordship and Kingship and Statutes and ways are upheld and followed diligently, in any land, that those people in that land prosper as never before. And it is also a noticeable fact that when ever a nation of people refuse to do so, invariably end up becoming more and more ungodly and disdainful of Him and of His Kingship, and Headship and Creatorship and of His Commandments, and Statutes and His Justification and Mediatorship over the whole earth as he does in heaven. WE, become even more ungodly and stubborn, just as we did in the days of old before the world wide flood in the days of Adam to Noah. And we think we are always in the right in these things and in the prostitution of the truth of these things amongst our selves and to every one else around us. We even come up with so called scientific proof’s that our problems are centered in our mind or in our so called genetic make up; Ha what a lie that is, and we still try to make our selves believe it, just as hard as we try to make every one else around us believe in it too. But the lie is still the lie. It is no wonder so many of our men and women grow up to want to be in the social work and scientific research, and genetic research and psychiatric research, these days, and in to liberalism and feminism and every other kind of “Immoral and Ungodly ISM” as they did in the days of old.
They too want to try to cure you and us, by every attempt of the imagination of our souls and minds, in the hope of stumbling upon the one thing that can free us from our terrible fallen ness of our totally defected character and nature, which of course we will never find, because there is no know cure to mankind and there never will be, out side of the Divine help freedom we can be granted by God, if we are willing to totally surrender in repentance and belief to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, from now on. And even then God will only grant it to any one of us as much as He sees the willingness of heart in each of us, and to it’s fullness in to those who are truly His Chosen people.
For it does us no good at all to know that we are always restless, irritable and discontented with our selves, with in our selves from the very depths of our fallen character and nature. For all this gives us, is the actual amount of truth that we all need to know about our inner workings of our soul in our nature and character, upon our consciences (minds). It does not provide us with a way out of this constant inner struggle we all wrestle with every minute of the day and night. The amount of truth that we need to grasp for our dear lives is the truth, that only repentance and belief upon the name and Gospel of Jesus Christ can provide any and all relief from this almighty dilemma that we live with daily and nightly.
So the question to each of us is this – Do you want to live with your self as you are already doing, or do you want to be saved from your self and redeemed and pardoned and repent of your former sins and lay your self for ever ready to have Jesus as your Betrothed and Husband, Saviour and only Mediator, and Justifier? Or not? Now don’t go rushing in to hasty decisions on this point; as you truly need to take as long as you can to consider how much our totally fallen nature is always working against us in all of these things. And if you are shown the truth of these things by God while pondering as earnestly upon them, then you will be able to utter “Please God forgive me for I am a sinner and a sinner of all sins under heaven, against you and the world have I sinned these many days and generations. And help me to believe in the Gospel of my Lord Jesus from now on. Amen.”
It is no small wonder then that the betrothal vows and marital vows that God Himself established are so important to whom we are and to whom we recognise as our Lord, and King and God over all of creation and eternity, and mankind and Satan and his minions.
A smile can give as much encouragement as a frown can, when we are about to embark on a pursuit that ultimately is against God and us as his created human being, and which hardens our souls and minds and consciences and natures more effectively, that a kick in the groin or a stabbing of us or a killing of us or any form of persecution and branding of could ever do.
So have a consideration for your self and for each of us around you. Yet for those of us to whom God has already poured in to them (us) from on high His Holy Ghost the we are more better off in these things for we know we are totally fallen in nature and character, mind body and soul, and we know that God in the name of Jesus has by His own power and authority and love and faithfulness and honour fulfilled His Betrothal Vows and Marital Vows in Jesus Christ.
The End.
He knew for example that most of his friends would make fun of his offer of marriage to her in the traditional formal way, that used to be regular and normal in their society for over a five thousand years, but in the past two hundred, there had been a huge walking away and turning from these previously accepted norms among his people, and mankind generally, by the majority of their kind.
He was eighteen years of age now and had just been hired to work in his neighbour’s factory, making shoes and all manner of leather and tanned goods. He was to be a trades man and was looking forward to this new life he was just entering upon, and he wanted Esther to share it with him. Thankfully for him the day was sunny and bright and a cool steady breeze was coming in from the south east and making every thing even better, for him. He remembered this day a year ago, and of how his parents had taken his news of how much he had loved Esther and how he was planning to ask her to marry him, and after the initial shock they were mighty happy for him, as they knew Esther was a very uncommonly bright and happy young lady and had a lot of musical talent and was endowed with a lot of kindness toward others. So they knew she would make a good wife for their son. But his father had cautioned him back then to become employed as soon as possible and of how he had to consider what type of work he wanted to do from now on which would last him his whole life long. He had thought long and hard on this problem for two years already, till he finally realized that he wanted to work with all manner of hides and leather and that becoming a shoe maker and tanner was the work for him from now on. He also remembered how his father had shook his hand and had counselled him over the past year about the accountability and manner of a man about to become married and to his wife and to their children and so on. Then his father had said, when you are ready and in a job, then let him know and he will talk to her parents to see if there was any one else interested in Esther or had already asked her for her hand in marriage.
He had to wait another year before he could be allowed to approach Esther by himself. Today was that day, and he was both nervous and very happy as well. As he walked that last mile he knew how happy they were going to be, and he was looking forward to her response and to the Betrothal Ceremony after wards. If all went well today then it was only a week after wards that the betrothal ceremony would take place at her parent’s home.
As he was walking over the low bridge he was met by some of his other friends who knew why he was walking this way and he hoped they were going to wish him well, but he doubted it. He stopped to let them come up to him, as he come off of the bridge, and every one of them was smiling and he thought all would be well after all; but Anthony Newmine had other ideas (1), as he was the leader of this bunch of ruffians and drifters. Anthony blocked his path and stood face to face with him with only three feet between them. He was just a bit taller than Jarrod and a bit heavier, but Jarrod had always been the athlete and hard worker, and he had learned a lot of fighting tricks from old man Genner who lived out side of town behind Hushai mountain three miles from the end of town to the north east with his three sons and two daughters and wife (he had been a midshipman and ship wright for eighteen years and had been a ruffian himself for over thirty years before he settled down in the Hushai Swamplands – and he had taught Jarrod a lot more than any one knew about than making ships and canoes), so he was not over worried about this encounter with Anthony. Anthony had set every one up to make a circle around Jarrod so that he had to stay where he was and listen to all of the reason’s why he should not go through with these silly old ways (as he called them). As Anthony was winding up his long speech, Jarrod put his hand up in front of Anthony’s face and said to him “may God bless you with a wiser mind and faith to repent of your ways and believe in the Gospel of Jesus the Christ who could save him from his wretched ways.
(1) The Holy Bible in the English language of the Authorised King James Bible Version -- Genesis 6:1-7; 6:11-13; 17.
And thanked him for his attempt to be a friend to him, when he most needed as many blessings from his family and friends as much as possible.” Then he shook each of their hands before they could react and he walked past them on his way to Esther’s home.
As he walked to her parent’s gate, he saw her standing on the verandah in front of the front door, just waiting for him, in her best clothing which had been prepared for this moment by her aunty. She was like an angel from heaven, and her smile as radiant as the rays of the sun at dusk and sun rise. Her hair was as shiny as the stars in the night, and her eyes, teeth and lips were as sparkling jewels. In that moment as his hand touched the top of the gate he knew he could ask her with utter confidence and knew what her response would be as well.
His eyes held hers as he walked up to her and in that moment of moments her hand went out to his and his went to hers. Their touch was like a hot flaming spark of a welders iron as he had begun his weld, and in this it was a spark of welcome and of peace and of acceptance and honour for her and her for him. He held his breath for just a moment longer and then those words he so longed to say to her came slowly and quietly from out of his soul through to his conscience and from his lips “Esther I have come to make you my wife and I to be your husband, for I love you with all that is in me to love you with; will you therefore consent to be betrothed to me and marry me as soon as we can be according to the Law and Commandment and Way of God?” He was so lit up inside that the whites of his eyes were crystal clear and he shone with that inner glow of faith and love for her. Esther had so longed for this moment as well, and she knew what her answer was going to be, and her words came out from her soul and lips just as confidently as they had come from Jarrod’s “My Jarrod, of this city Iddo welcome you in to my life and to my heart and soul, and I do love you and do hereby consent to be betrothed to you and to marry you and be your wife and you my husband as soon as the Law of God and His Commandments and Ways allow us to be so married.”
There they stood hand in hand locked in that wonderful moment of total peace and acceptance of being in one with each other, from that moment on, till ten minutes later, when her parents came out to meet them there and to congratulate them on their betrothal and acceptance of marriage between them, which they had witnessed it, as they had stood to one side in the hall way of their home, to allow them this time together. Her father invited the newly betrothed in to his home for the mid day meal, and to send his son down to the cross roads to make the call on the families conch horn, which was the signal for the whole town to know that the betrothal had taken place and accepted by them both. It was also the signal that Jarrod’s parents and uncles and aunties and cousins and old man Genner and his family to attend the betrothal ceremony that would take place in two hours time. It was also the signal for all of Esther’s family and relatives and friend to turn up at the appointed celebrations as well.
In the betrothal ceremony Esther’s parent’s provided her with a dowry of money, of fabrics, and of land grant holdings, and of jewellery, and of cattle and of herbs and spices, and seeds for corn, and wheat, and barley and fruit trees, and of buffalo, for the plough and a wedding gown, and many wonderful sets of clothing, and large barrels for water and bathing, and washing, and a small wagon in good condition. Jarrod’s parents had given him, the wedding rings, and enough money to build his own home, and a block of land should he want to buy land close to home or out side of town, and many kinds of tools for the farm and for his work, and for the wedding ceremony, and the musicians and foods for that day, and for the priestly Minister of god in the township, who was to officiate in the betrothal and marriage ceremonies (his parents also gave him secretly several land grants that belonged to his grand parents and to his ancestors for seven hundred years, as he was their first male son born, and loved him very much).
During the betrothal ceremony the priestly minister Harbonah Hanun, made it all known as to why every one was their, and followed the biblical way for betrothals, according to God’s Law and Commandments, and afterwards held their hands in his and anointed them with the oil Gemeriah which was the oil of baptism and betrothal, and announced them to be betrothed and then signed the marriage registry of both families, and of his own registry record and sealed it with his signet ring also of Gemeriah and with a wax seal.
Now that this was all done the gathering and festivities could get under way in earnest and happiness and in the freedom of the Lord. Now Jarrod had to make good, with where he was going to live with his wife Esther and how they were going to live and how he was going to have to provide for them and their children to come from now on. He had no idea what gifts his parents had given him, except for the tools and the money in four heavy leather bags.
Every one marvelled at the gifts Esther’s parents had given her, and she was very happy in deed. Every one including her knew there was absolutely nothing wrong with her and her husband and their lives from that moment on.
And yet any sort of proposal as a betrothal between a man and a woman back then and now is more than just a legal procedure. It is the most powerful of all binding moral obligations between a man and a woman and between one family and another out side of their love and faith and worship of God almighty himself. To enter in to such a betrothal and wedding, was tantamount to fully committing one self, in mind, body and soul, and with all that one has available to them, to being completely accountable for ones actions before, during and in that betrothal and marriage from that time on, for the man to his woman and their children and for the woman to her man (husband to wife and wife to husband and both of them to their children) and to God and to His laws, Commandments, and Ways from that time on, no matter what else happens to them or to others around them. They were fully committed to honour their betrothal and marital vows in every aspect of their daily lives even more so than before they were betrothed and married to each other in the presence and sight of God almighty. For their lives are accountable in heaven to God as it is in the earth for how they live it, whether they be married or single, according to God’s Laws, Commandments and Ways.
There is how ever an even more binding betrothal and marriage that not even God can break. That one is the one which is in heaven which God himself made to the people who have their names already listed in His Lambs Book of Life, since before the beginning of time. These are the ones to whom He has said “I will be your God and you will be my people:” but earlier on in the Holy bible in Genesis before the fall of mankind, He said this “let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” And in this He had set up the precedence by which all of mankind had to honour their lives and eternal existence to Him, from that moment on.
This is the first part of the whole picture by which God is setting the stage for His betrothal and Marital vows for His people that he had previously predestined to be His people, even before He created all things and after the fall of mankind in Adam and in his Seed after him (2). It was His way of preparing the way for His betrothal vows and marital vows which he would establish in Jesus, the Christ and saviour of the world and of His chosen people according to His In fallible Word in Scripture. And He said it again in this way to Adam and Eve after the fall in Genesis chapter three “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” And to Noah he said in genesis chapter six “But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy son’s and thy wife, and thy son’s wives with thee.”
So it has been since those times that God in His predestinated preparations has placed His Covenant of Betrothal before mankind to be a witness of Him self to himself to these things, but more importantly for His chosen people aware that they are now in a betrothed state with Him from time onwards, for them to be faithful and obedient and honourable in their ways towards Him from that time onwards.
Unfortunately for us today, as in those days of olden times, some six thousand years ago, His chosen people as well as mankind normally fell away from their intended purposes that God has intended for them, to become as moronic and disobedient and pagan as they were before He sent upon mankind the world flood, which swept all of mankind and all of the animals and birds and creeping things from off the face of the earth, for their disobedience and dishonouring of Him, as their God and Creator (3). And again God made His covenant vows with Abraham so that His betrothal vows would never pass away from living memory of mankind, in remembrance for them to remember that he is the Almighty God and creator of all things, and that He has chosen a people to be His Bride for ever more (4). And again he said of His chosen people "If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
(2) The Holy Bible in the English language in the Authorised King James Bible Version --
Genesis 1:27; 2:7-17; 20-25; 3:1-24; 6:8-10; 18; 7:17-24; 8:1-4; 13-17; 21,22; 9:1-10;
11-17;
(3) as another example Genesis 11:1-4; 5-9; 12:11-16; 18-20; 13:7-13;
(4) as another example Genesis 12:1-3;7; 13:14-18; 2 Chronicles 7: 14; Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Psalm 100:3; Hebrews 8:10;
The vows that God had entered into mankind with even before He had created them and all things were as those as they are set out in the Ten Commandments, for He alone can give eternal life in heaven with Himself and the Son and the Holy Ghost; as much as He can set those apart to whom He has set apart to enter into eternal hell and damnation, for their totality as being of Satan their eternal father of all lies.
It is these vows that God has enabled mankind to live well with each other rather than have them at war with each other as they had done from the time Adam fell in Sin, and up to the time of the world wide flood that God had determined to send upon the world for their total disobedience and denial of his sovereignty over them. It is useless for any of us to cry out in our souls, minds and bodies either to each other or to God “Hey You, Yeah you up there, yeah you God! No one of us asked to be born let alone created, let alone have been able to fall in sin, so leave us alone to follow our own path rather than be in obedience and honourable to you, as if we owed you any type of marital vows or allegiance, which we don’t. So leave us alone. We don’t need you nor want to know you, let alone have any remembrance of you.”
But as far as His marital vows of betrothal are concerned His People are to be the example of how well God really does look after His children and Wife in Jesus’ name; to the whole world. God knew before hand that we would suffer from any amount of defects of character, and of short comings, and still He never faltered to keep His Vows to Himself in us through Jesus Christ from the very beginning of time. I mean to say, that every one has a defective character (nature) which can never be over come by our own will: And we have short comings (a singular short coming to want to do evil than good, to deny God rather than to believe in him, to follow the ways of Satan and immorality, and all manner of perverse things and ways and Idolatry, and Necromancy, to want to destroy the image of God in the image of mankind and especially in man himself, and break up any and al of God’s betrothal vows He has established with mankind and His chosen people from before the beginning of the world and all things and so on) - "Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…" Exodus 19:5-6 - "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession." Deuteronomy 14:2 - "Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100:3 - "I'll put My Laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people." Hebrews 8:10. - And turn from their wicked ways "…but now God commands all people everywhere to repent." Acts 17:30 - "Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Acts 3:19 - "…unless you repent, you too will all perish." Luke 13:3 - "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him and to our God, for He will freely pardon." Isaiah 55:7 - "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret." - 2 Corinthians 7:10 - "Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Joel 2:12.
Which can never be stopped entirely by the singleness of purpose of ones own will and self determination, nor by any form of medical treatment, nor medicines, for we are not dealing with a wayward part of our brain cells, nor by any amount of law reforms and bi-laws or constitutional laws and punishments. For such is our normal make up in our character and nature, that they lead us to more and more actions that reveal just how powerless we are to over come our short comings in the actions which sped us on to more and more recklessness and sexual perversions of every kind, including man with man, and woman with woman, and man with beast and woman with beast and so on. For we are in great need to be helped by God in His Providential Powers over all things that can lead us to avoiding these many pit falls with which we are always prone to committing, without His Providential help and support.
So is it our turn in our times in this year and in the years to come, up to and including the last day, in that day, when Jesus the Christ of God, and of His Holy and Chosen and Effectually Called People will come back to judge once and for all the quick and the dead, for their time in the world, and to Judge Satan and his fallen angels and cast them and his off spring in to eternal hell and damnation, for all eternity – For God did utter these words “Then will I hear from heaven, Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord…because you tore your robes and wept in My presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord." 2 Kings 22:19 – “So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He answered our prayer." - Ezra 8:23 - "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly." Acts 4:31 - And will forgive their sin - "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace." Ephesians 1:7 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 "He forgives all my sins…" Psalm 103:3 - "But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared." Psalm 130:4 - "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." Matthew 6:14.
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Matthew 11:25 - "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32 - "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13 - And will heal their land - "How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished." Jeremiah 12:4 - "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." Proverbs 14:34 - "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; it is He Who will save us." Isaiah 33:22 - "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14…So that in the day that the virgin was with child of the Holy Ghost in Jesus’ name, it declared to the world and to all of creation and to Satan and his fallen angels and his off spring in the world, that He has established His marital vows in Jesus, which is the second part of the Betrothal Vows, that in the fullness of time that the husband when he was ready would come forward and complete the betrothal and marital vows: for in that day, the Word became flesh, and the Kingdom of God was at hand and in his going to the cross Jesus consummated His Marital Vows for his people and Bride as He spoke his last words from the cross “it is done.”
So there is a holiness imbedded in us and in the marital vow and processes that we can never ignore nor disregard let alone want to destroy, with out it coming back on to us and hardening our souls more and more and when we harden our souls, we also harden our minds and consciences at the same time as God reminds of these very truth’s from Scripture – And for you to seek my face - "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13 - "But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 4:29 - "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." Psalm 105:4 - "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.: Isaiah 55:6 "…break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord…" Hosea 10:12 - "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11 - "Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you who are double-minded." James 4:8.
For such is our ways that are always perverse toward God and toward His Commandments and toward Jesus Christ and to His betrothal and marital vows, which he has established and maintains for all eternity and toward His Justification and Mediatory-ship for all of His effectually called and chosen and predestinated people. That we in our own defective character and nature through our shortcomings, always want to displace Him and His Headship and Kingship and over all of the World and over all of His People, that we never fail to amaze God and our selves as to our attempts to break away from God and His creatorship over us all, and over all of His chosen people.
It is a noticeable fact that when ever His Commandments, and His Lordship and Kingship and Statutes and ways are upheld and followed diligently, in any land, that those people in that land prosper as never before. And it is also a noticeable fact that when ever a nation of people refuse to do so, invariably end up becoming more and more ungodly and disdainful of Him and of His Kingship, and Headship and Creatorship and of His Commandments, and Statutes and His Justification and Mediatorship over the whole earth as he does in heaven. WE, become even more ungodly and stubborn, just as we did in the days of old before the world wide flood in the days of Adam to Noah. And we think we are always in the right in these things and in the prostitution of the truth of these things amongst our selves and to every one else around us. We even come up with so called scientific proof’s that our problems are centered in our mind or in our so called genetic make up; Ha what a lie that is, and we still try to make our selves believe it, just as hard as we try to make every one else around us believe in it too. But the lie is still the lie. It is no wonder so many of our men and women grow up to want to be in the social work and scientific research, and genetic research and psychiatric research, these days, and in to liberalism and feminism and every other kind of “Immoral and Ungodly ISM” as they did in the days of old.
They too want to try to cure you and us, by every attempt of the imagination of our souls and minds, in the hope of stumbling upon the one thing that can free us from our terrible fallen ness of our totally defected character and nature, which of course we will never find, because there is no know cure to mankind and there never will be, out side of the Divine help freedom we can be granted by God, if we are willing to totally surrender in repentance and belief to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, from now on. And even then God will only grant it to any one of us as much as He sees the willingness of heart in each of us, and to it’s fullness in to those who are truly His Chosen people.
For it does us no good at all to know that we are always restless, irritable and discontented with our selves, with in our selves from the very depths of our fallen character and nature. For all this gives us, is the actual amount of truth that we all need to know about our inner workings of our soul in our nature and character, upon our consciences (minds). It does not provide us with a way out of this constant inner struggle we all wrestle with every minute of the day and night. The amount of truth that we need to grasp for our dear lives is the truth, that only repentance and belief upon the name and Gospel of Jesus Christ can provide any and all relief from this almighty dilemma that we live with daily and nightly.
So the question to each of us is this – Do you want to live with your self as you are already doing, or do you want to be saved from your self and redeemed and pardoned and repent of your former sins and lay your self for ever ready to have Jesus as your Betrothed and Husband, Saviour and only Mediator, and Justifier? Or not? Now don’t go rushing in to hasty decisions on this point; as you truly need to take as long as you can to consider how much our totally fallen nature is always working against us in all of these things. And if you are shown the truth of these things by God while pondering as earnestly upon them, then you will be able to utter “Please God forgive me for I am a sinner and a sinner of all sins under heaven, against you and the world have I sinned these many days and generations. And help me to believe in the Gospel of my Lord Jesus from now on. Amen.”
It is no small wonder then that the betrothal vows and marital vows that God Himself established are so important to whom we are and to whom we recognise as our Lord, and King and God over all of creation and eternity, and mankind and Satan and his minions.
A smile can give as much encouragement as a frown can, when we are about to embark on a pursuit that ultimately is against God and us as his created human being, and which hardens our souls and minds and consciences and natures more effectively, that a kick in the groin or a stabbing of us or a killing of us or any form of persecution and branding of could ever do.
So have a consideration for your self and for each of us around you. Yet for those of us to whom God has already poured in to them (us) from on high His Holy Ghost the we are more better off in these things for we know we are totally fallen in nature and character, mind body and soul, and we know that God in the name of Jesus has by His own power and authority and love and faithfulness and honour fulfilled His Betrothal Vows and Marital Vows in Jesus Christ.
The End.
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