JOHN 2:1-2
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
In the book of Genesis, during the six days of creation, God bestowed a blessing on each day, except for Mondays (we KNEW there was a reason why we didn't like Mondays, DIDN'T we!) but the LORD bestowed a double blessing on Tuesday, the third day of the week. This is typically why Jewish weddings are held on Tuesdays because the wedding couple seek this double blessing.
Here we have a marriage celebration in Cana during the days of Jesus' earthly ministry, and He and His disciples were invited to attend. Little did this wedding couple know, but they were blessed all the more abundantly by this Attendee!
I think we all have seen those 'Messages From God' billboards while on the highway; black background with simple white lettering with such slogans as:
"You think it's hot HERE?" - posted in the Southwest USA where very high temperatures in the summer are the norm.
and:
"Keep taking my name in vain and I'll make rush hour even slower!"
and:
"Someone will pay the price for your sins; will it be YOU or JESUS?"
and:
"Evolution . . . you must be joking."
and then there is:
"Nice wedding. Invite me to the marriage."
In ECCLESIASTES 4:12 it says,
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Certainly if any wedding is performed with God as the primary witness, and He is then not only the Heavenly Matchmaker* but the One Who grants each spouse as His gift to the other, and each sanctified spouse is committed firstly to the LORD, secondly to each other (and thirdly to the subsequent family reared by them) the couple represents a three fold cord, with the LORD Himself intertwined in their midst. This is a cord that is strong, resilient, well nigh unbreakable - or even quite unbreakable if each spouse keeps the focus on the LORD, not each other and obviously not themselves.
* - I recall with no small amount of humor the film FIDDLER on the ROOF where Tevye is deliberating on his daughter's (Hodel) request to marry a man (Perchik) of her own choosing, without the use of a matchmaker:
[Perchik and Hodel have announced their engagement]
Tevye: He loves her. Love, it's a new style... On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren't they?... On the other hand, they decided without parents, without a matchmaker!... On the other hand, did Adam and Eve have a matchmaker?... Well, yes, they did. And it seems these two have the same Matchmaker!
Marriage is an institution that God Himself created between man and woman, husband and wife; the first couple being Adam and Eve - - not Adam and Steve or 'Madam' and Eve!
In this world of rebellion all of the acts of God (like creation) and institutions (like marriage, family, independent nations, law) are all under attack. We are told that we evolved, not created - that God is a fictitious idea (However, Stalin understood that nothing unimaginable can be real, and nothing imaginable can be unreal; the idea of God is imaginable, thus on some level, must be real!). We are told that families are not at all necessarily a traditional one, but can be comprised of 'two daddies' or 'two mommys' or three parents or something that we see more conventionally, two divorced spouses who marry others and end up with a mish-mash of step-children.
This splintering of the foundational family unit will most effectively tear down the moral fabric of any nation: and we see it happening now for some several decades!
We are told that nations standing alone will not survive in the future; that since our problems are now global, the solutions to said problems must also be global.
Globalism however, at its heart is occult, believe it or not.
Getting off this rabbit trail, and back to marriage with the LORD invited: this is blessedness, this is spiritual unity, this is emotional and intellectual satisfaction; this is in accord with God's vision for man and wife, who themselves are pictorial representations of God's own plan for the ages: to unite His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ, with His own bride, the church of the living God!
EPHESIANS 5:31-33
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Those who are born again in Christ have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, and having such, we are united with the LORD, joined together by Spirit (1 COR 6:17). This is what the LORD has sought for ever since Adam broke this communion by falling into sin, rebelling against the LORD. The entirety of the Holy Bible is a testament to GOD's awesome and wondrous Plan to bring humanity back into right relationship with our Creator and LORD, Judge and Savior.
Just as a wedded couple spend the entirety of their lives on Earth to know one another in deeper and greater ways, we saints shall spend eternity in glory exploring the magnificent virtues and heart of our Abba Father (1 COR 13:12).
When the LORD offered up the cup of wine at the Passover, reinstituted by Christ Himself as (what we call) the Communion, or the Last Supper, this was modeled after the Galilean custom of a prospective husband making a proposal to a woman he is seeking as his bride. She can either accept the cup or refuse it - the decision is hers.
Likewise, everyone is being offered this cup, to enter into this sacred relationship with GOD the Son by means of salvation, achieved solely by Christ in His atoning sacrifice on the Cross, which, if we believe by faith and in His resurrection, we are indeed saved and become members of the church - the bride of Christ (2 COR 11:2; REV 19:7).
The LORD Jesus stated clearly that He would not drink of that cup again until He drinks it anew in the kingdom that is to come, consummating the Wedding of the Lamb with His bride (MATT 26:29)!
Another Galilean custom was when the woman accepts the man's proposal, he then goes back to his father's house to prepare a place for her - and only the father can determine when it's ready, and when the wedding day will actually occur - does that sound familiar?
JOHN 14:1-3
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
MARK 13:32-33
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Just as God intends to bless this world through the union of Christ and His church ministering together by the Spirit to bring the light of salvation to wayward sinners, godly parents as husband and wife minister to their world: the family, to raise godly, strong, stable, blessed, equipped children who are provided for spiritually, physically, emotionally and intellectually to go out and propagate the same blessed gifts and virtues to their own children, their neighborhoods and communities.
Such strong foundations are a blessing and a strength to any nation, bringing ethical stability, moral moorings, and a message of hope to all the world.
Perhaps there are those reading this who have not based their marriage on Christ, that don't even have salvation in Christ and don't know Jesus personally. In such a case, it's NOT TOO LATE! Receive The GOSPEL of SALVATION, commit your lives - and your marriages to the LORD by inviting the MESSIAH in and take the lead.
The benefits are obvious: eternal life as well as a solid, blessed marriage that shall endure and prosper in good times and even in bad!
May the LORD bless all of you, your marriages and for those of you making wedding plans: especially for you - don't forget to invite the LORD to the wedding . . . AND to the marriage!
The next time we shall look into JOHN 2:3-5 with "WISDOM from MARY"
Such strong foundations are a blessing and a strength to any nation, bringing ethical stability, moral moorings, and a message of hope to all the world.
Perhaps there are those reading this who have not based their marriage on Christ, that don't even have salvation in Christ and don't know Jesus personally. In such a case, it's NOT TOO LATE! Receive The GOSPEL of SALVATION, commit your lives - and your marriages to the LORD by inviting the MESSIAH in and take the lead.
The benefits are obvious: eternal life as well as a solid, blessed marriage that shall endure and prosper in good times and even in bad!
May the LORD bless all of you, your marriages and for those of you making wedding plans: especially for you - don't forget to invite the LORD to the wedding . . . AND to the marriage!
The next time we shall look into JOHN 2:3-5 with "WISDOM from MARY"
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