Monthly Archives: September 2012

The Seal

Posted by estherslegacy on

The final step in the Kiddushin is the giving of the seal.  So let’s do a little background research on a seal. 

The first time we read of a seal is in Genesis 38:18 and it’s not a good situation, none the less it’s there.  It is when Judah says to Tamar, “What pledge should I give you?”  She answered him, “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand”.  So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.”(NIV)  This is Judah going to Tamar thinking she is a prostitute.  Not a good situation, but none the less, both of them ancestors of our Lord.  The seal during this time period was probably a small cylinder seal of the type to sign clay documents by rolling them over the clay.  The owner would wear it around his neck on a cord threading through a hole drilled lengthwise through the seal.  So when she says I want the seal and the cord.  She is saying, “I want that thing around your neck.”  And it has his name on it.

We also see the seal in the form of a ring.  In Esther 8:8 Xerxes says to Esther and Mordecai, “Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring–for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”(NIV)  Nothing the king puts his name on and seals can be revoked.  In this passage we once again see the name in the form of a signature tied to a seal. 

So how did Jesus fulfill the giving of the seal?  In John 14:15-18 Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit when He says to His disciples, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”(NIV)  He’s talking as the Bridegroom all right in this passage.  Think about that first statement for a minute, This is our beloved Bridegroom, our husband saying, “if you love me you will obey me.”  “You will obey my commands.”  What did He command?  To obey His Ketubah, His marriage contract.

The seal, of course, is connected to the name.  Have you ever wondered why we sing songs about The Name?  Not just Jesus, but The Name.  Have you ever wondered about that?  Jesus’ name is connected to this giving of the seal.  Romans 10:9-10 & 13 states, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved… for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”(NIV) 

Now you may say what’s that have to do with the seal?  Look at Ephesians 1:13-14, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.”(NIV)  In other words, when you heard the Ketubah, believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth, calling on the name of the Lord, you were saved and sealed.  It’s all connected.  It goes back to believing and calling on His name. 

It is about possession!  Why possession?  He purchased us plain and simple, He paid the Mohar.  Those who are “God’s possession to the praise of His glory”, Hallelujah!  Yes, the giving of the seal was a sign of ownership  and security.  The Holy Spirit is our seal. He is a sign of ownership and security.  For the Bridegroom it’s a sign of ownership.  For the Bride, it’s a sign of security.  We are secure in Him.  He has placed His seal on us and therefore He has placed His name on us.

So the Kiddushin is the signing of the Ketubah by witnesses, the Kiddush or the cup, along with the blessing and the unveiling of the Bride along with the Mohar or the payment of the Bridal price and the giving of the seal.  Jews today will give a ring as the seal.  Our seal is the Holy Spirit.

Sealed by His Holy Name,

Vicky

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The Mohar – The Bridal Price

Posted by estherslegacy on

There are two things that speak of the blood of Christ in the Kiddushin, the first was the cup (the Kiddush) and the second is the Mohar.  We looked at the Kiddush as part of the last post.  This time we are going to concentrate on the Mohar.  The Mohar is the bridal price or literally the acquisition of the bride.  Jesus paid this on the cross.

As to the history of the Mohar we can go all the way back to the Garden of Eden where God provided a bride for His son Adam. For Eve Adam had to pay a Mohar.  He had to be put to sleep and have surgery, a shedding of blood, to remove a rib in order to have a wife.  If that’s not a bridal price I don’t know what is.  My husband has had surgery before, but it wasn’t to get me.  We see Isaac paying a Mohar when money and gifts were sent along with a servant in order to acquire Rebekah.  Jacob paid a Mohar, in fact, he paid it twice for Rachel.  When he came to his father-in-law he did not say, “OK it is time for me to get married, give me my bride.”   He said, “Give me my wife”.

Jesus did not pay with silver and gold, He paid the ultimate price.  Isaiah 52:3 states, “For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.””(NIV) 

We sold our selves at the Fall.  We didn’t get anything out of it.  We lost.  “Without money you will be redeemed” the LORD said.  That’s Isaiah 52, the next chapter is Isaiah 53, the chapter of our precious suffering servant. 

Starting in Isaiah 53:5 if says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,   and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  And who can speak of his descendants?  For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.  He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.  Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,  he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.  After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.  For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”(NIV) 

That is holy ground.  That is the sacrifice of our beloved Bridegroom, His bridal price.  The price it took to acquire us.

Let’s look at Luke 22:19 which says, “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.””(NIV)  Here Jesus’ body is being broken for us, it is being given for us.  That’s Jesus at the last supper.  So His body was broken, while we know that His bones were not broken, His body was broken.  Not a joint remained in place.  Then, of course, we have the blood since with that broken body came blood.

In Leviticus 17:11 and Deuteronomy  12:23 we are told that life is in the blood.  Do you believe that?  Life is in the blood.  So His blood needed to be shed.  We see in I Peter 1:18-19 that scripture states, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”(NIV) 

Did you catch it, “Without money you will be redeemed.”(NIV)

In Revelation 1:5b we read, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”(NIV)  Then in chapter 5:9 we are given this about Jesus, “And they sang a new song:  “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”(NIV) 

Yes, it is His blood that redeems and it redeems completely.  He didn’t just pay part of the price, He paid all of it.

At the crucifixion in John 19:30 it reads, “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”(NIV)  It is finished!  Tetelistai is the word in Greek.  It means paid in full. 

He paid His mohar completely.  He purchased His Bride and He paid for her in full.  He purchased her for His Father and she is His.

The Mohar was paid by Yeshua Himself as yet another part of the Kiddushin and His responsibility in it.  In our next post we take a look at the final part of the Kiddushin, the giving of the seal.  Is not our Lord and His gift of salvation marvelous.

Paid For In Full,

Vicky

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