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

Related articles

• The Kiddushin (estherslegacy.com)
• The Mohar – The Bridal Price (estherslegacy.com)