080910: Marriage

Matthew 5:27 "Adultery"
Matthew 5:31 "Divorce"
Matthew 19:9 "Divorce"
Mark 10:10 "Divorce"

Video: Perry Stone's "Jewish Wedding and Its Relation to the Rapture"
- Jewish wedding = pre-Tribulation of the Rapture (Revelation 19:7-8)
- God married Israel; Israel is God's bride : Christ married His Church; the Church is Christ's bride
- Stages of the Jewish Wedding
1. Man asks for Woman's hand; Woman accepts : God proposes to protect Israel; Israel accepts God's proposal (the mutual understanding is then sanctified)
2. Man takes Woman to Father's house, and they draw up a "marrital contract" (i.e. engagement) : the marrital contract between God and Israel can be found in Exodus 19:5; Israel accepts the engagement, thus entering a convenant relationship with God (Exodus 19:7-8, 19:10-11, 19:18; Deuteronomy 33:2)
3. Man and Woman separates; they will not see each again until Man and his father finish preparing a place where the Man and the Woman will live as husband and wife --> only the Father would know specifically when this will be accomplished : Only God, the Father, knows the exact date of the Rapture
4. The preparations are done, and the Man goes to receive his Bride : When God finishes preparing a place for Christians in the Heaven, Christ will come and gather all Christians (i.e. the Rapture)
5. The marriage ceremony is one big party : 7 years of Tribulation is a time of great joy for all Christians who have been received up to Heaven

more on marriage:
1 Corinthians 7
Ephesians 5:22

080903: Meaning of the Death of Jesus Christ

bMatthew 26:17
Mark 14:13
The Lord's Supper
- bread is broken = broken body of Jesus
- wine = blood of the new convenant

Exodus 24
The Convenant Confirmed
- God seals agreement with His people with blood

Leviticus 4
Sin Offering
- Blood is used as a Sin Offering to wash away sins

Malachi 1:6-14
Blemished Sacrifices
- only the best (perfect) can be used as sacrifices

Hebrew 9 sums up today's discussion:
1. Since the times of the Old Testament, people have tried to wash away sins with blood in order to make things right with God
2. Blood is important b/c it marks the acceptance of an inheritance, the inheritance of forgiveness (as with a will, its inheritance is legitimized by death, which is symbolized by blood)
3. when Jesus shed His blood for us, His blood washed away our sins once and for all (hence no need for any more animal sacrifices); and with His death, it signifies the start of a new convenant, one whose sins have been completely sanctified with the purest sacrifice of all (Jesus Christ's blood)