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Ancient Eastern Weddings
- Betrothal (cup of the covenant)
- After time of contemplation on the family's parts, man and woman's, the man will "propose". The man and his father go to the woman's village and give him a wineskin with wine in it to give to the woman and say exactly what Jesus says at the Last Supper
- Groom leaves to prepare the house
- Groom goes back to his father's house to build onto it the place where he and his new wife will live
- Super patriarchal and familial culture - the woman and man, newlywed, would live in the addition to a multi-family home
- Groom has no idea how long this part will take, no one does - it's all dependent on when the father says "yep, room's done, let's go get your wife" basically
- Parable of 10 bridesmaids, 5 with oil and 5 without
- Arrival of the bridegroom
- Announced to the family/village
- Bride is consecrated
- A bath takes place? Some kind of spiritual preparation too?
- Shofar is sounded ( bride's entrance)
- Gather under the chuppah
- Canopy that symbolizes the presence of God
- Presentation of the kedubah
- Covenant prepared by the groom - 7-10 items that represent the tenants of the marriage
- Consummation of the wedding
- Special room for consummating the marriage
- Best man stands at the door waiting for the the marriage to be consummated
- A bloody cloth, evidencing the bride's virginity, is produced, presented to the best man, and then the village and everyone rejoices
- Exchange of the wedding gifts
- "Honeymoon" year (Deut 24: 5)
Exodus 19:5-6
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
- This is wedding talk - the groom called his bride his treasured possession
Exodus and Mt. Sinai
- Betrothal
- Abram, leave your father's house
- Groom leaves to prep;are the house
- Arrival of the bridegroom
- Bride is consecrated
- God tells Moses to consecrate Israel
- Shofar is sounded
- Sound of a shofar at Sinai
- Gather under the chuppah
- Cloud covering the mountain
- Presentation of the ketubah
- Consummation of the wedding
- Exchange of wedding gifts
- Honeymoon year
- Time of wandering in wilderness
- Jeremiah 22
Jesus
- John 14 - My father's house has many rooms and I will go away to prepare a place for you
- Mark 13 - About that day or hour, no one knows, not even the son, only the Father
Exodus 32
When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and he burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and make the Israelites drink it...
Relationship to Numbers 5 - convicting the woman accused of adultery.