BEMA Episode Link: 22: Under the Chuppah
Episode Length: 40:03
Published Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2017 01:00:00 -0800
Session 1
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings discuss Israel’s arrival at Sinai and the ensuing covenant relationship with their God, covering Exodus 19–23.

Under the Chuppah Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 22

NIV Archaeological Study Bible

Transcript for BEMA 22

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

  • Exodus 19-23
  • Review
  • Ancient Eastern Weddings
    • Marty is unknown of any single source that contains all of this info packaged together but each part is easily verifiable in separate places. Much of this was taught to Marty by his teacher Ray.
    • Wedding Ceremonies
      • Betrothal (Cup of the Covenant)
      • Groom leaves to prepare the house
      • Arrival of the bridegroom
      • Bride is consecrated
      • Shofar is sounded (bride’s entrance)
      • Gather under the chuppah
      • Presentation of the ketubah
      • Consummation of the wedding
      • Exchange of wedding gifts
      • “Honeymoon” year (Deuteronomy 24:5)
    • Ancient Eastern weddings were arranged.
      • Entire families came together to make a good decision for young people. Raging hormones, etc.
      • This was less about, “I don’t care what you want” and more about, “We, as a community, know more about life than you do at the moment.”
      • Grooms could even offer suggestions
      • Once a bride was decided on, the betrothal came next.
        • The groom and his father would travel to the brides family.
        • The groom would take out a cup of wine and offer it to the bride saying, “This is the cup of a new covenant that I make with you today. I will not drink of this cup again until I drink it with you in my father’s house.”
        • Then the groom hands her the cup. If she drinks it, it means she accepts the covenant. There is no record of a bride refusing the cup.
        • Assuming she says yes, the groom goes back to his father’s house and builds an extra room onto his father’s home (later known as an insula).
        • They would typically live in this room for the first year of their marriage, the honeymoon year.
        • The groom has no idea how long it’s going to take to build this room. Only the father knows how long it’s going to take. This is the father’s last opportunity to teach his son a lesson.
          • The father might help the son build it. The father might make the son build it on his own.
        • The bride and their family doesn’t know either.
        • Once the father determines the house is ready, the head off to the bride’s family and they could arrive at any time, even in the middle of the night.
          • Once the groom arrives, the party begins, regardless of the time.
        • Those who are not ready do not get to participate. This reminds us of the parable about the wedding party and the lamps.
        • Once a lookout sees the groom and his family coming, he announces that the bride is going to be whisked away to be consecrated and take a ritual bath. This is both a practical and spiritual bath.
        • At this point the “shofar” is sounded and the ceremony begins.
        • The bride is also carried in on a chair while the shofar is sounded.
        • The bride and groom then gather under the chuppah, which symbolize the presence of G-d.
        • While they are standing under the chuppah, there is the presentation of the ketubah.
          • A series of statements, commitments, or vows that the bridegroom presents to the bride shaping the future of their relationship.
          • The bride does not contribute to the ketubah but does has the ability to accept or reject them.
        • After the ceremony is complete, there is a specially prepared room for the bride and the groom consummate their wedding where the couple provides a bloodied cloth to prove the brides virginity.
        • After consummation, wedding gifts are exchanged.
        • A party then takes place for 7 days.
        • A honeymoon year then begins, according to Deuteronomy, where the couple does not take on specific responsibilities like major communal responsibilities or going to war or farm the fields. He will take one entire year to get to know his bride. This couple would not have dated and they do not know each other.
  • Exodus and Mt. Sinai
    • 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.”
      • “my treasured possession” is wedding talk.
    • The “wedding” ceremony at Sinai
      • Betrothal (“Abram, leave your father’s house…”)
      • Groom leaves to prepare the house (time in Egypt)
      • Arrival of the bridegroom (story of Passover)
      • 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 (10 Commandments)
      • Consummation of the wedding (Tabernacle)
      • Exchange of wedding gifts (the Law)
      • “Honeymoon” year (time of wandering in the wilderness)
    • Jeremiah 2:2: G-d saw the Israelites time in the desert as a honeymoon year.
    • Jesus uses such similar language throughout scripture.
      • No one but the father knows the time…
      • 1 Corinthians 11 or Mark 14: I won’t drink this cup again with you until we are together again in my father’s kingdom.
    • Exodus 32: Israel is unfaithful to the bridegroom during the presentation of the ketubah.
      • Moses: “You’ve DESTROYED this covenant… this cannot be what this relationship is built on.”
      • Moses grinds up the golden calf and makes the Israelites drink it. This make more sense when we get to the “law of jealousy” in Numbers 5.
        • The idea of having an adulterous woman drink something to determine if she is who she says she is would not be unique to the Israelites and Jews and can be found in other contemporary legal systems according to some scholars. Sources unknown.
      • THEN G-d immediately moves past the transgression and starts over by expressing unbelievable love, compassion, and forgiveness for his people.
      • Rephrasing the Ten Commandments as a wedding ketubah.
        • Ten Commandments: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt…”
          • Ketubah: “I am your husband”
        • Ten Commandments: “…out of the land of slavery. 3“You shall have no other gods before20:3 Or besides me. 4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
          • Ketubah: “Have no other lovers. Don’t even have pictures of other lovers.”
        • Ten Commandments: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
          • Ketubah: “Treat me with respect and do no soil my name.”
        • Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
          • Ketubah: “Keep a date night and set it aside for me, your husband. Make sure you’re not doing any work on that night because I want to spend time with you, just the two of us.”
        • Ten Commandments: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
          • Ketubah: “Trust that my provision for you is enough.”
        • Ten Commandments: “You shall not murder.”
          • Ketubah: “Don’t hurt yourself”
        • Ten Commandments: ““You shall not commit adultery.”
          • Ketubah: “Protect your sexuality.”
        • Ten Commandments: “You shall not steal.”
          • Ketubah: “Don’t take what is not yours.”
        • Ten Commandments: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”
          • Ketubah: “Please tell the truth about yourself.”
        • Ten Commandments: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
          • Ketubah: “Be satisfied in this life with what we have together.”

Edit | Previous | Next