The Mohar
The Bible is a love story, from Genesis to Revelation, of a loving Father who sought the perfect bride for His Son. The pattern can be found in the ceremony of the ancient Hebrew wedding. An example is found in Genesis 24:1-67, the story of Abraham’s search for the perfect bride for Isaac. Most importantly, it holds the plan for salvation.
The ancient Hebrew bride and groom were often raised in separate homes. Usually, they did not meet until the day they were betrothed. Their first meeting was when the bridegroom, who was sent by his father, left his home and traveled to the home of his future bride. He brought her a very valuable gift (Mohar) that was prepared by his father asa sign of the son’s devotion and love for her. When she accepted his gift, she was sanctified (purified).
At that time, he made her a promise that she would eventually come to live with him in their new home. At that moment, her life changed, and she was no longer alone. She was betrothed to the one who gave her his gift of devotion and love. After the Mohar was accepted, the bridegroom left and returned to his home and began to prepare a new home for her arrival. Now, she lived as a stranger in her home. She was a new person. She was his bride, his beloved and she looked forward to the day she joined him in their new home.
As believers, we have accepted God’s Mohar and are awaiting the return of the bridegroom – Yeshua Ha’Mashiach – Christ Jesus. “In My Father’s house are many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you. And, if I go to prepare and place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
(John 14:2-3)
The Mattan
The second gift (Mattan). To comfort the bride, while the bridegroom was absent, he sent the second gift; a gift of love to encourage and strengthen her spirit while she waited for the return of her bridegroom. He knew she would need it to help her focus on preparing herself for her new home. She was in love and longed for the day she would join him as well; she would gladly share the Good News of her betrothal. As believers, the gift of Mattan guides us and strengthens us as share the Good News!
The Hebrew Day of Mattan (Matan Torah) is known as the giving of the Torah (The Ten Commandments). It was when God gave His divine Law to the Israelites. No longer would they be known as Middle Eastern people; they would become God’s chosen people. They were chosen to live by His Holy Law. The Day of the Mattan is celebrated on Shavout-Pentecost. It was the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
God delivered the Ten Commandments to change their lives from wrong behaviors to lives that align with God’s precepts. The Ten Commandments are more than a set of God’s laws, it is a set of behaviors designed to bring them closer to Him. God is love and His desire is for all of His creation to live in his love and to make love the center of our lives.
Shavout
God gave His people the Torah at Shavout, this same Jewish celebration (holy day) was when God showered the followers of Jesus with the Holy Spirit. Yes, the gift of the Torah and the gift of the Holy Spirit were given on the exact same Jewish Holy Day; some one thousand plus years apart. And just as God came down at Mt. Sinai in what looked like a consuming fire to the people of Israel below, 50 days after the Passover lambs in Egypt were sacrificed (Exodus 24:15-17). It was 50 days after Jesus, the true Lamb of God was sacrificed, that the Holy Spirit came down on His disciples in tongues of fire at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
The Ancient Hebrew wedding custom of the Mattan is also described in Acts 2:1-4, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
The Mikvah
Traditionally, in preparation for the betrothal ceremony, the bride (Calah or Kalah) and groom (Chatan or Khatan) are separately immersed in water in a ritual called the mikvah, which is symbolic of spiritual cleansing.
In Matthew 3:13–17, we read that Jesus has already been immersed (baptized) by John the Baptizer in the waters of the Jordan River. As the betrothed, we are to be immersed and baptized.
Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized [ritually immersed] will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Baptism of Jesus
Matthew 12:18
“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.”
Matthew 3:13-17
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven, “This is my beloved, Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Good News-Bisorah
The betrothed bride was in love and longed for the day she would join her beloved. During their absence, she would share her good news (Bisorah or Besorah), even when others ridiculed her for waiting; often, for many years with no word from the bridegroom. The good news of her sanctification would keep her strong and focused in times of difficulty and separation. Bisorah was the good news (glad tidings) of her sanctification and the promise of her new home.
Isaiah speaks of it in the Old Testament.
Isaiah 61:1-2
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. . .”
Isaiah 52:7
“How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.”’
Isaiah 40:9
“Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Behold your God!”’
In the Bible there are approximately 168 instances of the appearance of the term good news. As well, the Gospel of the New Testament came from the word Bisorah and the major focus was the Good News of Jesus. Yeshua Ha’Mashiack.
Luke 2:10
“And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” The good news was the birth of the Messiah, Jesus (Yeshua) who was born to bring peace and salvation to the world. Mark 1:1-4 declares that the good news has come, as prophesied in the Old Testament.
Matthew 25:6–7
“But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.”’
The Return of the Bridegroom
The bride expected her beloved to return, usually within one year, although she did not know the exact date or time. Only the father of the groom knew the exact date of his return. Therefore, the bride remained vigilant and would keep her oil lamps full in the event he returned at night.
The last part of the betrothal was when the groom could be seen traveling to the bride’s home. The shofar (ram’s horn) would announce his return. The bridal party would be alerted to follow the sound of the shofar to join the groom.
In the New Testament, Jesus compared the last part (after the betrothal) as, erusin (marriage occurred immediately after the betrothal but without cohabitation). The actual wedding, nissuin, would follow.
MacLaren Commentary, Revelation 22:17 KJV
“How should the Bride not long for the bridegroom? Then apparently the Seer breaks in, summoning all who have heard Christ’s promise, and the Church’s prayer, to swell her cry of longing. His coming is the Divine ‘event to which the whole Creation moves’; and in it all the world’s dreams of a golden age are fulfilled, and all the world’s wounds are healed. ‘Let him that heareth say, Come!’”
“The last verses of this last book of Scripture are like the final movement of some great concerto, in which we hear all the instruments of the orchestra swelling the flood of triumph. In them many voices are audible alternately. Then a voice (Jesus) is heard saying, ‘Come! ‘It is the voice of the Bride in whom the Spirit speaks. What should she say, in answer to His promise, but pour out her wish for its fulfilment?”’
NISSUIN
Revelation 19:7, 9
“For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. . . Blessed are those who are invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb!”
Matthew 24:36, 44
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Approximately 52-54 A.D., the book of 1st Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
Revelation 19:7-8
“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”
Revelation 22:17
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life without price.”’
[i] Burton, Ben. 10-3-2014. The Erusin of Yosef and Miriam. Archaeology. Articles, History, New Testament.