Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

Chapter I
Bridal Doctrine

Chapter II
Marriage Customs of Antiquity Defined

Chapter III
Appointed Feasts

Chapter IV
Beyond the Veil

Chapter V
In the King’s Chamber

Chapter VI
On My Bed I Meditate

Chapter VII
Intimacy Revealed

Introduction

Over the centuries, countless men and women have seen in the Scriptures God’s love for mankind, but has the depth and full significance of His love been overlooked? A thorough reading through the Scriptures will reveal that God’s purpose was not only to save us, but also to purchase us as His bride. Under the old covenant, God told Israel that He was her husband. “For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of host; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth” (Isaiah 54:5 NASB). Again, under the new covenant, Jesus is identified as our husband. Paul writes to the Christians at Corinth, “For I betrothed you to one husband that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2 NASB). If asked what it means to be the bride of Christ or to explain God as our husband, most would say it is an allegory, not to be taken literally. They would neatly spiritualize the parallels of a marriage to our relationship with Christ and most certainly would not be wrong in doing so. However, even though God has metaphorically called us many things in the Scriptures, we are to become only one, His wife.

In every generation, the church continues to grow and mature because of men and women who have sought to know God and His truths. In the early 1900’s, the church saw the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because man sought the Spirit of God and a great awakening of the ministry of God’s gifts was restored to the church. As the church nears the coming of Christ, she will attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. She will know her identity in Christ and fulfill her destiny to be His bride. God has already begun to reveal the “Spirit of the bride” to His church. In this knowledge and in this revelation of understanding the depth of becoming the bride of Christ, I write this book. We no longer need instructions about baptisms and the laying on of hands or the resurrection of the dead; what we do need is to experience the depth of God’s love. The church is at the stage of her maturity to receive God’s love. As God saw Israel mature from a child into a grown woman, He revealed His love and betrothed her to be His wife. “I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall, and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare. Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love…” (Ezekiel 16:7&8 NASB). As we are nearing the end of the sixth day, the church has already begun to hear the voice of her bridegroom, God. As His voice calls out, many will experience for themselves what it means to be “at the time for love.”

Brethren, this is not theology or a doctrine to be grasped only by one’s mind; rather, it is a revelation being released by the Spirit of God for us to literally experience. I am writing this exhortation not out of my knowledge, but out of an experience I had while in the presence of God. The knowledge came after the experience. Therefore, it is my intention, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to share with you what God has revealed to me, so that I may encourage God’s people to know the love of Christ, which Paul said, “surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 4:19).

Chapter I

Adam the prophetic

Adam was a prophetic picture demonstrating God’s purpose for creating man. In Adam, God portrayed what He planned would take place between Himself and mankind. Adam was given an object lesson in naming all the animals God had created. After he named the animals, Scripture states that there was not found a suitable mate for him. In giving Adam the task of naming the animals, God brought Adam to the realization that there was no one like him with whom to have a relationship. As a result, God put Adam into a deep sleep and took out of him what was already in him. In essence, God was saying to Adam, that which you desire within yourself (intimacy) cannot reach its fullness without first separating you and taking out of you what you have sensed within. In other words, Adam was made complete or whole. However, for him to experience intimacy, he had to be separated and made into two separate beings in order for him to experience a relationship and truly be one. Within Adam was both male and female. Adam proclaimed, when God gave him Eve, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23 NIV). God did not create Eve from the dust of the earth and then bring her to Adam. God took out of Adam what He had already created and presented Adam to himself. This truth that Adam and Eve are one can be seen in Genesis when God called both Adam and Eve, Adam (Genesis 5:2). Before this could become a reality, Adam had to consent to being put to sleep, which is synonymous with death, in order for him to acquire a bride. This passion demonstrated in Adam to willingly die for a bride, foreshadowed what Jesus would do in the future to have a bride for Himself.

It is interesting to note, that the word translated “alone” in Genesis 2:18 comes from the Hebrew word “bad” which means “to separate.”1 Adam had to be separated so he could experience intimacy, which was impossible until he became two. When Adam became two people, God said, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 NASB). In the same manner Jesus left His Father’s house to become “one” with us.

This act of separating Adam into two beings so that he could experience fellowship and intimacy was to demonstrate, not only to Adam, but also to all humanity, God’s purpose in creating man for fellowship and intimacy. He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26 NASB). Once God had created man, He breathed into Him His Spirit and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). At that point, God had separated Himself and created a bride so He could have intimacy with Himself, just as he had demonstrated through Adam….... Interested in more? Click here