Yeshua's Betrothal

One of the major themes we have talked about this semester is the Hebrew concept of shalom or wholeness, “life as it should be.” There are several different areas of life as it should be, and one of those is of the family.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled" - Sunset over Jerusalem

There are so many beautiful images in the Bible, especially images that Yeshua incurs when he speaks with his disciples. Sometimes it is so tender, like in John 14. “Do not let your hearts be troubled… In my Father’s house, there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

The private sleeping area of the insula, complete with bed

For some reason, “many rooms” got translated as “mansions” at some point. It’s a rather American concept, and frankly, I don’t like it. I don’t like the feel of large houses. Besides loving having my own space (I am an introvert to an extent), I don’t like the feeling of empty rooms.

Life as it should be just got an Israeli facelift, thanks to Biblical life.

The family lived in a type of home called an insula. It was based on the idea of the original 4-room house, with the same types of space – public space, storage, work, and private sleeping space. The difference was that the house got added onto every time one of the children married.

Nowadays engaged couples have rings to show that they are
taken, but I think in Biblical days, the whole village
just knew that a woman was taken because everyone knew
everyone.

Betrothal in those days was different than engagement now. The man would pay the bride’s father the bride price, and there would be a ceremony that would bind the man and woman in betrothal. Then the man would go home and start adding a room onto the insula for him and his bride. While the man worked on the addition, the bride would work on making things for the home. However, the person who was ultimately in charge of deciding when the man could bring his wife home was the man’s father. The dad would tell his son when the room was finished, and then they would go and bring the bride back with much rejoicing.

Glorious, beautiful, expectant betrothal

We are in betrothal to Yeshua. Glorious, beautiful, expectant betrothal. We don’t know when Yeshua is going to come back to bring us to his home in glory – only the Father knows. In the meantime, the Son is preparing a place for us, anxious to bring us back as His bride. And we, as the bride of the Son, we are to be preparing for our time with him. We are not to be sitting around idly; we are to be preparing for him. And then when the Father approves of the room, our groom will come and take us there in glorious celebration, with all creation celebrating with us (hey, weddings are no fun without people to share in the joy of the union with the couple).

The work space in the courtyard - the woman kept busy prior
to and after the completion of marriage

The other thing that I think goes with this is all the building imagery Yeshua uses. He was a tekton, which is the equivalence of a master builder or perhaps an engineer. (He wasn’t just a carpenter – more stone than wood in Israel anyway). In any case, he knew building. So he talks a lot about building his church. Now, the New Testament is in Greek, but I like to take Hebrew words to compare the various definitions and see how they sound when interchanged. The word in Hebrew for building also denotes a meaning towards rebuilding or establishing a family. In building the church, he may have also been talking about establishing his family with the church.

Families… beautiful imagery. And even moreso betrothal.