It was the brightest sky during the darkest night when our Savior was born. It became the darkest sky during the brightest day when our Savior was crucified. Heaven shines with the glory of the Lord at our Savior’s resurrection. It is prophesied that darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the people, but the glory of the Lord will be seen upon the righteous by faith in Christ. It will be the darkest time in the world right before the most glorious time – the return of our Lord Jesus Christ for His beloved Bride.
The New Testament calls the Church the Bride of Christ. The term “Bride of Christ” is only a term used to describe the Church for the end times. It speaks of intimacy and a unique, passionate love towards the believer in Christ. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the story of Rebekah. I believe this passage has prophetic insight about the Bride of Christ in these dark times - a Word for today’s Church.
Genesis 24:40
“But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.”
The story begins with Abraham sending the unnamed servant to his home country find a bride for his son, Isaac. We see the for the first time each member of the Godhead specifically mentioned in the Old Testament: The Father as Yahweh (LORD), the Son as the angel of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit as the unnamed servant. This speaks of the importance of this story.
Notice, the unnamed servant was given the task to find a bride for his son. This speaks of the Holy Spirit’s ministry after the Son ascended to the Father. The Holy Spirit has been searching for the Bride of Christ for the past two thousand years. He has been sent to the world convicting non-believers of sin and revealing the finished work of Christ so the world may believe. The Holy Spirit gathers the Bride of Christ by regenerating believers in Christ at the new birth. He is preparing her by empowering the believer in Christ through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and expounding Jesus in the Word, revealing the righteousness that comes as a gift by the gospel of grace. The Bride of Christ is without spot or wrinkle in the eyes of the Groom.
Genesis 24:60
“And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:
“Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.””
There’s a special blessing mentioned only for the Bride of Christ who have the revelation of being the righteousness of God in Christ. It is a family promise of unity and motherhood. It also talks about possessing the gates. The term “possess the gates” is Hebrew idiom to mean “good success” in terms of war.
Since Israel was always surrounded by enemies, having good success against its enemies was foundational for prosperity in their daily life and as a nation. I prophesy that this year the nation of Israel will have good success against any nation or entity that come against it. The world will also experience greater conflicts and wars.
I believe there is a correlation between the nation of Israel and the Church. Any attack that happens to Israel physically is also happening to the Church spiritually. I prophesy that this year, the Church will have its greatest success in terms of unity and preaching the gospel of grace and expanding the Kingdom of God. For the individual believer in Christ, it will be a year where the goals and dreams the Lord has placed in our hearts will come to pass towards our personal good success and family life in terms of unity and growing the family.
Genesis 24:64
“Then Rebekah lifter her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel.”
Like Rebekah encountering Isaac, we too will lift our eyes and find the Groom sweeping us off our feet to begin our bridal celebration with Him. To fully understand the bridal celebration, we must understand the wedding customs in the time of the Old Testament. The wedding customs have three mayor parts to its celebration:
- In the first stage, a marriage contract is signed by the parents of the bride and the groom himself agreeing to the union. This begins the betrothal period. Likewise, the new covenant of grace has been signed between the God the Father and God the Son through His blood so we might become the Bride through faith in Christ.
- In the second stage, the groom leaves the bride to prepare everything for her. During this period the bride waits for the groom to take her away since she doesn’t know when the groom will come for her. Likewise, the believer in Christ waits for the coming of Christ, which the Bible calls the “harpazo” in the Greek, meaning the “catching away.” It is most popularly known as the Rapture of the Church.
- In the third stage, the newly wedded couple celebrates for seven days – a bridal week. Likewise, Jesus will rapture the Bride to celebrate for one prophetic week (7 years) the marriage supper of the Lamb in Heaven while the seven years of Tribulation occur on earth.
Nobody knows when the Groom will come for us but the signs are visible. As we walk in our God given goals and dreams this upcoming season in anticipation of His return, these blessings will overtake us.
By: Joyner Briceño
Mark 13:4-5
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Meet the unadulterated Jesus. It is to the surprise of many to know that Jesus came to serve you out of His extravagant love for you. Contrary to all other religions’ deities, Jesus laid aside all His God attribute and became a man, born of a virgin in order to give his life a ransom for you. Yes, we worship Jesus as the Son of God and we magnify His holy name. There is no doubt that He is our Lord and Savior, but His whole life, His heart today is in serving you. The perfect work of Jesus is all about 100% God turning into 100% man to serve you by loving you, protecting you, forgiving you, blessing you, healing you, providing for you, and revealing Himself to you. Until you realize that you can never offer anything to God but receive all His perfect love by allowing Him to serve you, you will always see Jesus as just another dead shrine of religion.
John 13:4-5
Jesus “rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”
-Joyner, for the love of God, how can you say that Jesus is our servant? Don't you know that He is holy! It is we who must serve Him! I am His servant!
This reminds me of a similar answer Peter gave Jesus:
“You shall never wash my feet!” – Peter exclaimed.
“If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” – Jesus answered.”
“Lord, then wash not only my feet but also my hands and my head!” – Peter replied.
My amigo, it is imperative that you see Jesus as your servant because failure to see Him as your servant is failure to see Him at all. I say it with most reverence towards our Lord Jesus Christ, so please don't misunderstand me; I am not saying that our humanity is above Jesus. A thousand times No! However, seeing Jesus as the compassionate God that He is in wanting to serve you will lead you into true worship and turn you into a true worshiper. When you see Jesus as your servant, you are actually making Him the Savior that He is in your personal life. He is still into the saving business!
John 13:10
Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
Notice that only those who are bathed only need to wash their feet. Jesus is explaining that you, as a believer in Christ, are already completely clean in Him by the washing of the blood! In other words, you have been forgiven of all your past, present, and future sins through His blood, and has imparted to you His eternal righteousness through His resurrection. You are the righteousness of God in Christ! Hallelujah!
-But why the feet, then?
The feet symbolize our daily walk with Jesus. As a believer in Christ, you cannot lose fellowship with God but there are still things in this world that could keep your life in a defeated state. This is why you need the washing of the Word.
Ephesians 5:26
…that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.
But make sure you are rightly dividing the Word via the lens of the finished work of Christ. The Bible says the Word has two edges. By listening to messages filled with the Gospel of Grace you are actually washing your feet. Receiving messages that continually refresh your memory about being the righteousness of God in Christ by faith and not by works, and keep you focused on the perfect work of Jesus, will keep your life hopeful and confident of God's goodness in your life. You will have strength in the days to come to overcome every obstacle that comes your way. You will have an established heart and be a poised and confident person. It will keep you healthy and young. Last but not least, you will become a true worshiper of Jesus. True humility is allowing Jesus to wash your feet, rather than living your life trying to wash Jesus feet. Receive His unmerited favor today!
By Joyner Briceño
Joyner Briceño is a teacher of the Gospel of Grace of Jesus Christ in the United States and the world. He has been commissioned by God to bring back Jesus to the Church through the same radical Grace message that Paul preached in his day.
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