The pathway of relationship that leads to deeper intimacy with God. Flowing from inside out – heaven to our gateways of spirit, soul, body to the world around us. There are depths of relationship on this pathway yet to discover.
Relationship and intimacy are perfectly expressed in God in eternity between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Perfect love, joy and peace expressed in that eternal relationship. God desired to share that relationship and so He spoke the created order into existence.
He created man in His image and likeness for relationship. Eccl 3:11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart. He created man with eternity in his heart – a God shaped hole. There is a desire for that relationship in the deepest part of all of us. We all need to engage that eternal relationship with God. The desire for love, joy and peace is a driving force in our lives. We need to experience that relationship with God our Father.
Amazing, wonderful going deeper and deeper beyond our imagination.
God has always done everything possible to have a people to be in relationship with. This relationship has been misrepresented by the enemy. He makes out that God is angry, to be feared, harsh and waiting to punish us. We need to debunk all the lies.
Matt 25:24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground.
Our heart, our very core where soul and spirit are joined in the secret place of intimacy. This is where the essence of who you are personally and redemptively can come into union with your eternal self. Restored conformed image – the vast sum of His thoughts revealed.
Our relationship grows deeper as we engage the process. 4 chambers of the heart are the four most intimate places you can engage God within yourself, but they also have corresponding even deeper levels in the heavenly realms.
1 Cor 6:16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Garden of our heart. Dance floor. Soaking room. Bridal chamber. We will look at each of these increasingly intimate experiences.
Garden and the Father’s garden – baptized into the river of life. Dance floor – the dark cloud – baptized in the river of baptism. Soaking room – the fire stones furnace – baptized into the river of fire. The bridal chamber – the person of God and his eternal heart – baptized into the river of glory.
I saw a new page; it was gold edged with pearls and was ornately inscribed in the corners and elaborately decorated. It had new season inscribed along the top edge and Ketubah under the Huppah: You are invited to participate in the wedding of our Church and the Lord.
The 4 chambers in the context of the marriage process and Ketubah. Growth in intimacy that prepares us for the true image of eternity in our hearts. Garden, Dance Floor, Soaking Room, Bridal chamber will be a continuous flow as everything begins to flow out of eternal oneness. Fulfils the desires of our deepest needs.
Psalm 23 was my marriage process. To establish a pure love and total trust relationship. Prepared as the bride laying in green pastures by quiet waters restoration of my soul, a table before me, my head overflowing with oil, establishing the house of the Lord to dwell forever.
Intimacy of the bride and the groom. Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’”
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Understanding and engaging the process and the principles revealed in the Hebrew marriage is helpful for us corporately and individually. Understanding that the process prepares us and correlates with the 4 chambers of the heart.
God desires an intimate relationship with His people. That is often equated to a marriage. He has chosen relationship right throughout history. Adam & Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Jesus, disciples.
God has suffered the heart break of broken relationship. Mankind has been unfaithful. God desires restoration and reconciliation of relationship. God desires relationship with each of us to be intimate and faithful.
Malachi 2:16 For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel. Jer 3:8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce. God has been through divorce, and He knows how painful it is.
The Hebrew marriage process had various stages. Shiddukhin- Father selects a bride for His Son. The word eyrusin means – Betrothal. The period is also called – kiddushim – meaning “sanctification” or “set apart.”
5 aspects of marriage, Lakah – Garden. Segullah – Dance Floor. Micvah – Soaking Room. Ketubah terms of relationship.
Huppah – Bridal Chamber
Note the first time any thing occurs in the word of God it sets a precedent. Look at what happened in the first proposal. Canopy house of God glory cloud covering. Huppah or Chuppah –Ketubah marriage contract.
Ex 19:16 So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Ex 19:18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain.
Ex 20:1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
We call this the 10 commandments but in essence this is God’s part of the Ketubah – the marriage contract.
Ex 20:18 All the people saw the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. They look up, and they ‘see thunder’ and they ‘see lightning’. How do you see thunder?
Thunder in Hebrew is ‘Kole. In every other place in the Bible, it’s translated ‘voices’ or ‘languages’. It’s the same word when Moses heard the voice out of the burning bush – Kole. So, they look up, and they see ‘voices’, or ‘languages. The word lightning is the word “glorified fire”. It’s the same word for fire out of the burning bush.
The Ketubah has just been handed down; they’re standing there, and the whole mountain covers them in a huppah; and they look up, and they see languages inside fire. What would the languages have been saying? Will you marry me?
Marriage process was initiated by God. Israel came out of slavery in Egypt. Under a covering of cloud fire thunder God’s voice in the wilderness. He issues an invitation will you marry Me? They sent Moses and rejected the invitation, but God married them anyway.
They said: Moses, don’t have God speak to us anymore, unless we die. You go figure out what God wants, and then you tell us what God wants; but don’t have God speak to us anymore, lest we die. God says: they didn’t want to accept, because they felt unworthy.
Day of Pentecost we have the same fire and voice of God. Church begins with a mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire and God’s voice. Will you marry me? What can we learn from marriage process?
Look at the 5 stages of marriage. So, we can see and engage the process for ourselves. We will also clear up the misunderstandings about the 10 commandments and put them in context.
Lakah I want to make you my own. Ex 6:7 Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Intense emotional experience.
Segullah means ‘treasured possession’. It takes Lakah one step further. I don’t just want to make you mine; I want to make you the most important person in my whole life, My treasured possession.
Ex 19:5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Mikveh meant: go wash; consecrate yourself. Prepare and get ready for the betrothal agreement. It was a three-day warning before the ketubah was going to take place.
Ex 19:10 The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments; 11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
Esther 4:14 who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” or come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther had to undergo a preparation experience before she could come before the king.
Esther 2:12 Now when the turn of each young lady came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women.
Exodus 20 what is called the 10 commandments is the Ketubah. A Ketubah is a marriage contract made under a huppah or covering cloud.
It is vital for our relationship that we know what God’s expectations are. It is equally vital to know what our expectations of God are.
Normally it would be: bride, and her father; groom, and his father – and they would make an agreement, a list that defined the basic boundaries of the marriage. The bride could put anything in the Ketubah she wanted as could the groom as long as they both agreed. Then once that was agreed on, that became the rules of the marriage. If anyone broke the terms, it was called: ‘marital unfaithfulness’. After it was agreed upon, they would: sign it; then stand and face each other. Groom would say to her: “I go to prepare a place for you; that where I am, there you may be also”.
Bride would say: “when will you come back, to receive me unto yourself?” Response “I do not know the day or the hour, but when my father approves the wedding chamber, he’ll send me back, to receive you unto myself.” Familiar words that help us put Jesus death on the cross in context of marriage.
John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 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. New covenant preparing us to be the place of intimacy – marriage.
Jesus taught John 14 they all understood the significance God still wants to marry us. Think about the Ten Commandments in terms of a marriage contract. Ketubah God’s desires and expectations of His people for His part of the contract. What are our expectations of God as our part of the contract?
We need to see the correct perspective of the 10 commandments and understand Ketubah and our relationship with God. Many people live under an incorrect old covenant view of God. It is not a set of rules to restrict us but relationship to free us
The people were slaves for 430 years. A 430-year heritage of slavery; 430 years of your opinion not mattering; 430 years of getting up every day and making bricks. Seven days a week; 12 hours a day; 365 days a year – day in and day out. They had no human rights. Ten Commandments is about helping a group of slaves learning how to be human again. God is trying to teach a group of people how to live in the true freedom of relationship.
Develop a culture that’s going to have His way to live – so the whole world would look at what they have and want it. It’s also a wedding proposal: God proposing marriage to a group of people.
In the new culture God respects their basic dignity – not like Pharaoh. God respects His image in us.
It is so difficult to be a son with a slavery mentality. Truth to free us – not laws and rules to restrict and control us.
This is radical shift from 430 years of slavery. “Thou shalt not steal” – no one’s thinking that’s a rule how restricting. In the new culture – you can’t take things from me, just because you can. That would have been amazing.
All they knew was 430 years of slavery, and you hear: “You shall take a day off”? Can you imagine what they felt? We haven’t had a day off in 430 years; and He’s actually commanding us to have a day off. He wants to remind them that their identity and value did come from how many bricks they made.
“Thou shalt not lie” – wait a minute, in our new culture, we actually have to have integrity in our business dealings? It is not good business to have corruption because no one wants to do business with you. God is not trying to make people good; He’s trying to make people free.
God is not proposing conditions for His love. You don’t propose to someone that you don’t already love. This is God’s marriage proposal to establish relationship with His people.
God is not trying to make us good. Good compared to who? Him? God is trying to make us Free. His whole goal in this was to free people from slavery – to free people from what bound them up.
God is not offering a list of how To’s to ensure that we are ‘in’. This is not a list of things that you do, in order to make sure you get to heaven one day. This about enjoying our relationship with Him now.
God’s not trying to establish a relationship with fear and guilt. God is not saying you have to marry me whether you love me or not. God wants to create a relationship out of freedom. God’s laws, and His rules, are not condition for relationship; they’re confirmation that He wants us to have the best life.
Relationship establishes relationship; You never establish a relationship with rules. You establish a relationship with love, and then boundaries maintain it. This was a totally different concept for them and for us.
Ex 20:1 “I am the Lord your God, have no other Gods before Me”? Anochi Jehovah Elohim. God wanted to create a culture, where everyone has the basic dignity in the image of God
A culture so good, the whole world is going to want what we have.
He is establishing a community of people, who will be the light to the gentiles and one day bring forth messiah. To have a culture and values in place so that salvation will come to the whole world. Establish the kind of life, in a group of people that the world can see what God looks like.
The first word of the Ten Commandments is the word “Anochi” – four Hebrew letters: Aleph, Nun, Chet, Yod. Hebrew language was originally pictures. So, every Hebrew word is a comic strip.
The Aleph is the picture of: an ox head going into a yoke. It represents ‘authority’. The first word of His marriage contract with them is: Anochi. The first letter is Authority. Nun is the picture of: fish multiplying. It has to do with multiplication, increasing. The Chet is the picture of a fence, or a hedge. It means to protect, or to separate, or like a boundary fence. So, the idea of ‘boundaries’ is in the first word; the idea of multiplication; and authority. The Yod is the picture of: an upraised hand. It’s the first letter of the word ‘Judah’, which means ‘to praise’. The upraised hand is to ‘praise’, or ‘submit’.
Anochi – Your authority is going to increase inside the hedge of praise and submission. I am the Lord your God. Have no other Gods before Me. Sums up the Ketubah.
“I am the Lord your God, who is choosing to bless you with freedom from slavery, not because of anything you’ve done, but because I love you, and want all the people of the world to know that I am a loving God.
Welcome to being human again.” That is the first line of the Ten Commandments.
What would happen if we created that environment for other people? What would happen if our life actually became a response to Anochi? We’d have a group of people committed to turning the world upside down – to helping the poor, sick, disadvantaged. Being authentic and safe generous.
Philip was in a town called Heliopolis, and Caesar built columns in the town. He said: you have to walk through those columns, to pay homage to me as God. Philip walked around the columns – He wouldn’t go through them, so the authorities of the city brought him and his family out; and they said: you’re going to walk through those columns. He said: I will not.
He had six children. They took the youngest and killed it. He said: now you’ll walk through. He said: I will not.
The story goes that his children screamed out: dad, dad, don’t do it! God is worth more than that! Wow! They understood ketubh.
So one at a time, they killed Philip’s children. Then they got to his wife, and she said: don’t do it – Gods plan for these people, is worth more than you giving in now – and they killed her.
Then they got to him, and he said: kill me if you like, I won’t walk through. They said: we’re not going to kill you; we’re going to let you live with the fact that your family died. That was Philip.
One of the greatest revivals ever to happen, happened after that; and then the story goes that the Roman platoon, who was in charge of the killing, actually came to Philip later and said: you must serve the one true God – tell us about Him.
Philip led every one of those people, who killed his family, to the Lord; and later they came back to him, and they said: can we call you dad? We took your children away from you, but we’d like to be your children now. Can we call you dad?
He said: absolutely. I did it, so that you could have Anochi; that the church will find it’s greatness in making a life’s response, that makes our whole life about responding to Gods offer – to increase our authority inside the hedge of praise and submission.
We don’t get authority by aggressiveness, or through demands. We actually gain our authority through being generous, and serving, kind and compassionate, gracious, slow to anger. The kingdom is about true love. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, to be your God. Have no other Gods before Me”. That is the message of the Ten Commandments. Let’s engage God in Lakah.
Jesus wants to invite each of us to go deeper in our relationship.