Christ Jesus wears a golden girdle as the great High Priest to the Father (Rev 1:13).
The canopy is called the chuppah in Hebrew and means “a chamber.” It represents the place in his father’s house that the bridegroom in ancient Jewish ceremonies had prepared for the couple to begin life together.
The Lord Jesus comes not only as King but also as Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:6)
Spiritual wisdom is primary among the Holy Spirit’s giftings, for “all desirable things cannot compare with her” (Prov 8:11; cf. Isa. 11:2). Therefore she is represented by a crown of gold (Prov. 4:8 – 9; Ezek. 16:12).
Rings on every finger can mean that the sword of the Spirit (the living word from God) is to be fully grasped and communicated in writing to others (Eph. 6:17; Rev. 1:11, 19).
All of the eight gifts given here are manifested in some form of a circle, symbolizing that they are of the Father Himself and eternal, without end. God empowers these endowments to operate as the Christian follows the leading of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 2:4; Rom. 11:29).
The mysteries of God are those truths concerning Him that cannot be known except that He reveals them.
Women in Scripture who were childless felt great disgrace (1 Sam. 1:5-7, 10-11).
The Bible speaks of the Lord as the husband of His people (Isa. 54:5; Rev 21:2). The Father instituted human marriage on earth in order to prepare His children for eternal union with His Son.
All judgment has been committed to Christ Jesus, who alone has the authority to render righteous verdicts with divine mercy (John 5:22; James 2:13).
God says that when we are betrothed to His Son, we are “advanced to royalty” (Ezek. 16:13).
THE GIFT – FOOTNOTES
1. The Lord Jesus visited the apostle John in a vision while he remained on the earth at the Island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9). He was so overcome that he “fell at His [Christ’s] feet as a dead man” (v. 17; cf. Acts 9:3-5). But later John was taken up into heaven in spirit where he was able to look upon the Lord Jesus as well as the Father on His throne without being physically overcome (Rev. 4-5).
2. The apostle John saw “seven [of the] angels who stand before God” to do His bidding (Rev. 8:2). We know that among the angels of His presence is Gabriel, who told Zacharias that he “stands in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19). These angels are chosen for this special responsibility (1 Tim. 5:21).
3. The colors of their robes signify that these angels stand in the presence of Christ the King (John 19:2-3). The golden girdles across their chests indicate their priestly service to God (Rev. 15:6).
4. “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me,” Jesus said (John 6:37). The Father “gives” or betroths His children to His Son here on Earth at the time when each one is born again of the Spirit and enters the kingdom (John 3:3, 5-6).
For the Christian, the chuppah is “in the bosom of the Father” Himself. The Lord calls this “My Father’s house” where His own on Earth are to abide in spirit even now (John 1:18; 14:2-3; 17:24; Col. 3:3).
The presence of the canopy symbolizes the fact that Jesus is coming from His Father’s house in this instance. The chuppah itself represents the Father as signified by the word love.
5. Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High eternally (Gen 14:18; Heb. 7:1-3).
The purple robe attests to Christ’s royalty (John 19:2-3). The white robe with the golden girdle across His chest signifies His priesthood. Jesus appeared to the apostle John in the same white robe with the golden girdle. (Rev. 1:13).
The crown He wears covers the top of His head in filigree work of gold. It is similar to the ornamental crowns placed on top of the Torah scrolls, the written Word of God in synagogues. The Lord Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1).
6. The dictionary gives the meaning of human wisdom as knowledge of what is true or right, coupled with just judgement in applying it to obtain the desired results. But “the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God,” for natural wisdom is hopelessly flawed by sin (1 Cor. 3:19; 1:20).
The wisdom of God the Father from the beginning has been encapsulated in the person of His son (1 Cor. 1:24; John 1:2). Those who receive Christ Jesus are put into Him by God, so that the Son becomes for them all things including divine wisdom (John 1:12; 1Cor. 1:30; Rom. 8:32).
7. The dictionary defines human knowledge as acquaintance with information learned from study or from experience. Golden earrings signify the divine knowledge from the Father that Jesus receives for the Christian. Christ said that “He [God] awakens My ear to listen as a disciple…and I was not disobedient” (Isa. 50:4-5).
The Holy Spirit reveals to the disciple the knowledge the Lord Jesus has received for that person (1 Cor. 2:10-11). One category of such knowledge is the spiritual gift called the word of knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8). It is a direct disclosure of knowledge that was not seen, heard, or thought by the Christian (1 Cor. 2:9).
Another area of supernatural knowledge is the disciple’s conscience where the Spirit reveals what is in accord or not in accord with the life of Christ in that person (Rom. 9:1).
8. The human definition of understanding is insight or comprehension with the mind of the meaning or the significance of something. The golden heart hung on a chain over a disciple’s heart represents the spiritual heart of Christ being reproduced in that person (Song of Sol. 8:6). King Solomon asked God for an understanding heart to administer justice in the natural realm (1 Kings 3:9, 11). The Christian is given a spiritually-minded heart to understand things of God in the supernatural sphere (Ezek. 11:19; 1 Cor. 2:14; Isa. 6:10).
The renewed human spirit is to know intuitively in the conscience when some thought, word, or act is from God or not, but the heart is to understand its meaning. What the mind or the spirit cannot understand, the heart does because it is the seat of faith by which we understand spiritual things not seen (Heb. 11:3; Rom. 10:9-10).
9. One of the meanings of human discretion is the capacity to act judiciously, being circumspect in exercising sensitivity regarding the effect of one’s conduct.
The main Hebrew word for bracelets is derived from a root word meaning “to bind or join”. Bracelets on the wrists of the Christian signify being bound or attached to The Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 6:15, 17).
In New Testament times, prisoners were bound to their guard by a chain around their wrists (Acts 12:6-7). Paul considered consecrated disciples to be willing prisoners of Christ Jesus (Rom 16:7). As such we are to be restrained by the Spirit in not being able to do or say what we please, but are to act as the Spirit leads (Gal. 5:17-18).
10. The dictionary defines discernment as the faculty to make distinctions accurately between things.
The nose ornament is a symbol of spiritual discernment because the nose instantly recognizes the presence of an odor. It distinguishes between pleasant and offensive smells without reference to the mind or to sight (Ezek. 16:12; 1 Sam. 3:9). Discernment is meant by the common expression, “Sniffing out a matter”.
The first thing to determine in spiritual discernment is whether the matter at hand is of God or not. If it is not of God, the next distinction is whether it is of the flesh (coming from the natural person) or of Satan (demonic). This spiritual gift can be a manifestation of the Holy Spirit called the distinguishing of spirits. It enables believers to identify the kind of spirit that is operating in a particular situation, group or person (1 Cor. 12:7, 10).
11. In ancient Jewish betrothals, for the right to marry the girl, the groom’s family gave gifts – called the bridal price (Gen. 24:53; 29:18, 26-27; 34:11-12). The giving of money or some other gift of value constituted the engagement to be married. In more recent Jewish betrothal ceremonies, the groom gives the bride a ring and says “Behold! You are consecrated to me with this ring according to the Law of Moses and Israel.”
When one is betrothed to the Lord Jesus, a spiritual ring on the finger is a constant reminder that one is consecrated (set apart) unto Him. It also represents His pledge of faithfulness to endow the person with spiritual gifts and grace needful to carry out the Father’s calling upon that person.
12. In the Bible a golden necklace is an emblem of authority for a person who is under greater authority (Gen. 41:42; Ezek. 16:11). An example is King “Belshazzar [who] gave orders and they…put a necklace of gold around his [Daniel’s] neck giving him “authority as the third ruler in the kingdom” (Dan. 5:29). The neck represents the human will, either in yieldedness to authority or in being obstinate and stiff-necked (Prov. 1:8-9; Matt. 8:8-9; Acts 7:51). The Father gave His son authority over all things (Matt. 28:18; John 3:35). However, the Lord Jesus humbled Himself always to the authority of the Father’s will (John 5:30).
Because of His love and respect for the Father, Jesus feared to ever act independently of Him, but found delight in obeying Him (Ps. 40:8; Isa. 11:3; John 5:19-20). Christians will find rest only in having the same yoke about their necks (Matt. 11:28-30).
13. The betrothed, Rebekah, asked the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “He [Isaac] is my master. Then she took her veil and uncovered herself” (Gen. 24:65). It was a custom in early times in the East for a future bride to be, set apart until she was married. A disciple of Christ accepts the spiritual veiling of one’s whole being in consecration to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
The word for favor is usually translated as “grace” in the Bible. The veil of divine favor (grace) surrounds those who embrace their consecration to Jesus. Each can say (with David) “You surround [me] with favor as with a shield” (Ps. 5:12).
14. Through his servant, Abraham gave gifts to Rebekah, the betrothed of his son Isaac (Gen. 24-53). Our Father God gives gifts of His splendor through His Son to those who welcome their betrothal to Christ Jesus (James 1:17). These presents cause the bride to be “exceedingly beautiful” in God’s eyes. He said that the “Beauty [is] perfect because of My splendor which I bestow on you” (Ezek. 16:13-14).
15. The author of the Book of Hebrews says that Psalm 45 is about God’s son (Heb. 1:8-9). It is a wedding song of the marriage of Christ the King and His bride. In Psalm 45:13 the bride is described as “all glorious within”. This refers to the “hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Pet. 3:4).
16. King Solomon asked God to “give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people to discern between good and evil.” God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked [things] for yourself…I have done according to your words… [and] I have also given you what you have not asked” (1 Kings 3:9, 11-13).
17. The supreme mystery of God is Christ who incorporates all other divine mysteries within Him (Col. 2:2-3). The mystery of the ever-expanding love that is manifested in Christ is the greatest mystery of God. It can never be fully known (Eph. 3:17-19; Luke 10:22).
18. “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more numerous are the children of the desolate, than of the one who has a husband” (Gal. 4:27; cf. Isa. 54:1).
19. Adam was “a type of Him [Christ] who was to come” (Rom. 5:14; cf. Gen. 2:24). Husbands and wives on earth are to become “one flesh,” meaning that the two think and act as one. In full union with Christ, the betrothed one becomes one heart, one soul and one spirit with Him (Ezek. 11:19; Acts 4:32; 1 Cor. 6:17).
The Bible calls Joseph the “husband” of Mary. After their betrothal they were considered married but without the physical consummation (Matt. 1:19). This is also true with the betrothal to the Lord Jesus. (2 Cor. 11:2).
20. In two instances of betrothal in Scripture, the groom places his garment over the intended bride.
(1)
God spread His skirt over His people of Jerusalem that His love might cover their nakedness (the exposure of their sinful nature) (Ezek. 16:8; 1 Pet. 4:8).
(2)
The widow Ruth asked her relative Boaz to spread his covering over her as a sign of his willingness to be her protector as redeemer (Ruth 3:9, 12-13; Deut. 25:5-7).
Jesus as our head covering in betrothal means that we walk under His favor, protection and authority. This is so that our “minds should [not] be lead astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).
21. The passionate heart of Christ for His betrothed ones is represented by the ardor of the shepherd for the maiden in Song of Solomon 4:9. “You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride. You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes.”
22. “…the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world [system ruled by Satan]” (1 John 2:16). Pride is claiming for oneself glory that belongs to God (John 5:44). All glory belongs to God. He has said, “I will not give My glory to another” (Isa. 42:8).
The Son of God “is the radiance of His [Father’s] glory,” but He did not claim that glory as His own (Heb. 1:3). It remains the Father’s alone.
The light of God’s glory shines within the hearts of disciples, but it is not their possession (2 Cor. 4:6). They are “reflecting” it, as in 2 Corinthians 3:18, where “reflecting” is the better meaning of the Greek word usually translated “beholding”.
23. Isaiah spoke of abstaining from the pointing of the finger,” which means passing judgement on other people (Isa. 58:9).
24. David said the same thing to Saul when the king offered his daughter to him in marriage: “Who am I…that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” (1 Sam. 18:18).
25. “What do you have that you did not receive?”(1Cor. 4:7). “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17; John 3:27). Even our own beings now are a gift from God because His Son purchased us on the cross of Calvary from our former master (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Rev. 5:9).
26. “Pharaoh king of Egypt had…captured Gezer…and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife” (1 Kings 9:16). A bride’s dowry is the material wealth that she brings to the marriage.
There are no riches that anyone can give to God’s Son whom the Father “appointed heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). His Father owns “the earth and all it contains” (Ps. 24:1).
27. The linens to which God refers are the white, finely woven linen robes such as those worn by the Aaronic priests (Lev. 6:10; Exod. 39:27). These garments represent the righteousness of Christ with which “it was given to her [Christ’s bride] to clothe herself in fine linen” (Rev. 19:8; cf. Isa. 61:10; Rom. 3:22). Fine linen symbolizes righteous acts that the Holy Spirit accomplishes through the saints to glorify the Lord Jesus (John 16:14; Rom. 15:18-19).
