The Divine Bridegroom

David is celebrating the King Messiah in this first verse of Psalm 45. In our English translations, the first verse has been made into a title separate from the first verse, but in the Hebrew Text, this is part of the first verse. The 'king' here is the Messianic King. Verse 3 says: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one.'  The word for 'mighty one' is 'gibor'. It reminds us of Isaiah chapter 9 in verse 6: 'Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder.  He name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, El Gibbor, the mighty GOD.'  Now David is using the same title here: 'Gird your sword upon your thigh, O Gibbor.' Hero!  Mighty One!  Divine Hero!  Obviously this is the Divine Hero, because he goes on to say, in verse 6:  'Your throne, O GOD, is forever and ever.' This is the Divine Hero; the Mighty GOD, the Messianic King; the Divine One!

We read about Him in verse 9: 'Kings' daughters are among your honourable women; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.'  Here are Jews and Gentiles, together, who form the composite bride of the Messiah!  Because we read not only of the 'royal daughter,' but we read about the 'virgins, her companions who follow her' in verses 13 and 14 of this 45^th Psalm.  This Psalm describes, just as the Song of Solomon does, the heavenly bridegroom; the royal bridegroom of His people.  GOD has given Him to His people. It is usual for the bride to be given to the bridegroom, isn't it?  But here we find that GOD has made the match!  (In Yiddish we say, 'shiddoch').  He's made the match between Messiah and His people; and this is really an echo of what GOD has said in Isaiah 55: 'Behold, I have given him for a witness, for a leader and a commander to the people.'  GOD says, 'I have given him.'

Really, everything that we have here in this Letter to the Ephesians; is an echo of all that Moses and the prophets wrote; all that GOD spoke through them, is now being brought together and crystallized, and announced because now the fulfilment has come about.  'Gave him.'  'GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.' 'Gave Him'!  What amazing meaning there is in those two little words.  'GOD gave Him'!    

And what about the kehillah?  What can we say about the kehillah?  We read: 'The Church is His body; the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.'  We are truly part of Him - Jews and Gentiles - all those that love Him and believe in Him and are willing to be identified with Him; we are all part of Him.  GOD said, 'A man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.'  Later on in this Letter, we will find that this is really prophetically spoken of Messiah and His kehillah, and His people.  We are part of Him.

Adam was the 'figure of Him that was to come.'  We read about that in Romans, Chapter 5.  Adam was the 'figure', the representative, the symbol of the Messiah.  Just as Adam's side was opened; he was put into a deep sleep and his side was opened in order to provide him with a bride.  So Messiah slept the sleep of death.  His side was opened in order to bring us to the new birth, so that we could be His bride!  And we are bone of His bone; we are members of His body, of His bones and of His flesh, because He has become flesh and bones such as we are.

After His resurrection, He said to His disciples, 'Handle Me!  Handle Me, and see.  A spirit does not have flesh and bones such as you see Me have.'  He has taken that physical body - flesh and bones - to Heaven!  When He came from Heaven, He did not have a body, but when He returned to Heaven, he returned with a body, with that which He did not have before He left.  He acquired a human body when He came into this world; and He is now the GOD-Man; our Emmanuel, GOD with us!  The Man, Messiah YESHUA, seated at the right hand of the Father!  That's what He has done for us, and we are part of Him; we are His body.  And also, we are the fullness of Him. Isn't that amazing?  We would think He had all the fullness in Himself, since the Bible tells us in the book of Colossians: 'In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' And yet, as our 'Heavenly Bridegroom' He counts Himself incomplete without us.  He is coming back to fetch His bride, just as the Hebrew young men went to fetch their brides.  They had a period of betrothal, and during that period of betrothal they were not to see each other.  It was highly improper.  But on the day of the wedding, the bridegroom went to fetch his bride, and to take her to his father's house. In the same way Messiah waits until the proper day when He may come and take away his waiting bride. Let us therefore be ready to receive and be taken away by our bridegroom, this divine bridegroon, the Messiah King. Amen.