Keeping Under the Chuppah

We had a great Sunday yesterday as God's presence was so incredibly strong. I talked about the parallels of the Jewish Wedding to God's relationship to man according to Exodus 19 and 20. I think we miss so much sometimes in the scriptures not really understand the Jewish context. We tend to think Western but the Jews were great at using illustrations to get their point across. The Jewish Wedding is a great example. The Jewish bride and groom are married under the chuppah. The chuppah represents the glory of God that rests upon the marriage. The chuppah is there when they recite their vows and it is then moved over the bed when the bride and groom consummate the marriage. The point being that God rests above the marriage. Marriage is a representation of God to the world. It is interesting how our culture has tried to take marriage out of the chuppah. Satan has attacked the marriage and has brought something counterfeit. Satan is constantly trying to break up marriages and get people to settle for less. Satan has also taken sex which is supposed to be holy and pure and has made it dirty and has plastered it all over for everyone to see. It is our job to protect what God has made holy. Whether your single or married we all can take a stand and say, "I will not settle for the counterfeit but I will stay under the chuppah, God's plan for relationships."