Bible read.

[Openly Curious]

I am so far way behind please forgive me.

I have always loved the marriage ceremonies myself in the different customs they are interesting to study even. Some of the different traditional customs in which they add into the ceremonies is inspiring like the wedding march something old something new and all them kind of traditional things in the different cultures. I have always thought that the Father of the bride giving his daughter's hand in marriage away came from Genesis after God created Eve and then took her and give her to Adam and they became man and wife as God gave his first daughter's hand away in marriage to Adam. Weddings ceremonies in this aspect can be beautiful and give a picture portrayal of Christ being united with His bride the Church.

I think as you do as when two people come together and make a verbal agreement it is seen and heard by God and when they go into the marriage bed God see's and is witness that they are no longer two but one we need no preacher or marriage license like they have today in the ceremony to validate this act between the two and things were much simliar back then.

The states came up with the marriage license thing because the states don't have a right to your children without one. They cannot come in by law and take your kids away if they thought it neccessary to do so. But the marriage license gives the state the right by law to come in and take your kids from you if neccessary and they become the property of the state. Which most people don't know this.

But I like you G like the BOOM it's done way. And agree with MsSealedEternal that marriage is about a husband and wife loving each other and so many have lost that focus in society today.

OC

[MrsSealedEternal]

Very true, OC. That is what I was told happens when we get a marriage liscence with the state. We enter into a contract with them, which in turn allows them certain legal rights over our children.

It has never crossed my mind that the tradition of the father giving the bride away might come from God giving Eve away to Adam. Interesting thought.

Personally, I didn't want an elaborate, fanciful wedding, so we kept things very simple.

What really mattered is that we agreed to take one another as husband and wife and love eachother for as long as we both shall live. I unexpectly started to cry when I said my vows, because I think I was suddenly overwhelmed in my heart with the understanding that I had entered into a commitment which closed one door behind me and opened up another one in front of me. I was leaving that part of my life behind to embark on this new lifelong journey of becoming one with my husband.

Marriage, when held in honor of God, is a most beautiful arrangement and the genuine love that two can cultivate and share becomes a priceless gem.

Thanks for your shares, OC

[Openly Curious]

Very true, OC. That is what I was told happens when we get a marriage liscence with the state. We enter into a contract with them, which in turn allows them certain legal rights over our children.

It has never crossed my mind that the tradition of the father giving the bride away might come from God giving Eve away to Adam. Interesting thought.

Personally, I didn't want an elaborate, fanciful wedding, so we kept things very simple.

What really mattered is that we agreed to take one another as husband and wife and love eachother for as long as we both shall live. I unexpectly started to cry when I said my vows, because I think I was suddenly overwhelmed in my heart with the understanding that I had entered into a commitment which closed one door behind me and opened up another one in front of me. I was leaving that part of my life behind to embark on this new lifelong journey of becoming one with my husband.

Marriage, when held in honor of God, is a most beautiful arrangement and the genuine love that two can cultivate and share becomes a priceless gem.

Thanks for your shares, OC

I didn't have an eloborate or fanciful wedding either matter of fact we eloped as I was to socially withdrawn to be able to have a big wedding at that time and I also cried when saying my vows cause I meant every word that I said even to this day I have remained faithful to them. And it is as you say a priceless "gem" I thank you for your shares as this all uplifts my spirit at present time in which I need. I didn't always she the beauty in the ceremonies and customs as I do now but I see now a beautiful picture when I see a wedding take place and am so blessed in my soul as I see the real truth that it portrays and anticipate being united with Christ one day soon. It reminds me of Revelation 21 when John saw New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. And that always give me the mental picture of the bridegroom comes out of his chambers and takes his place at the front of the church to watch his bride come down the isle as he beholds her as she is all decked out in her wedding garb and ornaments and the wedding music plays and he watches her come down the isle to meet him at his side. That is the picture I get when I read Revelation 21 and when I am invited to a wedding. It's funny how God chooses to uplift us and encourage us sometimes isn't it. thanks again for your shares.

OC

[Giaour]

Some people have told me that I am not really married since I didn't have a church wedding.

We were married at the courthouse 24 years ago.

I now have Biblical proof that I am indeed married in the sight of God!

Sorry to get off track.

Great chapter on selling birthrights.

Love the input all, keeps me interested.

So proud of you all for joining me in this gargantuan project.

This is todays chapter.

Genesis 25

1. Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.

2. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.

3. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.

4. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

5. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

6. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.

7. And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.

8. Then Abraham gave up the Ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

9. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;

10. The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

11. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

12. Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham:

13. And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

14. And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

15. Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

16. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.

17. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the Ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.

18. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

19. And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:

20. And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

21. And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

22. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord.

23. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

24. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

26. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

27. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

28. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29. And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:

30. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

31. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

32. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

33. And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

[Giaour]

Genesis 26

1. And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

2. And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

3. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

4. And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

7. And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

8. And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

9. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

10. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

11. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

12. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

13. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14. For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

15. For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

17. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

19. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20. And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.

21. And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.

22. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

23. And he went up from thence to Beersheba.

24. And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

25. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.

26. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.

27. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

28. And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

29. That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord.

30. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31. And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

33. And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

34. And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

35. Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

[Tomi]

I'm still with you. Everything in God's Word is good, Amen.

[chattymae]

Still here also, I may miss a day here and there, but I always catch up. Thanks again for posting.

[billie]

I'm still with ya, G.

[Giaour]

Glad to have everyone with me on this.

It keeps me disclipined.

I have read the Bible in whole before but I'm amazed at the little tid bits I have gotten so far.

I hadn't realized just how much actually went on in Genesis.

[Openly Curious]

Catching up again

21. And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

I like this verse as it was Isaac who prays for God to open up Rebekah's womb as she wasn't able to conceive. It is usually the women who seek the Lord on things like this and I just thought is was real kool on Isaac's part here to do that.

23. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

I like the way the Lord tells Rebekah personally when she sought God about the fight going on in her womb how God tells her that there was two different nations in her and how the one would be stronger than than the other. And that the "elder" shall serve the younger.

As it was customary for the elder to be the one who got the inheritance of the Father to be passed down to them as it talks about in Romans chapter 9 about this as well. But God told Rebekah that it was not going to be the case with these two as the younger one which was Jacob was going to be heir of the father's inheritance and not Esau who was the elder as he was born first. The two nations were Edom (Esau'a descendants) and Israel (Jacob's descendant) which his twelve children made up the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.

28. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

I think it was because of what God told Rebekah directly is why she favored the youngest of the two which was Jacob as the verse said but Rebekah loved Jacob. But Isaac didn't hear what God told Rebekah and he was favoring the eldest son instead.

29. And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:

30. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

31. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

32. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

33. And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

But we see that the birthright was not at all highly esteemed by Esau to the point of selling it to his youngest brother Jacob for some food. So inspite of the trickery that lie up ahead by all rights here Esau sold it to Jacob and it did rightfully belong to him here.

34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

see what I mean Esau despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob. now I have always wondered if Rebekah didn't know about this selling the birthright over to Jacob or not and maybe that's what made her do what she done latter on and also what God told her personally about the birthright don't know just a thought.

OC