Proposals

I was thinking about that fact that a bunch of folks are getting engaged and married these days, and I realized something. I'm engaged too, and the proposal was the most surprising one ever.

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear."
-- Revelation 19:6-8

In the crucifixion, Christ asks each of us to be his bride. As an engagement ring, we have his Holy Spirit, which alone enables us to "make ourselves ready", and as a wedding dress, we have his blood, atoning for our guilt so that we can be the pure bride that a just Savior demands.

Furthermore, God is a jealous God. I'm used to thinking about this from the point of view of the wife who has cheated on her husband and thus faces his wrath. But there's also the point of view of the other man who is tempting his wife - this could be the other nations around Israel, or the World, or its Prince. And now it makes sense why God deals so severely with each of these. And we have yet another assurance that God will give us victory over these things. Praise the Lord.