By Maria Merola אריאל
The year 2002, (right after the events of September 11th 2001), was a pivotal year for me. I began seeking my Heavenly Father more than ever before. It was during this time, that he began shifting many of mu paradigms.
Yet, just like every other move of the Ruwach ha’Qodesh (Holy Spirit), the devil wants to sabotage this movement by causing a plethora of false teachers to infiltrate. As a result, we see all kinds of extreme new doctrines beginning to creep in, thereby discrediting the entire movement. One of these false doctrines that I have seen within the Hebraic Root’s Community is very alarming, because it is leading couples to believe they can just “shack up” (or live in fornication) without going through a proper marriage ceremony.
The justification for this seems to be one isolated passage of Scripture where Rebekah and Isaac went into the tent, in Genesis 24:67. Those who rationalize that Rebekah and Isaac were instantly married the moment they had sexual intercourse, argue that there was no need for taking vows or signing a written ketuwbah.
Most people reading this account of Rebekah & Isaac assume there was no wedding ceremony that took place in front of witnesses. This is their justification for living in fornication. This false conclusion is leading people to believe they can just have sex and “voila!” they are then suddenly and instantly married!
Bereshiyth (Genesis) 24:67 And Yitzchaq (Isaac) brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Ribqah (Rebekah), and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Yitzchaq (Isaac) Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Just because the Scriptures do not give the details of the wedding ceremony between Isaac and Rebekah, people often assume there were no vows taken in front of witnesses, nor a written ketubah. However, a legitimate marriage covenant to be valid in the eyes of YaHuWaH, there has to be the biblical pattern of “three witnesses” which are shown to us in Scripture.
We have already been given the pattern from the Towrah (Mosaic Law) showing us what constitutes a valid marriage covenant. These three witnesses point to the marriage covenant between Messiah and his bride, and they are what makes a marriage covenant legitimate in the eyes of our Heavenly Father, YaHuWaH.
In this study, I aim to show that there is much more to a marriage covenant than simply having sexual union. To assume that all one has to do in order to enter into a “biblical marriage” is to “consummate” (have sexual union) is to negate the deep spiritual meaning behind the original wedding between YaHuWaH and his bride Yisra’el on Mount Sinai.
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “FORNICATION:”
In 1st Yahuwchanon (John) 5:7-8 it says:
Mosheh then went up to Mount Sinai to commune for forty days with YaHuWaH to receive the “written marriage covenant” on stone tablets. The Hebrew word for “written” is “kathab,” and that is why in a traditional Hebrew wedding, the bride and the groom sign a “ketuwbah,” which is a written marriage agreement.
The written marriage agreement represents the witness of the “water” (the word) because the word of YaHuWaH is likened unto “Living Water” and our Messiah is the “WORD” who became flesh (John 1:1). He is the bridegroom who sanctifies his bride “by the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26). After the covenant was presented to the nation of Yisra’el, Mosheh also sprinkled them with the blood of sacrificed animals to signify that the covenant was being sealed in heaven.
When a bridegroom and a bride consummate their marriage, this is the same thing as the witness of the “blood,” because ideally, both the bride and the bridegroom should be virgins on their wedding night if this is their first marriage.
When the bride and the bridegroom “consummate” after they have taken vows in front of witnesses, the witness of the “blood” seen in 1st Yahuwchanon (John) 5:8 is what this typifies. The witness of the “blood” correlates the Father, because in Zechariah 12:10 YaHuWaH says: “they will look upon ME whom they have pierced and they will mourn for HIM as one mourns for his only son.”
This tells us that it was the Father’s blood that was in Messiah’s veins! This is the same thing as when the sacrificial system was set up in the Tabernacle and when our Messiah offered up his blood for us (the Father’s blood was in his veins). The marriage is only valid when these three witnesses are present:
#1.) The Holy Spirit (taking vows orally) before witnesses.
#2.) The signing of a “written marriage agreement” called a ketuwbah in Hebrew (symbolic of the written Towrah).
#3.) And finally there must be a “consummation.” In other words, the shedding of blood is symbolized by the sacrifice of the Lamb.
It is not a valid marriage covenant unless these three things are present:
In a legitimate Hebrew Wedding, the man who escorts the bride to the bridegroom and gives her away is “Mosheh” (Moses) who represents the Towrah (Mosaic Law):
Shemoth (Exodus) 32:
32 Yet now, if you will forgive their sin---and if not, blot me, I pray you, out of your book which you have written.
33 And YHWH said unto Mosheh (Moses), Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
What is also interesting is that the name Mosheh means “to draw out from the water,” and so it is fitting that he represents “the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26) as the Towrah (the word) is what washes the bride and makes her ready to meet the bridegroom.
This is also the reason why Mosheh was used by YaHuWaH to give to Yisra’el “water out of a rock” (Numbers 20:10) at Meribah.
The WORD came to them in the form of LIVING WATER symbolic of our Messiah who is that Rock! (1st Corinthians 10:4).
And then there is the “best man” who is called “the friend of the bridegroom.” He is typified in the prophet Eliyahuw (Elijah) who is symbolic of the “fire” of the Holy Spirit. Eliyahuw was “taken up” into a chariot of fire which pre-figures the bride being “caught up” to meet the bridegroom in the air in 1st Thessalonians 4:17.
Luqas (Luke) 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Eliyahuw (Elijah), to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for YHWH.
Back in 2007 when I was in a time of intense prayer and fasting, the Spirit of YaHuWaH came to me and said “Maria, the double portion anointing is that of Mosheh & Eliyahuw.”
Written Ketuwbah (written marriage contract) = water of the word
Another thing which proves that sexual union alone does not constitute a legitimate marriage, is in the account where our Messiah was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well. Listen to what he says to her in this account:
Yahuwchanon (John) 4:
© Copyright Double Portion Inheritance, December 2010
I had eight prophetic dreams that year, and these dreams woke me up to a deeper understanding of the Mosaic Law (Towrah). It was also during this time, that I began questioning many of the doctrines I had been traditionally taught in the Christian Church. Since that time, I had begun to encounter many others who were also being lead in the very same way. I was surprised to learn that I was not alone, and that the Spirit of Yah was causing many to embrace the Hebraic Roots of our faith in Messiah.
Yet, just like every other move of the Ruwach ha’Qodesh (Holy Spirit), the devil wants to sabotage this movement by causing a plethora of false teachers to infiltrate. As a result, we see all kinds of extreme new doctrines beginning to creep in, thereby discrediting the entire movement. One of these false doctrines that I have seen within the Hebraic Root’s Community is very alarming, because it is leading couples to believe they can just “shack up” (or live in fornication) without going through a proper marriage ceremony.
The justification for this seems to be one isolated passage of Scripture where Rebekah and Isaac went into the tent, in Genesis 24:67. Those who rationalize that Rebekah and Isaac were instantly married the moment they had sexual intercourse, argue that there was no need for taking vows or signing a written ketuwbah.
Most people reading this account of Rebekah & Isaac assume there was no wedding ceremony that took place in front of witnesses. This is their justification for living in fornication. This false conclusion is leading people to believe they can just have sex and “voila!” they are then suddenly and instantly married!
These same people erroneously call this a “biblical marriage.” But is this the precedent that has been laid down for us in Scripture? We repeatedly shown in Scripture that a covenant must involve “Two or three witnesses,” as well as three elements, which are “The Spirit, the water, and the blood” (1st John 5:7-8). I will elaborate on this a little bit later.
If a man and a woman have sexual union without a wedding ceremony, this is nothing more than fornication (unless the biblical pattern is followed). Let’s examine this passage that is being used to justify fornication or pre-marital sex:
Bereshiyth (Genesis) 24:67 And Yitzchaq (Isaac) brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Ribqah (Rebekah), and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Yitzchaq (Isaac) Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Just because the Scriptures do not give the details of the wedding ceremony between Isaac and Rebekah, people often assume there were no vows taken in front of witnesses, nor a written ketubah. However, a legitimate marriage covenant to be valid in the eyes of YaHuWaH, there has to be the biblical pattern of “three witnesses” which are shown to us in Scripture.
We have already been given the pattern from the Towrah (Mosaic Law) showing us what constitutes a valid marriage covenant. These three witnesses point to the marriage covenant between Messiah and his bride, and they are what makes a marriage covenant legitimate in the eyes of our Heavenly Father, YaHuWaH.
In this study, I aim to show that there is much more to a marriage covenant than simply having sexual union. To assume that all one has to do in order to enter into a “biblical marriage” is to “consummate” (have sexual union) is to negate the deep spiritual meaning behind the original wedding between YaHuWaH and his bride Yisra’el on Mount Sinai.
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “FORNICATION:”
Fornication: noun: voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons or two persons not married to each other.
As you can see, pre-marital sex is “fornication,” which is not the same thing as adultery. Adultery means to have sexual union with another while you are already committed in marriage. In other words, it is cheating on your spouse. But fornication means to have sex outside of the bonds of marriage. So how do we know what makes a legitimate marriage covenant in the eyes of our Creator? We are going to see patterns in scripture for a legitimate covenant being made with three witnesses: Spirit, Water & Blood.
This illustration below shows Fire (the Spirit) the Menorah (the lamp of the Word) and the Lion (the blood sacrifice of Messiah).
This illustration below shows Fire (the Spirit) the Menorah (the lamp of the Word) and the Lion (the blood sacrifice of Messiah).
“For there are three that bear record in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are ONE. And there are three that bear witness in the earth: the Spirit, the Water and the Blood, and these three agree in one.”
When YaHuWaH “spoke” the marriage vows to Yisra’el “by his voice, breath or Spirit” at Mount Sinai that was the witness of the “Spirit” (Exodus 19:18-20). YaHuWaH himself descended onto Mount Sinai in the form of fire, and this happened on the Feast of Shabuwoth (Pentecost). This was the same feast wherein Messiah himself poured out his Ruwach (Spirit) on the set-apart ones in the second chapter of Acts in the form of “tongues of fire.” Mosheh commanded the people to wash their clothes with water and to sanctify themselves for the wedding ceremony on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:10-14).
When YaHuWaH “spoke” the marriage vows to Yisra’el “by his voice, breath or Spirit” at Mount Sinai that was the witness of the “Spirit” (Exodus 19:18-20). YaHuWaH himself descended onto Mount Sinai in the form of fire, and this happened on the Feast of Shabuwoth (Pentecost). This was the same feast wherein Messiah himself poured out his Ruwach (Spirit) on the set-apart ones in the second chapter of Acts in the form of “tongues of fire.” Mosheh commanded the people to wash their clothes with water and to sanctify themselves for the wedding ceremony on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:10-14).
Mosheh then went up to Mount Sinai to commune for forty days with YaHuWaH to receive the “written marriage covenant” on stone tablets. The Hebrew word for “written” is “kathab,” and that is why in a traditional Hebrew wedding, the bride and the groom sign a “ketuwbah,” which is a written marriage agreement.
The written marriage agreement represents the witness of the “water” (the word) because the word of YaHuWaH is likened unto “Living Water” and our Messiah is the “WORD” who became flesh (John 1:1). He is the bridegroom who sanctifies his bride “by the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26). After the covenant was presented to the nation of Yisra’el, Mosheh also sprinkled them with the blood of sacrificed animals to signify that the covenant was being sealed in heaven.
When a bridegroom and a bride consummate their marriage, this is the same thing as the witness of the “blood,” because ideally, both the bride and the bridegroom should be virgins on their wedding night if this is their first marriage.
When the bride and the bridegroom “consummate” after they have taken vows in front of witnesses, the witness of the “blood” seen in 1st Yahuwchanon (John) 5:8 is what this typifies. The witness of the “blood” correlates the Father, because in Zechariah 12:10 YaHuWaH says: “they will look upon ME whom they have pierced and they will mourn for HIM as one mourns for his only son.”
This tells us that it was the Father’s blood that was in Messiah’s veins! This is the same thing as when the sacrificial system was set up in the Tabernacle and when our Messiah offered up his blood for us (the Father’s blood was in his veins). The marriage is only valid when these three witnesses are present:
#1.) The Holy Spirit (taking vows orally) before witnesses.
#2.) The signing of a “written marriage agreement” called a ketuwbah in Hebrew (symbolic of the written Towrah).
#3.) And finally there must be a “consummation.” In other words, the shedding of blood is symbolized by the sacrifice of the Lamb.
It is not a valid marriage covenant unless these three things are present:
1.) Vows (the Spirit or Fire).
2.) Written Towrah or Ketuwbah (the Water of the Word).
3.) Sacrifice or Consummation (the Blood).
If a man married a woman and he thought she was a virgin, but he found out on the wedding night that she was not a virgin, he could legally divorce her according to Towrah (see Deuteronomy 24). But if he still loved her any way, he could kill a lamb and then smear the blood of the lamb on the bed sheet and bring that out to the wedding guests to display it before the crowd!
That is exactly what our Messiah Yahuwshuwa did for his backsliding whoring bride Yisra’el! He covered her sin with his blood making her a pure virgin again!
Now if a woman is no longer a virgin because she is a widow or divorced by her husband, then she can apply the blood of Messiah to their union as “the blood of the lamb.” This will be the third witness needed to make the marriage legitimate!
Galatiym (Galatians) 3:24 Wherefore the Towrah (law) was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Mashiyach (Messiah), that we might be justified by faith.
But once the bride has been handed over to the bridegroom, then the the bridegroom takes over from there, and it is he who teaches the bride to be obedient to the marriage covenant. He does this by demonstrating his sacrificial love for her. He not only gives her a written marriage agreement with the instructions on it, but he demonstrates to her what the marriage covenant looks with his actions:
Ephsiym (Ephesians) 5:
But once the bride has been handed over to the bridegroom, then the the bridegroom takes over from there, and it is he who teaches the bride to be obedient to the marriage covenant. He does this by demonstrating his sacrificial love for her. He not only gives her a written marriage agreement with the instructions on it, but he demonstrates to her what the marriage covenant looks with his actions:
Ephsiym (Ephesians) 5:
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Mashiyach (Messiah) also loved the qahal (assembly), and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious qahal (assembly), not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be qodesh (holy) and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself.
Once the bride sees that her husband is self-sacrificing, she has no problem submitting to him:
Once the bride sees that her husband is self-sacrificing, she has no problem submitting to him:
Ephsiym (Ephesians) 5:
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto YHWH.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Mashiyach (Messiah) is the head of the qahal (assembly): and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the qahal (assembly) is subject unto Mashiyach (Messiah), so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
32 Yet now, if you will forgive their sin---and if not, blot me, I pray you, out of your book which you have written.
33 And YHWH said unto Mosheh (Moses), Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
What is also interesting is that the name Mosheh means “to draw out from the water,” and so it is fitting that he represents “the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26) as the Towrah (the word) is what washes the bride and makes her ready to meet the bridegroom.
This is also the reason why Mosheh was used by YaHuWaH to give to Yisra’el “water out of a rock” (Numbers 20:10) at Meribah.
The WORD came to them in the form of LIVING WATER symbolic of our Messiah who is that Rock! (1st Corinthians 10:4).
The “friend of the bridegroom” in a Hebrew Wedding stands outside the door while the bride and the bridegroom go into the bridal chamber called a “chuppah” in Hebrew (see Psalms 19:5 & Joel 2:16).
While the bride and groom are in the chuppah, the friend of the bridegroom is supposed to stand guard to make sure that nobody disturbs them. During the consummation of the marriage, the friend of the bridegroom is supposed to “listen for the voice of the bridegroom” to hear him “consummate” the marriage!
When the “friend of the bridegroom” hears the voice of the bridegroom consummate with his bride, he then notifies the wedding guests outside who are waiting to celebrate and they all shout for joy! This is when the bridegroom’s friend has his own joy fulfilled:
While the bride and groom are in the chuppah, the friend of the bridegroom is supposed to stand guard to make sure that nobody disturbs them. During the consummation of the marriage, the friend of the bridegroom is supposed to “listen for the voice of the bridegroom” to hear him “consummate” the marriage!
When the “friend of the bridegroom” hears the voice of the bridegroom consummate with his bride, he then notifies the wedding guests outside who are waiting to celebrate and they all shout for joy! This is when the bridegroom’s friend has his own joy fulfilled:
Yahuwchanon (John) 3:29 He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Yahuwchanon (John) the Immerser (Baptizer) came in the “Spirit of Eliyahuw” (Elijah) and he is the one being called “friend of the bridegroom” because he came as a representative of the prophet Eliyahuw or Elijah.
Back in 2007 when I was in a time of intense prayer and fasting, the Spirit of YaHuWaH came to me and said “Maria, the double portion anointing is that of Mosheh & Eliyahuw.”
Upon hearing these words, I had an open vision of Yahuwshuwa Mashiyach (Messiah) at the Mount of Transfiguration with Mosheh & Eliyahuw (Moses & Elijah).
I suddenly realized that our Messiah Yahuwshuwa operated in both types of “anointing” in his life which are Law (Moses) and Prophets (Elijah). In other words, the two witnesses in Revelation 11:4 are typified in these two witnesses that are symbolized in an Ancient Hebrew Wedding.
Most Christians believe that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has now replaced the need for the Mosaic Law in our lives. But after this vision, I suddenly realized that both they go “hand-in-hand.”
We are told many times in scripture that a covenant or a matter is established by the “witness of two or three.” (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, Joshua 7:3, 2nd Kings 9:32, Isaiah 17:6, Amos 4:8, Matthew 18:16, 18:20, John 2:6, 1st Corinthians 14:27, 14:29, 2nd Corinthians 13:1, 1st Timothy 5:19, 1st John 5:7-8, Hebrews 10:28).
And so in order for a marriage covenant to be truly “biblical” we must have “two or three witnesses:”
1.) Mosheh (the written Towrah) = the ketuwbah or the written marriage contract signed by both the bride and the groom.
2.) Eliyahuw (the spirit of the prophets or the fulfillment) = the oral vows exchanged between bride & groom and this happened at Mount Sinai and also on the day of Shabuwoth (Pentecost) when YaHuWaH orally gave his Towrah to his bride (Exodus 19 & Acts 2).
3.) Yahuwshuwa Mashiyach (the blood) = the atonement of the Messiah is the consummation.
And so we see a pattern in scripture wherever covenant is established we ALWAYS HAVE THREE WITNESSES:
1.) The Father (the blood).
2.) The Word (the water).
3.) The Holy Spirit (the spirit).
Moses represents the “Water of the Word” (the Towrah) because his name in Hebrew “Mosheh” means “to be drawn from the water.”
Eliyahuw means “YaHuWaH is my El” and this is the fulfillment for when we are baptized in water, we declare that YaHuWaH is our Mighty One!
Yahuwshuwa the Mashiyach represents the Father (for the Father & the Son are one) and his blood makes atonement which “consummates” the marriage!
Hence we need all three elements to form a legitimate marriage covenant:
Father = blood
Word = water
Holy Spirit = spirit
In an earthly marriage we also need these three witnesses:
Oral Vows = spirit
Consummation = blood
And these three elements (ketuwbah, vows and consummation) must be witnessed not only by three heavenly witnesses (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) but also by three earthly witnesses (Mosheh, Eliyahuw, Yahuwshuwa).
This means that the bride and groom first “sign the ketuwbah” just like Miryam (Mary) and Yahuwceph (Joseph) which means that they are legally “engaged” (espoused) once they do this. Then the next step is to take vows in front of two or three witnesses. And then once they do that, they may “consummate” (have intercourse).
Mattithyahuw (Matthew) 1:
18 Now the birth of Yahuwshuwa Mashiyach was on this wise: When as his mother Miryam (Mary) was espoused to Yahuwceph (Joseph), before they came together, she was found with child of the Ruwach ha’Qodesh (Holy Spirit).
19 Then Yahuwceph (Joseph) her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately (privily).
Now what you will notice in the above verse is that Miryam and Yahuwceph were engaged to be married (espoused) and they had not “come together” (consummated) yet because they had not had the wedding ceremony where they exchanged vows in front of two or three witnesses!
Then, Yahuwceph was going to put her away privately because he thought that she had committed adultery on him. Why would he think this if they had already been sleeping together? If he thought that the baby was not his, that proves that they had not consummated (had sexual union) yet! They were engaged (espoused) but not legally married yet!
Yahuwchanon (John) 4:
16 Yahuwshuwa said unto her, Go, call your husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Yahuwshuwa said unto her, You have well said, I have no husband:
18 For you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband: in that you said truly.
As you can see, if this woman had five husbands previously, and now she was living with this man in sin, why didn’t her sexual union with him qualify that as a marriage? Why did our Messiah recognize the other five marriages that she had been in, but he did not recognize the relationship that she was currently in as a legitimate marriage? It is because sexual union alone does not constitute a legitimate marriage!
The other two elements must be present first before the consummation, which are the oral vows in front of witnesses and also the written agreement signed between the bride and the groom in front of witnesses. The two witnesses are typified in Mosheh (Moses) and Eliyahuw (Elijah) The pattern has already been set forth for us in the Scriptures.
To learn more about the biblical marriage process, see this website:
