Weddings, Earthly
and Divine
Genesis 2:18-24 –
New International Version (NIV)
18 The Lord God
said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable
for him.”
19 Now the Lord
God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the
sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever
the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So
the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild
animals.
But
for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a
deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then
closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he
had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This
is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united
to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Why did God say He
would make a helper for man (verse 18)?
Who brought all
the wild animals and birds to Adam (verse
19)?
What did Adam do (verse
20)?
In your opinion,
why wasn’t a helper for Adam found in all the livestock, birds and wild animals
(verse 20)?
What did God do
after causing Adam to fall into a deep sleep (verses 21 and 22)?
What was Adam’s
reaction to the woman (verse 23)?
In your opinion,
what is meant by “that is why a man
leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife” (verse 24)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
John 2:1-11 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.
Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also
been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’
mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has
not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews
for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so
they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the
master of the banquet.”
They
did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that
had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though
the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and
said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine
after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till
now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the
signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Who was at the
wedding in Cana in Galilee (verses 1
and 2)?
What did Jesus
mother do when the “wine was gone” (verse
3)?
In your opinion,
why did Jesus say “my hour has not yet
come” (verse 4)?
What did Jesus’ mother
instruct the servants to do (verse 5)?
What kind of stone
water jars stood nearby (verse 6)?
How full did the
servants fill the stone water jars (verse 7)?
Who took the water
to the master of the banquet (verse 8)?
What did the
master of the banquet do (verse 9)?
How did the master
of the banquet perceive the situation (verse 10)?
How does John
describe what “Jesus did here in Cana of
Galilee” (verse 11)?
How did the
disciples react to what Jesus had done (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what is the significance
of Jesus’ first miracle in John 2:1-11 being the celebration of what Genesis 2:18-24
describes as a man leaving his father and mother and being “united to his wife”?
Ephesians 5:21-32
- New International Version (NIV)
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to
the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ
is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now
as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands
in everything.
25 Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to
make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and
to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any
other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way,
husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife
loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body,
but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for
we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become
one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking
about Christ and the church.
Why
should husbands and wives “submit to one
another” (verse 21)?
Who should the wives submit to (verse 22)?
In your opinion, how is Christ’s
relationship to the church like a husband’s relationship to a wife (verse 23)?
How should the church relate to Christ
(verse 24)?
How does Christ provide an example for
husbands (verse 25)?
Why did Christ give Himself up for the church (verses 25 and 26)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when
he says that Christ gave himself up for the church “to present her to himself as a radiant church” (verse 27)?
How should husbands love their wives (verse
28)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when
he says “he who loves his wife loves
himself” (verse 28)?
What does Christ do for the church (verse 29)?
Who are “members of his body” (verse 30)?
What happens to the man and wife who are
united (verse 31)?
What is a profound mystery (verse 32)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s
comparison of the union of a husband and wife to the union of Christ and the
church in Ephesians 5:21-32 enrich our understanding of Jesus participating in
the wedding in John 2:1-11?
In
your opinion, how does God’s creation of a helper suitable for Adam in Genesis
2:18-24 foreshadow the preparation of the church for Jesus as Paul describes in
Ephesians 5:21-32?
Revelation 19:6-9 –
New International Version (NIV)
6 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.
7 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.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 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.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine
linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those
who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are
the true words of God.”
Who shouted “hallelujah”
(verse
6)?
Why did they shout “hallelujah” (verse 6)?
What has come that causes rejoicing (verse
7)?
Who has made the bride ready (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the significance
of the “fine linen, bright and clean” that
was given to the bride to wear (verse 8)?
Who is blessed (verse 9)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what
can we learn from the fact that the “profound
mystery” of the union of Christ and the church that Paul talks about in
Ephesians 5:21-32 generates a very loud “hallelujah”
in Revelation 19:6-9?
In your opinion, what does Jesus
presenting the choice wine in the miracle in John 2:1-11 help us to understand
about the wedding of the Lamb and His bride in Revelation 19:6-9?
In your opinion, what
does the fact that the woman and the man are united and become one flesh in
Genesis 2:18-24 help us understand about Jesus and the church in Revelation
19:6-9?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Genesis, John, Ephesians and Revelation help us understand about how the
Biblical relationship of husband and wife is an example of the relationship
between Jesus and the church?
In your opinion, how do these passages
cause us to love, prepare and celebrate today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
