Drinking from the Lord’s cup comes with a wonderful inheritance. - Day 25

“O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If you haven’t read about the Hebrew tradition (specifically, Galilean tradition) of marriage during the times of Jesus, you really need to do that. It is stunning to see the direct comparison between the things Jesus did and said with that marriage tradition. He and His disciples—being from the Galilean area—assure that He knew what He was saying; and the disciples knew what He meant. For our purposes today we will focus on the part of that marriage tradition known as the betrothal.

From what I understand, when a young man decided (or his parents decided) that he would like to marry a particular young woman, he and his father would write out a contract, clearly proposing the price of the bride as well as what would be provided for her. The hopeful groom would then go and visit the intended bride’s house where, in the company of her father, the groom would go over the marriage contract drawn up by his father. If the intended bride’s father agreed to the terms, the hopeful groom would pour a cup of wine and offer it to the intended bride. If she accepted the proposal, she signified this by drinking from the groom’s cup. If she did so, she was as connected to him as she would be after the marriage ceremony, taking place one to two years later. [Spoiler alert: the groom did not know when he was coming back. Only his father would determine that when the place the groom had built in his father’s house was ready. His coming would be a surprise to the bride, who—knowing the season in which he would come—would be watching for him, and listening for the sounding of the shofar. The bride would then go out to meet the groom with her attendants. Those who were not ready to go out at the time of the groom’s coming, would not be able to go into the wedding back at the father’s house. Now just let all that sink in.]

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26:26-28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus offered the cup to His disciples. This cup of the new covenant was purchased by His own blood. Drinking from His cup signifies that we are accepting His offer and becoming fully His.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6:19-20‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The apostle Paul apparently understood what Jesus did for us, having offered us a cup of betrothal, and paying the price to make us His own.

Referencing back to the Galilean wedding tradition: once the bride drank from the groom’s cup, she was fully His. She would now wear a veil indicating that she was no longer “available.”

“You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:21‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The price Jesus paid for us: His own blood, is remembered every time we partake of the Lord‘s table. We are not often making that covenant when taking from the Lord’s table; but we are often remembering that we are not our own, being bought with a price. As such, we cannot make ourselves available to the world. That would be spiritual fornication and adultery; the Lord will not allow that.

In our portion from Psalms today we see that David gloried in the drinking of the Lord’s cup, no matter what that involved for him. He was truly aligned with the Lord. Additionally, he knew that with that covenantal relationship, came a wonderful inheritance.

Think about it: the bride (mentioned above), betrothed to her groom, was now—not just his possession—but also possessed the things promised to her by the groom.

Just so, being betrothed to our Lord by accepting His cup, is an awesome honor and privilege, accompanied by unimaginable promises benefits!

For today let us know and understand what David knew:

Drinking from the Lord’s cup comes with a wonderful inheritance.

#100dayswithdavid