Compare Ephesians 5:25-27, Ephesians 5:29 with the foundling story of Ezekiel 16:1-14. What elements of that story does Paul reflect in his own sketch?

As Paul, in Ephesians 5:25-27, Ephesians 5:29, shapes his wedding-marriage metaphor for the church and its relationship with Christ, he draws creatively on the customs and roles of an ancient wedding. In relationship to the church as bride, Christ is the divine Bridegroom who:

1. Loves the church as bride (Ephesians 5:25). We must never forget that this is heart work for Jesus. He loves us!
2. Gives Himself as the bride price. In the context of ancient wedding arrangements, the bridegroom would “purchase” the bride with the “bride price,” which was usually a large sum of money and valuables, so large that ancient village economies depended upon the custom. Christ pays the ultimate price for the church as His bride since He “gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25, NKJV). In the Incarnation and at the cross, He gives Himself as the bride price.
3. Bathes His bride.
   

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   The preparation of the bride was an important part of the ancient wedding festivities. As is also true today, it was the bridesmaids and female relatives of the bride who prepared her for the ceremony. Paul, though, imagines the divine Bridegroom preparing His bride for the wedding! It is He who sanctifies and cleanses her “by the washing of water” (Ephesians 5:26, ESV), a probable reference to baptism.

4. Speaks the word of promise. This cleansing is performed “with the word” (Ephesians 5:26, ESV), pointing to the word of promise that the divine Bridegroom speaks to His bride, perhaps in the context of the betrothal ceremony (compare Ephesians 1:3-14, Ephesians 2:1-10, noting God’s promises to believers at the time of their conversion). Betrothal was the ancient version of modern engagement, but was a much more serious set of negotiations, which included a written agreement about the bride price (from the husband) and the dowry (assets the bride would bring to the marriage from her family).
5. Prepares and adorns the bride. When the bride is finally presented to her Groom, she is fabulously beautiful, appearing in flawless splendor (Ephesians 5:27). Christ not only bathes the bride; He prepares and adorns her as well.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Paul begins with a hinge passage, Ephesians 5:21, connecting Ephesians 5:1-20 and Ephesians 5:22-33, in which he advocates for church members to submit to each other (compare Mark 10:42-45; Romans 12:10; Philippians 2:3-4). Believers are to do so “out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21, ESV), the first of several times Paul will identify the relationship with Christ as the most important and defining one for believers.

What does Paul mean by exhorting church members to submit to each other? How are we to understand this idea? Ephesians 5:21.

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Paul also invites Christian wives to submit to “your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22, ESV), clarifying that he is discussing the submission of wives to their respective husbands (see also 1 Peter 3:1, 1 Peter 3:5). When Paul says wives are to do so “as to the Lord,” does he mean a wife is to submit to her husband as though he were Christ; or, instead, does He mean that Christ is the truest and highest focus of her submission?

In view of Ephesians 6:7, where slaves are asked to serve “as to the Lord, and not to men” (NKJV), and Colossians 3:18, where wives are asked to submit to their husbands “as is fitting in the Lord” (NKJV), the latter view is to be preferred. Wives are themselves believers who must ultimately honor Christ over their husbands.

In both Colossians and Ephesians, Christ — and only Christ — is identified as the Head of the church, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22, Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18): “Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23, NKJV). By analogy, the husband is “the head of the wife” (Ephesians 5:23), with the church’s faithfulness to Christ serving as a model for the wife’s loyalty to her husband. The passage presumes a loving, caring marriage, and not a dysfunctional one. This verse should not be interpreted to allow any form of domestic abuse.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read  for This Week’s Study: Ephesians 5:21-33; Philippians 2:3-4; Ezekiel 16:1-14; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Genesis 2:15-25.

Memory Text: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27, NKJV).

In Ephesians 5:21-33, Paul builds on the idea of the submission of believers to each other (Ephesians 5:21); he then offers counsel to Christian wives (Ephesians 5:22-24) and husbands (Ephesians 5:25-32); and he concludes with a distillation of the instruction to both (Ephesians 5:33).

In this counsel, Bible students today may hear the risen Christ addressing our relationships. We are positioned to do so when we understand Ephesians 5:21-6:9 as Paul’s way of actualizing the great theme of the letter, unity, but now for the Christian household. While he offers a strong critique of the flawed social structures of the old humanity (see Ephesians 4:22), he also celebrates the creation of a new humanity (see Ephesians 2:15) embedded within the wider humanity with its flawed social structures. From within these structures, believers demonstrate that a new power, the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22; Ephesians 3:16; Ephesians 5:18-21; Ephesians 6:17-18) and a new ethic patterned on Christ (Ephesians 4:13, Ephesians 4:15, Ephesians 4:20-24, Ephesians 4:32; Ephesians 5:2, Ephesians 5:10, Ephesians 5:17, Ephesians 5:21-33) have been unleashed, which point toward the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan for His people and the world.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 2.

Sunday–>

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Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dr John McVay, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF4WEOuKGEA?si=ltLDADvghJ5lbGSs&w=560&h=315]

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/9-living-wisely-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

You can view an in-depth discussion of Living Wisely in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view:[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzELi3SOSow?si=TxTUit2Br_BAyShx&w=560&h=315]

With thanks to

Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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