I am now going to put my feet into deep water and broach a subject which terrifies most Christians (though I can't imagine why). Sadly, it also terrifies Christian polygamists. As far as I know, we are the only Christian polygamists who believe in eternal marriage, or marriage beyond the grave. (Note: We do not believe in Mormon "eternal" or "celestial" marriage but in biblical eternal marriage as I shall now clarify).

Yahshua (Jesus)said to His disciples:

Then came unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,

Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.

And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.

And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.

In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.

And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?

For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. (Mark 12:18-25)

Ignorance of the scriptures causes people to have a false understanding pertaining to the things of God. The Sadducees in the days of Christ did not believe in the resurrection, because of certain theologies that were not according to the writings of the Prophets. Therefore, Christ said to them that they they were seriously in error because they did not know the scriptures (Mk.12:24).

To understand scripture is to be able to show the true meaning from the Word of God itself, otherwise we will err just as the Sadducees did. The question asked by the Sadducees was whether there would be wives in heaven. The questioning and reasoning they put forth to Christ was totally erroneous as they did not back up their theory with sound doctrine from God’s written Word. Christ counseled that to understand the mystery of whether there would be wives in heaven, one must understand scripture.

Christ’s answer to the Sadducees was that once the dead are resurrected into God’s Kingdom they will be as the Angels in heaven, neither giving nor receiving in marriage. Christ is not saying that there are no marriages in heaven - Christ is simply stating that they neither give nor receive in marriage in the manner that marriages take place on earth. When a person in this world wants to marry, the bride is given in marriage unto the groom.

In God’s Kingdom, women will not be given unto men in marriage. The question then is, how does a person in the Kingdom of God have a wife/wives or husband, without being given to marry? In the Kingdom men and women will not marry as it is known in this world. To understand this mystery, you must understand scripture that you do not err pertaining to the mysteries of God.

The first marriage that is recorded in scripture is found in Gen.2:21-25. God created Adam from the dust of the ground. God caused Adam to name all the land animals in Gen.2:20 but there was not found for Adam a help meet (feminine mate). The Lord knew it was not good for Adam to be alone (Gen.2:18).

God did not create Eve from the dust of the ground, as this would have meant Adam received and was given a wife, who was a separate being from himself in every way, However, this was not the case. God took a rib from within Adam and made a female Adam, being called Eve. Adam then said that Eve was bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh, see Gen.2:22,23.

The only marriage that was created by God personally was the marriage of Adam and Eve. Eve did not BECOME Adam’s wife, because from the first moment that God removed the rib from Adam, Eve was NATURALLY his wife, having been literally brought forth from within Adam’s body. Those who God joins, no man can separate (Mk.10:9). When Adam died, Eve died also, as it was impossible for one to remain alive while the other of the two had died. The only perfect joining of two (Adam and Eve), coming from the one (Adam), was the marriage that was created in Genesis by God. The day Adam died, Eve died also. What God joins together let no man divide.

Let me recap and summarise. There are two types of marriage recorded in the Bible:

• (a) The Adam/Eve type of marriage which is eternal since they were always married. Eve is described as "Adam's rib". And though "rib" also has a symbolic meaning it is meant to be understood literally too. Please note that Adam had more than one rib, as do all men. We may therefore say that at least theoretically Adam could have more "eternal wives". Though the Bible only mentions Eve (Heb. Hava) Jewish tradition also mentions another wife called Lilith who fell, yielded to evil, and to this day is a demon(ess). Another tradition mentions a third wife.

• (b) Human/earthly marriages in which wives are "given" to their husbands - it is these that Christ is talking about to the Sadducees. These marriages end at death.

Now I wish to draw your attention to the angels of God. Do angels have gender? Do they marry? There is a popular notion (a tradition, in fact) that angels have no gender. This cannot be entirely true. For one thing, the fallen angels described in Gen.6:1-4 who are called the "nephilim" married the daughters of men and created a race of giants. You don't have children if you don't have gender and procreative powers. Though this does not necessarily mean that all angels have gender this incident at least proves that some do.

So if Christ says we will be like the angels in the resurrection, does that mean we will all be single, or could it mean that we are married but not in the way that marriages are performed in this sphere? I maintain that the latter is true - we shall be married but like Adam and Eve and not as we are here today.

Is there any other scriptural evidence that angels have gender? There is. The Angels in heaven have two main titles: Seraph (six winged; feminine; see Is.6:2) and Cherub (four winged; masculine; see Eze.10:20,21). And if this is not enough, the prophet Zechariah specifically identifies female angels in Zec.5:5-11.

We are not qualified to say more than there are obviously male and female angels and that they have procreative abilities, witness the deeds of the nephilim.

Gregory Olson, a New Covenant Christian from the USA, writes: "There is only one scripture in the Bible referencing marriage after death [Mark 12:18-25 & synoptic parallels] and it has been completely misunderstood. Jesus responded to those who did NOT believe in the resurrection and was correct in saying that those under the Law of Moses will be single as the angels -- they are "dead" in Christ. But in the New Covenant promise, the power of Christ can bind men and women into an eternal partnership with the Lord Jesus Christ" (The New Covenant Witness, No.59, January 1999, An Ex-Mormon Christian Asks About the New Covenant Church of God, p.37).

He continues: "Eternal marriage is the principle of being married together in Christ. It is not patterened after the world but after the Spirit. Christ is eternal, and if two [or more] people are bound by His Eternal Spirit and become one in Christ, that union naturally continues after death -- it has become part of an eternal spirit" (Ibid., p.38).

Speaking of the heretical Mormon system he adds: "The LDS Temple ordinances are external rites, performed by a bogus priesthood, and therefore have no eternal power to bind a couple together. Only Jesus can do this spiritually. Again, both busband and wife become one in Christ, and that eternal spirit continues. Being married in the world, even if in a "church". has no pwoer to bind eternally. Only the Light of Jesus Christ can do this, and these keys are "internal" light given only by Christ Himself" (Ibid., p.38).

These insights lead us to understand that there is a fundamental difference between the outer, legalistic Mosaic Law and the New Covenant one. The Sadducees were coming from a Mosaic perspective in which contracts were only valid in this life. To this day the vast majority of Christians still subscribe to a Mosaic-type marriage covenant in which couples agree to be true to one another "until death do us part". The New Covenant comes with an altogether higher paradigm which states that marriages sealed by the Spirit of Christ are eternal because the Spirit is eternal.

We must yet interject another factor in the equation of marriage and that is the question of a pre-earth life or "pre-existence" which is a doctrine subscribed to by the Chavurah Bekorot. The Bible is ambiguous about this teaching, the passages that refer to it being interpretable in two ways, namely, that we (a) existed as spirits before being incarnated in the flesh (this is not, I hasten to add, the doctrine of reincarnation which is a lie of the devil); or (b) we existed only in God's "mind", being made "for real" at the point of conception in our mother's womb, the doctrine accepted by the vast bulk of Christendom.

This doctrine becomes important in the eternal marriage question if we consider the possibility that our marriages were made in heaven before we incarnated here on life. What this means is that we were 'married' as spirits before we we born and it is these marriages that are the eternal ones if we find Christ in this mortal probation. New Covenant Christians would therefore see in the marriage of Adam and Eve a physical type of these eternal marriages. If this were not so, why did God create Eve in this "peculiar" way? Why not just make her like Adam and join the couple together like other marriages in this world? Because their's is a type of a heavenly marriage. Thus New Covenant Christians would maintain that these are the only true marriages in the eternal sense, since only that which is eternal may be said to be finally true. That which is temporary passes away but that which is in the Spirit continues forever.

If I haven't already upset some of our readers I am sure to upset some now because I wish to step into ever deeper water and talk about the Godhead. In the Chavurah Bekorot we take a non-dogmatic position regarding the composition of the Godhead, saying only what the Bible clearly teaches. The Bible teaches that there is one God whose Name is Yahweh (or Yahveh) who incarnated on the earth as the Lord Yahshua (Jesus) who is also known as Yahweh. Beyond this the Bible only makes "hints" at deeper things. Thus the Trinitarian formulation we would look upon as speculation for whilst it is certainly one possible interpretation of the Scriptures it goes far beyond what is actually writted in the Word and owes more to Greek pagan philosophy than to the Hebrew revelation.

New Covenant Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is a female personage and I shall now give the biblical reasons for doing so.

Karen Vaughan, reviewing the book "Sophia in the Biblical Tradition" (Harper and Row; 1986) by Susan Cady, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig, writes : "Sophia, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Hochmah is the feminine personification of Wisdom in the Pentateuch. She is neither a goddess nor a new age creation of feminist theologians. She was a real biblical person with more material on her in the Old Testament (with Apocrypha) than anyone in the scriptures, except God, Job, Moses and David...

"One reason we little consider Sophia, even in readings of the Old Testament, is that English translations usually translate the feminine "Sophia" into the abstract "Wisdom". Although the Greek and Hebrew words were fully feminine, the English is not. The fullest development of her is in the so-called "Wisdom Books" of the apocryphia in the Greek Pentateuch that were canonized into Christian Scripture and are still used by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Sophia dominates the first nine chapters of Proverbs and is found in both the Old and New Testaments.

"In the Hebrew tradition, Sophia was considered to have been with God from the beginning of Creation. In Proverbs 8:27-51, Sophia says:

When God [Yahweh] set the heavens in place, I was present,
When God drew a ring on the surface of the deep,
When God fixed the clouds above,
When God fixed fast the wells of the deep,
when God assigned the sea its limits-
and the waters will not invade the land,
when God established the foundations of the earth,
I was by God's side, a master craftswoman,
delighting God day after day,
ever at play by God's side,
at play everywhere in God's domain,
delighting to be with the children of humanity.

She is the breath of God's power and a stream of pure glory of the Almighty.
This is why nothing polluted enters her.
For she mirrors God's energy completely, and she images God's goodness."

• (a) She is a created Being;
  
• (b) She is Divine

So I repeat: the creation of Eve from Adam as a helpmeet and companion is a simulitude of the creation of Sophia (or Hochmah) from Yahweh for similar reasons.

Are we at the Chevra Bekorot feminists or New Age? Abolutely not. We are merely acknowledging what the Bible teaches. We absolutely reject feminism and New Age paganism. The purpose of feminism is antithetical to biblical Christianity and the New Age worships a female deity in place of the Father - and whilst they assert this is "Sophia" it is, in fact, a demon which goes under many names (e.g. "Maia"). We must also remember that in contradistintion to Yahshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ), who was uncreated and has always been God, Sophia is a special creation.

Our assention that the Godhead contains Female Deity does not undermine Patriarchy - it does, however, undermine gentile patriarchy which has virtually excluded the female altogether, except in the apostate Catholic Church where they have blasphemously elevated a mortal human being, the Virgin Mary, as the "Mother of God", even claiming she is "co-redemptrix", or co-saviour with Christ. We affirm the biblical doctrine most strongly, namely, that there is only one Saviour, Yahshua (Jesus). Thus Helenic Christianity has removed the Divine Female from the original faith of the Hebrews.

What does this mean for us as Christians? It means a deep respect for the feminine as must of necessity be as we consider the subject further.

The ancient Hebrews knew of Sophia as SHEKINAH which literally means, "the Divine Presence". She was also known by the Israelites as the "Sabbath Queen". Her name comes from the Hebrew word shakhan which means "to dwell".

And now we come to another mystery and that is the Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh) which in Hebrew is rendered , or (from right to left): yod , hé , waw , hé . These four Hebrew letters (hence the Tetragrammaton) are very interesting if we examine them closely.

According to Hebrew tradition the four letters of the Tetragrammaton correspond to the members of the Godhead, viz. Father (), Mother (), Son (), and Daughter ().

An examination of Yahshua's (Jesus') Name (, meaning "Yah saves") reveals some startling things. To begin with, the first three letters are or Father()-Mother()-Son() - sons always proceed from two parents. Thus Yahshua () proceeds from Yahweh the Father () and Shekinah the Mother (), as we would expect. We will come to the two concluding letters () presently.

As is well known, not only do individual Hebrew letters correspond to numbers but also to words. Thus Yod () = 'hand' or 'sperm' and the number 10; Hé () = window and the number 5; Waw () = nail and the number 6.

A number of things strike us immediately. Firstly, the Father () is associated with sperm or male creativity; and biblically the number 10 represents completeness of order (as, for example, in the Ten Commandments or Decalogue). Secondly, the Mother or Shekinah () is associated with a window, the Holy Spirit being the window to the Father; and biblically the number 5 is Creation (4 - itself the number of God (3) + (1) a beginning) + 1 or a "new beginning". We begin our new life in Christ through a baptism of the Holy Spirit. 5 thus represents "grace" or "favour". Thus the Father is the bringer of Law (10) and the Mother is the bringer of Grace (5). Thus combined () they produce the Name YAH, by which God was also known in the Old Testament (e.g. Psalm 68:4, KJV), being an abbreviation of Yahweh. Note that this is the name that is in Yahshua's (Jesus') Name.

Thirdly, the Son () is associated with nail by which He was pierced and fixed to the cross, the sign by which He was to be identified in His resurrected state (John 20:25); and biblically the number 6 represents imperfection, the number of man, for God (perfect) became man (imperfect) as Yahshua (Jesus) in order to redeem man from the fall. (Note that the mark of the beast in Revelation is 666 or representing an unholy trinity of man, for the beast will make man worship man as God as is already happening in the New Age movement).

Fourthly, we come to the fourth letter, Hé (), whom I have associated with Daughter and to whom I must return later as other things must first be explained. Note that the letter is identical to the second, and there is a purpose for this.

According to Hebrew tradition the four letters of the Tetragrammaton also have these associations:

• fire-male-active-creative = FORCE
  
• water-female-passive-receptive = PATTERN
  
• air-son-formative = ACTIVITY
  
• earth-daughter-material = FORM
  

which tells us somewhat concerning the dynamics of the Godhead. According to Hebrew division the final Hé () is the result of the first three letters acting as one. In other words, force + pattern + activity = form. Thus the fourth letter need not necessarily refer to a Person but to a RESULT, namely, the creation of the material Universe. This agrees with the biblical revelation which describes Father, Son and Holy Spirit as creators. Thus though there are four letters in the Name of the Godhead, only three correspond to Persons per se, as we know from Matthew 28:19 where the Saviour commands His disciples to baptise in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Why this order? Because the Father and Son are uncreated whereas the Holy Spirit is created. But more of this another time for there are greater mysteries than this secreted in the Divine Name .

We must now move on to the mystery behind the Name Yahshua () which, in addition to the letters for Yah () contain two more: Shin () which corresponds to a tooth (=300) and Ayin () which corresponds to an eye (=70). I cannot say too much about these in this brief essay because one could write a book about them, especially Shin. Suffice to say the concept of an "eye and eye, and a tooth for a tooth" is a well known retributive clause in the Law of Moses (Exodus 21:24; Deuteronomy 19:21). More interesting at this level of discussion is the meaning of the Hebrew shua () which can either mean "riches" or "cry", or both (). In the light of Yahshua's mission to redeem mankind it is not difficult to understand where this applies.

As a number of readers have asked about the meaning of the logo on the scepter of the New Covenant Lion I thought I would explain that here and now as we are on the subject. It looks rather like a Russian or Bulgarian "zh" but is, in fact, two Shin's () back to back and somewhat stylised to give symmetry. This is the in the Name of Yahshua (). The full meaning of this is given to members of the Chavurah Bekorot.

The purpose of this little exercise has been to sensitise you to other possibilities - to alternatives to traditional notions about such things as the Godhead. Common sense alone ought really to tell us that the Godhead contains both Male and Female for in the opening chapter of the Bible Yahweh says:

Let US make man[kind] (i.e. male and female) in OUR image, after OUR likeness...So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created THEM; male and FEMALE He created THEM" (Genesis 1:26,27, RSV).

For many of you, many (if not most) of the concepts in this essay are new to you and, because they are new, probably a bit frightening. A typical reflex upon hearing these things are exclamations of "heresy", "New Age" or some expletive. The truth is you have had the Bible presented to you apart from man-made traditions. Our purpose is to explain why eternal marriage is a biblical option by revealing something of the composition of the Godhead and the rather special marriage that was Adam and Eve's (and any other wives he may have had).

No doubt some of you will find the idea of Adam having had multiple wives rather presumptuous so I am going to end this article by dropping another bomb-shell that is going to make alot of readers squeal in horror. However, I am going to do nothing more than cite the Bible to you and then let you put the pieces together. There are many other pieces but some of you may already be having spiritual cardiac arrests so I will be kind!

The following is a Messianic prophecy about Yahshua (Jesus) though it is on the surface level talking about King David. It was such an embarassment to the King James translators and ALL subsequent translators that they fudged it in order to obscure the true meaning. So I am quoting from the Bible commonly in use before the King James team got their hands on it:

"All thy garments smell of myrre and aloes, and cassia, and when thou commest out of thy youry [ivory] palaces where they have made thee glad. Kings daughters were among thine HONOURABLE WIVES: upon thy right hand did stand the Queene in a vesture of gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughters, and consider, and encline thine eare: forget also thine owne people and thy fathers house: So that the King have pleasure in thy beautie: for he is thy Lord, and reverence thou him" (Psalm 45:8-11, Geneva Bible, London, 1599).

"Kings daughters were among thine HONOURABLE WIVES: upon thy right hand did stand the Queene in a vesture of gold of Ophir" (v.9).

This verse is cross-references to a footnote which reads: "Though he had many Kings daughters among his wives, yet he loved Pharoahs daughter best." (footnote h)

Isaiah wrote that Christ would sit on the throne of David (Isa.9:7), a position the inhabitants of Jerusalem recognised when, as described in Zechariah 9:9, Jesus came "riding upon an ass" and was literally "the King", inherant to the rights of the throne of David.

Notice how in Psalm 45 this Queen is called to worship the King as her Lord. If her husband were a mere man, she would not be told to worship him -- and evidence that the King here must be the Son of God. Modern versions have obscured the original Hebrew by substituting in v.11 such phrases as "bow to him" (RSV), "honour him" (NIV), etc.. The King James says: "worship thou him".

The KJV substituted "wives" for "women" so as not to countenance polygamy. Other versions write: "honoured women" (NIV), "noble ladies" (NASV), "maids of honor" (Jerusalem Bible), "ladies of honor" (RSV, New Oxford Annotated Bible)), "the noblest of your women" (Oxford New English), "King's daughters are among thy favorites" (Holy Scriptures of the masoretic Text), "your precious ones" (Interlinear Bible), "your concubines" (Lindsell Bible, Tyndale Bible), etc..

Therefore not only is this passage countenancing polygamy but the Holy Spirit dared to point the reader to the Messianic King, Yahshua (Jesus) Himself!

Now if you do not like this, please don't send me a rude email calling me a blasphemer or something similar but take up your gripe with Yahweh-Elohim, the Lord God of Israel! Are you still a Bible-believer? Or maybe you only believe it 99.99% now?? I have challenged readers of this site in another article to honestly examine their belief-statements about the Bible - now is your chance to re-evaluate your integrity.

The Godhead consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit being the Shekinah or the Heavenly Mother. That the Holy Spirit, also known as Wisdom, is female is shown by the plethora of scriptures on her.

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud: "To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge (Proverbs 8: 1-9).

What kind of a Being is the Shekinah?

"I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power." (Proverbs 8: 12-14)

The phrase, "fear of the Lord," which we often find in the Scriptures, does not mean fright or terror. It means a good relationship with God based upon reverence and respect. In the passage above the fear of the Lord refers to righteous living. If we listen to the counsel of the Inner Voice that seeks to guide us, we hear the Father's Living Word of Truth and learn to live in accordance with His plan.

So we see that the Holy Spirit identifies Herself in Scripture as "Wisdom." When we listen to the Voice of Wisdom,

• We make wise and prudent decisions.
  
• We possess knowledge and act discreetly.
  
• We release false pride and arrogance which leads to error.
  
• When we heed Her counsel, we gain understanding and power because we gain access to Yahshua. Then we shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make us free.

  I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full. (Proverbs 8: 17-21)

"The LORD [Yahweh] brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind." (Proverbs 8: 22-31)

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." (Genesis 1: 1-2)

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1: 26-27)

"By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place." (Proverbs 3:19)

"But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding" (Job 32:8).

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue" (Proverbs 31:26).

"Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death" (Proverbs 8: 32-36).

"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul" (Proverbs 2:10).

"Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding" (Proverbs 4: 5-7).

This is important and if we don't strictly adhere to it we will end up as the feminists in the liberal churches whose work has been so destructive of true patriarchy leading to serious compromises with homosexuality and lesbianism (amongst other blasphemies). Accordingly there are different priesthood orders for men and women in the true Church of God.

Yet us first see the characteristics of the Holy Spirit's leadership rôle in the Godhead for this will give us some idea of true women's priesthood rôles here in the earthly Church. The following summary is courtesy of Evan Randolph:

1. WISDOM IS VERY POWERFUL -


• "for she is the breadth of the power of God" - Septuagint, Wisdom VII; 25
  "For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom" - Septuagint, Wisdom VII: 28
  
• "wisdom reacheth from one end to another, mightily; and sweetly doth she order all things." - Septuagint, Wisdom VIII: 1
  
• "The Lord of all things himself loved her. For she is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God, and a lover of his works." - Septuagint, Wisdom VIII: 2

  2. WISDOM WAS INVOLVED IN CREATION-
  

• "God by wisdom founded the earth" - Septuagint, Proverbs III:19
  
• "And wisdom was with thee: which knoweth thy works, and was present when thou madest the world" - Septuagint, Wisdom IX : 9
  
• "And God said, Let us make man according to our image (plural) and likeness.. .And God made man, according to the image of God, he made him, male and female he made them." - Septuagint, Genesis I: 25, 27

  3. WISDOM PROVIDES SALVATION-
  

• "For so the ways of them which lived on the earth were reformed, and men were taught the things that are pleasing unto thee, and were saved through wisdom." - Septuagint, Wisdom lX:18

  4. WISDOM PROVIDES SANCTIFICATION-

• "and in all the ages entering into men's souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets." - Septuagint, Wisdom VII: 27

  5. WISDOM PROVIDES RECREATION -

• "she maketh all things new" - Septuagint, Wisdom VII: 27

  6. WISDOM PROVIDES ETERNAL LIFE-

• "moreover by means of her I shall obtain immortality"- Septuagint, Wisdom VIII :13
  
• "how that to be allied unto wisdom is immortality" - Septuagint, Wisdom VIII :17

  7. WISDOM PROVIDES FULFILLMENT-
  

• "honour Wisdom, that ye may reign for evermore" - Septuagint, Wisdom VI: 21
  
• "All good things together came to me with her, and innumerable riches in her hands. And I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom goeth before them: and I knew not that she was the mother of them." - Septuagint, Wisdom VII: 11 - 12
  
• "If riches be a possession to be desired in this life; what is richer than wisdom, that worketh all things?" - Septuagint, Wisdom VIII: 5
  
• "and in the works of her hands are infinite riches"- Septuagint, wisdom VIII: 18
  
• "They that serve her shall minister to the Holy One: and them that love her the Lord doth love---and he that attendeth unto her shall dwell securely" - Septuagint, Eccles. IV:14-15
  
• "Behold with your eyes, how that I have had but little labour, and have gotten unto me much rest. Get learning with a great sum of money, and get much gold by her." - Septuagint, Eccles. LI : 27

  8. WISDOM PROVIDES PROTECTION-
  

• "But wisdom delivered from pain those that attended upon her." - Septuagint, Wisdom X : 9
  
• "She defended him from his enemies, and kept him safe from those that lay in wait." - Septuagint, Wisdom X :12
  (Wisdom during Exodus) "Guided them in a marvelous way, and was unto them for a cover by day, and a light of stars in the night season; brought them through the Red sea, and led them through much water: but she drowned their enemies, and cast them up out of the bottom of the deep." - Septuagint, Wisdom X: 17-19

  9. WE SHOULD SING THE PRAISES OF WISDOM -
  

• "And refrain not to speak, when there is occasion to do good, and hide not thy wisdom in her beauty. For by speech wisdom shall be known" - Septuagint, Eccles. IV : 23 - 24
  
• "I learned diligently, and do communicate her liberally: I do not hide her riches. For she is a treasure unto men that never faileth." - Septuagint, Wisdom VII: 12 - 14

  10. WISDOM - HOLY SPIRIT GAVE JESUS POWER:
  

• "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and power,a spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord" - NEB, Isaiah xi. 1,2
  (ref Jesus) "he is the power of God and the wisdom of God." -NEB, 1 Corinthians 1.24
  
• "You are in Christ Jesus by God's act, for God has made him our wisdom..." -NEB, 1 Corinthians i. 30

  11. JESUS SAID THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL TEACH US:
  

• "... your advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will call to mind all that I have told you..." -NEB, John xiv. 26
  
• "..you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you..." -NEB, Acts of Apostles i. 8

  12. DO NOT SPEAK AGAINST THE SPIRIT:
  

• "Any man who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, for him there is no forgiveness, either in this age or in the age to come." -NEB, Matthew xii.32
  
• "For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter: nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin. For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit,.... For wisdom is a loving spirit; and will not acquit a blasphemer of his words: ... For the Spirit of the Lord filleth the world: ..." - Septuagint, Wisdom I : 4-7

  13. WISDOM IS NOT FOR ALL-
  

• "She is with all flesh according to his gift, and he hath given her to them that love him." - Septuagint, Eccles. 1:10
  
• "She is very unpleasant to the unlearned: he that is without understanding will not remain with her. She will lie upon him as a mighty stone of trial; and he will cast her from him ere it be long. For wisdom is according to her name, and she is not manifest unto many." - Septuagint, Eccles. VI: 20 - 22
  
• "But foolish men shall not attain her, and sinners shall not see her. For she is far from pride, and men that are liars cannot remember her." - Septuagint, Eccles. XV : 7

I have opened quite alot of boxes here in the hope that you, the reader, will begin to ask questions. From here on I think it would be better to let the Holy Spirit lead in assembling the pieces. I make no claim to have "solved" the Godhead question: I only believe it is time we started examining more closely. Though we are unlikely ever to know the fullness of the mystery of the Godhead in this life we can at least use the facts we know about it to illuminate other important facts, and especially about women whose true rôle has been maligned throughout the centuries. There are many questions which I challenge you to think about. How, for example, to we explain the messianic prophecy about a married Christ with many wives? Were these wives He had whilst in mortality or were they something to do with the mysterious "Daughter" that we have not really discussed? Is Sophia, in fact, a Person, or just an allegory? Is the whole idea of female divinity just bunkum or is there a biblical case for it?

My purpose today has not been to convert you, the reader, to my view of the Godhead (which is speculative) but to sensitise you to the possibility of marriage after death - or eternal marriage. I firmly believe in it. The idea that God would abruptly end it makes no sense to me. Your comments would be most welcome. Email your thoughts to this site. God bless.

Further Reading

On the Pre-existence:

• The Pre-Existence of Jeremiah (Site 1)
• Is Human Pre-Existence Biblical? (Site 1)
• Where is the Justice in our Birth Circumstances? (Site 1)

• A Question of Eternal Marriage (Site 1)
• NC&C 344: Revelation on Eternal Firstborn Marriage (Site 1)
• NC&C 440: Revelation on Eternal Marriage II (Site 1)
• Is There Eternal Marriage in the Resurrection? (Site 1)
• Does Marriage End at Death? (Site 1)

• Jesus is God: The Deity of Yahshua haMashiach (Site 1)
• Proto-Trinitarianism: The Godhead Doctrine of the New Covenant (Site 1)

• Introduction to the Family of Lev-Tsiyon haEfrayim (Site 1)