The Bridegroom’s Gift and Your Life | Shavuot | Jonathan Cahn Sermon

The Mystery of the Bridegroom, the Redemption Price, and the Gift of the Spirit

The mohar is deeply connected to where the bride has come from. It is the redemption price that sets her free from her old life. But the matan speaks of something entirely different it points to where the bride has never been before and where she is destined to go.

Among the three great pilgrimage festivals of Israel, the first is Passover, and the second is Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. According to Scripture, beginning on the day of Firstfruits during Passover, the people were commanded to count seven weeks forty-nine days in total. Then, on the fiftieth day, they were to celebrate before the Lord in thanksgiving for the great summer harvest.

In Leviticus 23, where God establishes His appointed times for Israel, the command is given:

“You shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven complete Sabbaths. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.”

The people were instructed to bring two loaves of bread as firstfruits to the Lord. God also commanded them not to reap the corners of their fields completely, but to leave some behind for the poor and the stranger, revealing His heart of mercy even in the season of blessing.

Shavuot was the celebration of the harvest, but it also carried a much deeper prophetic meaning. Two thousand years ago, God celebrated His own “firstfruits harvest.” On the biblical Feast of Firstfruits, the first portion of the harvest was lifted up and dedicated to God, sanctifying the entire harvest that would follow.

In the same way, on the day of Pentecost, God lifted up not sheaves of grain, but 120 believers gathered in Jerusalem. They became the firstfruits of a worldwide harvest the harvest of salvation that would spread to every nation through the Gospel.

When the Holy Spirit came upon them, they spoke in the languages of the nations because they represented all who would one day come to God. Through them, the harvest of souls across the earth was consecrated. The rushing wind and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit marked the dedication of the spiritual harvest that continues even today.

The Spirit of God sanctified the firstfruits so that the nations could ultimately receive salvation. Everything believers experience today traces back to that moment when God dedicated the harvest of the ages.

In Genesis 34:12, another mystery is revealed through the story of Jacob’s daughter Dinah. The man seeking her hand in marriage says:

“Ask of me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say.”

Two Hebrew words appear here that unlock a profound spiritual revelation: mohar and matan.

The mohar was the bridal price the costly payment given by the bridegroom to redeem the bride from her father’s house. The matan was the gift given afterward, a token of love and promise during the period of separation before the wedding.

To understand these mysteries, we must understand the ancient Hebrew wedding.

For a marriage to happen, the bridegroom had to leave his father’s house and journey to the home of the bride. He came to her, visited her family, and asked for her hand in marriage. If she accepted him, he gave the mohar.

Unlike the modern idea of a dowry, the mohar was given by the bridegroom. It was costly because it represented the value of the bride and the depth of his love. It redeemed her from her old household and prepared her for a new life.

The bride had a choice. She could say yes or no. Like Rebekah, who answered, “I will go,” she had to leave behind everything familiar and step into an unknown future.

Once the mohar was given, everything changed. Though she still physically lived in her old house for a time, she no longer belonged to it. She now belonged to another household the household of the bridegroom.

The bride and groom entered into covenant together, often sealing it with a shared cup of wine. This first stage of marriage was called the kiddushin, meaning sanctification or consecration. Though not yet physically united, they were considered pledged to one another set apart exclusively for each other.

Then came the separation.

The bridegroom returned to his father’s house to prepare a place for his bride. During that time, the bride prepared herself. She learned to let go of her old life and live in expectation of the new one to come.

Though everything around her looked the same, inwardly everything had changed.

During this period of separation, the bridegroom would often send the bride a matan a gift. It could be gold, silver, jewels, or precious garments. Unlike the mohar, it was not a redemption price. It was a love gift, sent to encourage her and reassure her of his faithfulness.

The matan reminded the bride that the bridegroom had not forgotten her and would return for her.

This mystery reveals the relationship between God and His people.

Throughout the prophets, God describes Himself as a bridegroom and Israel as His bride. Israel had been trapped in the house of bondage in Egypt. God came down to redeem her, just as a bridegroom comes to redeem his bride.

The Passover lamb became the mohar the redemption price that set Israel free. Through the blood of the lamb, God brought His people out of slavery and entered into covenant with them.