The Bridal Company Part 2
In our previous post regarding The Bridal Company, we took as a basis for our thoughts Deuteronomy 21: 10 - 13. We closed our remarks by looking at the significance of the young bride being instructed to "shave her head." We saw that since "a woman's hair is her glory" (1 Corinthians 11: 15), the removal of her hair by shaving suggests her putting off her own glory in order to partake of the glory of the mighty Warrior who had chosen her out of captivity to be His bride, which glory was superior to her own. This act, in essence was a type of her becoming a "partaker of the glory that shall be revealed" (1 Peter 5: 1).
In this session we will look further at the things which were required for her to be fully pleasing to Him. After having shaved her head, she was required to "pare her nails. There is some difference of opinion among scholars as to the intensity of the verb "pare." Some tend to see it as trimming her nails and making them attractive so as to be pleasing in His sight. Others tend to think in terms of a more drastic cutting...even down to the "quick." I tend to agree with the latter for the following reasons: One, in that time of history, a woman's nails was one of the few means that she had of protecting herself if attacked. She could wield long slicing nails to do great damage to any foe.
When asked to "pare her nails," she was being asked to depend solely upon her young Warrior to defend her in battle, to rely wholly and fully on His pledge to be her shield and her buckler, to be her refuge in time of trouble and to let him deal with all her enemies and potential foes. She had now to accept by faith that He had pledged to provide her safety and protection against all enemies. It was a matter of complete trust in HIs readiness and ability to provide such protection and safety. She had to take up the spirit of the Psalmist who said, "What time I am afraid I will trust in Him." He is my refuge and my fortress; I will run into Him and be safe," (Psalm 91: 2). This mighty Warrior says, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Proverbs 16: 7).
Second, a woman of that day was also a person who labored with her hands to provide sustenance for herself and her family. Nails were essential to her being able to do this with any prowess or competence. One can only imagine how impugning everyday life can be without fingernails. You can’t even lift a penny from off a flat surface without your nails. So again, she, who has always labored to such an end is asked to put her whole trust in Him to provide for her, to undertake the care and necessities of life for her. She must concede the truth of Titus 3: 5, "Not by works which we have done, but according to is mercy, He saved us..."
She must come to see that while there are works of righteousness that we will undertake for His glory and honor as being His bride, there is no work that we can accomplish that will make us His bride except that of humbling ourselves before Him, casting ourselves completely on Him and "...receiving with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save our souls" (James 1: 21).
We will look at this scripture a bit further in our next post.