Today's post is going to be so exciting and fun to write. Remember how I told you a few posts back that the Spring Feasts were fulfilled by the LORD during the Spring of His Passion (the Spring when He was crucified, buried, resurrected)? I blogged about these extensively in the Spring of 2018.1 We have been examining how very likely it is that the LORD will, with His return, similarly fulfill the Fall Feasts. Today, we are going to examine the topic of the Church's marriage to her Savior.
The theme of Jesus Christ Messiah (Yeshua HaMashiach) as Bridegroom and His Church (that body of believers who worship Him as Lord) as Bride is played out all through Scripture2. Currently, the Church is betrothed to Christ. At the time of His return, the spiritual wedding will occur.
In Western thought, we have no concept of betrothal, as the ancient Jews practiced it. And, again, in order to understand the Bible in the context in which it was written, in the culture of that day, we must in this case look at ancient Jewish wedding customs, many of which persist to this day in orthodox Jewish communities.
The first, which I found most amusing, is that there was really no such thing as "adolescence". (Can you imagine how wonderful, lol?!) . Seriously, children were children until around age 13, at which time wedding plans began to be carried out. That does not mean all Jewish children married at 13. The age of 12 is the age of bar mitzvah (male) or bat mitzvah (female), the ceremony which confers upon the child adult status. But, a child's marriage may have been settled from infancy.
Let me back up a moment, to provide some clarity. There was betrothal and then, later, marriage. Don't think of betrothal as engagement; betrothal was much more serious and binding. In fact, betrothal was looked at as binding as marriage, sort of as a beginning of marriage. There were 3 ways this could be accomplished:
1. By fiat of the parents of the children, i.e., "arranged marriage".
2. By the use of a marriage broker ("Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match", etc.)
3. By the young man himself.
For the sake of simplicity, let's play out the third option. As we go, I am going to provide some New Testament scriptures to show the parallels between this betrothal process and what Jesus said/did during His ministry, at The Last Supper and/or at Pentecost, as well links made by New Testament authors. I am referencing many scriptures in this post. Please look the scriptures up as you read.
So, the young man desires a young woman for his bride. He goes to the home of the young woman to meet with the woman's father (and older brothers, if applicable). He takes with him "the bride price" (1 Corinthians 6:20 & 7:23) (a large sum of money), a betrothal agreement and some wine. He discusses the price with the men of the bride's family, and they agree together on the price (if the young man is accepted). At this point, the young maiden is brought into the room. If she accepts the young man, they sign the betrothal agreement, the ketubah, after which a cup of wine is shared (Mark 14:23-25)3. At that point, the two are betrothed; this betrothal period was called the kiddushin4. Only divorce could dissolve the betrothal. The two were from that time forward referred to as "husband" and "wife". The young woman, given a betrothal ring, was sealed, (Ephesians 4:30 - the Holy Spirit is our "betrothal ring") consecrated, "set apart", to her husband.
Next, the young man would say something to the effect of "I am going to my father's house to prepare a place for my bride." (John 14:2-3) This place has a couple of names, the chadar (which means chamber), or the chupah (canopy).
During this time of preparation, the bride prepared herself to become a wife and mother of Israel.5 She would be collecting her dowry to bring to the marriage (James 2:20). She would have something akin to a bridal reception (a tisch), where her friends would immerse her into a bridal bath called a mikvah, so that she was ceremonially clean before proceeding to the marriage (1 Corinthians 6:11). She would anoint herself with fragrant oils and change into her best clothes (Romans 13:14, Ephesians 6:10-13, Revelation 19:8,14).
No one knew the day or the time of the marriage ceremony. Only the bridegroom's father knew, because he had to be satisfied that all had been made ready in a superior manner to receive the new member of his family. Only when the father gave the word could his son go get his bride. (Mark 13:32) So, when Jesus returns to get His Bride, the betrothal period will end, and the wedding in Heaven will commence.
Then, at the wedding ceremony, the ketubah, negotiated at the betrothal, would be signed. This was the marriage document. Given to the parents of the bride, it contained all the promises of the groom to provide for his wife.
Following the ceremony, the bride and groom entered the chupah, where he gave all manner of gifts to his bride. (Romans 14:10,12; John 5:24-29; Revelation 2:10; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; 1 Corinthians 3:12-14; 1 Peter 1:7)
The marriage was consummated, and the bridegroom and bride stayed in the chupah for seven days. After proof of the consummation and during this period, the marriage festivities with wedding guests were ongoing. There was much feasting and celebrating during that 7-day period. (The future Marriage Supper of the Lamb corresponds to these ancient Jewish festivities. See Revelation 19:5-9. This celebratory feast seems to take place just before the Lord Jesus, the Lord of Heavenly Hosts, returns, based on where it falls in the book of Revelation {19:11-16}.)
The number seven is also significant in the last days time period called The Great Tribulation. While the believers in Jesus Christ are in Heaven celebrating the Marriage and the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ (The Bema Seat judgment), people who were left on the Earth will be undergoing the most awful seven years of horror the world has ever known. It was likened, by Jesus, to be "as in the days of Noah" Luke 17:26), which were so bad God destroyed the entire Earth by flood; but, many believe these days will be far worse. The days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are called the Days of Awe. They are the last 10 days of Teshuvah, and are a time of the most intense introspection, repentance and making things right with one's neighbor.
As I close this post, tonight begins Tishri 10, Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. This High Sabbath concludes the Days of Awe. Yom Kippur, analogous to the highly-visible, future 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, will be the subject of the next post in the Fall Festivals series.
Sources:
1. https://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2018/03/first-fruits.html . This is the culminating post in that series, with a chart which summarizes all the parallels/fulfillments.
2. Isaiah 54:5, Jeremiah 31:32, Hosea 2:16, Matthew 9:15, to name a few.
3. https://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2018/03/passion-week-wednesday-not-so-silent.html
4. Good, J. (1998). Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to come: an interpretation of the Feast of Trumpets based upon ancient sources. Nederland, TX: Hatikva
5 . https://www.compellingtruth.org/Jewish-wedding-traditions.html
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