The Jewish Wedding System and the Bride of Christ

1 Session 2 The Bridegroom Is Coming 1. Jesu s is r etur ni ng f or His br ide . As the sh out of th e a rc hangel and the s ound of the trumpet fill the air, the Lo rd Jesu s will descen d from heaven. Gra ve s will open up and the d ead in Christ will rise from their tomb s. Other s wh o a re alive at His c o m i n g w ill b e gi n t o de f y g r a v i t y and head toward heaven. We get a glimpse o f this glorious sc ene in 1 T hessa-lonians 4:16-17: F o r t h e L o r d H i m s e l f w ill d e s c e n d f r o m h e a v e n with a shout, with the voice of the ar changel and with the trumpet of God, and the d ead in Christ will rise first.

2 T hen we wh o a re alive and remain will b e caught up together with them in the clouds to m eet the L ord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lo rd. This se ss ion cov ers : An ov erview of the ancient Jewish Wedding syst em How the ancient Je wish Wedding System r elates to ou r call as the Bride o f Christ How the Holy Spirit is moving to pr epar e a b ride fo r J esus This se ss ion cor re spo nds to: Session 2 of Und er standing the Bride o f Chri st CDs 17 The Jewish Wedding System and the Bride of Christ 18 Understanding the Bride of Christ Most likely, the parable of the ten virgins rev e als the meaning of this shout and accompanying trumpet blast.

3 It r eads: But at midnight there w as a shout, Behold, the bridegro o m! Come out to me et him (Matt. 25:6). Jesus is co ming back to judge the nations. He is r eturning to establish His kingdom and to rule the ea rth. But He is also coming back a s a Bridegro om f o r a b ride. Ancient Jewish Wedding Customs 1. The anci ent Je wi sh wed din g s yste m p ai n ts a be aut ifu l p ictu re of th e comin g wed din g b et wee n t he L ord Je su s Chr ist a nd H is br ide.

4 Acco rding to Jewish Wedding customs at the time of Je sus ea rthly ministry, the bridegroo m came at a day and hour that his Bride did not know . A s he cam e, the f riend of the Bride gro om w ent b efo r e him and shouted, B ehold, the bridegr oom c ome s. This shout would be accompanied by the blowing of a sho far a trum-pet made fr om a ram s horn. As the sh out was heard, th e bridegr oom would get his b ride and tak e h er ba ck to his fat her s hous e, whe r e th e ce rem ony and celebration would take place.

5 Thes e custom s sound a lot like Jesus d es cription of His se cond c oming fro m the pa rable o f the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). To really understand the L ord s se cond c oming and our calling as the Bride of Christ , let s look bac k in history to s ee the J ewish Wedding customs during the time of J esus earthly ministry. Five custo ms c omprise the traditional Jewish Wedding syst em. The s e are: 1. The a rrang ement of ma rriage 2. The b etr othal cer emony 3. The p repa ration period betwe en the b etr othal and the Wedding 4. The w edding cer emon y 5. The w edding feast 2.

6 The a rr an gem ent o f ma rri ag e wa s th e f irst cust om o f the a ncie nt Jew is h wed din g syst em. The a rrang ement, called the Shiddukhin, was the first step in the proc e ss and r ef ers to the ar rangem ents that wer e m ade p rior t o the legal The B ib le rev ea ls th a t Jes us seco nd com i ng wi ll be s imi-la r to a nci ent Je wi sh wed din g c ustom s. 19 The a rrang ement w as t he time of matchmaking, oft en d ecided upon betwe en th e father of the g ro om and the fath er o f th e b ride.

7 Oft en, the c ouple did not know ea ch oth er b ef or e th e a rrang ement. In s om e cas es, they w ould not have e ven s een ea ch other be fo re the bet rothal ce rem Though this was the c ase, the b ride-to-be w as n ormally required to approv e the ma r riage bef or e the families agre ed to a b etr othal cer Once the s election had been m ade, the pa r ents pr epar ed the ketubah. The k etubah wa s n orm ally a written c ontra ct t hat depicted the t erm s and conditions of the marriage ar rangem ent, the price to be paid by t h e g r o o m , t h e r e s p o n s i b iliti e s and obligations o f both parties, and the dowr y to be of fe r ed by t he 3.

8 The betr oth al ce rem o ny w as t he s econd c u stom of th e a nci ent J ewi sh wed din g syst em. Once the a rrang ement was mad e and the k etubah agre ed to by b oth parties, the c ouple wo uld move on to th e b etr othal (eyrusin) c er e-mony. To p r epar e fo r this, the Bride and gr oom w ould take pa rt sepa rately in a ritual immersion in water, which symbolized a spiritual The ce r emony w ould include vow s p romising to b e ma r ried, the e x-change of rings or s o mething else o f value, and the sealing of th e agre em ent by sha ring a cup o f After this ce r emony , the c ouple was legally married e ven though they did not live in the same house o r hav e s exual re lations.

9 Inst ead, the g ro om an d Bride maintained se parate dw elling places, both r emaining under their father s r oof Becaus e a b etr othed co uple was legally marrie d, a sepa ration o r pa rt-ing of ways fo r any r eas on would require a legal divorc e. The J ew s us ed to r ef er t o the a ct of bet rothal as taking a wife by us-ing a form o f a H ebr e w w ord that meant p urchas e. The b etr othal ce rem ony wa s c onsider ed an act o f purchasing or a cquiring a wife fo r the purpo se o f mar riage .8 The bet rothal ce rem ony would end with a feast to c elebrate the o cca-sion, and following the feast, each part y wou ld return to his or he r parent s hous 4.

10 The p rep a rat ion pe ri od wa s t he th ird cu s tom of th e anc ie nt J ewi sh wed din g syst em. During the betr othal period, the gr oom r emained at his father s hom e and prepar ed a place f or the tw o to live. This was no rmally done by adding a ro om t o his father s hou se. While the gr oom was b usy building, the Bride was p r eparing hers elf for the upc oming Wedding . This usually involved thre e things. First, the Bride was ob se rv ed f or h er purity. T his custom r equired at least a full nine months to pas s in o rde r t o ens ure that the Bride wa s not pr egnant and to att empt to assu re that she was a The Jewish Wedding System and the Bride of Christ 19 20 Understanding the Bride of Christ Sec ond, the b ride c ons ec rated h er self.