Jesus and His Bride...

[christianwarrior]

The Bible speaks of the relationship between Jesus and the church as like that of a husband and a wife.
Esphesians 5:25-27: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

The ancient Hebrew courtship and wedding ceremonies consisted of various stages:

The first stage, Shiddukhin: The father would pre-arrange a future bride for his son. An example of this is when Abraham tells his servant to find a bride for Isaac (Gen. 24:1-4). The church was also pre-arranged to be the bride of Christ: Esph. 1:3-5: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

The second stage, Ketubah (marriage covenant) and the presenting of the Mohar (Bridal payment and engagement gift): The man would give a marriage contract which he promises to provide for his future wife. In order to show he could provide for his future wife he would pay a bridal price. An example of this was when Abraham's servant present gifts to Rebecca (Genesis 24: 53: The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.) In Song of Songs 1:11, the Lover tells the Beloved: "We will make you ornaments of gold with studs of silver."

Jeremiah is promised that a new covenant is coming (Jeremiah 31:31-34): “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ”declares the Lord.“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”declares the Lord.“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

In order to fulfill the new covenant Jesus had to pay the biggest price for his Mohar:

1 John 2:2: He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Once the woman consented to the marriage they were considered betrothed. In ancient Hebrew times, a man could only break a pledge of marriage if he presented the virgin woman with a certificate of divorce.

The bethrothal period ,Eyrusin: The Eyrusin would occur under a chuppah near a banqueting table. This is what the beloved is referring to in the Song of Songs 2:4: "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love." http://www.flora2000.com/blog/wp-conten ... huppah.jpg

Today in Jewish wedding the Nissuin ceremony would be performed immediately after the Eyrusin. In ancient Hebrew times, the Eyrusin and the Nissuin happened at separate times. The man would be away from his bride-to-be after the Eyrusin and during the engagement period. The man would spend that time to build a dwelling place for his bride.
John 14:2: In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
The woman would spend her time getting ready for the wedding. She would know the approximate time that her man would return but she would not know the exact time and date. It would be a surprise.
1 Thessalions 5: 1-2: Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.


This is the stage that the church is in right now. We should be getting ready for his return though we might not know the exact date of his return.

Nissuin-Wedding:
The groom would return with a caravan when he returned.

Song of Songs 3:6-9:
Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.
King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

When Jesus comes again, a second time, it will be the time of the wedding. Rev. 19: 6-8: Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

Rev. 22: 1-5: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

For more information on ancient Hebrew weddings checkout these websites:

http://messianicfellowship.50webs.com/wedding.html


http://www.opendoorministrieswv.org/anc ... dding.html