“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb (Jesus) is come, and his wife (the Church) hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb, And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

Revelation 19:7-9

Lately, I have been very intrigued by the various aspects of ancient Jewish wedding traditions and how they correlate to the prophecies God made and the events regarding the future return of Jesus. The more I researched the ancient Jewish wedding timeline, the more convinced I became that God used this event to tell us about His future plan for the world. In order to explain this, I thought it easiest to highlight the various stages of the Jewish wedding; what leads up to it; what does it entail; and, what does it mean for those of us living today.

The Engagement of the Bride and Groom

In ancient times, the father of the bride would make public the fact his daughter was now “available” for marriage. This typically happened when the future bride was in her early teenage years. The father of the young man, soon to be the groom, would personally select who his son would marry. Together, they would travel to the bride’s home to allow the future bride and groom to meet.

Please note, at this time the groom was still living in his father’s house. Most importantly, the groom’s father would offer a dowry to the bride’s father to gain his acceptance of their offer of marriage. At that time, not only the bride’s father, but also the future bride needed to accept the father of the groom and the groom’s offer in order for the wedding agreement to move forward. Once both parties accepted the offer by having a glass of wine, the bride and groom were officially betrothed, and were legally considered married. But, the marriage had not yet been physically consumated. I believe John 3:16 very adequately explains the dowry, or price, God, through Jesus Christ, paid for His bride, the Church. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ paying the dowry, the price of pardon, for our sins can we become “married” to Him for eternity!

The Groom Left His Bride to Build a Home

At this time the son, aka the future groom, still lived at home with his parents. It was very unusual for the newly married bride and groom to go off and live by themselves. In fact, we have a very clear picture of this when God told Abram (Abraham) to leave his father’s house in Genesis 12:1, “Now the LORD said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, AND FROM THY FATHER’S HOUSE (capitals mine), unto a land that I will shew thee:” Obviously even though Abram was married to Sara, they still lived with his father. But back to the wedding timeline:

Instead the groom left his bride with her parents in order to go back to his father’s house and build a room for them to live in. As Jesus said in John 14:2-3, “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. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Like the groom, Jesus went to prepare a place for His Bride, the Church. When it is completed, He will Return for His Bride!

Candidly, I don’t know if this was only one room or whether it had other rooms included. But I do know it was part of his father’s house. Also, at the beginning of the building process, no one knew exactly how long it would take to build this new home although tradition usually expected about one year. As Jesus answered in Mathew 24:36 regarding when He would Return, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Remember, the groom could only return to get his bride WITH THE CONSENT OF HIS FATHER when the house construction was completed!

The Bride needed to be Prepared for His Return

In the meantime the bride only knew she must be prepared for the moment when the groom would return. She did not know the day or hour of his return. Sound familiar? She would be made aware of his coming based solely upon the groom blowing a shofar (trumpet) and shouts along with his escorts as he approached. Matthew 25:6 tells it all. “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” This typically happened at night.

As noted above, the groom’s father decided when the new room/home was ready and only he could give the approval for the groom to leave to go and gather his wife. While the groom had been building their new home, she was getting prepared by making her wedding garments, preparing the lamps in case he returned at night, etc. She was in a way told in Mark 13:33, “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” She knew she was legally married to the groom and was told to be ready for his return at any time, just as we are to be ready for His Return! And not only that but her bridesmaids were also told to be ready at any time for the groom to come for his bride.

If you recall the story of the ten bridesmaids in Matthew 25, “THEN SHALL THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BE LIKENED (capitals mine) unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” Here Matthew clearly states this event comparing the wedding to the coming of Jesus Christ for His Bride, the Church. Of course if you read further you will notice 5 of the 10 were not prepared! They did not have enough oil for their lamps and were totally left out of the wedding ceremony. Do you get the picture of this comparison?

What I recently learned was in the ancient Jewish wedding when the groom came at the sound of the trumpet for his bride, she was placed on a chair which was them lifted up. She was then carried out to meet her future husband. Of course, I believe this also mimics the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:17; “Then we (the bride – Believers) which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR (capitals mine): and so shall we ever be with the Lord (the Groom).”

The Bride and Groom then Returned to his Father’s Home

It is important to note this is not the public wedding celebration. Instead, the bride after going with the groom  to his father’s house was kept hidden in private and surrounded only by their immediate family members and a few guests for seven days. This is similar to the bride (the Church) being hidden during the 7 year Tribulation. They did have a small ceremony but not the glorious public affair which would occur later.  In Revelation 19:9 we read, “And he saith unto me (John), Write, Blessed are they which are called  unto the marriage supper of the Lamb (Jesus). And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Only the Blessed will be able to be at the wedding ceremony of the bride and groom which are in his father’s house (Heaven)! The rest will not participate in this joyous event which lasts for seven days (the time of the Tribulation on earth?) which Jesus told us we would NOT be subject to. He told us this in Revelation 3:10-11, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience (been prepared!), I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” 

The Public Wedding Ceremony

After seven days of waiting in secrecy, the groom and the bride publicly appeared at their wedding ceremony. This was a much larger event visible to many more people. At this time they were also recognized for what they were, a new husband and wife, and many shared in their joyous occasion. I believe Paul very elegantly interpreted this marriage as prophetic in Ephesians 5:22-25, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, EVEN AS CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH (capitals mine): and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church (Believers) is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” When Jesus Christ comes again at His Second Coming, His bride, the church will be coming with him and they will be visible to every man, woman and child alive on the earth. After defeating the anti-christ and the false prophet, and throwing Satan into the bottomless pit for one thousand years, He will reign in peace and justice over the entire world. And, we the Bride will rule and reign with Him as stated in Revelation 20:6, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and SHALL REIGN WITH HIM A THOUSAND YEARS (capitals mine).” 

The wedding ceremony therefore will take place on the earth, not in Heaven as the first private ceremony. Obviously the dead in Christ during the Tribulation and the Old Testament Saints will then be resurrected and will also be there to celebrate!

Finally, I think it is important to note most Biblical scholars believe Jesus began His earthly ministry at 30 years of age and this lasted 3 1/2 years before He was crucified, buried and rose from the dead in payment (a dowry) in preparation for His marriage to His Church (the Believers who accepted His Pardon for our sins). We have all read of the many miracles He performed during this 3 1/2 years but do you know what His very first miracle was? Read John 2 where He attended a wedding and was asked by his mother Mary to get wine because they had run out for the guests. While telling her His time had not yet come, He did turn the water into wine. Wine was drunk by both the bride and groom to cement their marriage! Coincidence? I doubt it!

All of this tells us that Jesus left His Father’s home, paid the dowry (His life), went back to Heaven to prepare a mansion for us in His Father’s house, and will come back at a time unknown to gather us for a marvelous wedding feast with Him in Heaven. After seven days/years He will Return WITH us to earth and we will reign with Him during His 1,000 years Millennial  Reign on earth. If you believe in Jesus and have asked Him for the pardon of your sins, you will be invited to the wedding! I find this comforting, knowing the other option is terrible. Please do as I have done and as we have been instructed by Jesus to do and that is to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.”

I hope to see you SOON at the wedding! May God Bless you!