The following is a manuscript of a radio broadcast of Arnold

G. Fruchtenbaum, director of Ariel Ministries. The text is

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All scripture quotes are from the American Standard Version.

 

 

THE JEWISH WEDDING SYSTEM AND THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

 

This manuscript will look into the how the Jewish wedding

system corresponds to the program that God has between Christ as

the groom and the Church as the Bride of Christ. This subject

will be covered in six parts.

 

I. The Arrangement

The first step in the Jewish wedding system is the

arrangement. In the arrangement the father of the groom makes the

arrangement with the father of the bride and pays the father of

the bride the bride price.

This stage may occur when the bride and groom are children

and often they did not even meet each other until the wedding day.

In fact, that was true in the case of my own grandparents who

first met each other on the wedding day.

The application to the Bride of Christ is that God the

Father, the Father of the Groom, made the arrangement, and then

paid the bride price. The bride price was the blood of His Son.

Ephesians 5:25 states:

"Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;"

John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten

Son,"

By giving up the Son and by shedding the blood of the Son the

bride price was paid and so the arrangement was sealed with blood.

 

II. The Preparation

The second step in the Jewish wedding system is known as the

preparation. That is the period of the betrothal. It lasts for

at least a year but could also last for many years especially if

the arrangement was made when the bride and groom were only

children. During the period of the preparation the bride is being

prepared and she prepares herself to be a fitting wife for her

mate. This is the period of time that the bride is being trained

and prepared to take on the role of a wife and she prepares

herself to be a fitting bride for her mate. This is the period of

time that she is observed for her purity. That is why the

betrothal always lasted for a minimum of one year, to allow at

least a full nine months to pass to make sure that at the time of

the betrothal the bride was a virgin. If she gives birth before

the year is up then it is known that she was in a state of

immorality.

Again, the period of preparation, the period of betrothal,

may be of a long or of a short duration. It might be as short as

a year, but it might be many many years because often the

arrangement that led to the betrothal would occur when the bride

and groom were children.

The application of the stage of the preparation to the Bride

of Christ, the Church, is that the Bride is even now in the

process of being perfected for the Groom. Two passages deal with

this stage. The first is II Corinthians 11:2:

"For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I

espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure

virgin to Christ."

Paul states that the Church has been espoused, or betrothed, to

one husband. The goal is that she might be presented a pure

virgin to Christ. She is now in the period of preparation where

the bride is being prepared to become a fitting wife for her

husband. When that day comes she will be presented as pure virgin

to Christ.

The second passage is Ephesians 5:26-27:

"that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing

of water with the word, that he might present the church to

himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such

thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

Then verse 29 states:

"for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and

cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church;"

According to verse 26 the Church is now undergoing a process of

sanctification. The word "sanctification" means to be set apart.

So the Church is now being set apart for Christ to eventually, in

accordance with II Corinthians 11:2, be presented a pure virgin to

Christ. Furthermore verse 26 points out that she is being

cleansed by this means of sanctification. The means of

sanctification is by the washing of the water with the Word. It

is not by water baptism, but by the water of the Word of God. As

the Church becomes more and more conformed to what the Word of God

teaches, she becomes more and more that virgin to be presented to

Him.

Then in Verse 27 gives the purpose for the process of

sanctification in verse 26. The purpose for this process of

sanctification is to present the Church a glorious Church. This

is just another way of saying what he said in II Corinthians 11:2,

that the intent is to present the Church as a pure virgin to

Christ. Here it is put in terms of being presented as a glorious

church.

He then gives the four characteristics of a glorified church.

First, it will have no spot, meaning that there will be no outward

defilement. Secondly, there will be no wrinkle, meaning that

there will be no evidence of age. Third, it will be holy, meaning

that it will eventually reach full sanctification. Fourth, there

will be no blemish, there will be no inward defilement. The time

that this is going to take place ultimately and finally is at the

Judgement Seat of Christ where the members of the Church in this

judgement will have the wood, hay, and stubble burned away and the

gold, silver, and precious stone purified by that fire of

judgement.

Then in verse 29 he reveals one the way that the Church is

being made into a glorious church. The Church is being nourished,

meaning the Church is being built up and given strength.

Secondly, the church is being cherished, meaning tender care with

warmth and tenderness.

 

III. The Fetching of the Bride

In the Jewish wedding system on the wedding day the groom

would go to the home of the bride to fetch her to his home. This

would lead to a bridal procession and that is what is found in

Matthew 25:1-13, for example. The groom had left and he is now

coming back with the bride. The virgins do not represent the

Church. The virgins go out to meet the groom as he is returning

to his home with the bride.

The application to the Bride of Christ is the Rapture of the

Church. The fetching of the Bride of Christ will be by the

Rapture of the Church. The main scripture is I Thessalonians

4:13-18. In verse thirteen the question is asked, "What about

dead saints? Will they miss out on the benefits of the Rapture?

Will only living ones benefit?" In verses 14-15 Paul states that

they will not miss out on the benefits of the Rapture but they

will begin to receive the benefits even before the living

believers do. Then in verses 16-17 he spells out the seven steps

by which the Rapture will occur.

First, Christ will come from heaven into the earth's

atmosphere and in that sense will enter into the realm of the home

of the bride. Secondly, he will then give a shout. The Greek

word used is the word that means a military command. He will

issue the command as a military general does for the process to

begin. Third will be the voice of the archangel. The archangel

is Michael and here he is pictured as the sub-commander who will

repeats the order of the chief commander. Then the fourth stage

will come the trump of God. After the sub-commander issued his

orders the trumpeter would issue his calls so the soldiers could

know what to do: to attack, to retreat, to go forward or right or

reverse or whatever. So the trump of God will sound. Then fifth,

the dead in Christ will rise first. This is why the dead will not

miss out on the benefits of the Rapture because they will receive

it first by being raised first. Sixth, those who are alive will

be caught up or Raptured to meet Christ in the air. Seventh, the

believers will ever be with the Lord. From then on the believers

will be with Him because He is the believer's husband. So in

verse 18, that is a word of comfort for those of us who have

believing friends and relatives that have now passed away; they

will someday be resurrected. If we are alive then we will join

them in that Rapture.

It is after the fetching of the Bride into heaven that will

come the final point of cleansing and sanctification. In First

Corinthians 3:10-15 describes the Judgement Seat of Christ when

the wood, hay, and stubble will be burned away and the gold,

silver, and precious stone will be purified.

According to I first Corinthians 15:50-58 the Church will

indeed be glorified because at that point mortality will put on

immortality and corruption will put on incorruption.

 

IV. The Ceremony

The ceremony was conducted in the home of the groom. Only a

few, usually the immediate family and two witnesses, were invited

to come in and observe the wedding ceremony.

The application to this fourth step to the relationship of

the Church as the Bride of Christ is that there will be a ceremony

in heaven and the few that will be invited to this ceremony are

the few that will already be in heaven and not all the others.

Only those that have already been resurrected will be able to

participate in the wedding ceremony.

The main scripture for the wedding ceremony is Revelation

19:6-8:

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and

as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders,

saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.

Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory

unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath

made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should

array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen

is the righteous acts of the saints."

This scripture contains the fourth step, the ceremony. The

ceremony is in heaven and it is followed by the second coming of

Christ because he discusses the second coming in verses 11-16.

Just preceding the second coming to the earth will come the

marriage ceremony in heaven. As in the Jewish system only a few

will be invited, those already in heaven and not others.

In these verses there are three main things. First, the

marriage of the Lamb is come. Here he is dealing with the

marriage ceremony of the Lamb and it will occur in heaven just

before the second coming. Secondly the wife had made herself

ready. She is now glorified. There is no spot, no wrinkle, no

blemish nor any such thing. Third, she is arrayed in fine linen

bright and pure and he interprets the fine linen to represent the

righteous acts of the saints. The fine linen is the righteous

acts of the saints and it shows that by this time the Judgement

Seat of Christ is over with, the sanctification process is

complete, and she is indeed a pure virgin now being presented to

Christ at this wedding ceremony.

V. The Marriage Feast

In the Jewish wedding system the marriage feast has many more

people invited. Whereas a few are invited to the wedding

ceremony, many others are invited to the marriage feast to

celebrate the marriage of the son. Often the marriage feast

lasted for a total of seven days.

The application to the Church as the Bride of Christ is that

the marriage feast will take place on earth. As a matter of fact,

the Kingdom will begin with the marriage feast. Also, at the

marriage feast many are going to be invited. Many more will be in

the marriage feast than were at the marriage ceremony. For

example, the Old Testament saints are going to be at the wedding

feast because the Old Testament saints are resurrected after the

Tribulation (Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2). In John 3:28-30 John the

Baptist classed himself as being neither the groom nor part of the

bride but classed himself in a third category known as the friends

of the bridegroom. The friends of the bridegroom are the Old

Testament saints and they will be the many more invited to the

wedding feast.

A second group that will not be at the ceremony but will be

at the marriage feast will be the Tribulation saints. The

Tribulation saints will also be resurrected after the Second

Coming (Revelation 20:4-6). They will also be guests at the

wedding feast.

A third group will be Israel. The living Israel that

survives the Tribulation and enters into the Messianic Kingdom,

they too will be the invited guests of the wedding feast with

which the Kingdom begins.

The fact that the Kingdom begins with the wedding feast is

taught by Isaiah 25:6. In the context of the Kingdom he writes:

"And in this mountain will Jehovah of hosts make unto all

peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of

fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined."

So the Kingdom does begin with a feast, specifically with a

wedding feast and that is where these others are going to be

invited to participate.

Just before the Second Coming the invitation to the wedding

feast is sent out. Revelation 19:6-8, it was noted, talks about

the wedding ceremony. Then in verse nine he talks about the

wedding feast:

"And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are

bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

The marriage supper of the Lamb is not served at this point. At

this point he simply sends out the invitation. The invitation

goes out just before the Second Coming. Then verses 11-16

describe the Second Coming and then after a 75 day interval the

Kingdom will established. The Kingdom will begin with the

marriage feast. Just as the wedding feast could last for seven

days, even so the wedding feast might last for seven days or

perhaps even for seven years. During that 75 day interval, there

will be a resurrection of the Old Testament saints and a

resurrection of the Tribulation saints who are the many more that

will partake in that wedding feast.

 

VI. The Home of the Bride

In the Jewish context, the groom is responsible to provide a

suitable home for the bride and he does this during the

preparation stage, the second stage.

When Jesus went back to heaven at the Ascension, one purpose

he went back to heaven was to prepare a place for the bride (John

14:1). The place He is preparing for the bride is elsewhere known

as the New Jerusalem. That is the application: that Jesus is

even now preparing a suitable home for the Church and the

believers will move into that home in the eternal state, in the

eternal order. The main scripture is Revelation 21:9-22:5 where

John is able to see the home of the Bride. Verses 9-10 state:

"And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven

bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake

with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife

of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain

great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down

out of heaven from God,"

According to verse nine the bride is now also the wife of the Lamb

because by this time the wedding ceremony and the wedding feast

have taken place and they have been married for a thousand years.

After the thousand year Kingdom, John next sees the eternal home

of the bride (vs. 10) and the eternal abode of the bride is the

New Jerusalem.

Then beginning in 21:11-22:5 he spells out the details of the

New Jerusalem which will be the home of the bride.

 

 

That is the relationship between the Jewish wedding system

and the Church as the Bride of Christ. Some things have been

fulfilled, some things are in the process of being fulfilled, and

others are still in the future. There is a great future for those

who have believed in the Messiahship of Jesus.


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