Atonement
Member
Greetings to you all in the love of Jesus Christ
This is an excerpt I read sometime back and I thought it would be a good point in time, where it would be re-opened in the forums again for discussion (for those who have not heard this teaching, or maybe heard about it but never discussed it). To any of our Jewish brethren here, if you read this, your input is very welcome.
Wedding customs vary from nation to nation, in today’s world we see different additions of marriage taking place. The Jews had their own peculiar ways, based on the Old Covenant, and followed traditions in choosing a bride. The Jews had no dating or courtship as we now think of those things in our modern world and society. Marriage to them was a practical legal matter, established by contract and carried through by exacting procedure. These customs exist in a form today in the Jewish wedding ceremony, and in Jesus’ time.
When the young man of Israel in Jesus’ time saw the girl he wanted (or the girl his father said he wanted), he would approach her with a marriage contract. He would come to her house with a covenant – a true legal agreement – giving the terms by which he would propose marriage. The most important consideration in the contract was the price the bridegroom would be willing to pay to marry this particular bride. Then the groom would pay the price. It should be stated that this price was no modest token but was set so that the new bride would be a costly item – that was the idea. The young man had no delusions that he was getting something for nothing. He would pay dearly to marry the girl of his choice.
When that matter was settled the groom would depart, but before he departed he would make a little speech to his bride, saying something along the lines as, “I'm gonna go and prepare a place for us,†and he would return to his father’s house. Back at his father’s house, he would build her a bridal chamber, (an add on to his fathers house was the tradition), in which they would have their future honeymoon. We should appreciate that he would actually build a separate building on his father’s house. The bridal chamber had to be beautiful – and it had to be stocked with provisions since the bride and groom were going to remain inside for seven days (7 years for the bride of Jesus!).
This construction project would take the better part of a year, ordinarily, and the father of the groom would be the judge of when it was finished. (We can see the logic here – obviously, if it were up to the young man, he would throw up some kind of modest structure and go get the girl!). But the father of the groom who had been through this previously and was less excited, would be the final judge on when the chamber was ready and when the young man would go to claim his bride.
The bride, for her part, was obliged to do a lot of waiting. She would take the time to gather her trousseau and be ready when her bridegroom came. Custom provided that she had to have an oil lamp ready in case he came late at night in the darkness, because she had to be ready to travel at a moment’s notice. During this long period of waiting, she was referred to as “consecratedâ€, “set apartâ€, “bought with a priceâ€. She was truly a lady-in-waiting, but there was no doubt that her groom would return. Sometimes a young man would depart for a very long time indeed, but of course he had paid a high price for his bride; even though there were other young women available, he would surely return to the one with whom he had made a covenant.
The bride would wear her veil whenever she stepped out of her house so that other young men would realize she was spoken for and would not try to approach her with another contract. (Today, the Bride of Christ wears a veil – those not understanding of our covenant try to make other contracts with us that would violate the one we have with our Bridegroom. We are to resist those other offers (religions) and wait only for the One Who paid for us.) Meanwhile, the bridegroom would be building and decorating with all that he had. His father would inspect the chamber from time to time to see if it were ready. If we came along the road at this point and saw the young man working on his bridal chamber, we might well ask, “When’s the big day?†But the bridegroom would probably answer, “Only my father knows thatâ€.
Finally, the chamber would be ready and the bridegroom would assemble his young friends to accompany him on the exciting trip to claim his bride. The big moment had arrived and the bridegroom was more than ready, we can be sure. He and his young men would set out in the night, making every attempt to completely surprise the bride. However, there were rules to be observed in consideration of a woman’s feelings. The groom couldn't just rush in on her. After all, her hair might be in rollers! Actually, as the excited party of young men would get close to her house, they were obliged to give her a warning. Some in the wedding party would shout, sing and praise loudly for the Bride to hear his coming. And so the groom and his men would charge in, grab the bride and make off with her! The father of the bride and her brothers would look the other way – perhaps just making one quick check to see that this was the young man with the contract – and the wedding party would be off.
Those looking on would not know who the bride was because she was still wearing a veil, of course. But she would be returning through these same streets a week later with her groom and then her veil would be off. At the return of the bride with her bridegroom, all the people would know just who got married and they would realize the total significance of this wedding.
When the wedding party reached the house of the groom’s father, the bride and groom would go into their chamber and shut the door. No one else would enter. The groom’s father, meanwhile, would have assembled the wedding guests – his friends – and they would be ready to celebrate the new marriage. Since the wedding was actually going to take seven days (until the appearance of the bridge and groom out of the chamber), it was hard to plan for. Occasionally, the host would run out of wine, as we can well imagine. The Lord Himself graced a wedding at Cana with His presence and replenished the wine for the celebrants as told in John 2.
But the celebrating wouldn't start right away. First, the marriage had to actually be consummated. The Jews were a most law-abiding people and the law provided that the bride and groom become one before their marriage was recognized. Thus, the friend of the bridegroom – the individual we might refer to as “the best man†– would stand near the door of the bridal chamber, waiting to hear the bridegroom’s voice. When the marriage was consummated, the bridegroom would tell his friend through the door and the friend would then go to the wedding guests and announce the good news. The celebration would then begin and it would continue for an entire week!
At the end of the week, the bride and groom would make their long awaited appearance to the cheers of the crowd. There would then be a joyous meal – a marriage supper, which we might refer to as the wedding reception – to honor the new couple. At this point, the bride would have discarded her veil, since she was now a married woman, and all would see exactly who it was the bridegroom had chosen. The new couple and the guests would enjoy a magnificent feast to conclude the entire matrimonial week.
And that was a complete Jewish wedding in Jesus’ time, in all its glory. Readers of the Gospel can easily see the beautiful analogies between this complex procedure and the manner in which the Lord Himself called out His chosen Bride.
Do you see a paradox between the Jewish wedding and the Rapture?
God Bless
This is an excerpt I read sometime back and I thought it would be a good point in time, where it would be re-opened in the forums again for discussion (for those who have not heard this teaching, or maybe heard about it but never discussed it). To any of our Jewish brethren here, if you read this, your input is very welcome.
Understanding the Rapture, through the Jewish Wedding!
Wedding customs vary from nation to nation, in today’s world we see different additions of marriage taking place. The Jews had their own peculiar ways, based on the Old Covenant, and followed traditions in choosing a bride. The Jews had no dating or courtship as we now think of those things in our modern world and society. Marriage to them was a practical legal matter, established by contract and carried through by exacting procedure. These customs exist in a form today in the Jewish wedding ceremony, and in Jesus’ time.
When the young man of Israel in Jesus’ time saw the girl he wanted (or the girl his father said he wanted), he would approach her with a marriage contract. He would come to her house with a covenant – a true legal agreement – giving the terms by which he would propose marriage. The most important consideration in the contract was the price the bridegroom would be willing to pay to marry this particular bride. Then the groom would pay the price. It should be stated that this price was no modest token but was set so that the new bride would be a costly item – that was the idea. The young man had no delusions that he was getting something for nothing. He would pay dearly to marry the girl of his choice.
When that matter was settled the groom would depart, but before he departed he would make a little speech to his bride, saying something along the lines as, “I'm gonna go and prepare a place for us,†and he would return to his father’s house. Back at his father’s house, he would build her a bridal chamber, (an add on to his fathers house was the tradition), in which they would have their future honeymoon. We should appreciate that he would actually build a separate building on his father’s house. The bridal chamber had to be beautiful – and it had to be stocked with provisions since the bride and groom were going to remain inside for seven days (7 years for the bride of Jesus!).
This construction project would take the better part of a year, ordinarily, and the father of the groom would be the judge of when it was finished. (We can see the logic here – obviously, if it were up to the young man, he would throw up some kind of modest structure and go get the girl!). But the father of the groom who had been through this previously and was less excited, would be the final judge on when the chamber was ready and when the young man would go to claim his bride.
The bride, for her part, was obliged to do a lot of waiting. She would take the time to gather her trousseau and be ready when her bridegroom came. Custom provided that she had to have an oil lamp ready in case he came late at night in the darkness, because she had to be ready to travel at a moment’s notice. During this long period of waiting, she was referred to as “consecratedâ€, “set apartâ€, “bought with a priceâ€. She was truly a lady-in-waiting, but there was no doubt that her groom would return. Sometimes a young man would depart for a very long time indeed, but of course he had paid a high price for his bride; even though there were other young women available, he would surely return to the one with whom he had made a covenant.
The bride would wear her veil whenever she stepped out of her house so that other young men would realize she was spoken for and would not try to approach her with another contract. (Today, the Bride of Christ wears a veil – those not understanding of our covenant try to make other contracts with us that would violate the one we have with our Bridegroom. We are to resist those other offers (religions) and wait only for the One Who paid for us.) Meanwhile, the bridegroom would be building and decorating with all that he had. His father would inspect the chamber from time to time to see if it were ready. If we came along the road at this point and saw the young man working on his bridal chamber, we might well ask, “When’s the big day?†But the bridegroom would probably answer, “Only my father knows thatâ€.
Finally, the chamber would be ready and the bridegroom would assemble his young friends to accompany him on the exciting trip to claim his bride. The big moment had arrived and the bridegroom was more than ready, we can be sure. He and his young men would set out in the night, making every attempt to completely surprise the bride. However, there were rules to be observed in consideration of a woman’s feelings. The groom couldn't just rush in on her. After all, her hair might be in rollers! Actually, as the excited party of young men would get close to her house, they were obliged to give her a warning. Some in the wedding party would shout, sing and praise loudly for the Bride to hear his coming. And so the groom and his men would charge in, grab the bride and make off with her! The father of the bride and her brothers would look the other way – perhaps just making one quick check to see that this was the young man with the contract – and the wedding party would be off.
Those looking on would not know who the bride was because she was still wearing a veil, of course. But she would be returning through these same streets a week later with her groom and then her veil would be off. At the return of the bride with her bridegroom, all the people would know just who got married and they would realize the total significance of this wedding.
When the wedding party reached the house of the groom’s father, the bride and groom would go into their chamber and shut the door. No one else would enter. The groom’s father, meanwhile, would have assembled the wedding guests – his friends – and they would be ready to celebrate the new marriage. Since the wedding was actually going to take seven days (until the appearance of the bridge and groom out of the chamber), it was hard to plan for. Occasionally, the host would run out of wine, as we can well imagine. The Lord Himself graced a wedding at Cana with His presence and replenished the wine for the celebrants as told in John 2.
But the celebrating wouldn't start right away. First, the marriage had to actually be consummated. The Jews were a most law-abiding people and the law provided that the bride and groom become one before their marriage was recognized. Thus, the friend of the bridegroom – the individual we might refer to as “the best man†– would stand near the door of the bridal chamber, waiting to hear the bridegroom’s voice. When the marriage was consummated, the bridegroom would tell his friend through the door and the friend would then go to the wedding guests and announce the good news. The celebration would then begin and it would continue for an entire week!
At the end of the week, the bride and groom would make their long awaited appearance to the cheers of the crowd. There would then be a joyous meal – a marriage supper, which we might refer to as the wedding reception – to honor the new couple. At this point, the bride would have discarded her veil, since she was now a married woman, and all would see exactly who it was the bridegroom had chosen. The new couple and the guests would enjoy a magnificent feast to conclude the entire matrimonial week.
And that was a complete Jewish wedding in Jesus’ time, in all its glory. Readers of the Gospel can easily see the beautiful analogies between this complex procedure and the manner in which the Lord Himself called out His chosen Bride.
Do you see a paradox between the Jewish wedding and the Rapture?
God Bless
