We need to
go back several centuries to see what a Jewish wedding was like so we can
better understand what it will be like when Jesus returns for His bride the
church.
A Jewish
wedding is divided into 3 parts.
The first part is the betrothal
period.
The father
of the groom and the father of the bride make a contract after arranging the
marriage for their children.
The fathers
get together and negotiate an amount of the dowry and then shake hands to seal
the contract.
The amount
of the Bride price will be determined in cows, sheep or goats, gold, or
whatever is agreed upon.
The father
of the groom must pay this price to the father of the bride.
Since this
arrangement can take place when their children are still very young the father
of the groom may have considerable time before their children reach marriageable
age.
At the
agreed upon time vows are exchanged between the two.
The husband
to be returns to his father’s house and builds an addition for his bride.
Levitical law states that the man is exempt
from military duty during this period.
This one
year period is called the betrothal period. They are considered husband and
wife even though the marriage has not been consummated. The only way that this
contract can be broken is if the groom finds out that his bride has been
unfaithful. He can then divorce her.
You may
remember what happened when Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant. He was
going to divorce her until the Lord interceded.
The second part happens after a year
has passed. After the house has been made ready, the man returns for his bride.
Now, we need
to go back to Mathew 25 to see what takes place when he returns.
It’s
important to remember that the parable of the ten virgins is a continuation of
Mathew 24 where Jesus is answering the question, “When will these things be? Tell
us what happens when you return.”
These 10
young girls are really the bride’s ten bridesmaids. They are part of the
wedding party. Their responsibility is to watch for the return of the bridegroom.
They know
that after a year has passed the bridegroom is going to return for his bride.
They don’t know the exact day that he is returning but they know that it will
be at the midnight hour.
When they
see him coming they must go out to meet him with their lanterns showing the way
to the bride’s house.
If you
remember the parable, 5 wise ones have been prepared for his return in that
they had plenty of oil in their lanterns whereas the 5 foolish had not
prepared.
When they
hear the shout they realize that their lanterns don’t have any oil. They
quickly turn to the wise ones and ask if they can barrow enough oil to get by.
The five
wise ones replied, “Sorry, you’ll have to go and get your own.
Here is the
meaning of this parable, “You can’t be prepared to meet Jesus with barrowed
faith.”
Remember the
sad ending to that story? By the time they returned with oil the door to the
banquet room had been shut and they could not get in.
The third part of the wedding is the
wedding banquet or the wedding supper.
When the
groom reaches the brides parent’s home to receive her she is hoisted up on a
platform that rests on men’s shoulders and carried to the groom’s father’s
house so the celebration can begin.
A 7 day
celebration feast begins with the invited guests.
Remember the
first miracle that Jesus preformed? It was at a wedding banquet in Cana where
they ran out of wine.
It is during
this 7 day celebration that the marriage is consummated.
Now’ let’s
look at some of the beautiful parallels so as to better understand what will
happen when Jesus returns.
1. The betrothal period.
The bride price was paid with the shed blood of the Father’s
son. Jesus purchased His bride with his own blood.
2. Jesus will return for his bride.
Read John 13:33 and 14:2-3.
The bridegroom leaves the earth for a period of time to
prepare a place in His Father’s house for his bride.
We are living in the betrothal period in church history
waiting for Jesus to return so He can take us to His Father’s house.
Reread verse 14.
The bridegroom is coming back for His bride, but we must be
prepared, be ready. We don’t know the exact day or the hour but we know that it
will be soon and like the 5 wise maidens we want to be ready. We don’t want to
miss the greatest banquet of all time.
3. Now we come to verse 9 of Revelation 19. The
great
Celebration at the wedding feast, the
marriage supper.
Finally, we get to celebrate with Jesus
our bridegroom.
Let’s go back to verse 7. We are finally home in our Father’s
house to be with our bridegroom forever and ever.
