The marriage supper of the Lamb

 

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.