Jesus the Bridegroom and the Ancient Jewish Wedding
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What does an ancient Jewish wedding have to do with you, a believer in Jesus? Jesus the Bridegroom is coming again for His Bride and He has used the example of the ancient Jewish wedding as a picture of His return!
In this message, I will discuss what the ancient Jewish wedding is all about, what the process of betrothal was, how the covenant between bride and bridegroom was established and how it is all a beautiful picture of our relationship with Jesus our Bridegroom.
Jesus the Bridegroom
Throughout scripture, Yeshua (Jesus) is illustrated for us as a Bridegroom coming for His Bride. This is no accident or coincidence.
The ancient Jewish wedding is a beautiful and poignant picture for us of not only Jesus’ love for us but His plan to return for us.
Matthew 9:15
“And Yeshua said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.“
TLV
Who is the Bride in the Bible?
The Hebrew word for Bride is “Kallah” and the Bible refers to the community of believers (referred to oftentimes as the Church) as the Bride of Christ.
The Bible makes multiple references to us as the Bride:
“Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”
Revelation 19:7-9 NASB
“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 11:2 NASB
“For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of armies;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.”
Isaiah 54:5 NASB
So we, as believers, are His Bride. But WHY the reference to a Bride and Groom? What is the significance of this picture of a wedding?
Jesus the Bridegroom – You’re Betrothed
In the audio below, you will learn about the betrothal process in the ancient Jewish wedding and what that entailed.
We often look at marriage through our modern-day, Western Civilization lens but this is not how it was done in the ancient world.
You will learn that a marriage was in fact legally binding upon betrothal and the couple entered into a covenant relationship with each other at that time. Once a couple was betrothed, the only way to break that engagement was with a legally permitted divorce.
Jesus our Bridegroom has entered into a betrothal stage with us, His Bride!
Jesus the Bridegroom Goes to Prepare a Place for You
Jesus our Bridegroom has gone to prepare a place for us!
John 14:3
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.”
NASB
In the audio, we will go into why this statement Jesus made is full of so much meaning to those He spoke it to.
You will learn exactly why this one statement He makes was so meaningful to His followers, who were Jewish men. They understood the context of which He was speaking!
Jesus our Bridegroom is right this moment preparing a place for His Bride. The timeline of this preparation and the time spent with Him at His return is covered in this audio message.
Jesus the Bridegroom and the Ancient Jewish Wedding Click To TweetJesus the Bridegroom and Our Covenant With God
You will learn about the Ketubah or marriage contract and how God the Father and Jesus our Bridegroom have covenanted with us in much the same way it was done in the ancient marriage.
The Bible is our Ketubah! It is our marriage contract with Jesus! It outlines what He will do for us and what He expects from us, just like the Jewish Ketubah!
Jesus the Bridegroom – Gifts of the Spirit
You will learn the significance of the Gifts of the Spirit and how Jesus the Bridegroom gives us His gifts as part of His marriage contract with us.
In the ancient Jewish wedding, upon betrothal the Bride receives gifts from her Bridegroom!
We have been given the gifts of the Spirit! When we accept Yeshua into our lives, when we accept His “proposal”, He then gives us these gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
ESV
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
When Jesus the Bridegroom returns for His Bride there will be great celebration, not unlike the marriage supper that occurs with the ancient Jewish wedding.
However, before that celebration takes place, the Bridegroom and his Bride are sequestered away for a time to become acquainted with each other and formally consummate their union.
You will learn more about this time!
I pray this blesses you and if you would like to see a more in depth message on the topic, please comment below!
When Jesus the Bridegroom returns for His Bride and brings her to Himself, there will be great celebrations, not unlike the marriage supper that occurs with the ancient Jewish wedding. Click To TweetJesus the Bridegroom and the Ancient Jewish Wedding – Audio Message
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved
NASB – “Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation“Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) – Scripture taken from the Holy Scriptures, Tree of Life Version*. Copyright © 2014,2016 by the Tree of Life Bible Society. Used by permission of the Tree of Life Bible Society.
I love the audio message about the jewish wedding roots and us being the bride of Christ, very insightful! I would definitely be interested in listening to a longer audio podcast about this! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you!! I am so glad you shared that with me! I am working on some more teachings on the Jewish roots and Messianic Judaism in general so they will be coming soon!
God bless you, in Jesus’ name. Thank you for sharing this message!
Thank you Alexandra! I am glad you enjoyed it!!
Thanks for this, im currently researching the Jewish wedding to compare it to all Jesus spoke, especially when looking at 1 thessalonians 4, where He will come take His bride (the Rapture). Which sadly many followers do not believe in…. But the Jewish wedding tradition definitely confirms this to be so. Why would the Bridegroom want his bride to go through the Great Tribulation… Makes no sense. Bless you
Thank you so much Marvin for your comment and for researching this topic!
I would like to know everything there is to know about the bride of CHRIST. Its been so strongly on my heart.
It is a fascinating topic of study! I hope you will continue to research it and its significance!
Outstanding…loved this teaching.
Thank you so much!
I would LOVE to hear more in-depth about this topic! GREAT teaching, and thank you so very much for sharing this!
I am so glad you enjoyed it!!
What a beautiful picture of Jesus our Bridegroom and the Church, His Bride. Your explanation is easy to understand and leaves me desiring a deeper study. I look forward to learning more!
I am so glad to hear that! Blessings!
Hello…I am thrilled to find your site. I absolutely know it was the Holy Spirit who led me here. I am doing a personal study and research on The Rapture, and your blog post is the perfect picture for filling in what Jesus meant, as He was the first one to introduce the
teaching of the rapture when He said that He was preparing a place for us ( the Church …His
Bride) in John 14:3.
I would love to hear more and in depth on anything relating to a pre-triblation rapture if this is possible. Thank you!
I can see what I can find for you that is sound!