Church, the Bride of Christ
A brief introduction of the Church, bride of Christ, will help to lay the foundation of who and why the existence of this group of believers in Christ and its relation to Israel and Jewish customs and traditions.
In Deuteronomy 32:21, it stated that “They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by their idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.” That was a lamentation of God towards Israel, His legally wedded wife, and the hint of bringing in a “nation” or “a group of people” to make Israel jealous. Amazingly, the thought of us, gentile church, was already in God’s divine plan centuries ago. That is God, only He can do the impossible and the unthinkable!
There are lots of interesting parallels between all the practices and customs of the traditional Jewish wedding and Christ’s dealing with the church, His bride. As we get to know more, we will appreciate and understand the significance of the different processes of Jewish weddings.
Apostle Paul in the New Testament referred the gentile church as a “grated” branch of the natural Olive tree (Israel) in his book of Romans in chapter 17. In the parable of Matthews 22: 1-14, Jesus related the story of a King making wedding arrangements for his son. He sent his subjects to invite the chosen people of Israel to his son’s wedding. The invitation from the king was not only turned down but the messengers were badly treated. When reported to the king of the outcome of his magnanimous invitation to his people, the enraged king in response sends the servants to the highways and byways. There, they gathered people (gentile) who were keen and willing to attend the wedding feast. That was how the gentile church was birthed.
In this sub-tropic of the church, the Bride of Christ, most of the key components of the Jewish wedding traditions and customs were present. The need for a Shadchan is inevitable and the task was given to Apostle Paul who in Acts 9:15, when Jesus Christ, the head of the church told Prophet Ananias. Apostle Paul ministry is a ministry to spread the good news to the gentile in the highways and byways.
The rituals of a Ketubah, the negotiation of bride’s price and the marriage contract of the church were done with at the night before the Passover feast, where He would be betrayed. All four gospels recorded the incident where the marriage contract and the bridal’s price were done. Our bride’s price was overpaid by Jesus Christ, our groom, on the cross at Calvary. The price that He paid was His shed precious blood for the remission of our sins. Just like the 70 Elders in the ancient days at Mt. Sinai, the twelve disciples were the representatives of the newly redeemed gentile people, the body of Christ. The contract of the marriage was sealed on that night of the Last Supper.
There are two stages to the Jewish wedding customs and traditions, just as there are two cups in the “Blessing over the cup of wine” to be performed. The first stage and the drinking of first cup were to be done at the stage called Kiddushin. The second stage and drinking of the second cup would be done at Nis’uin.
Our first stage which was the betrothal stage was done on the night before the Last Supper or Passover Seder meal. So was the drinking of the first cup of the two that constituted the Kiddushin. This stage can also be known as the first covenant of marriage, which is also understood as the Covenant of Sanctification. With this event, we are sanctified through the shedding of blood of the groom as He went to the cross to be crucified for the price of our sins. That was our bridal price. However, Jesus did not complete the customary practice of drinking the second cup of the “Blessing of the cups of Wine” He emphatically said the He will not drink it until the day He will drink it with us in His Father’s kingdom in heaven. That is referring to the 7 years marriage feast of the Lamb, immediately after the Rapture of the saints. With this understanding, the beliefs of the Mid-Tribulation and the Post-Tribulation believers are destroyed. There must be a 7 years marriage feast while the remnants of the world will undergo the tribulation for the same number of years. Supporting bible verses holds this belief that the church, the bride of Christ will be spared from the terrors that if not for the mercy of God Almighty, all living things will be completely annihilated. In both Isaiah 26:20 and Revelations 4:1 specifically mentioned a door, which will be closed once the saints are raptured into heaven to be with the groom. Then, the indignation began.
Chuppah, in church’s context would be the Rapture where the bride of Christ will be taken up in mid-air to meet Jesus Christ in the clouds. There is coming a day, a brief moment where a mysterious disappearance of saints bought with the precious blood of the Lamb, will be gathered in mid-air to meet the groom. The Rapture is Chuppah, the meeting place of the groom with the church, His bride in mid-air, whereas for the Israelites, the Chuppah is where meeting of the 70 Elders, Aaron and Moses with God in the thick and overwhelming clouds on Mt. Sinai.
Baptism of the bride is also known as Mikvah in the Jewish wedding customs and traditions. This act is required for the couple, mainly the bride to embrace the significance of the change of status: from the covering of the bride’s father to the prospective groom’s. This ceremonious act of immersion is regarded as an act of purification and sanctification before the actual marriage in the latter stage of a Jewish wedding known as Niu’sin. The equivalence of Jewish’s wedding baptism of the bride for the church is the act of undertaking the water baptism. For us the body of Christ, our immersion takes place when we go for the water baptism after accepting the “Ketubah” from our savior. Similar to the immersion in the Mikvah, our baptism in water represented our decision to be with Christ, besides the other aspects of purification (unclean to clean), restoration and qualification to be the bride of Christ.
At the last supper, our groom, the Lord Jesus Christ talked about going away to prepare a place for us, His bride. In John 14, Jesus stated, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” We can see the similarity of Jewish groom leaving the bride-to-be to prepare their bridal chamber. And the period of separation of the couple will depends on the groom’s father, as he is the only one who knows if his son is ready to bring the bride home. Sound familiar? Didn’t Jesus say that about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son knows of His return to bring us, His bride to meet Him in the mid-air? Then afterwards, together with Him, we will be in heaven to complete the wedding ceremony and customs of Niu’sin. He claimed that only God, the Father know the exact time for Him to receive His bride in the Rapture in Matthew 24:33-36. The occurrences of the events of the Rapture will be exactly as what was detailed in the Jewish wedding. The groom will comes for his bride like a thief in the night, no pre-announcement, and will be preceded by his friends who will blow the shofars, (horns of ram) to announce his coming. Sound familiar again?
Like in the parable of the ten virgins, the return of the groom for the bride will be like our wait for our bridegroom to “snatch” us in the twinkling of an eye. In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16,Apostle Paul urged us to not be ignorant of the fact that our Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God to receive His bride in a Rapture. Of course, the dead in Christ will be translated up first, while the rest of the body of Christ, His bride, who are alive, will be next. So, if the Rapture is sudden and imminent, shouldn’t we be mindful and ready for our groom to snatch us away from this world that will be “toast” in the tribulation. Be prepared, fellow saints and bride of Christ, for we know not when our groom will come for us.
Oh, what a glorious day that will be!
In conclusion, we can certainly see the similarities in the biblical story, analogy and the Jewish wedding customs and traditions in this Trilogy of Love Eternal. The Jewish wedding customs and traditions accurately indicated the happenings in the story of the Israelites (God’s legally wedded wife) as they journey towards the Promised Land known as Canaan. It too indicates to us( Christ’s betrothed bride), the things that will take place in the near future with regards to the Rapture, Tribulation and the Second Coming of Christ. Therefore, understanding Jewish wedding customs do have a great significance and it is beneficial for both the believers and pre-believers in these current affairs of this world. We will not be alarmed or distressed if and when the Lord delays his return for our meeting in the clouds.
God is love. Indeed, this Trilogy of Love Eternal only confirmed that statement that God is Love. His mercies towards us, His creation, is from everlasting to everlasting.