The Profound Connection Between Jewish Wedding Traditions and Christ's Covenant / S1E42

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Discover the rich, symbolic tapestry that intertwines a traditional Jewish wedding with the profound relationship between Jesus and His Church. Picture this: Jesus, the divine bridegroom, preparing a place for us in His Father's house, just as a Jewish groom readies a home for his bride. Through John 14:1-4 and Thessalonians 4:16, we explore the stages of a Jewish wedding ceremony, drawing fascinating parallels to Jesus' covenant with the Church, His ultimate sacrifice, and His solemn vow to return. This episode is particularly special as we acknowledge my son James for his unwavering support during my illness and extend heartfelt thanks for your prayers.

Feel the anticipation and joy of a bride awaiting her groom as we delve into the sanctity and purity that Christ expects from His Church. Reflect on the significance of the bride's seclusion and her joyous reunion with the bridegroom, which mirrors our hopeful anticipation of Christ's return. We shed light on how biblical events, such as the Last Supper, tie into these wedding customs, offering a deeper understanding of our spiritual readiness for the Lord. For those eager to learn more, we highly recommend Dr. Showers' insightful article, "Behold, The Bridegroom Comes"  https://israelmyglory.org/article/behold-the-bridegroom-comes 
Join us in this enriching journey and rekindle your excitement for the coming of the Lord!

My website is https://www.godslovingsacrifice.com

Episode Transcript

gayla (00:01):
Hello, I'm back.
Before I get started, I want tothank my son, james, for taking
over for me the last two weeks.
He did a great job.
I want to thank you Sorry I'vebeen away.
I had bronchitis very bad Icould barely talk and I want to
thank you all for your prayersand your good wishes.

(00:22):
Thank you all for your prayersand your good wishes.
Today we want to talk about aJewish wedding.
It's very important to talkabout this because of how it is

(00:43):
so remarkably the same as Jesuscoming here and going home and
coming back for us.
There is an article calledBehold, the Bridegroom Comes.
It is from a website calledIsrael, my Glory, and it was
written by a Dr, r Sowers.
If you would like to read thearticle, the address will be in

(01:03):
the transcript and in thedescription.
We're going to start this withthe scripture and go from there.
The scripture is John 14, 1through 4.
Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God.
Believe also in me.
In my Father's house there aremany mansions.
If it were not so, I would havetold you I go to prepare a

(01:27):
place for you, and if I go andprepare a place for you, I will
come again and receive you untomyself that where I am there, ye
may be also.
And where I go, you know, andthe way you know, first part of
a Jewish marriage is thebetrothal.
The betrothal happens when theprospective bridegroom travels

(01:53):
to the home of the prospectivebride and at that time he would
negotiate with the father of thebride for a price and he would
pay the price and the covenantwould be established and at that
point in time a man and a womanwould be considered husband and
wife.
The bride would be declaredconsecrated or sanctified and

(02:17):
set apart just for herbridegroom.
As a symbol of that, they woulddrink a cup of wine, and that
would mean that the prolebenediction had been pronounced.
After all of that was done, thegroom would leave the bride's
house and go back to hisfather's house.
There would be a period ofseparation between the groom and

(02:41):
the bride.
Now the bride did not know whenthe groom was going to.
Now the bride did not know whenthe groom was going to come
back for her.
So she must always be prepared,she must always be faithful.
When the groom's father decided, when it was time for the groom

(03:03):
to go get his bride, he wouldbe escorted to the bridal house
with other members of the bridalparty and there would be a
shout and the bride would knowhe was coming and time of

(03:26):
separation.
In his father's house heprepared a place for his bride.
Bride and groom would come in,the wedding party would stand
outside their door, they wouldgo into the bridal room and they
would consummate their weddingand then the groom would say

(03:47):
something and everyone wouldknow and they would cheer At
that time.
The wedding party would startthe wedding feast.
The groom would leave, thebride would be in bridal suite
for seven days during the feastand at this time no one has seen
her face because her face hasalways been covered.
Then at the end of the sevendays the bridegroom would come

(04:12):
in and get her and they wouldjoin everyone and this would be
the big celebration.
If you didn't notice, thesimilarities in what I just
explained to you happens duringa Jewish wedding.
Let me tell you about thosebecause to me they are so
exciting.

(04:32):
First is the betrothal.
Jesus came to earth and Jesusestablished a covenant with his
bride or the church and Jesushad the last supper with the
disciples and he said in 1Corinthians 11.25, this cup is

(04:59):
the new covenant in my blood.
This do as often as you drinkit in remembrance of me.
That was the covenant.
That was the glass of wine thatthe bride and groom drank.
And once that was done and thecovenant was over, jesus did pay
the price.

(05:19):
He hung on the cross, he died,he rose, he returned to the
Father's house and before heleft, the very first scripture
that I read.
He said let not your heart betroubled.
You believe in God, believealso in me.
In my Father's house there weremany mansions.
If it were not so, I would havetold him I go and prepare a

(05:43):
place for you, just like thebridegroom goes to his father's
house and prepares a place forhis bride.
Isn't that amazing?
I just that gives me coldchills when I think about it.
But one of the things that itsays is that there was a groom

(06:08):
would announce that it had beenconsummated.
And to the wedding partywaiting outside.
Well, who was the wedding party?
John the Baptist.
In John 3.29,.
He says he who has the bride isthe bridegroom.

(06:29):
But the friend of thebridegroom who stands and hears
him rejoices greatly because ofthe bridegroom's voice.
Therefore, this joy of mine isfulfilled voice.
Therefore, this joy of mine isfulfilled.
Every part you can think ofthat happens in the wedding,
happens with the church, withour wedding to our bridegroom.

(06:53):
Now, after they consummatetheir wedding, bride remains in
the bridal chamber for sevendays.
Can anyone think of why it wasseven days?
So many people have talked aboutand my son talked about this
the rapture and the tribulationperiod and all of that.

(07:15):
If you look at the Jewishwedding, the groom comes and
gets the bride.
If you look at the Jewishwedding, the groom comes and
gets the bride.
He takes the bride to hisfather's house.
The bride is put away for sevendays.
When the rapture comes andwe're taken to the father's
house, we are taken out of theseven years of tribulation.

(07:44):
Is that not just absolutelyamazing, exciting?
It makes me sometimes want tocry when I think how much God
looks at us as his son's bride.
You know there's a lot ofscriptures to go with this and I

(08:06):
didn't give you all thescriptures.
One of the scriptures that thegroom was preceded by a shout.
Thessalonians 4.16 says For theLord himself will descend from
heaven with a shout, with thevoice of the archangel and the

(08:28):
trumpet of God.
The littlest things in a Jewishwedding are shown between Jesus
and his bride.
I would love to go through thismore and get into it really
deep, but I didn't want to dothat this time.

(08:49):
I just wanted to give you anoverview of it and how wonderful
it is.
If you want to read the articlefrom Dr Showers, like I said,
the website will be in thedescription and in the
transcript.
But are you ready?
Are you prepared?

(09:11):
Are you keeping yourselfsanctified, are you keeping
yourself pure for when thebridegroom comes?
But we know we've been boughtwith a price and we know that
price was Jesus' blood and weknow he will return, because if

(09:37):
he was not going to return, hewould not have said he was.
So think of yourself as thatbride.
Think of yourself as theexcitement that the bride has
waiting for her groom to come,the joy we need to have that

(09:59):
every day.
We need to have that joy in ourhearts, that excitement, that
anticipation of being with theFather, knowing that our
bridegroom is soon to come.