The New Covenant Bridal Contract

[Guest idolsmasher]

Marriage in the Teaching of Jesus

An illustration of Christ's return for His Bride, The Church

The Jewish Marriage:

When a young man saw the girl he wanted he consulted with his father about the idea of marrying her. Sometimes his father picked the girl and no consultations were necessary. When the bridegroom's father approved the choice the young man would go to the bride's house and speak with her father. Fathers really counted for something in Israel.

At the bride's house the young man would do three very important things;

* (a) He would make a covenant with the bride an actual contract.

* (b) He would drink a cup of wine with her which sealed the contract.

* © He would pay a price for her . Her father would be entitled to money for his daughter. A young man had to be very serious about getting married because he had to make a sacrifice. In olden times a man with a daughter had suffered financially bringing her up since she was not the field worker that a son would have been.

After the groom had made the covenant, drank the cup, and paid the price, he would make a little speech to the bride. He was going to leave her for a long time and go back to his father's house. He was going to build a bridal chamber for her, a place where they would have their first coming together in marriage (modern honeymoon). Before he left her he would tell her: "I go to prepare a place for you". The contract, cup, and money were her security that he would return no matter how long it took him to build the bridal chamber.

The groom would have to finish the chamber and have it approved by his father. It had to be stacked with provisions the bride and groom were going to remain inside for seven days, the prescribed length of the "honeymoon". It took quite an amount of work on the part of the groom to build a first class bridal chamber. If anyone asked the bridegroom, during the building process when he would be getting married he would say, "I don't know, only my father knows." He could not go back and claim his bride until his father approved the chamber and said that the time was right.

Because of this work and payment a bride knew she was loved and was prepared to wait a long time.

During this time the bride waited with dignity. She would wear her veil whenever she went out, in order that some other young man would not try to initiate a contract with her. Now she was called set apart, consecrated, bought with a price. In effect she was no longer her own person, but an individual contracted to her bridegroom. She conducted herself with due respect and she used her time to think about married life and to prepare herself for it. As she gathered her bridal gowns and linens, she always waited, being home every night, especially as time went on. She didn't want to be caught away from home when the bridegroom came. The tradition was that he would come at night, even at midnight, and try to take her by surprise.

It was an "abduction". The bride was "stolen" from her house. She would be waiting with her bridesmaids and her sisters and whoever she wanted to take in the wedding party with her, and they would all have oil in their lamps in case the groom did choose to come at night. As the time went on they were ready to go every night. And suddenly, one night the bridegroom would come. The bride's father and brothers would look the other way, as long as it was the young man with the contract, and the bride and her friends would be whisked off into the night. When the groom's party was close enough to the home of the bride to be heard, they would shout; and when the bride heard that shout, she would know she was as good as married.

The young man would head towards his father's house with the bride and her friends. They would travel through the streets making quite a bit of noise with their laughing. If strangers looked out they would not know who the bride was, because the veil hid her.

The bride and the groom would go into the chamber while the wedding party waited outside. There would also be a large crowd of wedding guests friends of the groom's father assembled at the house, awaiting the couple. Everyone would wait until the bridegroom would tell a trusted friend through the door that the marriage was consummated. Then the celebrating would start.

There were never any annulments, and every marriage was started right, in its proper place at the proper time.

The next time the crowd would see the bride, at the end of the seven days, she would have her veil off and would be a wife, not a bride. They would spend the entire time celebrating the grand occasion, for seven days. Sometimes they would run out of wine and have to get more; it was difficult to plan for so many people for so long a time.

At the end of seven days of celebration the bride and groom would come out now husband and wife. And then there would be a grand marriage supper, what we call a reception. Everyone would congratulate the new couple and there would be a scene of wonderful joy. And finally the new couple would leave to take up residence in the husband's house. He would have prepared a place for them to live, his own kingdom, as it were, and the couple would go there leaving his father's house.

The Old and New Covenants and the Wedding Contract:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with the fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt."

God was actually replacing the old system of laws with a new system quoting Jeremiah 31:31 32. This new covenant has to do with the Messiah's coming. The new covenant had to be signed in blood. Abraham had to divide animals when he received the covenant from God that made the Jews a chosen people. And Moses had to sacrifice too. It is the blood that makes the covenant have effect.

The Messiah came like a sacrificial animal and gave His blood to seal the new covenant. John the Baptist called Him; "the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29) Isaiah said the Messiah would come as a lamb to the slaughter.

The relationship of God and Israel has always been a marriage. The book of Hosea spells that out clearly. And Jeremiah's language in announcing the new covenant is very interesting, he says; "My covenant they break, although I was a HUSBAND unto them." (Jeremiah 31:32b) God was a disappointed Bridegroom when the Jews failed to keep the old laws. But Paul, another Jew, explained the marriage by saying, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church." (Ephesians 5:32)

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

The New Covenant is a Wedding Contract:

(1) The Messiah drank the cup at the Passover table, and He said; "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28) In the new covenant, God promises, I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:34. Jesus put that into effect when He drank that cup. He redeemed us. That cup the Jews drink with the hidden piece of bread at the Passover meal: the Cup of Redemption.

(2) The Crucifixion was the price Jesus paid for His Bride. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42). And His sweat fell like great drops of blood while he was contemplating the Cross. The Crucifixion was the highest price any bridegroom ever paid. He was obedient to His Father's will. Some Jewish bridegrooms came back to their father after learning the bride price and asked their Father's advice about whether it was worth it: your will, not mine, be done."

(3) The Father sent an angel to strengthen His Son. That was His answer. Jesus paid the price for us. Then He left His Bride, and went back to His Father in heaven after His resurrection. He had even made the typical bridegroom's speech: "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2b). And He went like any Jewish bridegroom, back to His Father's house.

Jesus is still at His Father's house preparing our place. And we are waiting for Him to return. We are waiting in a consecrated way set apart bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19 20). We are to act like the covenanted Bride and be waiting at all times for our Bridegroom to come. We are to have oil in our lamps to be ready to travel, even at night (Matthew 25:1 12) OUR OIL IS THE HOLY SPIRIT who came to the Jews at Pentecost, after the Messiah ascended. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be ready to go at any moment.

(4) The Lord will return for His Bride. There will be a bridal chamber in heaven, and there will be a marriage supper like the Jews used to have. Every detail of Jesus' great wedding will be accomplished, and it will be carried out in the exact tradition of the Jewish people because Jesus is Jewish. Each person must respond to this proposal. The Messiah said His own sheep would hear His voice (John 10:14, 16).

(5) The Bride must be waiting for the Bridegroom. The Jews knew when the trumpet sounded the harvest was over. There has to be a cut off point somewhere. The bride who is ready goes to the wedding when the bridegroom comes.

SHAVUOT, or Pentecost, is the harvest holiday. All summer following Pentecost the people plant and till the ground. But when the trumpet sounds, on what Jews call ROSH HASHANAH, the old Feast of the Trumpets the crops are in and the harvest is finished. Jeremiah, just to mention one prophet, could see that the Jews would not be ready not all of them. "The summer is ended, and we are not saved." (Jeremiah 8:21).

Paul gave us a wonderful picture of that moment when the Groom will return for His Bride. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:16 17)

That fulfills everything. You have the shout of the Bridegroom to notify the Bride of His coming; you have the trumpet to finish the harvest and to proclaim liberty for God's people. The Jews used to blow the trumpet on each Jubilee to proclaim liberty (Lev. 25:10).

The New Testament equivalent of that is found in John 3:29. The Pharisees has been asking John The Baptist if he were the Messiah. In a way, they would have preferred him to say he was. They could put up with a "Messiah" who stayed out in the desert and preached repentance to a few ascetics. The One they could not abide was the gentle Carpenter of Galilee, with whom none of them could argue. But John set them straight:

"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice; this my joy therefore is fulfilled (John 3:29)

When the bridegroom's voice is heard, the marriage is accomplished.

(6) The Judgement Seat of Christ. The "honeymoon" in heaven. The Scriptures call it the judgement seat of Christ. We will all go before the Messiah in heaven, and He will look at our works done for Him in the flesh. All of us on earth who believe in Him are His servants, and we do both good works and bad. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that men's works will be graded. (1 Corinthians 3:11 15). Some works are as valuable as gold, silver and precious stones, and some only amount to wood, hay and stubble. The Lord will use fire on these works, and we will all see what burns up.

The judgement of works is not to be confused with God's judgement of sin. All of men's sins were taken care of at the Cross. Jesus is not going to charge us for what is already paid for. Everyone's sins are forgiven if they accept the forgiveness. The Messiah has provided a "gift certificate". When someone gives you a gift certificate, you simply take it to the store and claim the gift. You do not have to pay anything, the giver has already paid. That is the message of the Gospel in simplest terms.

This judgement seat is like the honeymoon. A honeymoon is where the groom removes the bride's veil and knows her secrets.

(7) The Great Marriage Supper. When the announcement is made that the marriage is consummated the saints have their crowns, and the Lord has examined them all. And then the celebrating begins outside the chamber. The marriage is now official and the guests can rejoice. All of the celebrating will culminate in heaven in a marriage supper what we would call the reception. The Bride will be greatly honoured. Revelation 19:7 8 states:

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arranged in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints."

Notice how the Scripture says "WIFE" instead of "BRIDE". The honeymoon is now finished, and we are now married to the Lord. Then, after the supper we will leave to live in our Bridegroom's Kingdom. We will leave His Father's house and claim our sweetest time on earth, and we will rein with our Husband in the Kingdom of God for a thousand years. What a moment to look forward to! There we are, arrayed in white linen, the queen of the Kingdom. Perfected saints. All our sins paid for, all our works rewarded. The Scriptures say that we will give our crowns to the Lord as a wedding gift. Even John, as an old man, looked forward to being a bride. How he longed for the Lord's coming. The Romans left him on a barren island Patmos, a stone quarry where practically nothing grew. He was supposed to slowly starve to death, but he saw the revelation of Jesus instead. And he said at the end of the wonderful revelation;

"Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

* * *

A look at the Jewish marriage tradition

-From a transcript of

[Guest dove2]

Idolsmasher, I never read all of a long post. I read every word of yours. This is absolutely a beautiful portrayal of the Jewish ceremony and Jesus as our Groom. I have heard parts of this but never all of it. Thank you so for posting this, It touched me so very much. I plan to print this out tomorrow.

[Guest idolsmasher]

I thought this was pretty cool too, I flipped when I first read it. Thanks for your comment. I was surprised it was here so long without any comments. We are the bride of Christ, wow! If Jesus is the King of kings, then wouldn't that mean we are His Queen. That's amazing and very significant too. It means that we not only share an intimate relationship but we also rule and reign with Him. Now that's worth celebrating! See you at the marriage feast with Jesus. :il:

[OneAccord]

Do you suppose one day there will be children born of this marriage? I can't even imagine the glories ahead..........

[JesusisGod2]

Hello Smasher,

Awesome stuff brother!

I read a book by Zola Levitt called a Christian love story which was real interesting and covers what you have just covered. Is this where you got your material?

Zola has a website wher you can order some books on Jewish tradition and how it is a picture of Christ.

God bless

Kevin

[Guest dove2]

I thought this was pretty cool too, I flipped when I first read it. Thanks for your comment. I was surprised it was here so long without any comments. We are the bride of Christ, wow! If Jesus is the King of kings, then wouldn't that mean we are His Queen. That's amazing and very significant too. It means that we not only share an intimate relationship but we also rule and reign with Him. Now that's worth celebrating! See you at the marriage feast with Jesus. :il:

Amen Idolsmasher.

[Guest dove2]

I really did not realize it was a month to the day that I posted to you. I thought you had just put if up. Had I seen it I would have posted immediately.

[myrockJesus]

Amen, very beautiful post Idolsmasher!

just found it tonite.........thank you

will copy it and send it to some saved friends.

have heard it way back, but this is all in one place

and nice to print.

thanks again Bride, from another Bride, me

Thank you Jesus, we love you too! amen

[Mrs Mac]

That was an excellent post Idolsmasher. One thing I can't figure though is why a Jewish wedding for a Gentile church. Perhaps you could enlighten me.

It is that, that makes me wonder about the teaching of "The Bride".

Thanks, Ethlyn

[Guest idolsmasher]

That was an excellent post Idolsmasher. One thing I can't figure though is why a Jewish wedding for a Gentile church. Perhaps you could enlighten me.

Very good question Mrs Mac! I believe it is simply because He wanted his disciples, who were Jewish, to understand the significance of what was happening so they in turn could pass it on to all who would come to believe in Christ. By the way, while the church and bride are predominantly gentile, it is by no means exclusive to gentiles. The early church was at first predominantly Jewish and there are saved Jews on this board and all over the world. God does not discriminate because of race.