|
The Jewish Wedding A Study of the Bride and the Bridegroom as a representation of Jesus and the Church Terms Tanakh = Old Testament B’rit Hadashah = New Testament B’rit Kidushin = betrothal period (think of Mary and Joseph_ Mohar = Bride Price Ketubah = contract Da’at = I do Ka’lal = bride Aperion = a device to carry the Bride in the air on the shoulders of the groomsmen Huppah = a room in the Father’s House Chadar = a chamber in the Father’s House, another name for Huppah The Church’s relation to marriage
Rom. 7.4 “We are married to Christ.” Matt.22.2-5 Jesus speaks of the wedding feast by parable John 6. 43-44 John 15.16 “You did not choose me . . .” The Jewish Wedding implemented first at the betrothal of Rebekah to Issac The Father (Abraham) selects a bride for his son. He sends his trusted servant Eliezer (a type of the Holy Spirit) to find the Bride. Eliezer is at work wooing and drawing the bride to the bridegroom. He is the one who nudges our hearts as he did with Rebekah. Becoming a believer depends on our being wooed. We may be pursued by the Lord for quite awhile before we notice his presence. The Arrangements: The bride may have no idea what the groom looks like; all she knows is that she will spend her whole life with him if she says “yes” to this marriage (1 Peter 1.8). This is the case with the bride of Messiah. We have not seen Yeshua, but god’s servant the Holy Spirit has revealed Him to us. The Mohar-The Bride Price At the betrothal of Rebekah, women are elevated from chattel and from the old pagan Dowry System A price is paid for the bride. Money is paid to the father as well as to the bride. Sometimes it was paid in service as in the marriage of Jacob and Rachel. The price was something of great value: lands, livestock, silver or gold. The bride was allowed to keep her monies to go into business or stash. Proverbs 32 shows a woman who was industrious in business as well as at home. The price was paid to show how the bridegroom loved and valued the bride. Be’ulah means “owned one.” The Mohar raised the standard. She had value. She was to be betrothed in the presence of witnesses. If he wished to separate, even during the betrothal period, a divorce was required. The Bride of Messiah has also been purchased A very high Mohar was paid for us; the blood of Yeshua himself. The bridegroom wrestled with that price in the Garden of Gethsemane. “ Father do you know what they are asking for her” (Jaimie Lash. Jewish Jewels). Hebrews 12. 2. Jesus paid the price for the joy that was set before him. The joy of seeing each person redeemed. Luke 22.19-20 Jesus mentions the Bride Price. Other related Scriptures: 1. Cor. 7.23, Phil.2.5; 1 Peter 1.18; The Da’at
The Da’at is the consent and literally means “I do.: Gen 24. 57-58 The prospective bride had something to say. She had to consent, da’at. Judaism says that marriage can only take place by mutual consent. In an age where childe marriage was common the sages ordained, “It is forbidden for a man to betroth his minor daughter until she attains her majority and says, “I love this man.” Spiritual betrothal to YUeshua Ha Messiach is the same. God never forces us to say “I do.” To his son. We have free will. We must respond or say, “I do.” (Romans 10.9-10) in the presence of witnesses. You may say the following and thereby give your consent or da’at: I do believe that God raised Yeshua Jesus from the dead. I do repent of all my sin and desire to turn from it. I do give you my heart, my love, and my whole life. I do trust you with my future. I do desire intimacy with you through Your Word. I do believe that Yeshua’s death atoned for my sin I do receive His forgiveness and gift of eternal life. I do receive your love and my salvation today. (Jamie Lash). The Betrothal Ceremony The Brit Kidushin: The betrothal period is for 12 months. During this time the Bride is beautified and sanctified. The Ketubah: At the betrothal ceremony the contract is presented to the Father of the Bride Ketubah comes from the Hebrew word “kadosh” meaning holy. The brit Kidushin is holy. This contract is altogether is in favor of the bride. The bridegroom promises to work for, honor, support and maintain his bride in truth. He must provide food, clothing and the necessities to live with her after the ceremony. He promises to care for the Bride in every way. All of her needs will be fulfilled by the bridegroom. The contract is read and signed before two witnesses if the Bride agrees The Holy Scriptures are our wedding document. Matt. 6.28; Phil.4.19; Look at any Scripture and know that it is the holy covenant and inalienable right of the believer. “God is not a man that He should lie.” The original Ketubah was read during the betrothal ceremony. Today the reading of our Ketubah is read aloud during Christian services. Our Ketubah gives us rights and privileges that are found in no other religion or philosophy. Why would we reject our heavenly ketubah, our Holy Scriptures, the Bible. The Brit Hadashah (the New Testament) contains even better promises. This marriage contract was first presented to the House of Israel then to “who-so-ever-will” (Jeremiah 31.31-34). “The time is coming “declares the Lord when I will cut a New Covenant (brit) with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . . .” The Cup of the Covenant The Bride and groom share the cup, symbolizing the shared life that would be theirs. A second cup of wine will be shared many months later when the groom returns and drinks again with the Bride. Luke 22.30 “Likewise He also took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.” Yeshua and His disciples were celebrating the anniversary of God’s wedding to Israel, the Exodus. He is telling them that the new marriage covenant promised by Jeremiah would be sealed in His blood. The disciples and Yeshua drank from a common cup in an upper room in Jerusalem. They became one as they drank together. The Gifts The gifts begin to flow even before the da’at and the betrothal. Gen. 24.53. The Holy Spirit is the great gift that Jesus gives to us during our betrothal period as we wait for his return. (2 Peter.3.3). James 1.16; Cor.12; Romans 12, etc. The Chadar: The departure of the groom After the betrothal ceremony, the groom left to prepare the Chadar (wedding chamber) sometimes called the Huppah. The bridegroom in ancient Israel left his beloved to go to his father’s house to prepare a Chadar (a bridal house) He would be gone up to 12 months (John 12.2-3) with the promise to return. Yeshua our heavenly bridegroom leaves his bride to prepare a wedding chamber for her and promises to return. His promise is still good and His return is near (Acts. 1.8-11).
These and other signs explained in Matt.23 and Luke 21 saying, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh.”
The Consecrated Bride The Hebrew Bride (Ka’lah) was set apart, consecrated, separated from her bridegroom while he was away preparing her wedding chamber. For twelve months she takes beauty treatments. While waiting for her bridegroom, she fills her heart with songs. They think constantly of one another. Our heavenly bridegroom is filled with intercession on our behalf. Esther 2.12; Isaiah 61.10; Song of songs 4.12 Song of Songs 1.15 says that she has “doves” eyes. Doves have no peripheral vision so they symbolize faithfulness, singleness of vision, gentleness, and loving commitment. Paul says that we are hidden with God in Christ (Col.3.3) The Bridegroom Returns. The Sound of the Shofar! A bride in ancient Israel had no idea what day or hour her bridegroom would take her to the wedding chamber. He would come like a beloved thief in the night. Only the groom’s father knew. In the fullness of time, when the bridal chamber is complete with no man knowing the day or the hour, our heavenly bridegroom will return (Mark 13.32). In Israel, the bridegroom would usually come late at night. The shofar would break the silence of night. There would be shouts in the night and a torch procession. (Song of Songs 2.10) “Arise my love, my fair one and come away.” Matt.25 This parable simply means to be ready. When the shofar sounds, she must be willing to run to him, her lamp must be lit. The Aperion The Wedding party carries an Aperion, a vehicle that is hoisted on their shoulders and she is carried upwards accompanied by musicians, family, friends and attendants carrying torches. The voice of the bride and the bridegroom are heard in the streets. (Jer. 33.11; 2 Thess.4.16-19; Matt 24.25). The Bride and Bridegroom meet at the Huppah (It is also built off the ground), a special room built in the bridegroom’s Father’s house. The bridegroom arrives before the bride. They go into the huppah and shut the door for a period of one week. (The Huppah was replaced by a bridal canopy supported by 4 poles and both are carried in the Huppah. The Spiritual parallel of the Aperion and Huppah is the rapture. The bride of Christ is raptured lifted up off the earth to be taken into our heavenly wedding chamber where we will spend one week (7 years) with our Bridegroom King. While the Bride of Christ is in the Bridal Chamber with Yeshua, the rest of the world will be in a time of great tribulation.
Isaiah 26.20-21 tells of this time. “Come my people, enter our chambers and shut the door behind you. Hide yourself as it were, for a little moment until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The Second Cup Is drunk followed by the marriage supper. The Bride and bridegroom join their guests for a joyous marriage feast. Music and dancing are a regular part of the celebration. Remember Jesus words to his disciples at Passover. “But I say unto you, I will not drink, henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt26.29). Rev. 19.6-9 “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thundering’s, saying ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous ats of the saints! Then he said to me, Write: Blessed are those who are called to the Marriage supper of the Lamb! And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” Rev. 2.17 “And the spirit and the bride say Come! And let him who hears say Come, And let him who thirsts, Come! and whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” Sources Lash, Jaimie. Jewish Jewels. Television Production, 1998. Wilson, Marvin. Our Father Abraham : Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, Erdman’s. 1990. The Jewish Wedding by Mary E Parnell, 1998-2021. No portions may be copied without attribution.
|