Preparing Our Wedding Garments For The Bridegroom’s Return

There is a beautiful theme that delicately weaves throughout Scripture about a bride and her bridegroom, beginning in Genesis 2:22-23, when God forms a bride for man from the body of her bridegroom:

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Later Abraham (the father) sent his servant to find a bride for his son, Isaac, just as our Father has sent the Holy Spirit to find a bride for His son, Jesus Christ.

I have written about Jewish marriage customs and their significance in Scripture, but have been learning about other biblical marriage customs from a wonderful book by Henry John Van-Lennep, Bible Lands: Their Modern Customs and Manners Illustrative of Scripture, which can be downloaded for free from Google Books. 

Van-Lennep writes that once the family of the bridegroom meets the prospective bride, the women of the bridegroom’s family would meet her at a public bath.  This was to ensure that she had no physical defect.  Only then would a formal marriage proposal be made.

This led me to Ephesians 5:25-32, which speaks about the bride who will be taken from the body of the Church (the antitype to the type of Adam’s bride being taken out of his body) and how she must present herself:

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.

Once a couple became engaged, a marriage contract was signed.  The wedding, however, did not occur until much later.  During this time, the bride and bridegroom were not permitted to see each other.  Jesus alludes to this in John 14:2-3:

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

During this period of separation, the bride would usually send gifts to the bridegroom that she created with her hands, such as needlework.  Just as we should be focused on creating works for our bridegroom through faith in Him until that joyful day when He returns for us.

The bride’s wedding garment was also highly important, and often ornate or adorned with jewels, as described in several Scripture passages:

Isaiah 49:18:

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

Isaiah 61:10:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Jeremiah 2:32:

Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

Marriage festivities often occurred a week before the wedding ceremony, both at the homes of the bride and bridegroom.  While waiting for the bridegroom, the maids and matrons might become drowsy and fall asleep on their divans, save for those few who kept a watchful eye for the approaching torches of the bridegroom’s procession.  When the cry was made “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6), the girls and younger women would hastily light their lamps, candles, or lanterns and run out to meet the coming procession. 

Jesus describes this in His parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).  Van-Lennep writes that when the foolish virgins went out to buy their oil, the procession had already formed and had moved to the home of the bridegroom.  The reason the door was shut was to prevent the entrance of dangerous men or thieves who might rob jewelry, costly garments, or even the bride herself. 

Wealthy hosts often distributed garments to the wedding guests.  Usually this was just the outer garment (called the jibbeh) or a piece of cloth that was used to make one.  Jesus also speaks to this in His parable about the King and the wedding guest who is not properly clothed in Matthew 22:1-14.

11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

The wedding finally culminates in the Book of the Revelation:

Revelation 19:7-9:

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 arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Revelation 22:16-17:

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (emphasis mine).

Today the bride of Christ is busy preparing her garments, looking to the clouds, and waiting for the bridegroom's imminent return.  She often groans from the crushing weight of the sin in this world — and sometimes even her own.  

He promised her that He would come quickly, but some days, it does not feel quickly enough. 

Illuminating The Outer Darkness

I’ve written about outer darkness before, but while researching a completely different topic, I stumbled upon Unger’s definition of darkness, which includes being a symbol in Scripture of ignorance and spiritual blindness.¹

In this post I discuss why I do not believe that outer darkness is hell, but is a place for believers — whose works do not withstand the test of fire at the judgment seat of Christ — during Christ’s thousand-year reign in His Millennial Kingdom.  These believers do not lose eternal life, but will spend those one thousand years being on the outside and looking in on the Kingdom (for more on this, read Jim Harman’s book The Kingdom).

  

If a believer’s ignorance and spiritual blindness were revealed at the judgment seat of Christ, it would certainly explain the weeping and gnashing of teeth that are mentioned in the three Bible passages that describe the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).

In Matthew 8:12, Jesus says:

But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Would Jesus describe unbelievers as children of the kingdom?  One could argue that He was referring to the Jewish people in Israel, who were presented with His offer of the kingdom, but refused it.  The context of this passage is the great faith of the centurion.  Matthew Henry writes: “But when the Son of man comes he finds little faith, therefore he finds little fruit.  An outward profession may cause us to be called children of the kingdom; but if we rest in that, and have nothing else to show, we shall be cast out.”

The only time the phrase “children of the kingdom” is mentioned again is Matthew 13:38, Jesus’ parable of the sower:

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one (emphasis mine).

In this passage, the children of the kingdom are clearly believers. 

The next parable where Jesus mentions outer darkness is the parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:13).  Henry writes that the “doom of the guest that had not the wedding-garment, the danger of hypocrisy in the profession of Christianity.”

Outer darkness is mentioned a third time in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:30).  Of this parable, Henry writes: “1. The Master is Christ, who is the absolute Owner and Proprietor of all persons and things, and in a special manner of his church; into his hands all things are delivered. 2. The servants are Christians, his own servants, so they are called; born in his house, bought with his money, devoted to his praise, and employed in his work.”  In his commentary, David Guzik writes: “…our readiness for Jesus’ return is determined by our stewardship of the resources that He has given us.”  Ray Stedman refers to Matthew 25 (and 24) as “instructions to the believing remnant on what to do until he comes again.”

To those who believe that outer darkness is hell, how is it possible for believers to be sent there?  That would mean that the gift of salvation (of the spirit) could be lost. 

Scripture does not say that the gift of eternal life can be taken away from a believer.  What Scripture does say is that believers can lose rewards based on their works while in the body (1 Corinthians 3:14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10).  I believe this includes the reward of ruling and reigning with Christ during His Millennial Kingdom.  

I urge you to read Harman’s book.  It will open your eyes to all of this — and time is running short.

1. Merril F. Unger and R.K. Harris, ed.  The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary  (Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1988),179-180.

The Return of the Jewish Messiah

I am Jewish by birth and attended Sunday school at a synagogue until I was a teenager.  But it wasn’t until many years after becoming a believer that I learned that Jesus was Jewish.  This knowledge was the beginning of an incredible journey to understand His (and my) Hebrew roots.

I often wondered why the Jewish leaders did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah.  They dutifully and rigorously studied the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), most likely on a daily basis.  They knew about the writings of the prophets (while there was no collection of these books yet, the various texts were read as separate scrolls).¹  So how could they have missed it?

Believers today are fortunate to have knowledge from both the Old and New Testaments.  We can look back and clearly see how Jesus fulfilled Scriptural prophecies during His first advent on earth.  We have the advantage of having the full picture and of knowing exactly what we are looking for. 

The Jewish people were looking for Christ too, but I think their preconceived beliefs about who the Messiah was — and the role He would play — kept them from seeing the entire story.  When you explore both early and later Jewish beliefs, however, the parallels are amazing.

The Jewish people held the belief that there would be a future Messianic period, which would bring salvation to the Jewish people and to the whole world.  Their hope was for a future king who would redeem Israel and establish the kingdom of God on earth.²

In apocalyptic literature of the last two centuries B.C.E., the Messiah is described as a powerful warrior and ruler.  He was also described as a supernatural being who existed from the beginning of days and was close to God; designated as the “son of man” or as “My son.”  He is also sometimes described as an angelic being whose existence antedated the creation of the world, just waiting for the right time to reveal Himself and assume His seat of glory.  At that time He will dispense justice to all the inhabitants of the earth.²

The Jewish people also had a double concept of the Messiah: One Messiah was the son of Joseph, and another Messiah was the son of David.  They came to associate the figure of their Messiah with King David or a descendant of King David.  This idealized version of the Messiah fueled their expectation of a mighty warrior and king — and they were correct — but this will not be fulfilled until Christ Jesus’ second advent. 

When Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21) he stopped at the comma in the middle of passage:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,

The Jewish leaders had no idea that the remaining part of that passage (and the day of vengeance of our God;) would be fulfilled at a future time. 

The idea of a Messiah’s supernatural birth, earthly suffering, and death to atone for sin and bring salvation to those who believe in Him was inconceivable to many Jews during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  It is not so surprising when you consider that even those who were closest to him — his disciples — did not fully understand this for themselves until Jesus appeared to them after He was crucified.  

Jesus’ resurrection was certainly beyond the realm of understanding of the Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection.  It was also beyond their level of comprehension that a Messiah could come first as a suffering servant, be raised from the dead, and return to earth once again as king.

The Jewish people looked to the Messianic era (yemoth hamashiah, which literally means “days of the Messiah”) as a period of redemption to be ushered in and ruled over by the Messiah.  It is a time that marks the return of the people of Israel to the land of Israel. 

Interestingly, the “days of the Messiah” are different from the “world to come,” which will usher in resurrection and the judgment and the reign of God.   Later Jewish writings suggest that the Messianic era was postponed due to sin and will be preceded by social and political problems, extreme poverty, heresy, and wars, including the wars of Gog and Magog.  Jewish writers during the Middle Ages pointed to a new Jerusalem and a time of perfection.²

A more contemporary parallel to what we see with “kingdom now” believers is a platform that was established by American rabbis in 1937.  They stated that their historical task is to “cooperate with all men in the establishment of the Kingdom of God, of universal brotherhood, justice, truth and peace on earth.”² 

Issac Landman, an American reformed rabbi, educator, and prolific author who lived from 1880 to 1946 and edited the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, wrote that “The hope for a future king who will redeem Israel and establish the kingdom of God upon earth is not expressly found either in the Biblical or in the Apocryphal writings.”  

Believers know that there are Bible passages that speak to Jesus’ return to earth as King and reigning upon David’s throne (Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:31-33, Psalms 132:11, the tenth chapter of Zechariah, and the eleventh chapter of Romans, to name a few).  But we have the power of the Holy Spirit, which reveals to us the mysteries of the Kingdom within Scripture.

It is impossible for unbelievers to understand these mysteries (some believers are blind to them as well).  God opened my eyes when I asked Him to show me that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and our future King.  If you happen to be of the Jewish faith, I pray that you will ask God to open your eyes too. 

 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7)

1. Jones, Barry A (2000). "Canon of the Old Testament." David Noel Freedman. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans.

2.  The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.  Isaac Landman, Ed.

Standing Before the Judgment Seat

I believe the day is fast approaching when all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

(2 Corinthians 5:10)

The Greek word for judgment seat is bema, which is a platform, or a raised place mounted by steps.  It was the official seat of a judge.  In Matthew 27:19, we read that Jesus was placed upon a judgment seat when He was brought before Pilate.  Paul also sat upon a judgment seat in Acts 18:22 after testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia. 

Aside from 2 Corinthians 5:10, the only other reference to the judgment seat of Christ is Romans 14:10:

But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

I heard nothing about the judgment seat of Christ from the pulpit in the years I attended a visible church.  I did hear about living a purpose-driven life, nurturing my ransomed heart, and unchaining the bonds that held me.  The shame, however, is all mine for relying on man’s words and not reading God’s.

Today I know that the true focus of the race that believers are running is preparing for that day when we will stand before Christ and learn that we have built upon His foundation with gold, silver and precious stones  — and not wood, hay, and stubble that will not withstand the test of fire.  There is no greater purpose. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

(1 Peter 1:3-9) 

Quoteworthy: The Church And The Kingdom

"There is very little in prophecy concerning the Church.  And yet, in these latter times, the Church has been regarded as the end, instead of the means, until it has almost eclipsed the Kingdom.

Surely the Christian world has forgotten, or else never knew, that the Church, as an organization, will disappear when the Kingdom is inaugurated under the Christ. The Church is only the assembly that is called out for the perfecting of the plans of the Kingdom. It is the scaffolding around the building. The Kingdom is the real structure that is to stand when the scaffolding is torn away. The Kingdom, as described by the prophets, and as taught by Jesus, is the all-conquering power that is to subdue the whole earth...

Every where the ministry and the laity are crying out in a piteous wail that the churches have lost their power. Is it any wonder? They have lost sight of the very object for which the Church was formed—the selection of the rulers of the literal Kingdom of Christ on earth—and they have spiritualized the Kingdom into a myth, and placed the Church in its stead as an end...

God never promised that the Church should conquer the world, nor that all men should be brought into it; but on the other hand, Paul tells us that the glorious coming of the King will not occur, until there is a great falling away first of the Church, and the man of sin is revealed.  Jesus told His disciples of the awful days of the tribulation that would precede the ushering in of His glorious reign.  Hence, it is a vain hope that the nations will be brought to Christ, and into the Church before the Lord comes.  

The evangelization of the world before the Lord comes is an ideal fancy without a Scriptural promise.  On the other hand, we are told that the fifth world Kingdom of Dan. 2:44 will subdue all other Kingdoms and that it shall endure forever.  Many, many times we are told of the final triumph of Christ's Kingdom over all; but not so of the Church."

From The Coming Kingdom by C.A. Rominger