JEWISH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: Part Fourteen

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Wedding Chamber (Nissu’in)

Once they were back at the father’s house, the couple would enter what they called the Huppah. This was the second ceremony and required by the Talmud (Jewish oral law). The Huppah was originally a four-posted structure with an enclosed cloth covering. It very well could have been any structure or room that had been designated as the Huppah and belonging to the groom.

Here the wedding ceremony would take place and then the taking (consummation) of the bride (Nissu’in). Nissu’in literally means, "Taking." The covering was sometimes a talit, which is a Jewish prayer shawl. At the ceremony, the groom and the bride wore crowns and they dressed extravagantly.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom entered the huppah for seven days and there they would consummate the marriage. Only until recently was it even required that a Rabbi officiate at a wedding ceremony.

During the seven days of Huppah, the marriage festivities would be in full force. After the seventh day, the bride would emerge unveiled and the groom's friend would show the blood stained bedding to prove that the bride was, in fact, a virgin and that the groom had taken her. It proved that they had consummated the marriage.

Parallels to the Church. . .

Once Christ abducts us (raptured/caught up), He will adorn us with the crown of life [1] and our garments will be the clothes of righteousness [2]. Christ will also wear a crown [3].

The steps of the betrothal have ended and we now stand in the huppah as the Bride of Christ and we will be His Bride forever and ever.

v15 Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He Who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them [4].

Another Jewish name for the “Wedding day of the Messiah,” is “The Feast of Trumpets.” Revelation 19:7-9 tells us of the Wedding of the Lamb.

v7 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.
v8 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.
v9 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 [5].

It is my contention that the seven days that Christ and His Bride will stay hidden in the huppah, will actually be the seven remaining years of history before Jesus comes with His Saints [6], (which is His Bride). All will see who the true Bride of Christ is [7] because she will not be wearing her veil.

This presupposes that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture of the church [8]. Although this is what the Bible teaches, many think otherwise. The Bible also teaches a three and a half year tribulation [9] and not seven, but once we see the beginning construction of the temple, we will know that there are seven years left of human government. These are minor points but believers will be debating them until Christ comes. This is just a point of interest.

Do you remember the groom showing the guests the blood stained sheets of the marriage bed? Could the blood stained clothes of Christ at the Cross, be the bloodied clothes shown to the world [10]? As believers, we are the Christ’s body and because of His death on the Cross, we are all righteous, holy, true, and pure.

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[1] 1 Peter 5:4; James 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:8
[2] Revelation 19:8
[3] Revelation 14:14
[4] Revelation 7:15 NIV
[5] Revelation 19:7
[6] 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Jude 1:14
[7] Colossians 3:4
[8] Main Scripture is Revelation 3:10. To learn of 16 more proofs, http://www.thepropheticyears.com/reasons/rapture.htm
[9] Daniel 7:25, 12:7; Revelation 12:6, 13:5. Time = one year, times = two years, and half a time = half a year. Forty-two months = 3 1/2 years. 1260 days = 3 1/2 years.
[10] Matthew 27:35

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JEWISH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: Part Thirteen

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Abduction of the Bride

The bridegroom's father was the only one who knew when the bridegroom would return for his bride. If the father left it up to the bridegroom he would hurry in his construction efforts in order to go get his bride.

Usually the groom would arrive in the middle of the night to abduct his bride. The bride considered this to be very romantic. Because of this romanticism, the bride would always be ready to go. She would always have her veil, her lamp, and plenty of oil placed by her bed in case her groom came to steal her away that night.

Parallels to the Church. . .

Neither will we nor Christ know the day or the hour of his return. Only the Father in heaven [1] knows when He will send Jesus to abduct His Bride. There should be great anticipation for His return, which is part of the Bride’s preparation. We have been in that stage of preparation for 2000 years and will remain in that stage until the return of Jesus Christ for us. His return should be our biggest and main focus.

The abduction of the Bride pertains to the rapture of the church and we will forever be with the Lord as His Bride. The word rapture is not in the Bible but the phrase, “. . .shall be caught up. . .” means the same thing.

v16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
v17 then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord [2].

v34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
v35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
v36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left [3].

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1 Mark 13:32
2 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 RSV
3 Luke 17:34-36

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BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

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For the last couple weeks I have been feeling very tired and listless. I was talking to sis about my lethargy and how I should probably seek out a doctor for a checkup. She said that there seems to be a lot of that going around, how several of her friends felt the same way.

I told her that I really didn’t feel sleepy but I was tired all the time. I said, “I don’t know what I was so tired about because I really hadn’t done much to feel that way. While I’m sitting in my chair at my apartment, I can see things that need to be done, but I just don’t have the energy to get up and do them.”

I knew I wasn’t depressed because I’d been there and done that. Depression cost me my marriage, so I knew that I wasn’t depressed.

Sis and I finished our little talk and I went home to my apartment, plopped in my chair, and spent some time with the Lord. Many things came to my remembrance as I prayed.

While I sat in my chair all but about dozing off to la-la land, an image of my dad came to me just as I remember him, sitting in his wheel chair with his chin resting on his chest. This was pretty much what he did all day, every day for the last few days of his life. It bothered me because I knew his body was beginning to shut down.

Afterward, the Hospice nurse confirmed this to me. She said that during this withdrawal, he was going through a transitional period from the natural realm into the spiritual. He was reconciling everything in his mind.

Well, all truth is parallel. I believe that the Lord was trying to tell me that the body of Christ is going through a period of spiritual transition, not unto physical death, but unto a period of change and direction. The world is changing fast and the body is seeking reconciliation of things and at the same time looking for guidance. It was like the Lord was saying, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth [1].”

There is going to be a great awakening, a soon coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit and what the body is going through now is just a transitional period. God is about to hit His people with Himself and we have to be ready. We are in the early stages of that awakening now.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee [2].

This is a time NOT to be fearful, fretful, impatient, restless, and seemingly unaffected by the judgments of God. We should be concerned about what is going on in the world but only in the context of using this time as a time of harvesting the fields as they are white unto harvest [3].

Psalms 46:10 says to be quiet and easy, and resign ourselves to the will of God. Do not worry because the troubles of today have not caught God off guard. He is still in control. Psalms 37:12-13 says, “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.”

The body needs to remain still and seek His face and humble themselves and pray [4].We should live in an assured expectation of the appearance of Jesus Christ and that His will shall be done. The Lord is saying, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

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[1] Psalm 46:10
[2] Isaiah 60:2
[3] John 4:35
[4] 2 Chronicles 7:14

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JEWISH MARRIAGE CUSTOMS: Part Twelve

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Shofar

When the father felt that the house was satisfactory, he would tell his son, to go get his bride. The groom would then take his rams horn and head down the road after his bride. Although it was a romantic gesture to abduct the bride at night, it was not romantic to break into her house to do so. Therefore the bridegroom would use the shofar [1] to warn his bride when he got within shouting distance from her house, which he did.

Parallels to the Church. . .

No one knew the day or the hour of the groom's return but the father. Now where have I heard that before?

v42 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
v43 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
v44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him [2].

When Jesus comes for His bride, He will blow the shofar [3] and we will be taken up in a twinkling of an eye [4].

v6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him [5].

These are the times that we should be listening for that trumpet sound from heaven. We want to be sure, however, that we are ready for His return. It would be a very dangerous thing for Christ to find us not prepared and without any oil for our lamps [6]. Oil always symbolizes the Holy Spirit.

We are living in the last chapter of Acts and we should be preparing ourselves, anticipating the sound of the shofar and the shout from above. This will signal the return of Jesus Christ, our betrothed when we (the entire body), will be whisked away to the huppah, there to be completed in marriage to Jesus Christ who is our Lord, master, savior, redeemer, and husband.

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[1] Hollowed out rams horn
[2] Matthew 24:36, 42-44
[3] The shofar was a ram’s horn and used for trumpeting.
[4] 1 Corinthians 15:22
[5] Matthew 25:6
[6] They had to replenish the oil in the lamps every fifteen minutes, so they had to be sure that there was plenty of oil for the trip to the groom’s house. Matthew 25:1-13

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