the

rapture

of the bride

There are many sincere and thoughtful opinions regarding how the events of the end-time will play out.

Many people believe that at the beginning of the last seven years of the world's existence, Christians will be removed from the earth in an event called the "Rapture." For most of my life as a Christian, I rejected the notion of the Rapture completely. I thought the Church would go through the entire tribulation period and would suffer persecution and even martyrdom

Then, in 2002, I had an encounter with Christ which shook everything within me to the core. It began with a revelation of the Bride of Christ in the Song of Solomon and it evolved into a revolution of my understanding of end-time theology. In order to better understand the Song of Solomon, I delved into a study of ancient Jewish wedding customs. What I found hidden in these customs unlocked my understanding of many of the sayings of Jesus regarding the end of the world. I discovered that within the context of the wedding customs a clear and logical paradigm for the way the events of the Last Days emerges. For instance - by studying these customs I learned that the words Jesus spoke in John 14:1-3 about going to prepare a place for us, was a traditional phrase spoken by all Jewish bridegrooms to their brides.  Once the bride accepted her marriage proposal, she and her bridegroom would immediately separate for about a year to prepare themselves for marriage. During their separation, the bridegroom would build a house for them which consisted of a simple addition built onto his father's existing house. Upon parting, the bridegroom would pledge to "go and prepare a place" for them to live at his "father's house."

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.

This was but one example of the many wedding references I discovered in Jesus' teachings.

I learned as well that the first step in a Jewish marriage was called the "betrothal" which was achieved in two parts. The first part, called the "kiddushin," focused on the legalities of the marriage in which the bridegroom offered his love a written contract called a "ketubah." If she accepted his proposal, the second part of the betrothal took place about a year after the covenant was formalized. This final stage of betrothal was called the "nissun" and it dealt with the actual marriage ceremony including sexual consummation and the seven day marriage feast.

There is much that could be said about the details of the wedding customs and how they illuminate the teachings of Jesus and the events of the Last Days. In my book, BECOMING THE BELOVED, I go into more detail concering these customs. But for the purpose of this article I want to point out that ancient Jewish weddings lasted 7 days during which the bridegroom and bride were hidden away in what was called the chedar - or "bride's chamber." I believe these 7 special days of concealment relate directly to the last 7 years of the Tribulation and the Wedding of the Lamb.

In ancient times - on a cetain night known only by the father of the bridegroom -  the wedding party secretly gathered at the father's house and then walked in procession to the house of the bride. The bridegroom, himself, would not walk however. Instead, he was carried in the air atop a wooden platform called an aperion. Modern Jewish weddings still honor this custom by lifting the bridal couple up into the air while seated in wooden chairs. Once the procession reached the home of the bride, a shout was made and the shofar (ram's horn) was blown. The bride, upon hearing the sound of the trumpet, ran outside and joined her bridegroom. The wedding attendants lifted her onto the aperion where she joined her bridegroom to be carried in the air back to the father's house where the wedding would commence. Once there, they stood beneath the wedding canopy - or chuppah - and exchanged their vows. What a beautiful picture of Christ returning in the air accompanied with a shout and the blast of a trumpet. At that time, His feet will not touch the ground. Instead, His Bride will be lifted up to join Him in the air! What a perfect picture of the Rapture as the Bride rides "in the air" back to the "father's house."

After the ceremony had ended, the newly married couple entered the "bride's chamber" where they remained unseen for 7 days. Do you see the relation of these 7 days of being hidden away to the 7 years of the Tribulation? While the wrath of God is poured upon the earth, the Bride will be hidden from sight and safe from harm. At the end of the 7 days, the groom would finally escort his bride out of the bridal chamber as the wedding guests shouted for joy! No longer wearing her betrothal veil, all could now plainly see the bride in all her glory!

So also will Christ bring His Bride out of heaven with Him at His second coming at the conclusion of the 7-year tribulation period.

But what about the Church? Isn't the Church the same as the Bride? No. The Church is called the "Body of Christ" and the Bride is a small but significant remnant existing within the Body. In the same way Eve (a type of the Bride) was created inside of Adam's body and was hidden inside of him as a small rib (remnant) - so the Bride of the Last Adam (Christ) has always existed inside the "Body of Christ." Only when Eve was removed from Adam's body could she be revealed in her manifest beauty and separate identity. Likewise, the little remnant of believers who now comprise the Bride of Christ are coming forth in these last days to be revealed at last.

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If you are interested in learning more about the role of the Bride of Jesus and the Church in the Last Days, may I  recommend my book:

continue

shulamite

ministries

2012

5772

sm