Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Female): Stay with us as Dr. Gary Hedrick focuses on prophecy and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Today, right here, on Messianic Perspectives.

Guest (Liz Aiello): Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our current series on the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

He'll be discussing the many striking similarities between ancient Jewish wedding customs and the events of the second coming. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now, with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thanks, and welcome to another edition of the program, listening friend. It's good to have you with us today as we continue our series of studies on the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. On the last program, we were talking about the parallels between the ancient Jewish marriage customs and the marriage of Christ to his bride, the church.

We said first of all that it was customary in ancient times for a young man's father to choose his bride. Of course, that's precisely what the Bible teaches about the church. We've been chosen by God the Father to be the bride of his son. So once the bride was chosen, what happened next? Well, a Jewish marriage occurred in three stages: initiation, presentation, and celebration.

First, there was the initiation of the betrothal covenant. Second, there was the presentation of the bride to the groom. Third, there was a celebration of their marriage. Now, let's talk about what happened in the initiation stage, in the first stage of this marriage process. In biblical times, once the bride had been selected, it was customary for the prospective bridegroom to travel from his father's house to the home of the prospective bride.

There he would negotiate with the young woman's father to determine the price he would pay for his daughter. That was the dowry, or in Hebrew the mohar. Once the payment was made, they signed a contract of betrothal. Then the bride and the groom would drink from a cup of wine over which a special betrothal benediction had been pronounced.

At that point, although there had been no physical contact between the bride and groom, they were considered married. It wasn't like what we would call an engagement in our modern Gentile culture. In order to break a Jewish betrothal, you actually had to go through a legal divorce proceeding. That's how binding the betrothal was.

So the bridegroom would travel to the home of his prospective bride, negotiate and pay the amount of the dowry, the mohar, and sign the betrothal contract in the presence of witnesses. Then they would share a ceremonial cup of wine and a betrothal benediction. Then the bridegroom would leave the home of the bride and return to his father's house, where he would begin building on an addition to the house for his new family.

Back in those days, it was customary for families to live and work together. You'd have mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and great-grandma and great-grandpa and all the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, all living together in the same family compound. So when a son got married, they'd just build an addition onto the main house.

And that's what the bridegroom would do. After the betrothal ceremony, he'd leave his bride behind and go back to his father's house to prepare a place for his bride. According to the records we have in the Talmud and other Jewish sources, the period of preparation could take anywhere from just a few weeks up to as long as a year.

Now look at the comparison. Watch this. God the Father chose a bride for his son in eternity past. When the fullness of time had come, Jesus the Son of God left his father's house in heaven. He came to earth, the dwelling place of his prospective bride. He paid a price for her, but not with silver or gold. He gave his own life. He shed his own blood.

Then he left the betrothal document with his bride—that's the New Covenant or the New Testament—and he returned to his father's house to prepare a place for his bride. He promised that he would come again to receive his bride. But he said he didn't know when it would be. He said even the angels in heaven don't know.

Do you know why he said that? Very simple. It was always the father of the bridegroom who decided when the house and the bridal chamber were ready. Not a bad idea. Otherwise, you can just imagine how an excited young man might just throw up a lean-to and tack it together because he's in love. He can't wait to go get that girl and bring her back home.

But the roof might fall down on their heads a few months later. So the father was the one who watched the building process, and he's the one who had the final say as to when the bridegroom could go and get his bride. That's why Jesus said, "It's up to the Father." Do you remember when Jesus was about to ascend back to heaven and he took his disciples up on a mountain?

They wanted to know if it was time to establish the Messianic Age, the millennium. What did he say? He told them that it was not for them to know the dates or the seasons, the times or the seasons pertaining to God's prophetic plan, which the Father hath put in his own authority (Acts 1:7). Whose authority? God the Father.

Just like the Jewish father was the one who determined when his son could go get his bride, it is God the Father who determines when God the Son will return to get his bride, the church. So that was the first stage of the Jewish marriage, the betrothal period, the initiation stage.

Then the second stage of the Jewish marriage in ancient times was the presentation stage. This was the taking of the bride by the bridegroom from the home of her father. And here's how they did it. Now remember, the bridegroom had gone away to prepare a place for his bride in his father's house. Once the father of the groom set the date for the marriage ceremony, the preparations began.

Everyone, including the bride, knew the day, but no one knew the hour. That meant the bride and her bridesmaids had to not only make themselves ready on that day, but they had to keep themselves ready because the bridegroom could come back anytime after sundown. That's when the Jewish day begins—sundown. Most Jewish weddings took place at night after sundown.

Finally, the bridegroom would come in a torchlight procession with his best man and his groomsmen to get his bride. As the procession approached the home of the bride, one of the attendants would shout, "The bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet the bridegroom!" That shout served as notification that the bridegroom had arrived, and it was time for the bride to come out and meet him.

Then the whole procession with the bride and the bridegroom would dance their way through the streets back to the bridegroom's house for the marriage ceremony and the consummation of the marriage. That was the presentation stage of the wedding. Now, with that background, let's turn to Matthew chapter 25. This is the parable of the ten virgins.

This section in Matthew chapters 24 and 25 is prophetic. It deals with end-time events. And look at what Jesus says in verse one, Matthew 25 verse 1: "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom." It's a wedding. On the appointed day, at sundown, the bridesmaids took their torches and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Verse 2: "And five of the virgins were wise and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." These were actually what we would call torches, with rags that were saturated in olive oil. That was what they used for fuel back in those days. And these torches would burn very quickly, so they had to carry a pouch of extra oil with them all the time.

Then it says in verse 5: "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." Remember, they knew the day, but not the hour. He could come any time after sundown. So they waited and waited and waited, and after a few hours, the members of the bridal party started dozing off. It says they slumbered and slept.

Verse 6: "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh." There's the shout. "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." Now they knew the bridegroom was approaching. Verse 7: "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps." And as they started getting their torches ready for the procession back to the bridegroom's house, it says five of the bridesmaids realized they didn't have enough oil for the journey.

So they wanted to borrow some, but the other five said, "Wait a minute, we've only got enough for ourselves. You'll have to go buy your own." But before they can get back with more oil, the first five have already met the bridegroom and gone back to his house for the marriage supper. And look what Jesus tells his disciples in verse 13. He says, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."

You see what he's saying? The typical Jewish bride knew the day but not the hour. But when it comes to his second coming, Jesus makes a point of telling his disciples very definitely that they won't know the day or the hour. We don't know when he's coming back, so we have to be ready all the time. That's the meaning of the parable.

Actually, this parable has nothing to do with the church. It's about national Israel being ready to enter into the millennium with the Messiah after the tribulation. But we don't have time to go into all that right now. The main point is really very simple. God's people are to be ready at all times. You see how it helps to understand the Jewish context?

You and I might read this parable and not have the foggiest notion of what it means. But those first-century Jews who were listening to him knew exactly what he was talking about. And we can know what he's talking about too if we learn to listen with Jewish ears. Well, that's all of our time for today. Thanks for joining us, listening friend. We'll continue next time with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I'll see you then. You take care. Bye-bye.

Guest (Liz Aiello): Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. If you liked what you heard today, you will be pleased to know we've taken all of the programs in this series and placed them on one convenient CD entitled "The Marriage Supper of the Lamb". And it's yours for a gift of just six dollars or more to Messianic Perspectives.

Most of us already know how the traditional Passover observance points to the Messiah in so many ways, like the three pieces of matzah representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the breaking of the middle piece symbolizing the death of the Son. So the Passover traditions point to the Messiah.

And so do many of the Jewish wedding traditions. For instance, the ancient marriage feast lasted for seven days, and the New Testament teaches that there will be a wedding feast in heaven for the bride of Christ, and it will last for seven years. Seven days and seven years. The parallels are amazing. That's what this series is all about.

Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that, too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of prophetic studies on the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.