Be Ready For The Wedding! Series

At Valentine’s Day we often think about love, romantic love that is; and one of the most beautiful images that come to mind is a wedding ceremony. Next to that might be the engagement, where a man gets down on one knee for the proposal, while the woman listens to his expression of undying love and eagerly awaits the big question. The relationship between God and Israel, and even Christ and the church, is often expressed in terms of a wedding, from the proposal to the ceremony; and this is what I want to focus on for our Valentine’s message. Allow me to begin by sharing an illustration by Chris Tiegreen about some of the customs of early Israel, which relate to the proposal and engagement period; and then later on, we’ll talk about the wedding.

We Are Engaged to Christ

The young man’s hand shook as he set the cup in front of her. The moment of decision had come. He’d been waiting his whole life for this day, and all his dreams and desires were wrapped up in it. It had taken all of his resources and all of his courage to arrange for this crucial moment.

He had help, of course. His father had counseled him, dutifully walked to the nearby town in order to get to know her parents, and talked with them about the merits of this match. The parents discussed the details of where the son would live, of how he would provide for their daughter, and, of course, of the price they would require. But only the bride herself could pick up this cup and drink it. Only she could agree to become his wife.

Seconds after he placed the cup on the table – though it seemed to him like hours – she reached out, smiled nervously, [and] lifted it to her mouth and drank. Her gesture said “Yes!” louder than any shout from a mountaintop. Yes, his dream would be fulfilled! Yes, she would marry him!

The young man’s anxiety melted away and unbridled joy took its place. This was a done deal, as binding as the marriage ceremony itself. All that was left for him to do, was to go home with his parents and prepare a room in their house, a place where he and the delight of his heart could live together and enjoy the fruits of their marriage.

As the families celebrated and chattered excitedly about a future full of promise, she leaned toward him discreetly. “When can we have the wedding?” she whispered. “I don’t know,” he whispered back to her. “It’s up to my father. Whenever he tells me the house is ready for you to live in, I’ll come for you.”(1)

In a similar manner, Jesus said that He would be working to prepare a place for His Bride, awaiting the day appointed by the heavenly Father for His return. In John 14:1-3, He said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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 to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Now, back to our illustration:

The young man hoped he would return soon. He would work hard to prepare a place as quickly as he could. Then, he and his groomsmen would come back to her town blowing happily on a shofar, a ram’s horn, to alert her of his arrival. When she heard the blast of the trumpet, it would be time for the wedding.(2) In Matthew 24:31, Jesus spoke of His return for the “great wedding” with the following words: “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Again, back to our illustration:

In the meantime, [while awaiting his return], she would wear a veil to let the whole world know that someone had chosen her, and she would spend her days beautifying her appearance and purifying her heart. The young woman would also keep a lamp by her bed, just in case [the bridegroom] returned during the night. Her bridesmaids would do the same because, after all, one never knows when an eager groom is going to come for his bride. No degree of darkness can keep him away.

Tiegreen elaborates how “this was a typical engagement in ancient Israel, and much of it came from the symbolism of Sinai.” He also states, “Throughout the centuries since, rabbis have [even] taught that the Ten Commandments were an engagement contract. God had chosen a bride. [And] even today, Jews drink a cup of wine at Passover to accept God’s proposal.”(3)