When Is The Wedding Of Jesus Christ And His Church?

Tatilina

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Hi @Tanya
Iam a Christian and what i care about is what the Bible says. (@Thunderian aswell)
There are many verses in my bible describing the state of the earth and cosmic phenomena; shortly before, during, and after the Second Advent to lend credence to the fact that we won't be here during the millenium.
The entire 24th chapter of Isaiah is a great starter.
Isaiah 24:1
See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; He will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants

Zephaniah 1:2-3
‘I will sweep away
everything from the face of the earth,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will sweep away
both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea – and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.’ ‘When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,’ declares the LORD,"

So, if Christ is returning to reign on Earth for 1000yrs, why would He destroy it, let alone reign in darkness? In vision, the Prophet Jeremiah saw the earth reduced to its former state, as at the beginning, that is; dark,formless and empty (Gen 1:2) and man will become more rare than the gold of Ophir (Isa 13:12).
Jeremiah 4:23-28
I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens, and their light was gone.
I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away.
I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce
anger. ‘The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.
Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.’

We see the same theme in Revelation (the 7 bowls will completely ruin the earth) when every mountain and island is removed from its place (6:14; 16:20). Isaiah continues: 24:18-20
The floodgates of the
heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken
up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion"

Now, i don't believe in the 3rd Temple being rebuilt, its purpose, and Christ reigning here because, honestly, as in Revelation(cities of the nations collapsed), what structure is actually going to withstand earth's convulsions? Unless ofcourse, Christ will keep only His temple standing. But the mountains are going to disappear too/shifted. We are talking Everest, Shasta, etc
Joel 2:10-11
Before them the earth
shakes,the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys His command.
The day of the LORD is
great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?"

The verses are way too many and i do not want to turn this into a long post.
Luke mentions heavenly bodies being shaken, a little time, before Christ appears (24:25-26). We are all aware of the effect of the moon on tides. If a massive planetary body, 10 times the size of earth entered our solar system, what would the gravitational pull effect? It would threaten to rip our planet apart.
And because the last plagues are almost the same as those that fell on ancient Egypt, Immanuel Velikovsky (of Worlds in Collision) postulated that "God used" a huge comet to bring about those that devastated Egypt
http://tmgnow.com/repository/secret/velikovsky2.html
God can and will use His creation and i guess i should expect the same since 100 pound hailstones (Rev 16:21) will fall on men.
@Red Sky at Morning
it was great idea you brought up....to find the identities of the guests, the bride and wedding venue. I disappeared for a little while and came back and found nothing. What happened? Here, a feast prepared for all those who have emerged victorious over sin, right from Adam down to the last saint.
Isaiah 25:6-9
On this mountain the
LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest
of wines. On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove his
people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and He saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His
salvation.’

Finally, John 14:1-4. Surely, Christ wouldn't have wasted His time with these preparations, if infact, we are to be here with Him for the millenium.

"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were
not so, would I have told
you that I am going there
to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
back and take you to be
with me that you also may be where I am..’
It makes more sense than premillennialism that's for sure.
 

Karlysymon

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Red Sky at Morning

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We had a full moon last night and it was so bright I could barely see the stars...

Then the words of 1 Corinthians 2 struck me...

1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.​

Paul knew a lot! I am sure he had some very clear ideas on various doctrines, but the centrality of the gospel of Christ crucified is vital. People looking from the outside in observe our debates on issues of secondary importance (and I say this as someone with quite a few clear doctrinal perspectives) and can be quick to pick up on divisions. I will chip into this discussion of Jewish weddings etc when I have done my homework properly, but I feel that this point needs to stay central in our sky and keep things in perspective.
 

Red Sky at Morning

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Ok @Thunderian
I have pulled up some information on Jewish wedding patterns which might help assemble the big picture a bit better...

All through the Gospels, Jesus relied on the ancient Jewish wedding pattern for many of His parables, climaxing in His promise in the Upper Room in John 14 (as reviewed in our previous article). Many of us miss the full import of these allusions if we aren't familiar with the model of ancient Jewish wedding practices.

Jewish Wedding

The first step, the Ketubah, or Betrothal, was the establishment of the marriage covenant, usually when the prospective bridegroom took the initiative and negotiated the price (mohair) he must pay to purchase her.

Once the bridegroom paid the purchase price, the marriage covenant was established, and the young man and woman were regarded as husband and wife. From that moment on, the bride was declared to be consecrated or sanctified - set apart - exclusively for her bridegroom. As a symbol of the covenant relationship that had been established, the groom and bride drank from a cup of wine over which the betrothal had been pronounced.

After the marriage covenant was established, the groom left his bride at her home and returned to his father's house, where he remained separated from his bride for approximately 12 months. This afforded the bride time to gather her trousseau and prepare for married life.

During this period of separation, the groom prepared a dwelling place in his father's house to which he would later bring his bride. At the end of the period of separation, the bridegroom came - usually at night - to take his bride to live with him. The groom, the best man, and other male escorts left the father's house and conducted a torch-light procession to the home of the bride. Although the bride was expecting her groom to come for her, she did not know the time of his coming. As a result, the groom's arrival was preceded by a shout, which announced her imminent departure to be gathered with him.

After the groom received his bride, together with her female attendants, the enlarged wedding party returned from the bride's home to the groom's father's house, where the wedding guests had assembled.

Shortly after their arrival, the bride and groom were escorted by the other members of the wedding party to the bridal chamber (huppah). Prior to entering the chamber, the bride remained veiled so that no one could see her face. While the groomsmen and bridesmaids waited outside, the bride and groom entered the bridal chamber alone. There, in the privacy of that place, they entered into physical union for the first time, thereby consummating the marriage that had been covenanted approximately one year earlier.

After the marriage was consummated, the groom came out of the bridal chamber and announced the consummation of the marriage to the members of the wedding party waiting outside. Then, as the groom went back to his bride in the chamber, the members of the wedding party returned to the wedding guests and announced the consummation of the marriage.

Upon receiving the good news, the wedding guests remained in the groom's father's house for the next seven days, celebrating with a great wedding feast.

During the seven days of the wedding feast, the bride and groom remained hidden in the bridal chamber (Cf. Genesis 29:21-23, 27-28) for the seven days of the huppah. Afterwards, the groom came out of hiding, bringing his bride with him, but with her veil removed so that everyone could see her.

Source...
http://www.khouse.org/articles/2003/449/
 

Thunderian

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it was great idea you brought up....to find the identities of the guests, the bride and wedding venue. I disappeared for a little while and came back and found nothing. What happened?
Working on it. :)

Just off the cuff, though ...

Bridegroom - Jesus Christ
Bride - The Church
Bride Price - Jesus Christ's death
Engagement Gift - The Holy Spirit
Marriage Covenant - made with Jesus' blood
Invitation to the Wedding - given by the Holy Spirit and the Church
Guests - Old Testament saints
Venue for Wedding - TBD
Venue for Wedding Feast - TBD

I wish I could flesh this out a bit more right now, but I'm way behind on a bunch of stuff.
 

Todd

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Working on it. :)

Just off the cuff, though ...

Bridegroom - Jesus Christ
Bride - The Church
Bride Price - Jesus Christ's death
Engagement Gift - The Holy Spirit
Marriage Covenant - made with Jesus' blood
Invitation to the Wedding - given by the Holy Spirit and the Church
Guests - Old Testament saints
Venue for Wedding - TBD
Venue for Wedding Feast - TBD

I wish I could flesh this out a bit more right now, but I'm way behind on a bunch of stuff.
I would only change two things in your list above. First is that OT saints will be part of the bride. Though it had not yet happened and they may not have fully understood it, the OT saints (and no not every Israelite in the OT was a saint) still trusted in the promise of the Messiah. I believe they understood that the temple sacrifices were a foreshadow of something else to come in the future. There faith in God was based on his promises so in way their salvation was/is still dependent on the work of Jesus.

Second, as a believer in Universal Reconciliation, I think the Guests for the wedding will be all the unbelievers that come out of the Lake of Fire and receive healing in the ages to come. They will be the guests at the wedding.
 

Thunderian

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OT saints are not part of the bride. John the Baptist said, He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

John, an OT saint, identifies himself as a friend of the bridegroom, and not part of the bride. Perhaps we can include him in the wedding party as the best man? :)
 

Karlysymon

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@Thunderian
I have to say (again?), great thread! This topic/subject has never really crossed my mind before and i've been hunting for a study-topic lately. Maybe, i can now sit down, in submission to the HolySpirit to guide me into all this truth. Iam fully aware of your stance: "OT saints do not make up the bride." But iam with @Todd on this one. To me, your stance reduces them to a sort of 'second class'. For example Enoch and Elijah who never tasted death, all the great men and women of faith: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Noah, all the prophets, etc will then 'show up' guests. While the saints who lived after Christ, will be the bride.
Hosea 3:19-20
"I will betroth you to
Me for ever; I will betroth you in righteousness and
justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the
LORD."

I think, all the redeemed who have triumphed over sin (through the grace of Christ), from Adam to the last saint, will make up the bride.
 

Tatilina

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@Thunderian
I have to say (again?), great thread! This topic/subject has never really crossed my mind before and i've been hunting for a study-topic lately. Maybe, i can now sit down, in submission to the HolySpirit to guide me into all this truth. Iam fully aware of your stance: "OT saints do not make up the bride." But iam with @Todd on this one. To me, your stance reduces them to a sort of 'second class'. For example Enoch and Elijah who never tasted death, all the great men and women of faith: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Noah, all the prophets, etc will then 'show up' guests. While the saints who lived after Christ, will be the bride.
Hosea 3:19-20
"I will betroth you to
Me for ever; I will betroth you in righteousness and
justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the
LORD."

I think, all the redeemed who have triumphed over sin (through the grace of Christ), from Adam to the last saint, will make up the bride.
I believe Enoch and Elijah come back as the two witnesses, what do you think?
 

Karlysymon

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I believe Enoch and Elijah come back as the two witnesses, what do you think?
What do i think? The Bible is its own interpreter. Zechariah 4 will help you understand the identity of those two witnesses.
 

Todd

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OT saints are not part of the bride. John the Baptist said, He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

John, an OT saint, identifies himself as a friend of the bridegroom, and not part of the bride. Perhaps we can include him in the wedding party as the best man? :)
John the Baptist also was very humble and did not think he was worthy to baptize Jesus. Could be John still didn't understand everything in his humility?
I have to say though, if John the Baptist wasn't a part of the bride, he would be a good choice for best man!:D
 
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