Hi all,
I
hope my series on the Feast of Trumpets is pulling verses together that
before had been pieces of a puzzle that didn't seem to fit, but now do.
Today we'll continue putting the pieces together, for within the Feast
of Trumpets is the coronation and wedding of Messiah...
The wedding of Messiah
Revelation 19:1-14 shows us the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven and the return of Jesus:
"And
I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters....saying, Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to
Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted to wear fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said to me, Write 'Blessed are they who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb..."
"And
I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse; And He that sat on him
was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes
war....and the armies in heaven who followed Him on white horses were clothed in fine linen, clean and white..."
The
key to notice is the fine linen, clean and white which is given to
those in heaven participating in the Marriage Supper AND worn by those
accompanying Jesus at His return - they are the same people.
We
who participate in the Marriage Supper return with Him because Jesus is
returning to set up His government on the earth, and I Corinthians 6:3,
Hebrews 2:5 and 6:5, and Revelation 20:6 tell us those who take part in
the first resurrection (Feast of Trumpets) will reign with Christ for
1000 years on the earth in a forced righteousness age, governing by the
gifts of the Spirit.
The coronation and wedding of Messiah in the Feast of Trumpets
The
concept of 'Ha Melech' which means 'the King', and the coronation and
wedding of Messiah are wrapped up together in the Feast of Trumpets. The
dead in Messiah and those alive who are changed, are changed and hidden with Messiah for a reason.
That reason is those in Messiah have been His betrothed and now the
Groom is coming for His bride for the wedding which takes place in
heaven.
The Marriage of Messiah - Understand the betrothal
A marriage
supper then lasted 7 days as it does sometimes today in Jewish
weddings. The 7 day celebration is a prophetic type of a future Marriage
Supper, with each day standing for a year, therefore a 7 year
celebration in heaven. So we shouldn't read Revelation 19 which is right
before Christ returns, as if it had just happened and we were all
getting a quick snack before accompanying Him at His return.
Revelation
19 is informational, a view of what has been happening in heaven while
other things have happened on earth, and understood in the context of
the Feast of Trumpets, we know it to be a 7 year celebration that has
been going on, not a box lunch eaten quickly right before His return.
We
are right now in the time of betrothal. We aren't yet 'married' to God.
The consummation of the marriage will occur when we depart and
celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven when the Groom comes
to get His bride.
When
a prospective groom wanted to propose to a young lady he would go to
her home and talk to her father. He carried 3 things to her home: A
large amount of money in order to pay the price for the bride, the
'bride price', a betrothal contract called the Shitre Erusin, and wine.
IF
the father agreed, the young lady was called out, and if she agreed,
she drank the cup of wine. The contract was signed, the price of the
bride was paid, and they were now betrothed, requiring a divorce to
break off the engagement - but they didn't consummate the marriage until
the 7 day wedding celebration.
What Jesus said
The
groom would then say this to the bride: "In my father's house are many
rooms, and I am going to prepare a place for us, that where I am you may
be also."
Jesus used
the betrothal ceremony words in John 14:1-2 to his disciples. "In my
Father's house are many places to live*, and I go to prepare a place for
you that where I am, you may be also." (*The word 'mansion' is not in
the Greek and was inserted by King James translators so King James would
think he would have a mansion in heaven. It is the Greek word 'abode'
or 'places' used also in 14:23)
In
the regions even today where homes are made of mud-brick, they are
easily added on to, and this is what the groom would do until the day
his father declared enough preparation had been made, the rooms for the
bride and groom were complete, and then he would give the order for the
groom to go get his bride.
In
ancient days the groom's response to when he thought the father would
give permission would be: "No man knows the day nor hour but my father",
which Jesus again pulled from the context of betrothal in Matthew 24:36
(Sketches of Jewish Social Life, Edersheim)
Once
under contract as the betrothed, she would spend her time getting to
know her groom and how to become a wife. This is a beautiful type of our
discipleship in Christ, knowing Him better each day and preparing
ourselves to one day be with Him at the Marriage Supper celebration. All
these things are part of the Feast of Trumpets, so every reference in
the gospels and epistles reference this feast.
Now I see it
The
disciples would have understood Jesus' use of the betrothal ceremony in
John 14 when He said He is going to prepare a place for us, they would
have understood the 'no man knows but my Father' in Matthew 24, but we
miss it because we don't know the Feast of Trumpets.
And
when Paul said in I Corinthians 6:20, "You have been bought with a
price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God's", and repeated it in 7:23. They would have understood his
references to the betrothed being bought with the bride price, and her
expected faithfulness to the groom.
This
is also addressed in the betrothed context in James 4:4: "You are like
unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never
realizing that to be the world's lover means becoming the enemy of
God!" A betrothed woman was considered married as a divorce was required
to break the engagement as you'll recall with Joseph and Mary
in Matthew 1:19 (Phillips translation)
All
these references to being betrothed, to being bought with a price, to
being faithful, all tie back to the Feast of Trumpets and the Groom
coming for His faithful and pure bride. And like an infomercial on TV,
'But wait, there's more...'
The Lord's Supper therefore...
And
now we understand the double meaning of the Lord's Supper as well
because of the cup of the covenant drunk by the bride at the betrothal
ceremony.
Drinking
the cup of covenant meant she not only accepted his proposal of
marriage, but she would eagerly look for and prepare herself, looking
towards the day he came to get her for the marriage celebration. Paul
said when we receive the Lord's Supper we do so in remembrance 'until he
comes', which is a reference to the Feast of Trumpets as Messiah comes
for His bride. (I Corinthians 11:26)
Therefore
we not only celebrate the Last Supper as a Passover event, marking His
death, but we do so also looking for His return, and we do so as the
betrothed bought with the price of His blood, committing each time we
partake of the Lord's Supper to forsake all others, saving ourselves in
faithfulness to Him alone, until the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
It all ties together with the Feast of Trumpets
Now
we see the many references to this amazing Feast of Trumpets in
scripture. From Jesus using words from the betrothal ceremony about
preparing a place, to His reference to no man knowing the day, to Paul's
references of being bought with a price, to the cup of covenant, to the
Last Supper, the Last Trump, to John seeing the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb in heaven that has been going on for 7 years ever since the bride
was changed...wow...but what is happening on the earth while the
Marriage Supper is happening in heaven?
The Feast of Trumpets begins what is called 'The Days of Awe' on the earth. And that is what we'll cover next week.
Until then, Blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
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