Jesus spoke a lot about weddings. As a matter of fact, the very first miracle he performed was at a wedding when he turned water into wine. At one point He referred to himself as the Bridegroom when “John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’” and “Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast’” (Matthew 9:14-15).

The apostle Paul, when writing to the Corinthian church, referred to Christ as the Husband when he said, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” (2 Corinthians 11:2)  The pure virgin refers to all who believe in the gospel message preached by Paul, who have had their sins washed away and have been made pure through Christ’s atonement on the cross.  He also refers to the unveiling of a “profound mystery,” referring to the relationship of Christ and His Bride — the Church. In teaching on the marriage relationship, he used the greater example of Christ’s sacrifice for his Bride in order to instruct husbands:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.  (Ephesians 5:25-32)

We are living in what is referred to as the Church Age, or the Age of Grace.  The Church is betrothed to Christ, but the wedding has not yet taken place.  When the Father is ready, He will tell the Son to go get His Bride and bring her to the place He’s prepared for her. This is when we believe the Rapture will occur!

In Revelation 19:7-8, we read about the marriage itself. The marriage supper takes place before the marriage. According to Jewish custom, the marriage contract, which often includes a dowry, is drawn up first. The contract parallels the act of faith we use when we trust Jesus to be our Savior. The dowry is His life, which was used to purchase us. When it’s time for the wedding, the groom goes to the bride’s house unannounced. She comes out to meet him, and then he takes her to his father’s house. This precisely correlates with the events according to the pre-trib scenario. Jesus, the Groom, comes down from heaven and calls up the Church, His Bride. After meeting in the air, He and His Bride return to His Father’s house, heaven. The marriage supper itself will take place there, while down here on earth the final events of the tribulation will be playing out. After the marriage supper of Jewish tradition, the bride and groom are presented to the world as man and wife. This corresponds to the time when Jesus returns to earth accompanied by an army “clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Rev 19:14).  (http://www.raptureready.com/rr-pretribulation-rapture.html.)

We’ve written a lot here about watching for Christ’s return, so I thought I’d elaborate on what we mean by that. We believe there are two aspects to Christ’s Second Coming. The first aspect will occur at the Rapture, when the Church will meet Jesus in the air when He comes and catches His Bride up to heaven. The second aspect will occur when Jesus visibly returns to earth accompanied by His Bride, which will be at the end of the Tribulation period at the battle of Armageddon when Jesus will set up the Millennial Kingdom on earth. The timing of this “snatching away” is what is referred to as the pre-tribulation view and is invisible and imminent — which means it could happen at any time and is why we are to be ready. This view presented by many biblical scholars seems to make the most sense in piecing together the prophetic descriptions of the Rapture, although ultimately there are varying legitimate views on its timing (such as the mid-tribulation or post-tribulation views) that must be respected and should not be a reason for division within the Body of Christ. The only non-negotiable aspect of the Rapture according to scripture is that the Rapture will occur – it is clearly taught in the Bible as a message of hope and a source of comfort for believers, along with the hope of eternal life and the resurrection of the dead and the reunion in heaven of the family of God.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

There are examples throughout the Bible of believers who have been snatched up, so this isn’t a new concept: Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24); Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven (2 Kings 2:11); Paul was caught up into third heaven in a temporary rapture (2 Corinthians 12:2); Philip experienced a type of temporary rapture after he shared the gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch and was snatched away and dropped down somewhere else (Acts 8:39-40); the resurrection and ascension of Jesus is clearly a type of rapture (Acts 1:9-12); and the book of Revelation describes the two Jewish witnesses who are resurrected and then ascend into heaven after lying dead in the street for three and a half days. Pastor Ed Hindson believes this rapture of the two witnesses will be as a witness to convince those left on the earth following the rapture of the Church that the prior great disappearance of untold millions of believers was not due to an alien abduction, or because they stepped into another dimension, or because of whatever other deception or delusion is used to explain their disappearance.

The Rapture is when Christ will come get His Bride and take her home to the Father’s house as he promised in John 14:1-3, 18. It is also when every believer will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10). The Bride will also receive her white robe of righteousness — her free gift of salvation — at the marriage with the Lamb (Revelation 19). She will then return with Christ as the triumphant Church to rule and reign with Him when He comes to establish the Millennial Kingdom at the end of the Great Tribulation.

The Church began at Pentecost, and we believe we are nearing the end of the Church Age when the Bride will be caught up to heaven to escape the wrath of God before the Tribulation period begins (that topic will be addressed in a later blog). The converging signs are all around us indicating we’re in the season of Christ’s return. The Bride of Christ is not an object of her Savior’s wrath — He loved her, He died for her, and He has promised to return for her. We believe the Church will be snatched away to safety before the coming wrath of God, just as God saved Noah and his family before the flood (Matthew 24:37-39).

Jesus told us over and over again to be ready and watch for his return. Honestly, with all that is going on in an upside-down world that seems to be growing darker with each passing day, it is perplexing as to why more pastors aren’t teaching prophecy and its implications for us today. Fulfilled prophecy is confirmation that the Bible is true and that God keeps his Word, and He has a lot to say about the end of the age. He is faithful and He will accomplish all that He has spoken.

And why aren’t more believers waiting for their Bridegroom with eager anticipation? I had to stop and ask myself this very question. Am I a reluctant Bride? Am I more focused on the “signs” than anticipating seeing my Groom face-to-face? Added to that are so many distractions and diversions, with the immediacy and pressures of real life problems that have to be dealt with. I look around me and see fear, apathy, denial, or much reluctance simply because the Truth is too inconvenient. Jesus warned us about that:

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.  (Matthew 25:1-13)

Jesus is the lover of our souls — so much so that He willingly laid down his life to make us His own. He desires to restore us to the very purpose for which we were made, and that is for an intimate relationship with Him, as He had with Adam and Eve at Creation before the Fall. As believers, He is our betrothed, and for our relationship to thrive we all need to nurture intimacy, trust, respect, fidelity, and loyalty. Thankfully, Jesus will never be unfaithful to us.

How shall we respond to our Bridegroom? May we look forward to and love His appearing — it is our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), and hope is a commodity from which we can all benefit!

Holding fast,

Lisa

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad

and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready.

Fine linen, bright and clean,

was given her to wear.”

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

(Revelation 19:6-9)

^{Photography by Konstantin Kopachinsky}