The days of Noah
In the Bible, Jesus compared the condition of humanity at His return to the time preceding the Noahic flood.
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
– Matthew 24:37-39
The Bible categorizes three groups of people in Noah’s day:
- Enoch, who escaped the wrath of God completely
- Noah and his family, who were carried through the judgment sealed in the ark
- The rest of the world, who were destroyed in the worldwide flood
These three groups represent those present at the end of the age, at the harvest of souls:
- Believers known collectively as the Church and referred to by Christ as the Bride. This group, like Enoch, will completely miss the time of judgment.
- The nation of Israel and those converted to Christ during the judgment. They will be sealed in Him as Noah was sealed in the ark and carried through this time until Christ’s second coming in glory.
- The rest of humanity, who have rejected Christ. They will receive the full cup of God’s wrath for their unbelief.
The Bride will be removed before God’s wrath comes upon the earth.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:9
…hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?
– Revelation 6:16-17
God’s people have suffered tribulation and trial for millennia from the hand of the evil one and his servants. But the wrath of God is reserved for His enemies.
Why did Jesus use the imagery of a bride and groom to describe His Church?
Much of the meaning behind Scripture is lost if not considered within the context of Jewish culture. Christ’s use of the imagery of the Jewish marriage provides a stunning understanding of terms like bride and groom to describe our relationship to Him. It reveals the prophetic plan for His people and why the rapture is central to the prophetic timeline.
Nothing is by chance in God’s redemptive plan.
It was not an accident that Jesus is described in Scripture as the Bridegroom and the Church as His bride. These are not just poetic pictures. In His Word, God has explained Christ and the relationship to His people in the symbolism of the Jewish wedding, and particularly the Galilean wedding tradition. His first disciples, who were Galileans, would have been very familiar with these traditions. A comparison of them with Jesus’ promises to His believers reveal a breathtakingly similar parallel:
- In the ruins of Galilean towns, archaeologists have discovered the presence of insulas, clusters of buildings built around a central courtyard and shared by families. When a son wanted to marry, he traveled to another village, betrothed a wife, and returned to the family insula alone to build new rooms in the complex for him and his prospective bride.
*Jesus refers to this imagery in John 14:2-3:
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 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.”
– John 14:2-3
- The groom’s father sent his son to the bride’s house to pay her dowry and arrange the betrothal. The betrothal was complete with the ketubah, or binding marriage contract, which outlined the duties and responsibilities of both parties in the marriage. The Jewish ketubah is still used today in various forms.
To finalize the betrothal, the groom poured a glass of wine, called the Cup of Joy, and offered it to the bride-to-be. The betrothal would only go forward if she accepted the cup from him. The choice was hers. If she drank from the cup, she accepted his offer of marriage and sealed their betrothal. From then on, she was declared one “bought with a price,” indicating she belonged to one man and was not available to any other. The groom declared the bride to be consecrated to him and promised not to drink wine again until the day he could drink it with her in his father’s house.
*Father God sent His Son Jesus to earth to pay the redemption cost to make her His Bride. In doing so, He entered a new covenant with His people.
And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”
– Luke 22:20
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
– Mark 14:23-25
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
– Acts 20:28
- After the betrothal, the son returned to his father’s insula to prepare a home for the couple. This process usually took about a year.
*Jesus returned to His Father in heaven after His resurrection.
And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
– Luke 24:50-51
- Only the father and head of the insula had the authority to declare the new addition complete. Not even the son knew when it would be considered ready for his bride.
*Only God the Father knows the day of Christ’s return for His church.
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
– Matthew 24:36
- While the bride awaited the groom’s return for her at an unknown hour, she cleansed herself in a ritual bath to be presented as a pure bride and dressed in her wedding garments to await his coming. Tradition shows she even slept in her wedding dress to be ready for him at any time.
*God’s people remain in our earthly home, purified by the blood of the Son of God, and await His return for us. We don’t know the day or hour of His return, only that He has promised to come for us.
And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
– 1 John 3:3
- At the hour of the father’s choosing, he awakened the groom and groomsmen in the night and released him to claim his bride. The bride and her attendants were to be dressed and ready for his coming at any time, their lamps ready for the moment.
*Jesus commanded His church to be ready for his coming at any time.
But at midnight there was a shout, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”
– Matthew 25:6
Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
– Matthew 25:12
- The groom’s return was preceded by a shout to alert the bride. The bride was carried to her new home in a litter, symbolically lifted from the ground and borne aloft. This action was referred to as “flying the Bride to the Father’s house.”
*Jesus will come for us with a shout of victory and carry us away to His Father’s mansion.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
– 1 Thess. 4:16-17
The Rapture of the Church is not an outdated myth, 19th century invention, or outrageous escape plan.
It is the consummation of a love story written by God Himself. Be on the lookout, for the Bridegroom is coming.
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Photo 24756065 | Bride © Nataliya Pylayeva | Dreamstime.com
Coming next week: At the Bottom of the World
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