“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
-Revelation 22:20
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 told us that Christ and the relationship to His people would be symbolized by the Jewish wedding. The similarities to the marriage traditions of Jesus’ day to His plan for the Church are breathtakingly similar:
- The groom’s father sent his son to the bride’s house to pay her dowry and arrange the betrothal.
*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
“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 house to prepare a home for the couple.
*Jesus returned to heaven after His resurrection.
“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
- While the bride awaited the groom’s return at an unknown hour, she cleansed herself in a ritual bath to be presented as a pure bride.
*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.
“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
“ ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’
Says the Lord,
‘Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.’”
Isaiah 1:18
- The groom’s return was preceded by a shout to alert the bride.
*Jesus will come for us with a shout of victory.
“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
This sudden appearance of the Christ for His Church is known in the Bible as “harpazo,” which means to snatch, seize, or pluck up. In the Latin, this word is “rapturo,” from where we get the term Rapture.
The Rapture of the Church is not an outdated myth 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.
Sources
https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Lexicon.show/ID/G726/harpazo.htm
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