GOD’S WORD FOR APRIL 22
GOD’S WORD FOR APRIL 22 ~ ~ Revelation 22:17 ~ ~ “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
In the Ancient Galilean Wedding, the FATHER alone makes the decision that it is time. He wakes up his son, the groom and his groomsmen In John 3:29, JOHN THE BAPTIST calls himself the “friend of the groom” or a groomsman, when he said this: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” He understood what was going to happen to connect heaven and earth. He knew the connection with a traditional wedding.
The father of the bridegroom wakes his son up and says, “Go get your Bride, now is the time.” Then the groom would arise immediately at what could be midnight to fetch his bride and the wait was finally over! He would blow the shofar to wake up the whole village. Those who are awake would be ready for the bridegroom’s return for his bride and would join the procession and join in the feast. A shofar is simply a ram’s horn which is used for attention for various events, particularly in the temple.
The groom, accompanied by his male friends would go to the house of the bride making a parade with torches through the streets. The procession of men to the bride’s house was neither quiet nor reverent as the groom was sounding the “SHOFAR” to warn that he was collecting his bride amidst dancing, singing and laughing.
The bride must have thought of the Song of Solomon 2:8 ~ ~
“The voice of my beloved! Behold he comes, leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills.”
At the sound of shofar, the Bride and her bridesmaids wake up and trim their lamps. The shofar also wakes the town, but only those who are prepared will attend the wedding banquet. There is only a short time between the first blast of the shofar and arrival at the grooms house, so anyone not ready won’t make it.
After a year of waiting and preparing, the bride and groom are finally together, reunited, forever.
1Thes 4:17 ~ ~ “…..And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
The bride is then carried in “a canopy” to the groom’s house “lifted into the air,” off the ground and escorted back to the father’s place.
This is a perfect picture of the rapture of the saints in 1 Thes 4:17~ ~ “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
All she had to do was to be ready in her wedding attire—pure white. We too, must be pure white when Jesus comes, as a result of the greatest of all the wonderful gifts our Bridegroom has sent to us. FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND PROTECTION FROM THE WRATH OF THE FATHER THROUGH THE SON.!
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
“being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
The bride wouldn’t know ahead of time that he was coming but she would be waiting expectantly, fully prepared with some of her maidens. When she heard the sound of the SHOFAR those who were ready would arise with her to meet her groom. We too are waiting for the SOUND of the TRUMPET to meet our Groom!
The Ancient Galilean Wedding is symbolically the same way the Church will be “lifted up” and escorted to the Father’s house in the “Rapture”. All we must do is be pure and ready for the return of our Groom and that, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, AND our Husband.
There are many differing beliefs as to the timing of the rapture in relation to the tribulation, but we shouldn’t be thinking about those differences. Jesus made it very clear that we should look up, waiting for Him, and this picture of the Galilean wedding makes that even more clear. Trying to figure out the exact order is very near to setting dates when we’re watching the events happen.
The bride and groom in the example didn’t worry or make expectations about the timing, they just concerned themselves with being ready every night, just in case, because no one knew but the Father only.
Live in the Light of Our Lord 