Bride of Christ

At that time the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went 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, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.

(10) 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.

Matthew 25:1-4; 10

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The Church is called to be the radiant Bride of Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2) ESV, For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

The members of Christ's Church are promised that we are engaged now to Him, for eventual presentation as a perfect bride, a pure virgin to be married to Christ in a profound spiritual union.

This message is a message that has an urgency attached to it. Holy Spirit has been preparing me to blog this message. This is a now message. We the Church must be ready, prepared & watching for the return of our Bridegroom (Jesus). I have spent so much time praying and seeking the Lord on this message. My very heart's cry is Lord, I want to be a prepared Bride. Please make me a prepared Bride. I pray it will be your heart's cry as well.

As we journey together to become a prepared Bride. We need to start with where marriages begin. Marriages begin with an engagement. In Biblical terms a betrothal.

Engagements & betrothals are done in many different ways around the world & done differently in many different cultures. We will focus on one Biblical wedding, in particular, the Galilean wedding. There is much for us to learn from this wedding in becoming a prepared Bride.

So why the Galilean wedding? Jesus was a Galilean from Nazareth, a village near Sepphoris, one of the two major cities of Galilee. (Tiberias was the other) During the 3 years of his public ministry. Jesus spent most of his time traveling and teaching around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus & his disciples were Galileans & spoke the northern dialect of Aramaic. Galileans were considered rebels. Isaiah called that region, the land of the gentile peoples, those surrounded with great darkness.

In this region marriages were arranged, not based on romance, romance didn't put food on the table. When parents arranged marriages, had to do with making the family stronger.

Before the betrothal ceremony takes place, there is a Ketubah written down. This is a covenant- it is intended to protect the woman, primarily by establishing the man's financial obligations to her in case of divorce or widowhood. It symbolizes love, commitment, and a promise to stay together for life. Much like modern-day vowels said at a marriage ceremony. At the betrothal ceremony, the Ketubah is brought out and read publically. As the Ketubah has been read the price of the Bride-the Bride had to be purchased. The Apostle Paul in 1Corinthisns says, "You were bought with a price."

Betrothals were done under the huppah in those days huppah means in the ancient (Old Testament) when God made a covenant with His people (Moses). The glory of God descends in a cloud upon the mountain and then God speaks to Moses and the covenant is made. The huppah represents the glory of God descending on the place of covenant. The Betrothal was a legal wedding, the actual wedding took place a year after this.

The year in between the betrothal and the wedding ceremony is the preparation phase. This is where we are as followers of Jesus Christ today. We are betrothed to Jesus awaiting His return for us. The marriage supper will take place after He comes for His Bride.

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In this betrothed time how can we make ourselves ready? We need our oil to become a wise virgin instead of a foolish virgin with no oil who needs to purchase oil and take a chance on missing our Bridegroom's return. In Scripture, oil represents Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with Holy Spirit and have extra oil so our lamps can and will remain burning as we wait. We obtain this oil by spending time with Jesus through Holy Spirit so we will be led by the Spirit.

For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:14 Amp)

To be Spirit led we must humble ourselves and submit to the will of God for our journeys. This Spirit-led journey is about a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are in the engagement phase of our journeys, getting to know one another on a deeper level, spending time with each other, reading the Word, praying & then being still and listening to what Holy Spirit has to say to us. This is just what engaged couples do, along with planning the Wedding Day. Getting prepared and going deeper in the relationship.

As we journey along together through these blogs we will continue learning more about the Galilean wedding and continue becoming a prepared Bride awaiting the Return of our Bridegroom (Jesus).

Follow me as I Follow Jesus,

down this narrow road.

Becoming a Prepared Bride.

Tracey Lynn