"The Bible refers to the status of the prospective bride and groom as "espousal" or "betrothal." It meant that the two people were committed to each other as much as a married couple would be. The only parts of the marriage not yet completed were the formal "huppah" ceremony followed by their physical union. This betrothal was considered so binding that the only way to break it was by an actual bill of divorcement.
The groom then departed, but not before he assured his bride with the promises of building a home for her and returning to complete the marriage ceremony. He usually took a year to prepare her new home which often consisted of an addition built onto his own father's house.
The bride was expected to remain true to her groom as she prepared herself and her trousseau. She lived for the day of his return for her which would be heralded by a shout from the members of the wedding party. The impending return of her groom was to influence the bride's behavior during this interim espousal period.
The typical Jewish wedding took place at night. As soon as any members of the wedding spotted the moving torches signaling the groom's approach, their cry echoed through the streets, "The bridegroom is coming." The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia tells us, "Mirth and gladness announced their approach to townspeople waiting in houses along the route to the bride's house." Upon hearing the announcement, the excited bride would drop everything in order to slip into her wedding dress and complete her final personal preparations for marriage." -Oasis Tradepost
Ephesians 5:25-27- "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."
Revelation 21:2- "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
John 3:29- "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete."
Revelation 21:9- "Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
2 Corinthians 11:2- "For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ."
I want my life to reflect my anxiousness for the day that Jesus comes to marry me. The day that I will be made holy and without blemish. Lately my soul has become restless living the day to day life. I yearn to see the world come to know the Savior of the world and at the same time I am so scared. My biggest dream is that I will travel the world to tell others the saving news of the gospel. Each day I have to ask myself the hard questions, am I okay with spending my life in another country where I will not have the luxuries of America? Am I willing to move overseas unmarried? Am I okay with the possibility of never getting married? Am I willing to give up my life physically for the sake of the gospel? Some days the answer is yes. And sadly, some days the answer is no. I'm realizing that as a believer, I am not entitled to anything in this world. The Lord promises me salvation when I don't come close to deserving it! Shouldn't that be enough? Yes, it should. But the cool thing is that God delights in giving us the desires of our hearts. His word says that He opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing. We are His bride and He delights in fulfilling His beloved. His plan exceeds the greatest and wildest adventure we could ever imagine for ourselves.
My prayer is that we will ask God to show us how to live each day in anxious anticipation of His coming. I want Him to show us how to be the anxious bride awaiting the arrival of her groom. What would it look like to live as if Jesus were coming back for us any second? What would it look like to give up all of the worldly hopes that we think we are entitled to? What would it look like if every believer in the world proclaimed their faith as if nothing else in the world mattered? I thank the Lord for His grace on me because these are not the questions I ask myself everyday. But I want them to be my life.
God Bless you!
