I think one of the reasons why some students of Bible prophecy get way off the mark is that they do not understand the nature of the Bride of Christ. The Church is the betrothed Bride of Jesus Christ. Even those who do seem to understand that concept often completely miss how God showed us the future of His blood bought Church in the process of obtaining a wife in the culture of the ancient past. I think Jack Kelly explains this as good as anyone I know in this article. I hope it will help you understand that God has a unique role for the Church apart from Israel and that the bride of a soon coming King would rule with the King but would not replace the King’s Kingdom. Apart from ancient customs there are also stories and “types” in the Bible that convey similar concepts. Kelly points out such a “type” in the details surrounding the obtaining of a bride for Abraham’s son, Isaac.
Keep in mind that after the price was agreed on and the Bride agrees to become the wife she does not know when the Groom will come for her. She also cannot disown the groom and the groom cannot disown her except if there is clear proof of adultery. We do have eternal security if we remain faithful to Jesus.
by Jack Kelley
This is an update of an article originally published in March 2004. While it’s based on the Bible, it also includes Jewish wedding traditions from Biblical times. Some of these traditions go all the way back to Abraham’s time and are described in Genesis 24.
the young woman was to watch and wait at her parents’ home. She and her bridesmaids had to maintain a constant state of preparedness, since the wedding date would not be revealed to her until the bridegroom actually appeared at her door to take her to their new home.
Surprise, SurpriseFor his part, the groom would try to show up unexpectedly to surprise her, carrying her off suddenly “like a thief in the night” when no one would see them. The only advance warning she would get was the sound of his voice shouting her name and the blast of a ram’s horn.
Don, I’ve always found Jack Kelley to be an informative bible teacher and enjoy his material. I’m constantly stunned by those that would deny Israel its place as the apple of GOD’s eye. As the church of believers we do enjoy a special place in his heart and the promises to Israel WILL BE fufulled in the fullness of time. Thanks be to a faithfull and just GOD!
Ken
Jack Kelly simply amazes me with his prolific writing and his understanding.
Seems to me that many that make up the Body of Christ want to be the kingdom that Jesus rules over instead of being a queen with Him.
Well stated. I just believe the New Testament to be the outfolding of the Old Testament. With the OT being GOD’s revelation of his nature through his relationship with his oracle people. A good bible teacher such as Mr. Kelley, among others, is able to unpack those truths with his teaching.
I apologize in advance for the simplicity of my comments, I’m not much of a blogger.
Don,
I do not mean to digress from the theme of your article but you stated “We do have eternal security if we remain faithful to Jesus”
Are you saying that faithfulness on the believer’s part is a condition to retain one’s salvation?
Joe,
Sure you mean to digress since you just did it on another post.
The article was a Jewish wedding model argument for eternal security for the faithful. Obviously under Judaism and under New Testament teaching a wife found in adultery could be put away. I don’t think a true believe could turn to another God. So the real question is can a true believer somehow become an unbeliever? The answer to that depends on which scriptures you want to use to support your argument and which you want to reject.
I won’t be playing your game here. If you want to post comments on this blog in the future I think you need to read and abide by my commenting policy and not try to twist everything to some soapbox issue of your own.
I just read your comment policy and understand. But in all fairness the other post already digressed and I was only commentating within the bounds of the ongoing discussion. No, I don’t mean to play any games and was not simply seeking to twist things for my own soapbox, but was only simply seeking a clarification to what was stated. But again, after reading your policy I do apologize and will cede to any further discussion on the matter.
Joe,
Many times when people comment they digress to include other issues but I will only let responses about the other issues they bring up go so far. Otherwise all further comments eventually have nothing to do with the post topic. That means that those who find these topics by search engine will get to the point of digression and not even read any further comments. I know when I read other sites I give up reading the comments of people when they start talking about everything but the post topic of interest.
Thanks for you understanding and cooperation.