The Wedding…
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This evening at 5 p.m., I will officiate in the marriage of John Patrick Barkdull, Jr. (Johnny) and Brittany Nicole Vigil. What a precious couple and what a beautiful wedding this will be. The wedding will even include the marriage supper.
Johnny and Brittany have asked me to share with their family and many friends, including their church family, on the Biblical background for the marriage. It will certainly be my pleasure to do so.
Many people are not aware that the Bible wraps itself around marriage. It opens with the marriage of Adam and Eve. It closes with the marriage of Christ and His bride.
Everything in between will relate in one way or another to the marriage of God’s Son.
God officiated the first wedding…
Adam spoke over his bride, saying, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
It was here that God says, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (cf. Gn2:21-24 nasb)
There is more to the story. God Himself created Eve to be the wife of Adam. She was fashioned from Adam’s body as the Lord placed Adam into a deep sleep. When Adam awoke, the Lord God presented Eve to him.
Yes indeed, God not only officiated at the first wedding, but He also prepared the bride and groom for one another. And the wedding attendants most certainly included a host of angels.
And without pressing this too far, perhaps it could be said that Adam in a sense represented the Word of God, whereas Eve in a sense represented the Holy Spirit. It is only when we have both the Word and the Spirit, that we have new life.
The deep sleep of Calvary…
The apostle Paul explained that Adam and Eve were a prophetic fore-glimpse of Christ and His bride. Out of the deep sleep of the cross, would come the Bride of the Lamb.
The Lord Jesus endured the pangs of death because of the joy that was set before Him. What was this joy? It appears that the Father pulled back the curtain to let Christ see His bride. The Bible says…
“…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (He12:2)
All through the Bible we catch glimpses of Christ as the groom and the church as His bride. In the story of Isaac and Rebekah we see the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Bride.
The last book of the Old Testament calls attention to the bride. And the very first miracle of Jesus in the New Testament takes place at the wedding of Canaan.
In My Father’s House…
When Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, He spoke to them in the language of the ancient Hebrew marriage. Listen:
”Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 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.” (Jn14:1-3)
The ancient Hebrew marriage had two parts. The first was called ‘kiddushin’, which is the Hebrew word for holiness. This was the betrothal by which the groom ’sanctified’ the bride to himself. Once this happened the groom returned to the Father’s house to prepare a place for his bride.
The groom could not return for his bride until the father gave his approval. This second part of the wedding was called nisuim. Nisuim relates to a Hebrew word which means to ‘lift up.’ It is in nisuim that the wedding ceremony is completed. It is here that we see the doctrine of the rapture of the church.
The marriage supper of the Lamb…
In the book of Revelation we hear an angel announce the marriage supper of the Lamb. It takes place in heaven. Listen:
“‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’ It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”‘ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’” (Rev19:7-9)
There is so much more to be said about the Biblical story of ‘the’ marriage. In fact each time we attend a wedding, we are being reminded of that which will take place in eternity.
Well, that about does it for now.
May the blessings of the Lord catch up with you, (Just stop running,) 
Buddy
