“The Bride has Made Herself Ready”!!

     
Revelation 19: 7-9. “Let us rejoice and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.”
     
John is given a visionary tour into the activities taking place in Heaven, and he sees the Bride of Christ prepared to wed her Bridegroom. She is granted the honor to be dressed in the pure white robe of righteousness, because she has made herself ready. This verse does not say that the LORD has made her ready, but that she has made herself ready.
     
The question for us is not whether the Church is the Bride, but how is it possible for the Bride to make herself ready? Is it not true that our righteousness is not of ourselves, but only because of Christ? There is nothing we can do to make ourselves righteous. In fact, all our personal attempts at righteousness are as filthy rags! What was John meaning? What legitimate thing is the Bride able to do to prepare herself?

The answer does not lie only in our salvation, but in living out our faith, showing our testimony, and living in a manner that expresses our loving devotion to Christ. This readiness preparation is rooted, not just in justification, but in sanctification - being set-apart unto the LORD, and living this knowledge out in our daily lives. It is the LORD who sanctifies us –sets us apart unto Himself in holiness. But there is an expected stewardship involved in sanctification. We co-operate daily with the Holy Spirit in order to lives holy lives that give honor unto Jesus Christ. To use another analogy, the cup has been washed clean, then set 
apart for a new purpose. Now it is our responsibility to fill it only with what is good, wholesome, and godly, keeping it from being placed back into the unrighteous filthiness of the world.
     
In ancient Jewish betrothal/courtship/wedding proceedings, the groom would propose to his intended bride, providing all that was necessary for their legal betrothal. He would bring with him a wine-skin of wine, a prepared speech, a document of his intentions, a Bride-Price, and gifts of adornment. Also, the betrothal was considered to be legally binding, and even though the actual wedding ceremonies were still to take place, the couple would from then on be referred to as ‘husband and wife.” In our culture we do not use these terms until after the formal wedding 
ceremonies.

Jesus justified us -- made us pure, then sanctified us – set us apart unto Himself, as His Chosen. He paid the Bride -Price, laying his own life down for us. We are not our own, but are purchased by His own blood. We “belong” to Him in betrothal! He shed His own blood to cleanse us from sin, and has given us His Word that He will return for us when all is ready in His Father’s House. John 14:2. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” 

These are promises contained within a betrothal speech! Jesus is telling the Bride, the Church, represented by the disciples, that He is going away, and while He is away we are not to be troubled, because He will return to take us to His Father’s House where He has a place prepared. In other words, He will take His Bride to His Father’s house where we will be wed!

As the groom delivered this speech, he would offer the wine-skin of wine, and together with his betrothed, would drink of it. The Church has been given the privilege of partaking of the wine (Communion) whenever we desire, reminding us of our wonderful Bridegroom who has redeemed us, and who will soon return for us. I Corinthians 11:17-31. The wine-skin of wine provided by the groom was especially significant. The bride would be allowed to partake of it whenever she wished while he was absent, remembering him until he returned for her. He made a solemn promise when he shared the wine-skin of wine with her. On taking his leave to make His 
own wedding preparations, he would promise that he would not again partake of any wine at all until their actual wedding in his father’s house. 

Matthew 26:29. “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink of it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

That was a precious promise of his commitment to her. He would not partake of wine again until their wedding in his father’s house. So the wine also served to remind the bride of his great love for her, and she could bask in this knowledge whenever she wanted. His abstenance was sacrificial, not selfish in any way, and would remind him of his love for her. He would look forward to when they would finally partake together again at their wedding! He would be able to smile, knowing she was partaking of his sacrificial gift which reminded her of him, and provide them both with loving thoughts of each other, and of the specialness of their soon coming wedded reunion.

Also, the groom would have two “Friends” to act as “best men.” According to ancient tradition, the groom’s father would assign one close trusted “Friend” to assist the bride with her wedding preparations while the groom went to his father’s estate to make his own wedding preparations. The bride would therefore not be left alone, but have the help, comfort, and instruction of this close Friend.

John 14:16-17. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he 
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”

Notice, He reiterates, “I will come to you.” These words are the promises of the groom while he must go to prepare. This “Friend of the Bridegroom” would be the liaison between them, expediting the preparations of the bride in concert with the preparations of the groom, so that all would be carried out according to the groom’s and his father’s wishes.

The second “Friend” would have a role of honor during the wedding week. He would stand outside the door to the wedding chambers, and listen for the Bridegroom’s voice telling him that the wedding covenant was consummated. It appears John the Baptist may have this role when the wedding of Christ and the Church takes place.

John 3:29. “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled.”

Jesus must have made this arrangement with John, and therefore he will have this privilege.

When all preparations were complete in the Father’s House, the groom would set out from his Father’s house with great joy, and with the blowing of trumpets, accompanied by an entourage of witnesses. However, he would not go all the way to the residence of the bride.

Although the groom made the preparations in his father’s estate, in honor of his father, he would wait until the father would give the word that he could go to receive his bride. So the groom could not just run off to get his bride. That was not his place, or call. That was the father’s official decision. The return of Christ for His Bride will therefore not be at the whim of Christ, but at the ordained appointment of the Father. That is why Jesus stated in Matthew 24:6,:”But of that day knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only.”

So will the rapture of the Church simply be whenever Jesus finally decides to return, whenever that may be? No!! It will be when the Father says so!! Yes, Jesus is God incarnate in human flesh. But as truly man, he will follow Jewish tradition regarding His coming for His Bride.

Meanwhile, the Jewish bride had her own wedding preparations to make, not according to her own wishes or desires as we generally do in our culture, but according to the directives given by the first Friend of the Bridegroom. So it was imperative that she listen to the Friend carefully, and follow his advice -- not because she was afraid of raising the ire of the bridegroom, but because of her great love for the bridegroom, and her desire to honor him. She knew her groom would be communicating his desires and love through the Friend. Not listening to the Friend, then, would be an affront to her bridegroom!

The bride knew she must be ready at a moments notice to leave her own home. When the shouting and trumpet were heard, the first “Friend of the Bridegroom” would ceremonially escort the bride to rendevous with the bridegroom. The entire wedding party would then ceremonially return to the father’s estate.

Then the final wedding preparations would be made just prior to the actual wedding ceremony and celebrations. These final preparations in the father’s house would generally take two to three more days, following which the wedding ceremonies and celebrations would take place. Therefore, there is time allotted for the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ to take place in Heaven before the formal wedding of Christ and the Church.

The official wedding celebration would last for a full week during which the couple would be “hidden” in the chambers prepared by the groom, and the guests would celebrate with much feasting and dancing. During the wedding festivities, the bride and groom would be referred to as “King” and “Queen.” Therefore, the honoring of the Groom at his wedding would be as that of a Coronation, and his Wife, Queen, would be presented in holy matrimony to him.

We, as the Bride, are exhorted by Jesus Himself in His communique to the Seven Churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, to “hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches.”

This is not just passing casual advice, but the wishes of the Bridegroom explaining the absolute privilege and necessity to listen to the Holy Spirit, the Friend of the Bridegroom. His directive is not given to be heavy-handed, but because He wants us to know He really loves us, and that His desires are for our best interest as we prepare for our up-coming wedding! In fact, the Church should be absolutely honored 
and excited to have the privilege to listen to the voice of the Friend of the Bridegroom, the Holy Spirit. Such should be our true joy!! Preparing for the wedding should not be a chore!

But it is important to understand the difference between the groom’s betrothal gift of apparel, and the final wedding dress he provides. While he was away, the bride would wear the robes her bridegroom provided, revealing to all around her that she was chosen and set apart in betrothal. She would set aside her previous wardrobe, and in all humility, love, and honor, wear the wardrobe her beloved provided. These betrothal robes identified her with her bridegroom, and gave him honor, letting all 
know who he was, and that he had rightful, and legal claim to her love and  devotion, and she to his. Her clothing, and her actions revealed her betrothed state. A bride that was engaged to be married would lovingly wish to live in a chaste manner while she awaited her wedding day.

As the Bride, we should be honored to daily put on our robes of righteousness provided by Jesus Christ, revealing to the world by our life-style and conversation that we are set-apart unto the LORD!! Our testimony of loving Him, and of His great love for us, should be our highest priority in front of the whole world. We should be desirous to reflect Jesus Christ to the world, living lives of holiness and purity. As a Bride in love, we should be honestly proud to reveal our devotion to, 
and our identification with Jesus Christ.

In fact, our willingness to identify with Christ, and the changed lives we lead, are part of our preparations. The LORD wants all to come to Him for salvation. The Bride is a universal entity. However, only those who accept His gift of salvation, and who are willing to devote themselves to, and identify with Him, listening to the Holy Spirit Friend, will be the Bride! 

Jesus gave us a rather sobering illustration regarding the Wedding of the Bride and Bridegroom in Matthew chapter 25: 1-13. Some view this explanation of the Foolish and Wise Virgins, (given by the way within the context of His Olivet Discourse on the unfolding of the end-times,) as being a parable. But it is more than simply a a heavenly truth illustrated using an earthly situation. Jesus described what will actually transpire when He comes for His Bride at the rapture.

“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh, Go ye out to meet him.” Matthew 25:6.

Who utters this cry? The first Friend of the Bridegroom. What separated the Wise Virgins from the Foolish Virgins? The availability of oil in their vessels with their lamps so they could immediately trim their lamps. In other words, knowing what it means to listen to the Holy Spirit! The Wise were tuned-in. The foolish were not.

Although during the preparation time the bride would wear the betrothal robes provided by the groom, these garments were not her actual wedding dress. She would be given her wedding dress as part of the final preparations in the father’s house, bestowed upon her in wedded love, because the bride was indeed ready, prepared, and worthy to wear it. The wedding dress, unlike the betrothal gifts of adornment, was a seal of love and approval, and total acceptance. The groom was letting her know that he now was ready to make her his wedded wife forever in holy matrimony. The  betrothal garments could not be earned or merrited, but were solely the unqualified gifts bestowed by the groom. But the wedding dress carried a significance that acknowledged that the devotion and chaste preparations on the part of the bride was acceptable by the groom and his father. She was granted the privilege of being given her wedding dress!. And now she stood cleansed, arrayed in purity before him.

The Bride would ceremonially dip in a Mikveh ritual bath showing her purity and worthiness to be wed, indicating the wedded union could be consummated in holiness. (The Mikveh was not a cleansing, but a testimony of purity, ending the days of purification. The Mikveh indicates purification has already been completed. This sheds light on Baptism!) Stepping out of the Mikveh, she would be given her white wedding dress, indicating her purity and beauty.

Even the groom would enter a Mikveh, showing his purity. Jesus Christ was baptized, not because He was impure, but because He was pure. This took place in fulfillment of the Mikveh emersion necessary for the High Priest to fulfill his ministry duties. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, not because of any need for repentance, which was John’s baptism for those coming to him, but to fulfill the Torah Law initiating Christ into His ministry. Jesus had no need for repentance, but Himself was without sin. Rather, His work and ministry was to begin.

According to Dr. Paul Maier, Professor of Ancient History, Michigan State  University, in compliance with the Mosaic Law, John was supposed to be the High Priest following his father, Zachariah. But powers within the Jewish religious hierarchy who wanted to appease the Herodians under the Romans, appointed the High Priest instead. So Jesus’ baptism was performed by John in complete fulfillment of The Mosaic Law, since John was of the appropriate godly line of High Priests. John transferred his own rightful mantle of High Priest (whose position had already been ursurped by imposters) to the Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ, knowing that as The Lamb of God, Jesus would not be prevented from fulfilling His position to take away the sins of the world. Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mikveh, showing His purity, and His High Priestly position! He only had to do this once, just as we only need to be baptized once following our salvation. So, both the Bride and the Groom give testimony that they are ceremonially pure!

(Does this mean only those who have entered the waters of baptism can be the Bride? No. Baptism is not the cleansing, rather the washing of the blood of Christ is all that is necessary for purity. As with the Mikveh, the ceremonial waters of baptism are not the cleansing itself. They are a testimony of the purification that has already taken place through Christ. 

If we are able to be baptized, it is an outward testimony, a physical act,  cementing in our hearts, and in the sight of witnesses, what already has taken place as we symbolically bury our old life with its sins, and are symbolically raised to newness and purity of life in Christ. It is an act of symbolic obedience to the command of Christ to “Repent and be baptized.” The criteria for qualifying as the Bride is not whether we have been physically baptized, but whether we are pure in holiness before God through the atonement of Christ, and have listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit.)

The Mikveh indicates the Bride indeed kept herself pure, set-apart only unto her groom. She made herself ready by honoring him with her commitment, publicly identifying with him by daily wearing the betrothal garments, and by listening to the Friend. Therefore, she was worthy to receive her wedding dress, and would be presented to her groom in total righteousness and purity at their wedding. The bride has “made herself ready.”

This is the situation John describes in Revelation chapter 17. John is taken into Heaven, and there he sees the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, adorned in her wedding dress of righteousness, because she has made herself ready, and is worthy.

Jesus Christ payed the Bride-Price, shedding His own blood, giving His life on the cross. All we need do is accept His gift of salvation, and we are cleansed from our sin, and we become new creatures, set apart, sanctified unto Him. Jesus has provided all we need. We are given the privilege of daily wearing the robes of righteousness, giving testimony of our betrothal.

n fact, we could not provide for ourselves in our own strength. Nothing we could ever do would make us worthy. But once we are sanctified, we have a responsibility to publicly reveal that we are dressed in His provided robes of righteousness, waiting for His return for us. We look in chaste excitement for our Bridegroom!! He sees our commitment, and provides the wedding dress. Our salvation represents the 
purity provided through salvation - Justification. Our love and commitment to Christ is represented by our wearing the robes of righteousness, identifying ourselves totally with Him. That is the stewardship of daily sanctification and growth in righteous character as we listen to the Holy Spirit, preparing ourselves to be a holy Bride.

So, what are the preparations of the Bride?

1. Accept His provision of salvation, knowing we cannot ever atone ourselves for our own sin. We must be cleansed through the atonement of His blood He not only provided, but sacrificed of Himself in His death and resurrection. He is our salvation! He has paid the Bride-Price! He has provided the way for us to identify with Him. Our Mikveh is our testimony of the grace and mercy of God, generally pictured in the waters of Baptism, and will be fulfilled in body-changing resurrection power at the rapture.

2. Listen to His promises. Read His love-letter, His own Word to us, and take correction, advice, and hope from His Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

3. Realize He is alive forevermore, and really is coming back for us very soon!

4. Clothe ourselves with the robes of righteousness He has provided.

5. Live each day, knowing we are set apart unto Him.

6. Live as a set-apart Bride, honoring Him in our lifestyle and conversation.

7. Listen to the Holy Spirit leading, guiding, and teaching us, so we know the will of the LORD for our lives here while we await His return, and so we are also able to receive His ongoing love, and sense His presence. Any betrothed Bride and Bridegroom want to spend every moment with each other, communicating their love, concerns, and aspirations. Our betrothal means we have a loving, exciting relationship with Christ!!

8. Be a willing representative of Christ, fulfilling the Great Commission to take the good news of salvation to the entire world.

9. Love one another. This is Christ’s “commandment!”

10. Stay pure, remembering the betrothed commitment. Live out the Mikveh of purity. Avoid evil, and even the appearance of anything that would cast a shadow on our reputation as the Bride of Christ.

11. Do not compromise with the world’s philosophies and ideals. These are against Christ. A betrothed Bride does not bring despite on her own or her beloved’s reputation by flirting with the world.

12. Raise the standard! Do not fall victim to the standards of this world.

13. Do not entertain occult or pagan religious philosophies, or those who promote and teach them.

14 Above all, love the LORD fervently!! Do not let our relationship with Him become cold or lukewarm.

Where do we find these criteria of behavior for the Bride in preparation to meet her Bridegroom? Revelation chapters 2 and 3! When we read Jesus’ own commendations and admonitions to the Seven Churches, we are able to know what Jesus Christ requires of us, what His aspirations for us are, His longing to have an intimate relationship with us, and His desire to bless us abundantly.

However He points out shortcomings of the Churches as well, revealing His loving concerns laced with warnings if we are not willing to comply with His desires for us. Our Bridegroom is not a push-over! He has standards, and we should be grateful and proud of Him  for His stance.

But He knows we cannot live up to His expectations by  ourselves. We definitely need the prompting and help of the Friend, the Holy Spirit. That is why He points out repeatedly, “If you have ears to hear, listen to (take heed and follow the directives of) the Holy Spirit.”

He warns of the danger of not taking Him seriously! As the Bridegroom, His warnings are loving, concerned, and fair. He explains the ramifications for those who do not heed, but choose to follow their own agenda. They cannot be part of the wedded Bride, because they will not be prepared and ready when He comes.

Notice in the Matthew account of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus gives a fifty-fifty ratio. Five Virgins are Wise, and five are Foolish. But they are all Virgins! All have received salvation.  Five have the oil of the Holy Spirit available to trim their lamps. Five have run out of oil. Those not able to trim their lamps, but rather must go out to purchase oil, understandably cannot be presented to Christ at 
the Wedding-Coronation, because by the time they return, the door to the wedding is shut! Only those who love Him as a betrothed should, and who listen to the Friend, will be the Bride!! Hello!!

Will those who are not totally prepared lose their salvation? No. They just will not be the Bride. They must go to buy oil, but when they return, the door is shut. They will instead have to live through the time of wrath that is poured out on the ungodly.

Are they ungodly? No, but they were not obedient to the wishes of the Bridegroom. They chose to place themselves into a compromising position, so will be assigned to take part with the wicked during the Days of Awe. No wonder they will weep and gnash their teeth!

Will they ultimately be saved? Yes. Most of them will have the opportunity to be part of the group of righteous known as the Tribulation Saints. They will lose their physical lives, but will be resurrected in triumph when Messiah returns, and therefore will take their place next to  the Bride to rule and reign with Christ.

Our salvation is not meant to simply be a fire-escape!! The LORD actually loves us!! Do we truly love Him enough to be His Bride, betrothed, set-apart, sanctified, prepared in holiness? Preparing ourselves to be presented to Him is not rocket science! It is loving Him, and daily desiring to honor Him in a manner befitting the Bride of the LORD of Heaven Earth!

Submitted by:
Maureen Metcalf

The Jewish Life Cycle - The Question of Marriage/ The Mikveh
Joseph Good, (1989) Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to Come, Port 
Arthur Texas, Hatikvah Ministries.

http://teshuvatrumpet.org