The Coming Marriage Supper*

                                                                           Jewish Ketubah Marriage Contract

     

          This season of the fall feasts of the LORD also brings to mind the coming Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The marriage between the Bride of Christ and the Bridegroom, Jesus, reflects the traditional practices of the Jewish wedding. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Jesus, is shown in Revelation 19:7-10: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour 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 saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony (martirya/martys - record, report, testimony, witness, the office of the prophet of testifying concerning future events/martyr, witness, those who have proven the strength and genuineness of their faith in Christ to the death) of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." This relationship as we can see requires a wholehearted commitment to the Lord.

     To one of the churches in Revelation, Jesus sends this message: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me...To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (Rev. 3:20). This reflects the traditional Jewish wedding customs. According to custom, the bridegroom and his father approach the prospective bride's home and knock on the door. If she consents, she tells her father to open the door. The bride's family has prepared a meal, and the bridegroom presents the Ketubah marriage contract to the bride and her family. The Ketubah contract or covenant contains promises from the bridegroom and his family of all of the things the bride will be entitled to and gifted upon the marriage. If agreeable, both the bridegroom and the bride will sign the Ketubah contract.

     Similarly to the Ketubah marriage contract mentioned above, Peter wrote of the promises and gifts given to us, the Bride of Christ: "According as his (Christ's) divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust: and beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge...temperance...patience...godliness....brotherly kindness...charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ...For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Pet. 1:1-11, excerpt). Peter also wrote that he who lacks the diligence to develop these qualities, is blind and has forgotten that he has been purged of his old sins. We cannot walk in sin and continue to have fellowship with the Lord.

     We have another example of the presenting of a contract or covenant, and the acceptance, as a bridegroom and bride would also exchange. Moses presented the covenant of the LORD to Israel and Israel accepted it: "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do." (Ex. 24:3). Have you agreed to the Bridegroom, Christ's, covenant/contract, and have you prepared for the marriage supper?

     Our actions should reflect the knowledge that we have a marriage contract with Christ. We are joined to Him, raised up as the Father has raised up our Lord, and we are not to be joined to the ways of the flesh and this world: "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ and join them to a harlot? God forbid...But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication...Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Cor. 6:14-20). The wedding unity with Christ is compared to the unity of resurrection with Christ. He has bought us with a price. Jesus even supplied, in the dispensation of the fulness of times in which all things are gathered together into Christ, the assurance or title deed of His Ketubah wedding contract with His Bride, which is the Holy Spirit: "...ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest or our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Eph. 1:10-14, excerpt, see also 2 Cor. 5:5-7).

     Our relationship with Jesus Christ is compared directly to a marriage relationship in scripture. Women are urged to submit to the husband who would sacrifice himself for her as Christ did for the church as the Head of the church. In the same way, husbands are to walk in the image of Christ: "Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water of the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:22-27). According to custom, the Jewish bride would make her own wedding garment. The Bride of Christ prepares her wedding garment also. Our obedience to and purpose in Christ shown in our lives is our wedding garment without spot, blemish or wrinkle. In His faithful forgiveness, He cleanses us of all unrighteousness, the spots, wrinkles and blemishes in our wedding garment, as we confess our sins to Him.

     Jesus told a parable about a wedding that reflects His own marriage to the church. Jesus said that there was a king who had prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants with the invitation, saying: "Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage." (Mt. 22:1-4). However, those who had been invited to this special event made light of it and went about their daily activities, ignoring the invitation. Some even mistreated the servants of the king and killed them. The king became angry and sent his army out to kill the murderers of his servants and to burn their cities. He said to his servants: "The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." (v. 8-9). The servants bid everyone that they found, good or bad, to come to the wedding. When the king came to the wedding, he saw that there was a man there who was not dressed in a wedding garment. When the king asked him why he did not have a wedding garment, the man had no answer. Then the king said, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Jesus ended the parable by saying, "For many are called, but few are chosen." (v. 10-14). Immediately after this, the religious elite, the Pharisees, sought how they might trap Jesus by His Words. (v. 15).

     As Jesus mentioned in His parable, there is a judgment of fire coming next time, rather than the flood of water. Like the first invited guests, there are those who become caught up in the cares and activities of this world and refuse the invitation of the King, the Father of the Bridegroom, or consider it unimportant. There are those who have not prepared their wedding garment and will not be accepted. There are those who should know better, like the Pharisees mentioned above, but for reasons of pride or money look for ways to reject the invitation and its warning, which is the Word of God.

     In the same manner as the Jewish marriage custom, where the bridegroom before the marriage prepares a home for his new wife and himself, attached to his father's house, Jesus also said that He was preparing a place for us: "...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 to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." (Jn. 14:1-4). When asked by His disciple where and how they were to go to this place, Jesus answered: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (v. 5-6). This is the Ketubah wedding contract promise of Christ to His church.

     Jesus also told a parable of ten virgins, five being wise and five, foolish. All ten were awaiting the coming of the bridegroom to meet him and enter into the marriage. The five wise virgins had oil to light their lamps when the bridegroom appeared, but the five foolish had not prepared their oil. All slept because the bridegroom had tarried. Suddenly, at midnight, the cry could be heard, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." (Mt. 25:1-6). The ten virgins woke and arose, trimming their lamps in order to light them. The five foolish virgins realized that they didn't have enough oil for their lamps, and their lamps had gone out. They asked the five wise virgins to give them some oil. The five wise refused, saying: "Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." (v. 7-9). While the five foolish virgins went out to buy the needed oil for their lamps, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went into the marriage, and the door was shut. When the five foolish virgins realized that they had missed the bridegroom, they followed later to the marriage where the door had been shut, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not." (v. 10-12).  Jesus warned His listeners saying, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (v. 13).

     We see the Jewish wedding customs in the above parable. According to custom, when all of the preparations for the marriage were ready, the bridegroom would go to his betrothed's house and "spirit" her away to the marriage. Jesus was telling us to make sure that we are ready at any moment to enter into the marriage with Him. If we are not prepared, having no oil (Holy Spirit) in our lamps (as the light of the world), we will miss the unexpected moment of His coming for His Bride. We cannot borrow preparedness from others, but we must have procured it for ourselves through impartation of the Word and the Spirit beforehand. The doctrines of men and devils will not prepare the Bride but they only serve to divide and deceive the church. Many choose to be ignorant of the return of Christ and the judgment that will follow, and remain unprepared for that sudden moment. Jesus told churches in Revelation that if they do not repent, He would remove the lampstand, the source of their light, from their midst.

     In the parable, once the door had been shut, there was no admittance to the marriage. The prophet Isaiah wrote of God telling His people to enter into their chambers, shutting the door, and hiding themselves until God's indignation with the inhabitants of the earth had overpassed. (Isa. 26:20).

     Are we "Rapture-ready" to go with the Lord, to meet Him in the air? Have we prepared our oil and our wedding garments to go into the marriage supper with Him? We will not know the day nor the hour, as Jesus said, but we know the appointed times of the Feasts of the LORD, and of the signs of the times.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 9/20/26 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on the Facebook page of Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at the Kenneth Stevenson channel. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, which is evidence of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook. Also the book NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling, written by Dr. Stevenson, is available on Amazon.