However, it is exciting for both of us to see many new writers on matters of eschatology who are now rising to the forefront as never before, which makes old “Anti-Pre-Trib” folks like Dave and myself feel that these new young, hard-working and dedicated researcher and writers of this subject are handling the word of God with a greater responsibility to truth as opposed to the mythology that has predominated Christendom written by the likes of John Darby, C.I. Scofield, Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye et al for the last 150 years.
One of those particular subjects being scrutinized more so concerns the many premillennial dispensationalists who use the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (Revelations 19:1-9) as a Biblical proof that the church can be seen getting ready to return back to earth with Christ (at His Second Advent) after participating in a great wedding in heaven; the church being the Bride of the Lamb which supposedly was wedded to Christ. This, as they contend, happens after the church experienced the Pre-Tribulation Rapture to Heaven seven years earlier to escape the so-called “Great Tribulation.”
In today’s blog, we will first present an analytical perspective from my dear friend and colleague Dave MacPherson, followed by an excerpt from my book, The End Times Passover, which can be found in Chapter 11, “Jesus Possesses the Promised Land, Forever, When The Lord Marries The Bride.” While both Dave and I provide information based on our own researching endeavors, it is obvious that we both are on the same page concerning the need to once and for all put to bed the theories and conjecture that Jewish wedding rituals have anything to do with the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, which itself is becoming an even weaker theory than ever before.
PRETRIB RAPTURE: A STAGED EVENT! By Dave MacPherson
Every encyclopedia I checked (including the Jewish Encyclopedia) states that there are two stages in such a wedding: the "kiddushin" (betrothal) and the "nissuin" (marriage).
Although some pretrib leaders find proof for their rapture view in Jewish wedding stages, there is widespread disagreement among them over how many stages there are.
In his comprehensive book "The End Times Passover," media figure Joe Ortiz refers to John Walvoord's book "The Rapture Question" which accepts R. C. H. Lenski's view that a Hebrew marriage has three stages.
Charles Monk sees 5 "customs" (stages).
Arnold Fruchtenbaum has found 6 "steps" (stages) that Thomas Ice has appropriated.
The ReturnToGod.com site observes 12 "steps" (stages).
Not to be outdone, Renald Showers actually sees 17 "customs" (stages).
(Think of all the work to boil down 17 or even 5 stages into a two-stage second coming!)
An internet blog titled For The Love of Truth is representative of not a few that reveal that it's dangerous as well as unscriptural to base a pretrib rapture outlook on Jewish traditions. In an article titled "Jewish Wedding and Rapture" the same blog has some startling information:
It says: "Jewish Wedding traditions being discussed are the rabbinic teachings found within the Talmud and Kabbalah." (Not only are these sources occultic and anti-Biblical but the Talmud is filled with lies and blasphemy about Jesus that are as irrational as they are totally evil!)
It reveals that certain pretrib leaders "have taken snippets of the various Jewish wedding traditions" and "rearranged and reinvented the content and events and then made the declaration that the Jewish wedding tradition is really the story of Christ and the rapture...."
It also states that "the seven blessings [during the ceremony] obviously have nothing to do with Jesus Christ or His return," adding that "Nowhere does the Bible tell us to interpret scripture by looking to man's traditions."
Incidentally, it's well-known that pretrib rapture defenders claim that certain Bible passages are on "church" ground while other passages are on "Jewish" ground and that we should always maintain the Darby-approved "church/Israel separation" principle. However, with impunity they can jettison that principle in the twinkling of an eye if they need support for their 180-year-old novelty from occultic Jewish traditions or from Lev. 23's Jewish feasts!
Since far too many pretrib leaders seem to be "stage-struck," and since their strickenness has rubbed off on me, I hereby share a personal "revelation" I've had lately that I've titled "The Seven-Stage Coming (I Thess. 4)" which proves that pretribs should be looking for a seven-stage coming and not just a measly two-stage coming:
1 - The Lord descends.
2 - The shout.
3 - The archangel's voice.
4 - The trumpet of God.
5 - The dead rise.
6 - The caught up (rapture).
7 - The meeting in the air.
Yes, seven stages. And isn't 7 supposed to be a perfect number?
Something else. Have you noticed the unnatural language pretribs like to use? If a friend visits me, goes away for a month, and then comes back and visits me again, he never says: "I'm back for the SECOND stage of my one visit." But pretribs use wording like this when they place SEVERAL YEARS between their two stages!
During their short history pretrib promoters have disagreed on many things in addition to the number of stages in a Jewish wedding. They have also disagreed on which Jewish feast is symbolic of a pretrib rapture, and disagreed on which symbol in the book of Revelation is the best "pretrib" symbol. (For 30 years Darby's basis for a pretrib rapture was Rev. 12:5's "man child" that is caught up!)
Finally, it's apparent that pretrib teachers are experts in arithmetic - the MULTIPLYING of stages which has caused a lot of DIVISION among Christians!
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Jesus Possess the Promised Land, When the Lord Marries The Bride!
By Joe Ortiz
Before we examine more closely the messages we are to understand concerning the above cited verses (Revelations 19:1-9), let us first focus on this marital aspect. Just what does it mean when it states in Isaiah 62:4 that your land will be married? As the author discussed this “New Jerusalem is the Holy City of God, also called the Bride of the Lamb, and not the church” issue with a colleague, his response was: “How can the Lord be seen marrying land? He added, “It doesn’t make sense.”
The author recognizes how this marrying the land aspect could cause some confusion. However, if examined closer, what we see in Isaiah 62:4 (and fulfilled in Revelation 19:7) is not a picture of the Lamb of God marrying the Christian Church in the traditional matrimonial sense, as theorists contend; but, rather, this chapter is giving us greater insights about what the word marry truly means. This biblical wedding spoken of in Revelation 19:7 is not a wedding as we understand the institution of a marriage ceremony today; but, rather, these scriptural verses are describing Jesus finally possessing His (and our) eternal dwelling place, the Holy City of God, New Jerusalem!
Most theorists use the Jewish cultural wedding rites as an example to support their belief that the Christian Church will be secretly caught up to heaven for seven years, participate as a bride in a wedding to Jesus Christ, and then see it returning with Him at The Second Advent. It is their contention that the Jewish wedding rites are allegorical of the three stages the Christian Church (as the Bride) will experience before the so-called Great Tribulation. John Walvoord (The Rapture Question), in his debate with George Eldon Ladd’s post-tribulation position, asserts thusly:"As a New Testament scholar, Ladd no doubt is acquainted with the facts relating to a Hebrew marriage that makes his position untenable. As Lenski and others have pointed out, -- Hebrew marriage has three states: (1) the legal marriage consummated by the parents of the bride and the groom; (2) the groom goes to take his bride from her parent’s home; (3) the wedding supper or feast. Most Greek scholars take the Greek word GAMOS, translated “wedding” in Revelation 19:7, to mean, “Wedding feast.” With the exception of Hebrews 13:4, this is the uniform meaning in the New Testament. Ladd himself alluded to this inferring to the event as “the marriage banquet” and “marriage supper.” It should be clear, then, that if the marriage supper is in view here, the wedding has already been legally consummated and the bridegroom has already come for his bride." (John Walvoord, The Rapture Question, page 163, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979)
We don’t have any argument with Walvoord’s (and other theorists’) understanding of Jewish wedding rites; however, what we see in Isaiah 62:4 and Revelation 19:7 is not a picture of a marriage ceremony in the Jewish cultural (or even in the Western traditional) sense. To fully understand exactly what is transpiring here, one must examine the word “marry” and “husband” in the original Hebrew text to clearly understand what the words “husband” and “marry” precisely mean. Let’s examine these two words.
Unger and White go on to state that “the word BAAL (ba’al) occurs 84 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, 15 times with the meaning of “husband” and 50 times as a reference to deity. These two Hebrew scholars add, “The primary meaning of “ba’al” is “possessor.” They state that “Isaiah’s use of ba’al in parallel with QANAH clarifies this basic significance of ba’al: “The ox knoweth his owner (QANAH), and the ass his master’s (ba’al) crib, but Israel does not know, my people doth not consider” (Isa. 1:3) Man may be the owner (ba’al) of an animal (Exod. 22:10), a house (Exod. 22:7), a cistern (Exod. 21:34), or even a wife (Exod. 21:3),” (Unger and White, An Expository Dictionary Of Biblical Words, Thomas Nelson Publishers, page19). [Bold and underline is by the author, solely for emphasis]
Unger and White go on to state that ba’al’s secondary meaning; “husband” is clearly indicated by the phrase “ba’al ha-issha,” literally “owner of a woman.” They also state that “ba’al” may denote any deity other than the God of Israel, the ba’al or BAAL’s that modern Christianity has come to understand as the false gods that were worshipped by many Israelites throughout history.
Having gained a much more clear definition of the words marry and husband, we can now examine the more succinct meaning of Isaiah 62. If you will notice very carefully, in verses 4 and 5 of Isaiah 62, it specifically states (in no plainer words) that, No longer will they call you (faith-believing Israel, the ecclesia) Deserted, or name your land (Jerusalem) Desolate. But you (faith-believing Israel, the ecclesia) will be called Hephzibah (Hebrew: Chephtsiy bahh, my delight is in her) and your land Beulah (Hebrew: ba’al, married, possessed), “as a young man marries (Hebrew: ba’al, possesses) a maiden, so will your sons marry (Hebrew: ba’al, possess) you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will God rejoice over you.” [bold and parenthesis by the author, solely for emphasis]
As we can clearly see, verse 12 of Isaiah 62 succinctly delineates between who they are (they will be called the Holy people, the redeemed of the Lord), and you (now speaking about the land) which will be called sought after, the City No Longer Deserted. Verse 12 speaks about two subjects: They (the redeemed) and you (the city no longer deserted). Therefore this verse cannot be saying that the redeemed Christian Church (or Israel) is the land (or the city of) New Jerusalem. This prophecy in Isaiah 62 is clearing making a distinction between God’s faith-believing Israel (the ecclesia) and the land (New Jerusalem), which is the soon to come Holy City of God! This prophecy is speaking about the final outcome of salvation. It speaks about the eternal rest of faith-believing Israel (which was purchased at the cross), and it also speaks (symbolically and metaphorically) about the glorification of the old (Holy City of) Jerusalem through the eventual (and final) realization and supernatural manifestation of God’s new Holy City, which descends to earth at The Second Advent. The prophecy of Isaiah 62:1-12 is fulfilled at the cross, and the great hallelujah of salvation’s completion that we witness in Revelation 19:1-10 is the resounding proclamation of the everlasting dominion of Christ. New Jerusalem is the Holy City of God that will house faith-believing Israel (the redeemed ecclesia). New Jerusalem is the true Promised Land. (See also Hebrews 11:10-16 and 13:14). And the eternal resting place for His redeemed, which Isaiah 62:7 states cannot be attained until till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. Revelation 21:1 through 7 clearly shows this happening as the Bride of the Lamb, New Jerusalem, descends to earth:
If Isaiah 62 doesn’t describe the true “wedding of the Lamb to His bride” more graphically than the hypotheses theorists conjure up from the passages referred to in Matthew 22:1-14; Matthew 25:1-13; 2 Corinthians 11:2 and Ephesians 5:22-23 (which are used by theorists in their Christian Church-is-the-Bride scheme), then there is no hope for understanding the word of God! More importantly, as we see in Isaiah 62, verse 11, you will notice that this message is not intended for Jews or the national state of Israel, but for God’s people of promise, His ecclesia! We see this verified as Jesus uses the very same words in Revelation 22:12 that we see in Isaiah 62:11: Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. Does not Jesus speak those same words to the ecclesia in the Book of Revelation 22:12?
As much as theorists would like us to believe, that Jesus in the future is planning to become one with the Christian Church through a wedding ceremony, after examining what is really represented in Isaiah 62:2 and Revelation 19:7, it becomes clear to us that these two verses are not describing a wedding in the matrimonial sense we understand today. Besides, is not the ecclesia already the Body of Christ?
But theorists would answer back and say that these prophecies (by Isaiah) refer solely to national Israel. We would respond by saying that these future events are for faith-believing Israel, God’s children, those who believe in the Messiah, which includes the engrafted Gentiles into God’s original ecclesia, the faith-believing Israel of God. The redeemed will include tribulation saints, holy ones, the remnant, the elect, the 144,000 (of which 12,000 are Jews and the rest from the other tribes of Israel) and all of the great cloud of witnesses (that we see in Hebrews 11) who believed in the Messiah… by faith!
Whether God’s people experience a secret pre-tribulation escape to heaven (which we don’t believe will be the case); whether they become martyred during the so-called Great Tribulation, or remain alive when Christ returns (all of those names which are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life), one thing is certain, the Christian Church is not the Bride of the Lamb. New Jerusalem, God’s Holy City, His eternal dwelling place, is the true Bride of The Lamb! If theorists persist and continue to believe that the Bride of the Lamb is the Christian Church, then, pray tell, who are all of these people that are seen as the only ones who will be allowed entrance into that Holy City? Revelation 21:26 clearly states:
If the Christian Church is the Bride, and if the Bride of the Lamb is New Jerusalem, then who are these people whose names are written in this Lamb’s Book of Life, the only ones who will have access to this Holy City? They are God’s ecclesia, His called out ones! And if those people that are described in Isaiah 62:12 (They will be called the Holy people) also possess access to the city, then the only conclusion we can come to is that Isaiah’s prophecy is directed to faith-believing Israel, God’s ecclesia!
Those of us who now call ourselves Christians have been grafted into God’s original ecclesia, by the atoning works of Messiah on Calvary, and by the grace and mercy of God. Therefore, those promises spoken of in Isaiah 62 – concerning Jerusalem becoming married - clearly speak about the same heavenly promises the Christian Church embraces for itself. However, whereas the Christian Church pictures itself in heaven for an eternity, as the Bride of the Lamb, soon to be wedded to Christ, the reality is that the Bride of the Lamb is the soon-to-descend Holy City of God, which Messiah Jesus possesses forever, right here on earth. Whereas faith-believing Israel, God’s chosen remnant, that great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 11 that were looking forward to a heavenly city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14), Isaiah tells us that Messiah will marry (possess) the Bride of the Lamb, which is New Jerusalem, the soon-to-come Holy City of God! What we see in Isaiah 62 speaks about the same thing we see in Revelation 21:2 and 3. The only difference the Christian Church (and theorists) fails to see is that the Bride of the Lamb is not the Christian Church, but rather, it’s the Holy City of God, which descends to earth to be ruled by the Messiah, forever.
Therefore, the mythology of the Christian Church being seen as the Bride of the Lamb to be wedded to Christ has no scriptural foundation, whatsoever. However, the marrying (possession) of the promised land (New Jerusalem) by God has a tremendous amount of scripture to convey to us God’s true message, which is, that Jesus possesses the Promised Land, forever, when the Lord marries the Bride!
The true Promised Land is New Jerusalem, the Holy City of God, the soon-to-descend new headquarters for the Kingdom of God, where a positional status for each individual member of God’s ecclesia in that Kingdom is being prepared by Jesus Christ before its soon-to-come journey to earth.
We realize that many theorists and dispensationalists will challenge us for doubting, questioning and providing correction to the current teachings and perception that the Christian Church is the Bride of The Lamb. Removing this myth from the Christian psyche, they feel, may be damaging to many Christian’s Blessed Hope. The author was taught and personally believed that concept for many years. However, after careful scrutiny of God’s word, it is absolutely clear that the Bride of Christ cannot be the Christian Church; but, rather, the Bride is the soon-to-come City of God, New Jerusalem, which will forever be the Lord’s headquarters on earth. It is there where the ecclesia, God’s called out ones, will be able to enter into it by virtue of their names being written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, those who will be called by a new name, who will rule and reign with Him, forever, after God’s sons and daughters (the ecclesia of God) will have participated (as His guests) in that great Wedding Banquet that is to come!
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For more information about this blog and the authors two books, The End Times Passover and Why Christians Will Suffer Great Tribulation, please click on Joe Ortiz' web sites and blogs
For more information about this blog and the authors two books, The End Times Passover and Why Christians Will Suffer Great Tribulation, please click on Joe Ortiz' web sites and blogs
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2 comments:
Very interesting material. I will have to look further into all this. Thanks and God bless. Sergio
I feel that great liberties are taken when in verse 4 of Isaiah 62 you say that "they" are the ecclesia. I kinda see how you are coming to some of your conclusions but I believe that your way of thinking rules out so much of the rest of the Bible as a whole. Daniel 9 says that the prophecy is for Daniel and "his" people, Israel. The Gentiles, as you say, are grafted in but are not to be confused with Israel themselves. Israel has been blinded spiritually and will not come to Christ in large until the 70th week of Daniel. If the 144,000 are only 12,000 jewish then why are the rest listed by tribe? Surely you don't believe the lost tribes of Israel nonsense when the scripture refers to all of Israel. I guess that is why you have to say the church is Israel which is dangerous ground in my opinion.
I have questions in my head but do not feel that this blog post did anything to discredit Pre-trib or your claim of tearing out the wedding out of the theory. The fact that people disagree about details is hardly refutable evidence and none other was given. Also, the statement being made that there shouldn't be two separate events for the same 2nd coming doesnt make any sense. The rapture and the 2nd coming are two totally different events, not two parts of the same event.
I appreciate that you have a different opinion than I do and I do believe that both of you are godly men. The only reason I even ventured onto this blog post was because someone came to my blog and suggested I come see yours. May God bless you guys.
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