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Each marriage, each love story, and even the longing to find a mate, I believe is intended by God to point us to a far greater love story, which is the love of the Messiah for His bride.

I was recently impacted by the modern-day story of a young couple who chose to go through a uniquely prophetic journey to marriage. Their journey points beautifully to the very heart of Jesus’ promise to one day return to earth to fetch His bride.

The Betrothal

Brayden and Tali – with the blessing of their parents – went through a beautiful betrothal ceremony attended by family and friends. It included the young couple pledging their love to each other, washing each other’s feet, publicly reading their marriage covenant and sharing in communion together.

While the ceremony was deeply moving, we were in for a surprise at the end as Brayden solemnly rose to his feet to announce that he had to go. Being a builder, he was literally leaving to start building their future house. The camera followed Tali’s face as Brayden left the room, and from that point onwards, the young couple were to have no direct face-to-face contact until the time of their marriage ceremony.

As the months went by, Tali was increasingly yearning and longing to be with her future husband, while doing her best to get ready for the big day ahead. Meanwhile, with the help of builder friends, Brayden was working around the clock to prepare their new house.

Finally, everything was ready and it was arranged for the families on both sides to spend a week at a camping ground anticipating the big moment. Inspired by the ancient Jewish practice, the groom would appear at an unspecified time during the week and the bride and guests would just have to make sure that they were ready at a moment’s notice.

I was stunned as I witnessed the intense expectation and longing on display during this week. It was such a vivid picture to me of how we, as Jesus’ bride, should be waiting with joyful expectation for His soon return!

One day at the camp, the unmistakable sound of a shofar (trumpet) echoed through the campsite. A crowd of family and friends quickly gathered at the appointed meeting place, with Tali at the front of the crowd, waiting in her wedding dress in eager anticipation for what was about to happen next. Gasps and applause arose from the crowd as they spotted in the distance the groom himself, riding on a stunning white horse and flanked by his groomsmen carrying their shofars. What a moment!

As he arrived, Brayden descended from his horse and embraced his beloved, Tali.  The young couple were now inseparable and quite simply couldn’t stop smiling as they gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes. The waiting period was finally over, and the party could now begin as this young couple began their married lives together.

Our Heavenly Bridegroom

As believers, we are like Tali, waiting for our future bridegroom. But unlike Tali, we are waiting for the arrival of the most glorious Bridegroom of all history, Jesus. He is the ultimate Bridegroom, the One who loves us with the greatest love ever possible.

At any wedding, the groom can hardly wait to finally see and be with His beloved bride. All the more so, Jesus is longing and waiting for the time to come and fetch His beloved bride – you! He loves you intensely and passionately and is more excited over you than you can ever imagine.

Are you and I ready for that great day? Are we dressed in pure wedding garments, indicating our separation from this world to belong to Him alone?

Many of us can have a hard time imagining Him being so excited over us. After all, we are painfully aware of our own shortcomings and failures. Our own guilt and shame hinder us from embracing His return with the confident excitement of Tali.

Paul the Apostle had many mistakes in his life, yet he could confidently declare, “There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Thank God, that through Jesus we have a way to deal with our sin and our shame, confessing and repenting of it before Him. And as we do, He clothes us in righteousness and beauty.

As the book of Revelation declares, “the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” (Rev 19:7). It goes on to clarify “to her it was granted [given] to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints”.

In other words, we are to prepare ourselves for this great future day, but we must always remember that it is He who will supply our ‘fine linen’ – the beautiful wedding garments which enable us to stand before Him in that day without condemnation and shame.

So each time we witness a beautiful wedding here on earth, may it be a reminder to us of the beautiful and glorious heavenly wedding yet to come, and of the fact that we have a heavenly Bridegroom who is eagerly anticipating the time when He can come for us. What a day that will be!

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Enoch and Sarah Lavender are the authors of “Hope Fulfilled: Finding Love God’s Way”, a book chronicling their own prophetic journey to marriage and the many lessons learnt along the way. Their book is available via major retailers or via Olive Tree Ministries.

Image courtesy of Adobe.