This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

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Few events are more jubilant than a Jewish wedding. In Hebrew, it’s described as a simcha, or “joyous occasion.” As we think about the return of Jesus, it may help stir our passions to consider the details of an ancient Jewish wedding, which forms an apt parable of God’s redemptive work.

Let’s begin with John’s report of hearing a thundering voice in heaven, a voice he describes as “the sound of cascading waters, and the rumbling of loud thunder” (Rev. 19:6): 

Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns! Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure…. Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb! (Rev. 19:6-9).

A day is coming when Christ’s bride – believers from every nation, tribe, people, and language – are gathered in heaven to consummate the marriage between Jesus and his followers. At that time, we enjoy the marriage supper of the Lamb. A look into ancient Jewish weddings reveals key truths about our covenant relationship with Jesus, his promise to prepare a place in heaven for us, and the certainty of his return.

Jewish weddings, as known and practiced in first-century Israel, feature three distinct elements.

1. Shiddukhin

First comes the shiddukhin, or marriage contract. It begins with the pairing of bride and groom – a careful process that fathers sometimes undertake on behalf of their sons and daughters while their children are quite young. It involves foresight, initiative, pursuit, and negotiation. The father of the groom often selects a bride for his son, as Abraham does for Isaac (Gen. 24:1-4). In these cases, marriage is viewed as a strategic alliance between two families for protection or enrichment. 

There is a sense in which Yahweh presides over the very first shiddukhin. Observing Adam, the Lord says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him” (Gen. 2:18). The Lord then brings all the animals before Adam, who names them. While the diverse creatures of Eden are pleasing to the eyes and offer a form of companionship, Adam realizes that “no helper was found corresponding to him” (Gen. 2:20).

So, the Lord causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He removes a rib from Adam’s side, and from it he forms the perfect mate – a woman, about whom Adam declares, “This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken from man” (Gen. 2:23).

Adam and Eve are a perfect match. This truly is a marriage made in heaven, and it sets the stage for the institution of marriage, in which one man and one woman unite in a covenant relationship for a lifetime. As the Lord says, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). 

Centuries later, when asked about proper grounds for divorce, Jesus directs the Pharisees back to Eden. “Haven’t you read,” he tells them, “that he who created them in the beginning made them male and female.” Jesus goes on to say, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matt. 19:4-6). 

This always has been God’s creative intent. And it pictures the covenant of salvation between God and fallen creatures made in his image. As we survey Scripture, we see the shiddukhin of redemption unfold – that is, the marriage contract between holy God and sinful humans. Immediately after the Fall, God reveals his plan of salvation, promising a redeemer who crushes the head of the evil one and sets things right (Gen. 3:15). 

Later, the Lord graciously chooses Noah and his family to survive the flood in an ark that prefigures the finished work of Christ. Yahweh then selects Abraham as the father of his chosen people, who enter into a covenant with God by faith. The Lord refers to Israel as his wife, and he preserves a faithful remnant even when the people wander into spiritual adultery. God raises up priests as mediators, King David as a type of Messiah, and prophets to warn, guide, and encourage faithfulness to Israel’s husband.

Ultimately, Yahweh sends his Son – the promised seed of woman – who depicts himself as the bridegroom. Jesus lives a sinless life for his bride, dies for her sins, and rises from the dead to defeat Satan, the ancient enemy that ruined the very first shiddukhin. The ransom Jesus pays on the cross is the dowry for his bride (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45).

Eternity past

Followers of Jesus may look back, not just into history, but into eternity past to see how God selects and pursues his Son’s bride. 

Consider that Scripture says we are foreknown, which means our omniscient God always has known us and loved us, reckoning us predestined, called, justified, and glorified (Rom. 8:29-30). Further, we are elected, which means God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).

And we are predestined, which describes God’s plan from eternity past to complete the work of redemption in every saint, fully conforming us to the image of his Son (Phil. 1:6). Predestination cannot be separated from his other works of redemption before time, in time, or beyond time. From a human standpoint, God’s predestination from the farthest reaches of eternity invades time, applies to us, and continues out into eternity future in glorification.

These three facets of salvation before time – foreknowledge, election, and predestination – cannot be divorced from human responsibility. God’s sovereignty, and the endowed right of people to make decisions for which God holds us accountable, are seemingly parallel biblical truths. Where they intersect in the mind of God is a wondrous mystery to his creatures. Even angels scratch their heads as they plumb the depths of these remarkable works of God (1 Pet. 1:12). 

Katubah

With this background in mind, let’s return to an ancient Jewish shiddukhin. Whether the father selects his son’s bride or involves him in the process, the father ultimately approaches the young maiden’s father and seeks a mutual agreement. The parents of both the bridegroom and the bride sign a marriage contract, involving a dowry paid to the bride and her parents. The contract, called a ketubah, protects the rights of the bride by specifying the groom’s responsibilities in caring for her, and the amount of support that’s due her in the unlikely event of divorce.

None of this preparatory work overrides the freedom of the prospective bride, who must agree to terms of the marriage covenant, as well as agree to become the bride. This is an essential freedom in salvation, as it is in ancient Jewish marriage customs. You may recall that Rebecca is asked if she’s willing to go back with Abraham’s servant to marry his son, Isaac. Rebecca agrees to go; she is not forced (Gen. 24:57-59). 

In a similar way, while the Lord extends an offer of covenant marriage between his Son and us, we must agree. Once we do, the Lord remains faithful, even if we engage in activity worthy of divorce. Our eternal life is secure – not because we’re faithful, but because God has known us from eternity past and keeps his marriage covenant into eternity future, when we take part in the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

Mikvah

One additional tie between the shiddukhin and God’s work of redemption is the mikvah, or water ritual. Mikvah is a Hebrew word meaning “a gathering of waters.” A mikvah often is a body of natural water such as a river, lake, or spring. But over time, it became common to construct special pools for water rituals. Traditionally, in preparation for the next phase of marriage, the bride and groom are separately immersed in water. This symbolizes their purity and acts as a token of spiritual cleansing.

Israelites practiced mikvah since the days of Moses. As one website notes: “For the observant Jew, the mikvah personifies both the womb and the grave and consequently, rebirth. It is regarded as a pure, unadulterated avenue of connection with God; and for that reason, it is a place where hope is reawakened and strengthened.”

Scripture commands entering the mikvah for a number of common life events. For example, a person who becomes ritually unclean through contact with a dead person must be immersed in water before re-entering the temple. A leper declared healed by a priest must enter the mikvah as well (see Lev. 14:1-4, 7, 9). And a woman who completes her menstrual cycle needs to be immersed before resuming sexual relations with her husband (Lev. 15:19-24).

Today, one of the most widely practiced uses of the mikvah is the pre-wedding preparation of the bride and groom.

The primary significance of the mikvah isn’t for physical cleansing, but to symbolize a spiritual cleansing. That’s how the mikvah in an ancient Jewish wedding ties into Christian baptism. As Peter writes, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21).

A man who wants to become Jewish must undergo two rites: circumcision and immersion. A woman must be immersed. When Gentile converts go down into the waters of the mikvah, they leave behind their pagan ways – symbolically dying to their old lives – and coming up out of the water as newborn children with new identities. The term “born again” actually originates in Judaism. 

When Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be “born again,” Nicodemus may be thinking, not only of physical rebirth, but of converting to Judaism again. But Jesus explains that spiritual rebirth – not ethnic identity or religious ritual – is necessary to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:1-21). 

Immersing oneself in a mikvah is an expression of rebirth. It’s like re-entering the womb, a place of God’s creative power, and being born again. In a similar manner, immersion represents death and resurrection. That’s likely what Paul has in mind when he writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). 

Paul also understands the death and rebirth imagery of baptism and compares it with the death and resurrection of Jesus:

Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4).

In Matthew 3:13-17, Jesus submits to baptism in the Jordan River at the hands of John the Baptist. Jesus has no need of spiritual cleansing; he’s sinless. Yet, he’s baptized, at least in part, as an open declaration that he’s ready to enter into the next phase of his relationship with us: betrothal.

Further, his final instructions to his disciples show the important role baptism plays in making Jews and Gentiles disciples of the Messiah: 

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20).

So, in ancient times, having signed the marriage covenant, the bride and groom separately enter the mikvah. In so doing, the bride pledges herself to the groom and declares her desire to remain chaste. The groom pledges fidelity to his chosen bride. It’s a beautiful picture of believer’s baptism, in which followers of Jesus publicly declare their devotion to the bridegroom and their confidence in his promised return. Meanwhile, Jesus, in his baptism in the Jordan, proclaims his love for his bride and his commitment to follow through as a faithful bridegroom.

In summary, the shiddukhin is the formalization of a marriage bond. It features the ketubah, or contract, by which the terms and price are established, and to which both parties agree. It also involves the mikvah, or ritual bath, which symbolizes the purity of the bride and groom and acts as a token of spiritual cleansing. 

In the Incarnation, Jesus comes to offer us an everlasting covenant relationship with him. He pays the dowry – the bride price, our sin debt – through his finished work on the cross, and submits to water baptism to identify with us and to signal his readiness to enter the next phase of the marriage covenant.

Next: Our Betrothal to Christ