Revelation Revealed

Revelation Revealed This study and document was sparked by John Klien’s and Adam Spear’s book (a series of 3) Lost in Translation Volume 2. For believers, the end times scenario is a preparation and invitation to a wedding feast. For unbelievers, the end times scenario is a time of suffering and disaster. Because I am a believer in the One Creator of the Universe, Yahweh, and all that is in it, and Yahshua, Yahweh manifested in the flesh, I am going to focus on the coming Wedding Feast found within the Hebraic interpretation of the Book of the Revelation. What is and was a Hebrew Wedding like from courtship to betrothal to ceremony? Well, let’s take a look. In ancient times, there were two celebrations, which occurred on two separate occasions with a time span in between. There was the betrothal first then the actual wedding. During the time between the betrothal and wedding, the bride was considered married although she stayed at her father’s house. If one of the marriage parties decided against consummating the marriage, there was a divorce. If the bride was found to be with another man during the betrothal time period, there would also have to be a divorce, even though there had not been a “marriage” per se. The actual wedding was simply the bride going from her father’s house to the groom’s house, in a marvelous procession to consummate, physically, the marriage. The father of the bridegroom chose the bride. Then a trusted servant was sent to the bride to ask her if she would

consider betrothal and marriage to his son. The woman did have the option of saying yes or no. Then, if the answer was yes, a ritual was set into motion. The father of the bridegroom and the bridegroom would go together to the home of the bride and her father. They would knock on the door. The bride would look out and see who was at the door. She would then tell her father to go and open the door, which was the answer ‘yes’ to the proposal of marriage. If the woman did not want to marry, had changed her mind, she would request that her father not open the door. The bridegroom and his father would then go away and not pursue the woman to marry. The bridegroom and his father would bring a betrothal cup, wine, and the anticipated bride price in a pouch. If the door was opened, the four of them, the father of the bride, the bride, the bridegroom and his father, would sit down at the eating table and discuss the terms of the marriage contract—The Ketubah. Remember this word, it is very important later on. The Ketubah was the marriage contract, in writing. It was binding once agreed upon. The Ketubah Once verbal terms were agreed upon by the four parties involved mentioned earlier, 3 more people were summoned to finalize the contract. The Ketubah contract required 2 witnesses and a scribe. The scribe, of course, was responsible for writing everything down. Once written down, all SEVEN persons signed this contract; the scribe, the two witnesses, the father of the groom, the groom, the father of the bride, and the bride. The Ketubah was only valid with the 7 signatures. The Ketubah was ‘sealed’ with a cup of wine that was consumed by the marriage party, the cup of communion. This Ketubah contained: The identity of the groom and his family The identity of the bride and her family The lineage of the groom The lineage of the bride

The wine cup During the ‘hammering out’ of the ketubah, there were 4 times in which the marriage party would raise the wine cup and drink. These 4 times signified where exactly the marriage party was in their ketubah negotiations. When all was agreed upon, everyone sat down and had dinner together, a supper. Cup #1 was consumed almost directly after the door was closed after the bridegroom and his father entered the house. Remember, this was the official “yes.” This cup was consumed by everyone that was in the house. It was a complete agreement between families and family members that the two families were going to become one and serve one another. A cup of sanctification (also called the blood covenant or servant covenant in the bigger picture) Cup #2 was consumed by the bride, groom, and their father’s only. This was the cup of Betrothal (also known as the salt covenant or friendship covenant) Cup #3 was the cup of redemption (also called inheritance). It signified the shared inheritance of the marriage partners. The scribe was summoned and all was written down. Cup #4 was the cup of praise to be consumed at the wedding ceremony. At this point, this couple ARE MARRIED! The bridegroom goes away to prepare the home they both will live in. He will prepare in every way to provide everything his bride needs. This usually took up to 2 years time. The bride used this time to prepare herself for the consummation of the marriage. She would cleanse herself, be faithful to her betrothed, and wait for him to return to catch her away to their new home. She never REALLY knew the time her groom would return for her, so she had to always be ready at any time for his return. Note: during this betrothal period, the bride could change her mind at any point and call the whole thing off. The groom however, was completely committed. If he called it off, there

would have to be an official divorce decree, and only for the specific reason of the bride not being a virgin, or infidelity. The groom also went about choosing his groomsmen. Their job was to do whatever the groom needed to help plan for the wedding. Also, of course, there were all kinds of people invited to the wedding feast. When the guests arrived to the place of the wedding, they were to bath, In Hebrew, the word is Mikvah. They were to remove their everyday garments, wash or immerse themselves in water, and then they were given one garment to put on- a pure white linen garment of one layer only. Everyone at the wedding was in white to symbolize the purity of the ceremony. The bride, who was not at the ceremony yet, was to wear 4 layers of white linen clothing. More on that later. Back to the Ketubah, the marriage contract. This contract, after being drafted, scribed and signed by the 7 parties, was sealed and had the appearance of a rolled up scroll. The next time it would be opened would be on the wedding day. The ONLY person who could open and read the Ketubah was the groom himself. Only he had authorization to open it and read it before all of the guests. If it so happened that during the time period that elapsed between the betrothal and the wedding feast celebration ceremony, the bride had sinned in some manner that would warrant a divorce (unfaithfulness, sexual immorality, etc), only the groom could make things right. Only the groom had the authority to open the Ketubah, read it aloud, and pronounce her clean. If he said it, it was so. However, he HAD to have paid the price (whether in gold, silver, labor, etc) to correct whatever sin it was that she had committed. The groom’s act of opening the scroll was an act proclaiming his bride faithful and ready for marriage. The groom could open the ketubah and proclaim his bride’s purity even if she

was not pure, but only if he himself had already paid the price for her sin. The bride and groom were married under a covering, with the guests looking on. They were treated as a king and queen for 7 days.