It was 43 years ago that my husband asked me to marry him. We were only engaged for six weeks, but I can still remember what it was like to wait, and while waiting prepare, for my wedding day. Every day was filled with preparations and every night I would put Steve's picture under my pillow. It was the longest six weeks of my life!
I was thinking about what it is like for a bride to wait for her wedding day because I was teaching this week about Jesus' second coming. The Jewish wedding ceremony began with the young man making a covenant with the bride. He would then drink a cup of wine with her to seal the contract. Finally, he would pay a bride-price to the father of the bride. At this point, the waiting would begin, because now he would leave and go to his father's house to prepare a bridal chamber for her.
Jesus used the very phase that the groom would use when leaving his bride when He said, "I go to prepare a place for you." I was only engaged for six weeks, but the Jewish bride who was waiting for her groom didn't know how long she would have to wait. During this time she was to be preparing herself for her wedding. She would wear a veil whenever she went out among other men because she was set apart. She was one for whom a price had been paid.
As the days became weeks and the weeks became months the anticipation would grow. The tradition was that his coming would be a surprise. Perhaps he might even come at midnight. The bride would gather her bridesmaids, her sisters, anyone whom she had chosen to be part of the wedding party, and they would begin to wait with her. Of course they would have oil in their lamps just in case he chose to come at the midnight hour. When the time finally came, the groom would gather his friends and begin the journey to his bride's home. When he was close enough for his bride to hear, he would let out a shout. That was her signal that she was about be caught up by the one for whom she's been waiting.
When I turn to the last chapter of the Bible I read again and again and again these words of Jesus, "Look! I am coming quickly!" I want to be like the princess described in the Royal Wedding Song of Psalm 45. "In her chamber, the royal daughter is all glorious, her clothing embroidered with gold." When did she do the embroidery? She did it while she was waiting and preparing herself for the return of her groom. So, I am waiting with the anticipation of a bride, hoping that my embroidery will be completed by the time I hear the shout.
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