The Jewish wedding ceremony is a type and shadow of the true Wedding Ceremony with Christ revealed to us in Scripture.
The Beloved Disciple recorded what he saw and heard by The Holy Spirit in Revelation chapter 19:
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
It is critical that you understand the above passage if you want to be a true overcomer! First of all, the bride has a responsibility to make herself ready and that means you and I have a serious responsibility to do that. Secondly, not everyone will be called to the marriage supper. If you are satisfied with simply making it to Heaven and being on the outside then you will not heed these writings.
The wedding ceremony is made up of three events:
The betrothal: a lengthy time of preparation
The marriage ceremony
The marriage feast
Our salvation represents the beginning of the betrothal. Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11:
2 For I am jealous for you with Godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Hosea wrote by THE SPIRIT in chapter 2:
19 “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In Lovingkindness and mercy;
20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.”
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 5:
25 Husbands, Love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be Holy and without blemish.
The process of sanctification that we are all in now as we wait for our Lord’s return, denotes the long wait between the time the Groom leaves to prepare a place for his bride and the time He returns for her. Note the importance placed upon the bride during this waiting period to prepare herself for her Groom’s return—to make her own gown and her own wedding garment. This stresses the significance of the sanctification process––our time of preparation, our time of fitting, and our time of making ourselves ready, worthy, and qualified for our Groom’s return. The Jewish betrothal parallels this reality.
We must prepare ourselves, that is to say, make ourselves fit and ready just as a Jewish bride does.
Paul also wrote in Ephesians chapter 1:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every Spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and without blame before Him in Love,
And in Hebrews chapter 12:
14 In every relationship be swift to choose peace over competition, and run swiftly toward holiness, for those who are not Holy will not see the Lord.
There is a possibility that while we are waiting for Christ to return, we can defile our garments and prevent this time of preparation from happening and be disqualified as an overcomer.