Then the elders of the congregation
said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of
Benjamin have been destroyed?” And they said, “There must be an inheritance for
the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel.
“However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of
Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to
Benjamin.’ ”Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in
Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up
from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” Therefore they instructed the
children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, “and watch;
and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then
come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the
daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin. “Then it shall be, when
their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to
them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of
them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at
this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ”And the children of
Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced,
whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they
rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.
Judges 21:16-23 NKJV
I think most believers would agree
that our hope, the event for which we are all watching and waiting is the
rapture of the Church. I'm sure most of us too, are familiar with the Church
being referred to as the “bride” of Christ. Many of you are also probably aware
of how the events surrounding the rapture follow precisely the pattern of a
Jewish wedding. Since Jesus is Jewish, it is expected that His wedding to His
bride, the Church, will follow the pattern and traditions associated with
Jewish weddings. But there is one question I personally have always had with
this idea and it is this; does it matter at all to this picture that we the
Church are not, strictly speaking, Jewish?
Years ago when I first met Chuck
Missler and began to study his teachings, one thing he said which has always
stuck with me was “pattern is prologue”.
While there are many examples of this throughout scripture, it is
probably never more obvious than when applied to the relationship between
Christ and His Church. Many of Jesus’
parables referenced the Jewish wedding ceremony and Paul refers to the Church
as the bride of Christ. Taking all these
things into account, I had to wonder if there was a point to be made about a
wedding between Jesus, a Jew, and the Church, a gentile?
I don’t recall exactly when I first
began studying the Jewish feast days, but I do know it was quite some time
ago. Yet it wasn’t until 2010 that I
first became aware of the holiday in Israel called Tu B’ Av, and wrote my first
article about it. Quite often it is referred to as an unknown holiday because
most have never even heard of it; much less understand the traditional beliefs
associated with it. It isn't even listed
on my Jewish calendar along with all of their other holidays, which makes me
wonder why it is so "forgotten"? If you look it up on the internet,
you will find that most sites call it a "minor" holiday in Jewish
culture, but for reasons I want to share with you, I think it's entirely
possible this might be the most important holiday for the Church that you've
never heard of.
First of all, Tu B'Av was declared a
celebration by the first generation after the forty year wilderness wandering
from Egypt during the Exodus. If you recall, God commanded that an entire
generation must die because of their sin before a new generation could enter
the Promised Land. After forty years, seeing the full moon told the new
generation that the appointed time had passed, and they were able to enter the
land that God had led them to. Remember the Jewish calendar is lunar, so the
months are calculated by observing the phases of the moon, and the full moon
always occurs on the night of the 14th (don't forget the new day starts at
sunset). So this new generation declared this day a new day of celebration.
Secondly, the Jewish Talmud, which
is a collection of ancient Rabbinic writings, teaches that on this day, Tu B'
Av, the tribes of Israel were allowed to intermarry. The rest of the year, it
was required that you marry only within your tribe, but on this one day every
year, women were free to marry whomever they wished from any tribe. For this
reason, and because it also marks the end of the wheat harvest in Israel, many
believe this is the day that Ruth married Boaz. If you remember the story, Ruth
was not a Jew, but a Gentile. Yet as a distant relation, she and Boaz, who was
Jewish, were allowed to marry. Their marriage occurred at the end of the
harvest, and since on this day, marriages to others were allowed, it’s entirely
possible that this was the day of their wedding.
Third, as a result of a civil war
between the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of Israel, only 600 males survived
the conflict. The leaders of Israel decided they would allow these men to take
wives from "the daughters from Shiloh". It seems there was a
celebration at the beginning of the grape harvest at Shiloh where the daughters
would go into the vineyards and dance. The surviving men were told they were to
hide in the vineyards and catch themselves a wife from the girls who came out
to dance. In later years this day became known as a traditional day of love and
courtship, where girls would exchange white clothing so that prospective
husbands would not know who was rich or who was poor.
Fourth, Tu B' Av is the last
holiday of the year in Israel. Since the New Year begins on Rosh Ha Shanah,
which is just a month and a half away, this is the last holiday, as well as the
last harvest of their calendar year. Being the last of the holidays, it is a
time of celebration both in looking back, and looking forward to the New Year
that is approaching. This day is also considered to be the time where planting
of crops or trees was to end for the year. During the time of the Second
Temple, Tu B' Av was proclaimed as the beginning of the grape harvest which
continues until Yom Kippur.
Fifth, prophetically speaking, Tu B'
Av could well picture the future marriage of Christ with His church.
"In My Father's house are many
mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2-3 NKJV
In the Jewish culture, after the
engagement the groom goes to prepare the home in which he and his wife will
reside, and it is up to his father to decide when the home is ready and the son
is allowed to return for his bride.
Another interesting fact is that the full moon is considered to be an
auspicious time for a wedding and Tu b Av does indeed occur on a full moon. Also, Tuesdays are believed to be the most
favorable day of the week for a wedding, and coincidently Tu b Av this year is
on a Tuesday.
So in review, we find there is a
holiday in Israel that many are unfamiliar with which is a traditional day
celebrating love. It is a day many choose as their wedding day, and
historically is the only day that Jews were allowed to marry outside their own
tribes. It comes at the conclusion of the wheat harvest at the end of summer,
and along with being the last celebration of the year, because of the allowance
to intermarry it also perfectly pictures the future marriage of Christ with His
Church.
Many look at this day as a perfect
time for the rapture of the Church to occur, and in all honesty, I would have
to agree. But as we all know, God has His own timetable and as far as we know,
He hasn't made it crystal clear. Yet with all the clues we do have, and all
that has been happening lately in the world, many are convinced that this truly
could be the day. Who knows, but since Tu B' Av starts the evening of the
fourteenth of Av at sunset, which this year occurs on Tuesday, August 4, I
would be lying if I said I wasn't going to be watching the skies more than
usual. The day is approaching when we will be taken to be with our Lord
forever. I'm praying it will be soon.
If you are reading this today and
have never made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I
urge you to do it right now. Simply admit to God that you need His forgiveness
because you are a sinner, be willing to
turn away from your sins, believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins,
and invite Him to come in and control
your life through the Holy Spirit by praying a simple prayer like this;
Father,
I know I am a sinner in need of salvation. I believe you sent your Son Jesus to
die on the cross for my sin, and I ask you now to forgive me of my sins. I want
to receive your gift of salvation so please come into my heart and help me to
live and follow you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave
the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: John 1:12 NKJV
If you have prayed this prayer you
are part of the body of Christ, a member of His Church, and like the rest of us
are now waiting for the call to join Him in Heaven for the wedding soon to
come.
Keep watching.
