The Bride and the Feasts

 

            Two factors, the bride and the feasts, must be used in the equation to accurately formulate the end time! In Revelations 22:17 it's the Spirit and the bride who say come. Notice it's not the church. In the coming days of Jesus' return it will be the voice of God's bride who will beckon the people to come. This is why we are beginning to hear more about the Bride in these last days. Therefore we must understand the dichotomy of the church verses the bride. This can be seen in the Olivet discourse in Matthew chapter 25 where the coming kingdom is comparable to bridesmaids and servants. There is a division between the two callings like that of the church of Smyrna and Philadelphia. Smyrna is faithful no doubt; she has a servant's heart, faithful till death. She suffers through tribulation. Jesus exhorts her to be faithful till death and she will be given a crown of life (Rev. 2:11). But of Philadelphia Jesus says He will keep her from the hour of testing coming upon the whole earth and will even cause those who have hated her to bow down at her feet to know that He has loved her (Rev. 3:9).

Why will He keep her from the hour of tribulation, because she has not denied His name (Rev 3:8)? The word name is strong's # 3686 and comes from strong's # 1097 ginosko. Ginosko is intimacy shared by a man and a woman. Mary, the mother of Jesus, asked the angel Gabriel, after he told her she would be pregnant with child, “How can this be, since I know (ginosko) no man (Luke 1:34)! She had not had intimacy with any man, she was a virgin. Those who come to know (ginosko) Christ Jesus as the Bridegroom will have not denied intimacy with Him. They will hear the call of the bride and will desire to know (ginosko) Jesus intimately.

Jesus spares her from the hour of tribulation because she is abducted from the earth to the chedar, bridal chambers, in heaven prepar ed for her consummation with Jesus. This is what she has prepared herself for. She has made herself Ready to be His bride. Some have prepared themselves for servant hood and for martyrdom, i.e. the church of Smyrna. Some have prepared their hearts for intimacy with Christ, i.e. the church of Philadelphia. And some have grown cold to be tested with fire, the church of Laodicea (Rev 3:14).

I believe just as John was revealed Jesus' betrayer in the last hours before He was betrayed so will the bride be revealed the antichrist in the last hour. John is a foreshadow of the heart of God's bride. That is why he is referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23). He rested his head on Jesus' breast; he listens to the heart beat of God. The bride will cultivate this same love as Jesus and John had. The truth is that John was not only revealed Jesus' betrayer Judas, but was also given the identity of the antichrist of the end time (Rev. 13:18).

We will see two things immerge before the rapture, the bride and the antichrist. However not everyone will see or know. Until we follow the bride, study her steps and know her call, only then can we accurately calculate her rapture and the number of the beast! The brides wedding is vital to understanding God's feast and appointed times, they are necessary to determine times and epochs we have longed to know! The Spirit and the bride say come. To learn more about the bride and to answer the call go to www.unveilingthebride.com .