Christianity is a religion formed after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Many people believe that Jesus came to form a new religion and to start a new church. According to Christianity, the church is believed to be the Bride of Christ, who Jesus will marry, which includes all believers – men, women and children and that church will be raptured before the Great Tribulation and people will be saved from the wrath of God. A lot to take in and to unpack here… Similarly to idea of Trinity, I have been skeptical about the idea of church being the bride of Christ and previously I have been trying to fit my understanding around already established believe that Jesus will marry the church – so all men, women and children. But I questioned, if that is the case, which denomination would that be? Would that be all believers in Christ, therefore billions of people? If church is the bride, who are the guests? Non believers? And how come church would be raptured and saved from the great tribulation, where the Old Testament is stating otherwise?
“And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ” Zechariah 13: 8-9
There are many lies in Christianity and we should question what religion is asking us to believe in. I am by all means not rejecting Jesus as the Messiah of course, I am just questioning interpretation of some of the doctrines and the philosophy of Apostle Paul who’s teachings Christianity is mainly formed on.
It all sounds quite idyllic, being saved from the problems and being married to Jesus. However, have you considered that this could be enemy’s tactic in an attempt to keep people in a false hope and in an attempt to take people away from striving to better themselves? An attempt to say: just relax as God’s grace is here, Jesus will take you before the punishment and you will be raptured for the wedding… If that sounded quite skeptical, well it is and I used to believe in that too. Or rather I was told to believe that and I never questioned it before. But when I started diving deeper into the Old Testament, I started seeing significant differences on those topics and so I wanted to look into this further. This is of course my point of view and I am not clamming to know everything or that my believes are right, but I am just presenting another perspective as I believe it’s important to question everything and not blindly follow believes formed centuries before. I always encourage you to do your own research, your own reading of the Bible and to test everything.
First of all, I would like to look what Jesus’ mission was on earth from a Jewish point of view. Why Jewish? Because Jesus was a Jew who came to Jews, so it’s important that we understand what Mashiach is for Jews from their point of view.
When we look at who Mashiach is in Judaism, it gives us more realistic outlook , rather that this idealistic view in Christianity that Messiah is to save us from all the problems and rapture us to heaven. Here are few points on what Mashiach should do:
- He should renew the dynasty of King David
- He should rebuild the third temple
- He should gather all scattered people of Israel and bring them back to the land of Israel
- We should not presume that Mashiach should work miracles and wonders and we should not expect it from him
- He needs to diligently observe the Torah and the Written and Oral Law and walk in the way of Torah
- He should fight the wars of God
- He should be married and have a family
If he fulfils all those aspects, he is the Mashiach. He will then improve the entire world, motivating all the nations to serve God together. There is going to be absolute unity amongst the nations of the world, all lies will be destroyed and unity and balance will come to earth. People will be ashamed of the lies they believed in and amazed how they did not see the truth themselves. This shame will bring people to their knees. Another important factor in Jewish religion is that Mashiach is not supposed to be worshiped as we only should worship one God, the Creator. We also should not presume that any faced of the world will change but rather the world will continue to it’s pattern, the natural essence of the world and life will not change, but it will be balanced and united as it always should have been. During that time there will be no famine, no wars, no unhealthy competitions and goodness will flow in abundance.
What qualities should Mashiach have? Mashiach needs to be an expert in Torah, have a perfect balance between physicality and spirituality and also be married and have a family. Mashiach comes to rectify Adam and a female wife needs to rectify Eve. They also need to have a child together to reign after Mashiach. This is all from the Jewish perspective which I think is very interesting and important for us to consider. Since Mashiach is Jew and will continue the Jewish tradition, this gives us more realistic view on his purpose and how the earth would change during his reign as a King.
From those points we see the important factor is keeping the Torah. While Jesus was on earth, he was teaching from Torah. Jesus criticized all Pharisees of their misinterpretation of the Law and he brought the essence and true meaning of Torah back by fulfilling it perfectly. That is why in the reign of Messiah we will all still continue following the Law and keeping the Torah, since this is an everlasting covenant.
“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.” Genesis 17: 7
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5: 17-20
What this passage is telling us? That not only we have to follow the Law but also strife for righteousness. Not only to strife for righteousness but also exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. And who were Pharisees? Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that emerged in Palestine in around 165 – 160 BCE. They were a school of thought and social movement that believed in the importance of following Jewish law. We know from the Bible that Jesus was against Pharisees, why then Jesus compared it to the righteousness of Pharisees?
One of the missions of Jesus on earth was to follow the Law, to fulfill it and to show Jews the essence of the Law by fulfilling it out of love towards God rather than an obligation. Pharisees were a religious group who were focusing on the insignificant elements of the Law through legalistic approach and outwardly looking righteous yet having an unclean heart. This was not the purpose of the Law. That is why Jesus also summarized the Law into two commandments: love God with all your heart and all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself. This was the essence of the Law. By observing the Law, Jews were naturally working on themselves, working on their fleshly desires, working on bettering themselves through service to God and towards others. Therefore, if Jesus wanted for people to follow the Law, he wasn’t forming anything new and definitely not a new religion.
Did Jesus come to the Gentiles to form a new religion and build the church?
“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.” Matthew 16: 13-20
Was Jesus talking about the church as we know it today or the temple?
Jesus could not have used the word “church” in the way we understand it today because physical churches as buildings didn’t exist during his time on Earth. The Greek word translated as “church” in the Bible is “ekklesia” and refers to a gathering or assembly of people called out for a specific purpose, which is how Jesus would have used this concept. We can only assume he meant “church”, however he could have also meant synagogue, gathering assembly or temple. The buildings we call churches weren’t present then and in fact the word “church” came to existence in the 13th century and it comes from the Old English word “cirice”. When we look at the origin of the word “cirice” – it means pagan temple.
Therefore Jesus could not have meant church but he was referring to the third temple, a promise that he will build when he comes back to reign as a King on earth. He will fulfill the Messianic promise required to be considered as a Mashiach. When Jews reject Jesus because he hasn’t built the temple, they forget it was physically impossible to do that for Jesus at that time. Before Solomon built the temple, Kind David was storing necessary wood, preparing timber, any necessary materials for the temple for years. It took King Solomon 7 years to build the temple and thousands of people who were building, so it’s not something Jesus could do with his 3,5 years of ministry. Jesus didn’t have enough resources, he was born into a poor family, he didn’t have people around him to help. He wouldn’t have built the temple worthy of God. King Salomon was born into a kingdom, he was rich and he had all necessary resources and still it took him 7 years to build. That is why Jesus promised he will do it but not at that time he was on earth. Those who reject Jesus based on this unfulfilled requirement do not take into consideration physical aspects of this task, but that does not mean this will not happen at the second coming of the Messiah. Another point I wanted to make is that Jesus’ consciousness and wisdom was very advanced for those times. It was exceeding people’s normal way of thinking and a lot of people didn’t understand many things he was saying, therefore humanity wasn’t ready to have a King like Jesus. We had to go through a lot of growing, through hardship, learning, to come to the point with our consciousness, knowledge and wisdom where we are now to be able to understand and appreciate Jesus and his Kingdom after all those wordily lessons we had to go through.
If Gentiles and church was not the focus, was Jesus’ focus on Jews only?
“Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.” Matthew 15: 21-28
Why Jesus said “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Did he compared Gentiles to dogs? Well not really. Since Gentiles did not know Judaism and the Law, Jesus knew his time was short and he couldn’t focus on everyone. His focus was on the Jews only, he came to perfect Jews and bring them back to the essence of the Law. Once Jews mastered the Law themselves, they could spread “the light” further and teach others. However, first they needed to be perfected. Jesus knew his ministry was short, so he couldn’t also devote the same amount of time and energy to the Gentiles. However the woman’s persistence, faith and response that was aligned with his teachings made him also consider her. It was a perfect example to demonstrate his power, grace and that God’s power would work through faith. It wasn’t that he was excluding Gentiles, but they were not his focus at that time.
If Jesus did not come to form a new religion, if he did not come to build a new church but to perfect Jews in their obedience to the Law, why Christian churches say they are the Bride? Is Jesus planning to marry all believers, women, men and children? Who will be guests if all will be the Bride? Where this idea came from?
The idea of a Bride of Christ being the church is presented in the New Testament through teachings of Paul, however Paul is using it as a comparison rather than an actual fact. From the Jewish perspective, Mashiach should have a wife and a family, and so it’s not an unusual phenomenon difficult to understand for Jews. This will be one woman who will need to rectify the actions of Eve in the same way as Mashiach will rectify the actions of Adam. However in the New Testament the bride of Christ is presented as the church and that Jesus will marry all believers, so who is right? In the New Testament there are contradictions of bride being the church but also church being the body of Christ. Jesus can’t marry his body which would also act as a bride and so this idea is more of a fantasy than what could really happen. But for some reason people cannot fathom that Jesus could be married and have a wife, because in Christianity Jesus is viewed as a God and God can’t marry a human being, so the idea of all people being married to Jesus is understood as how God loves his wife – Israel. In the Old Testament we see some allusions to the wedding and the bride, but similarly to the New Testament, it is used as a comparisons of God’s love towards His chosen nation – Israel. It’s portrayed as a complicated love story between husband and wife:
“I remember you,
The kindness of your youth,
The love of your betrothal,
When you went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown.” Jeremiah 2: 2
Here we see a beautiful metaphor of an innocent start to the relationship that Israel had with God. God loved Israel just as husband loves his wife and they had a lovely start to the relationship but we all know the beginnings are always sweet. This is just a comparison so that we can really understand how God loves his chosen nation. If God compared it to something heavenly, we wouldn’t know how to take it, but humanly comparison is easier to understand.
“And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you.” Isiah 62: 5
Again, here is another comparison to fully understand God’s love and excitement towards His people. We all know there are different types of love, we love differently our parents, our children and our spouse. God wanted to show us that His love is as strong as the love of a husband towards his wife. And as any married couple, they are also going through ups and downs in their relationship. In the book of Hosea we see a story of a prophet who God asks to marry a prostitute. God wanted to show through Hosea’s situation how it is to deal with an unfaithful nation and compared their unfaithfulness to an unfaithful wife:
“Bring charges against your mother, bring charges;
For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!
Let her put away her harlotries from her sight,
And her adulteries from between her breasts;
Lest I strip her naked
And expose her, as in the day she was born,
And make her like a wilderness,
And set her like a dry land,
And slay her with thirst.”
This verse again should be taken as a poetic expression and metaphor. God is taking worship of other gods and any idolatry very seriously. His anger is compared to an anger of a man who finds out his wife cheated on him. It’s a destructive anger and jealousy. God is even telling us He is a jealous God:
“You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” Exodus 20: 5
“I will punish her
For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.
She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And went after her lovers;
But Me she forgot,” says the Lord.” Hosea 2: 13
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.” Hosea 2: 14
“And it shall be, in that day,”
Says the Lord,
“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’” Hosea 2: 16
“I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;
I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord.” Hosea 2: 19
This is a painful but beautiful story of the complicated relationship of a husband and wife. After all this pain that wife caused him, she realized that all those lovers she was chasing was just wind, the grass was not greener on the other side. So he allured her back to him with mercy and love, but he will not allow her to come back without punishment, otherwise she would have not learnt her lesson. Therefore punishment awaits her, but he promises her that they will get married again and from then, they will be together forever.
This is the story of Israel and God, a complicated relationship of a chosen nation and their God. Israel was tempted by other demonic forces and they worshiped other gods. God is always trying to bring them back to Him. His love is as strong as husband has for his wife. Israel is in a covenant with God established through Moses, which can be compared to a wedding certificate. Finally Israel realizes that all those other gods, religions, ideologies were just empty words but God’s words are lasting forever. Therefore there will be a time when God will renew the covenant with Israel, or renew the marriage vows, which we see in Jeremiah 31:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31: 31-34
This renewed covenant or renewed marriage certificate will bring Israel – the bride, back to God, her husband. What a beautiful metaphor.
What about the Bride of Christ?
In the New Testament we see Apostle Paul making a comparison of the church to be as a bride of Christ:
“ Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 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.” Ephesians 5: 22-27
This verse is only a comparison that Christ loves the church, just as much as husband loves his wife. There is nowhere there suggesting that church is the bride, other than “for her” but in this case it’s only a comparison similar to the one found in the Old Testament – God’s love towards Israel. Moreover, I always battled with the thought of how come the church can be a body of Christ and the bride at the same time?
“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1: 22-23
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” 1 Corinthians 12: 27
As you can see Paul contradicts himself saying that church is the bride of Christ and the body of Christ. It cannot be both at the same time…
And who would be the guests if all would be one body? And which denomination would that be? Catholic church? Orthodox church? Protestant? I hope you can see my confusion…
From the Jewish perspective we know that Messiah supposed to have a wife and we also see that in the Psalm 45 “The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride”
“Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;
So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, worship Him.
And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;
Her clothing is woven with gold.
She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;” Psalm 45: 10-14
The wedding of the Lamb is also presented at the end in the book of Revelations signifying the beginning of Messiah’s reign on earth:
“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering’s, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 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.” 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. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” Revelation 19: 6-9
Here we see the marriage supper and blessed are those who are invited to the wedding ceremony. We also see that the bride made herself ready, which is singular, suggesting this would be one person. She will be the person who will correct the mistakes of Eve, a second Eve. She has been chosen for this task before she was born which we see in the book of Isaiah:
“Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather and come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,
“you will wear them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.” Isaiah 49:18
Jesus did not come to earth to build a new church, but he came to the Jews to bring them back to the essence of Torah. When he returns and as the promised Messiah, he will marry one woman and they will reign on earth. This is going to be a 1000 years of Messianic times, years of balance and a promised rest from the hardship of this world.
By Dagmara Z.