The Jewish roots of Christianity

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Bible teaching with an emphasis on Israel, prophecy and the Jewish roots of Christianity

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Episode: “The Wedding”
In the beautiful rose garden next to the Knesset in Jerusalem, Zola teaches about the Believers’ wedding to the Messiah and its Jewish context.
Series: “Thy Kingdom Come (2018)”
The Future of Believers
Originally produced in 2001 and now refreshed with improved sound and picture quality, each of the 12 programs of Thy Kingdom Come searches Bible prophecy to reveal the glorious future events awaiting all Believers in Messiah. In the studio, David and Kirsten Hart introduce Zola Levitt’s timeless, on-location teachings and his original music, with analysis from senior theologian, Dr. Jeffrey Seif.

Caption transcript for Thy Kingdom Come (2018): “The Wedding” (4/12)

  • 00:01 I love a good wedding,
  • 00:02 and on today's program we'll be talking about
  • 00:04 the biggest and best wedding ever!
  • 00:07 Stay with us
  • 00:08 on Zola Levitt Presents.
  • 00:14 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
  • 00:18 is that they might be saved,
  • 00:21 for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek,
  • 00:24 for the same Lord over all
  • 00:26 is rich unto all that call upon Him.
  • 00:46 Thank you for joining us today
  • 00:47 on Zola Levitt Presents.
  • 00:48 I'm David Hart.
  • 00:49 I'm Kirsten Hart.
  • 00:50 Jeffrey Seif!
  • 00:51 We are in our series "Thy Kingdom Come"
  • 00:54 which first aired in 2001 with Zola Levitt.
  • 00:57 We also have with us today,
  • 00:59 Dr. Jeffrey Seif.
  • 01:00 I love your title,
  • 01:01 "Senior Theologian"
  • 01:03 You look like one.
  • 01:05 Sounds very boring, but thank you.
  • 01:06 And today Zola's teaching on
  • 01:09 the wedding feast in heaven,
  • 01:11 which is appropriate
  • 01:12 because I heard that it's your anniversary.
  • 01:14 How many hours have you been married?
  • 01:16 My first wife, may she rest in peace,
  • 01:18 went to be with the Lord.
  • 01:20 I've remarried to Barrie.
  • 01:21 Today is two and a half years.
  • 01:24 We celebrate the anniversary every month, actually.
  • 01:26 Now, did you have a formal...
  • 01:28 You'll have to forgive us,
  • 01:30 the Christian people, the Gentiles,
  • 01:31 did you have a formal Jewish Wedding?
  • 01:33 We had a formal Jewish Wedding.
  • 01:35 Jack Hayford came in and officiated it, as a friend,
  • 01:38 along with Jonathan Burnis,
  • 01:39 another mogul in Messianic Jewish television.
  • 01:43 Actually we had about a dozen or so Rabbis there,
  • 01:48 and about 30 Theologian Professors,
  • 01:50 and about 500 people.
  • 01:52 It was a gala event.
  • 01:53 So if one couldn't get the words out
  • 01:55 the next one could step in,
  • 01:56 and the next one could step in.
  • 01:58 No, they were just there cause they're old friends.
  • 02:00 There's going to be a Feast,
  • 02:02 and a Wedding in Heaven.
  • 02:04 I think weddings should be celebrated.
  • 02:06 They're really important moments
  • 02:07 The way it relates to important moments Biblical moments,
  • 02:11 well Zola really...
  • 02:13 he really "hung the moon" on this one.
  • 02:15 That's what this program is about today.
  • 02:17 Right now let's go to Zola in Israel
  • 02:20 and hear more about that.
  • 02:24 You know, ever since God saw that it was
  • 02:27 not good for man to be alone
  • 02:29 and gave him a partner,
  • 02:31 marriage throughout the Bible is stressed.
  • 02:34 And in a wonderful way in the New Testament
  • 02:38 it becomes part of a mission of our Lord
  • 02:41 who came to earth literally to choose a wife.
  • 02:44 You know, when John the Baptist was preaching to begin with,
  • 02:48 he was down at the Dead Sea and he ate locusts and honey,
  • 02:52 He baptized people,
  • 02:54 he preached the doctrine of repentance,
  • 02:56 a rather hard doctrine.
  • 02:58 And then Jesus came, was baptized, and
  • 03:00 it seemed that the Pharisees would
  • 03:03 rather have had John to be the Messiah,
  • 03:08 if they had to have a Messiah on their hands.
  • 03:11 Their attitude was not really faithful,
  • 03:13 it was that they'd have to admit
  • 03:17 there was a Messiah in the Land,
  • 03:19 okay, but they'd rather it be John.
  • 03:20 And they kept coming to John asking him if
  • 03:24 he were not the Messiah.
  • 03:26 And on the occasion in John 3:29 he says this,
  • 03:43 To put that down in American terms,
  • 03:45 he said, "I'm not the Groom here."
  • 03:48 "The Lord, the Messiah, He's the Groom."
  • 03:51 "But I'm the best man."
  • 03:52 "I'm the friend of the Bridegroom"
  • 03:53 "which stands without and hears His voice."
  • 03:55 That answers to a custom where the Bridegroom
  • 03:59 took the Bride into a chamber and
  • 04:02 consummated their marriage and then
  • 04:03 told the best man through the door
  • 04:05 that he had himself a wife,
  • 04:07 and then the best man would tell the guests.
  • 04:08 And they would begin to celebrate.
  • 04:10 That was a custom in the Scriptures.
  • 04:13 And John is saying, "That's my job".
  • 04:15 "I'm His friend, "I'm the..."
  • 04:18 I just keep saying "Best Man" because
  • 04:20 that's American parlance, but
  • 04:22 he's the friend of the Bridegroom
  • 04:24 who stands without and hears him.
  • 04:25 He's the first to know he has a wife.
  • 04:28 They proposed with a cup of wine, you know,
  • 04:31 and Jesus did that in Matthew 26:29
  • 04:34 and He said,
  • 04:43 He took up his cup.
  • 04:44 He gave thanks.
  • 04:45 He said,
  • 04:46 Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam,
  • 04:48 bo're p'ri ha-gafen
  • 04:49 "Blessed are Thou O God, King of the Universe,"
  • 04:52 "Creator of the Fruit of the Vine"
  • 04:55 It's a toast to the Bride.
  • 04:57 He had already said, "I Am the True Vine".
  • 04:59 The disciples obviously are branches, and then
  • 05:01 the "Fruit of the Vine" that's the Believers.
  • 05:04 That's us.
  • 05:05 And we're also branches who bear other fruits.
  • 05:08 And so He is making a toast to His Bride,
  • 05:11 the "Church".
  • 05:13 And then He says, "I'll drink it again with you in the Kingdom."
  • 05:17 And in the Kingdom...
  • 05:18 or on the way to the Kingdom,
  • 05:20 there really will be a grand wedding!
  • 05:24 You know, Paul prepares the Bride
  • 05:26 in 2 Corinthians 11:2
  • 05:38 So, in the end, we really are going to marry Him.
  • 05:43 It says in Revelation 19:7-8,
  • 06:03 You know, linen in Scripture,
  • 06:05 the whiteness of it is purity.
  • 06:08 The Priests in the Temple, when they were sacrificing
  • 06:11 wore white linen.
  • 06:12 And we will wear a white wedding dress
  • 06:15 when we marry the Lord.
  • 06:17 I'm not sure that all wedding dresses aren't
  • 06:18 taken from this passage,
  • 06:20 but in any case,
  • 06:21 everyone, all the believers,
  • 06:23 I'm not saying just the Church.
  • 06:27 All the Believers will be there at the wedding.
  • 06:29 Some will be wedding guests,
  • 06:31 but the Church is in particular, the Bride of Christ.
  • 06:34 But you know, the Old Testament also
  • 06:37 characterizes a marriage.
  • 06:39 Jehovah married Israel
  • 06:41 and it is characterized in the book of Hosea.
  • 06:45 We're going to come to that.
  • 06:46 Hosea and Gomer had a rather stormy relationship, as a matter of fact.
  • 06:50 And they are separated at the moment, but
  • 06:54 not divorced.
  • 06:55 They were reconciled and come back together.
  • 06:58 And the book of Hosea details that.
  • 07:00 Hosea's wife really was unfaithful to him.
  • 07:03 She ran off!
  • 07:05 She became...
  • 07:07 first took lovers,
  • 07:08 but finally supported herself as a prostitute,
  • 07:11 but then she descended to a life of a slave,
  • 07:14 and she was being sold at an auction.
  • 07:17 And who was the high bidder?
  • 07:19 Hosea, her husband.
  • 07:21 He bought her back,
  • 07:23 took her home,
  • 07:24 redeemed her,
  • 07:25 reconciled to her.
  • 07:27 The whole thing seems to be the story of
  • 07:29 Jehovah and Israel
  • 07:31 whose relationship has always been a little stormy,
  • 07:34 let's face it.
  • 07:35 From the beginning He chose them,
  • 07:37 He married them,
  • 07:38 but they were unfaithful from time to time,
  • 07:41 they ran off,
  • 07:42 sometimes behaved as badly as did Gomer.
  • 07:45 We characterize this in our past program,
  • 07:49 showing Gomer and Hosea at the auction, with actors.
  • 07:53 And Israel will eventually be redeemed by God,
  • 07:58 in the Tribulation
  • 08:00 when they are put upon by the whole world.
  • 08:02 Paul says, "All Israel will be saved when the
  • 08:04 Deliverer shall come out of Zion."
  • 08:07 He'll yet reconcile them back to Himself
  • 08:10 although they will have suffered losses as did Gomer.
  • 08:14 In the end, God will buy them back and
  • 08:16 take them home and sanctify them.
  • 08:18 And so we have sort of two marriages,
  • 08:20 Jehovah marrying Israel,
  • 08:23 and His Son marrying His Bride, the Church.
  • 08:28 You know, when Jesus took that cup,
  • 08:31 that's how they proposed, with a cup of wine.
  • 08:33 He said to God,
  • 08:36 "Let this cup pass from me."
  • 08:38 in the Garden of Gethsemane.
  • 08:39 You remember He wept
  • 08:41 as if it were
  • 08:42 drops of blood falling to the ground.
  • 08:44 He was afraid to be crucified.
  • 08:46 He was a man.
  • 08:47 It hurt to be crucified.
  • 08:49 And He prayed to God but did not say,
  • 08:53 "Alright, you're right, we won't marry you and Israel,"
  • 08:55 "We will marry you to Egypt or Rome or Greece."
  • 08:59 God didn't react that way at all.
  • 09:00 He sent an Angel to strengthen Him.
  • 09:03 The answer in affect was,
  • 09:04 "We're going to marry in the same family as I did."
  • 09:07 The type is Abraham, sending his servant Eliezer to find a Bride for Issac.
  • 09:12 There were girls in Canaan where they lived,
  • 09:14 but he sent the servant all the way to Haran, up in Northern Syria,
  • 09:19 to take a wife from the family they had left
  • 09:22 when they came out of Ur to Canaan in the first place,
  • 09:25 and found Rebekah, a Hebrew girl,
  • 09:28 comely, a virgin,
  • 09:31 she would make a fine wife for his master.
  • 09:34 And the idea was she was from the same family.
  • 09:38 He showed her the gifts that Isaac sent and
  • 09:40 she was wooed and won,
  • 09:42 sand she is a picture of the Church because
  • 09:45 we are...we really haven't seen our Bridegroom.
  • 09:49 Let's face it.
  • 09:49 We have not seen Jesus face to face.
  • 09:51 But the Holy Spirit, like Eliezer, the servant
  • 09:54 has brought us the gifts.
  • 09:56 And we see the gifts and we're wooed and won,
  • 09:57 and willing to go off and marry this Jewish Prince, like Rebekah.
  • 10:01 Somewhere she went to the wilderness on a camel,
  • 10:05 we're going to Heaven in the Rapture.
  • 10:07 But we're going to meet our Bridegroom and marry Him there.
  • 10:10 We'll be back after this.
  • 10:22 Our Resource this week,
  • 10:24 "A Christian Love Story" Booklet and CD.
  • 10:27 Read and listen along to the beautiful story
  • 10:30 of the wedding customs of Israel in Messiah's time,
  • 10:33 and how He fulfilled these traditions,
  • 10:36 calling out His Bride, the Church.
  • 10:38 A striking and inspiring example
  • 10:41 of Scriptural logic and elegance.
  • 10:43 Contact us and ask for
  • 10:45 "A Christian Love Story" Booklet and CD.
  • 10:51 Discovering the truth about Israel through the lens of Scripture
  • 10:54 is getting more difficult to find in our world today.
  • 10:58 Zola Levitt Ministries has been bringing you
  • 11:00 the Jewish roots of Christianity since 1979 via our television program,
  • 11:05 our monthly Newsletter and our website,
  • 11:08 and our various social media outlets.
  • 11:11 We can only do this through gifts of funds
  • 11:13 from Donors like you.
  • 11:15 If you haven't done so yet,
  • 11:17 please consider making a monthly donation.
  • 11:19 Thank you.
  • 11:32 Explaining the Jewish Roots of our Christian faith
  • 11:35 is what the heartbeat of Zola Levitt Presents is.
  • 11:38 And it always has been that way.
  • 11:39 We continue to bring this message to the world
  • 11:43 only because of your donations.
  • 11:45 So we're thankful.
  • 11:46 And we like to say thank you, todah rabah
  • 11:49 for what you do for this program.
  • 11:51 Now let's go back to Zola's teaching in Israel.
  • 11:56 Well, obviously I'm standing under a chuppah
  • 11:59 which is a canopy for a Jewish Wedding.
  • 12:02 This is a beautiful thing.
  • 12:03 They get it out every time.
  • 12:04 And it represents the Bridal Chamber
  • 12:06 that they used to use in the 1st Century for the weddings.
  • 12:10 And I'm going to tell you about that.
  • 12:12 Inside the roof it's embroidered with a verse from Song of Solomon
  • 12:16 about the sound of joy and the sound of myrrh
  • 12:20 and the voice of the Bridegroom,
  • 12:21 the voice of the Bride and so on.
  • 12:23 And we're in a Rose Garden in Jerusalem
  • 12:26 which is a fabulous place.
  • 12:27 Sixteen thousand roses
  • 12:30 of varieties of roses are in this one garden.
  • 12:33 It's a magnificent place,
  • 12:35 a place you'll never see on CNN and the networks of course because that
  • 12:38 would be a positive picture of Israel.
  • 12:41 But it's very typical in this Land.
  • 12:43 Gorgeous!
  • 12:44 And when I see all these roses and this chuppah,
  • 12:47 of course I want to tell you the "Christian Love Story"
  • 12:51 I've said it many times in many contexts but
  • 12:54 it is part of the Passover demonstration,
  • 12:56 since it happened in the Upper Room at Passover.
  • 12:59 You know, to tell you where I got this,
  • 13:02 it was not original with me,
  • 13:03 I was a Teacher at a small what they called
  • 13:07 a Hebrew Christian Mission back then.
  • 13:09 A "Messianic Congregation" they would call it now in the 70's.
  • 13:13 And one night I took some things out of a briefcase I had with me
  • 13:18 and there was a tract in there
  • 13:19 at the bottom of the briefcase I did not recognize.
  • 13:22 It wasn't mine.
  • 13:24 And it told the outline of the love story I'm about to tell.
  • 13:27 It was from a ministry called "The Friends of Israel"
  • 13:30 which was run by Marvin Rosenthal.
  • 13:34 But I want to credit him because a lot of this came from there.
  • 13:38 But I researched it over the years and added a few things.
  • 13:41 But the idea was, in the 1st century
  • 13:45 a young man would fall in love with
  • 13:47 a girl in the market or whatever.
  • 13:49 Any man can tell you it takes 5 seconds to fall in love.
  • 13:51 The problem is to get the girl.
  • 13:53 So he would find out where she lived or follow her home
  • 13:56 and he would show up with a marriage contract.
  • 13:59 That was the first date.
  • 14:00 They didn't have dating under Jewish law.
  • 14:04 It wasn't that they didn't believe in love,
  • 14:06 but they really believed in love at first sight.
  • 14:09 And they always thought it didn't matter how long you dated and courted,
  • 14:14 you always married a stranger anyhow.
  • 14:16 So, maybe that's true.
  • 14:18 Anyhow, the young man would present this contract,
  • 14:22 he would pour her a cup of wine,
  • 14:24 and he would have a price with him for the Bride.
  • 14:27 And if she picked up the cup and drank it, it was "Yes"
  • 14:31 and if she left it there, her intuition told her that wasn't her cup,
  • 14:38 she could leave.
  • 14:39 Now if she did pick it up and drink it,
  • 14:42 well that was saying "yes"
  • 14:43 and he would make a little speech,
  • 14:44 "I go to prepare a place for you",
  • 14:46 and he'd go back to his father's house
  • 14:48 to build her a mansion,
  • 14:50 a Bridal Chamber.
  • 14:51 Maybe a separate building or decorate a room in the father's house, but anyway
  • 14:55 that would be their mansion for their honeymoon.
  • 14:58 And meanwhile at her place she would wait for him.
  • 15:01 It took a while.
  • 15:02 He was going to build this thing.
  • 15:04 And whenever she went out she wore a veil.
  • 15:07 The veil is our faith.
  • 15:08 They don't recognize us out there
  • 15:10 because of the contract we have with our Bridegroom.
  • 15:13 And then at night she would trim an oil lamp
  • 15:17 because the Bridegroom's liked to come at midnight.
  • 15:20 They came like thieves in the night.
  • 15:22 You know, she was called "consecrated",
  • 15:24 "set apart", "bought with a price"
  • 15:26 Now this oil lamp of course became a symbol that she
  • 15:29 really was faithful waiting for him.
  • 15:32 properly trimmed it at night,
  • 15:35 that it was ready to go when he came.
  • 15:37 And when he came like a thief in the night
  • 15:39 she would light that lamp and go through the night.
  • 15:41 She had to have a lamp in her hand.
  • 15:43 And thereby the Lord told a parable.
  • 15:45 There were 10 virgins
  • 15:47 5 had oil in their lamps
  • 15:48 and 5 did not.
  • 15:50 And he actually did come.
  • 15:52 It says it was midnight and a cry was made,
  • 15:54 "Behold the Bridegroom cometh!"
  • 15:56 "Go ye out to meet him!
  • 15:58 And the 5 with the oil went out to meet him
  • 16:00 and they went and it says, "The Door was shut".
  • 16:03 That is the door to the mansion, to the Bridal Chamber.
  • 16:07 The others ran out to buy some oil, it says.
  • 16:10 Now what was the problem?
  • 16:12 They knew who was out there.
  • 16:14 Nobody said, "Who's shouting out there?"
  • 16:16 And they knew what they needed.
  • 16:19 They went to get oil.
  • 16:20 They wanted to get married.
  • 16:22 Virgins want to get married.
  • 16:23 What was the problem?
  • 16:25 They just didn't think he was coming that night.
  • 16:27 There should never be a night that we don't think the Lord could come.
  • 16:30 Because even He said,
  • 16:32 "I come at such a time"
  • 16:34 "as ye think not."
  • 16:36 So every night we should be conscious
  • 16:38 that this could be our wedding night with the Lord,
  • 16:39 my goodness!, when He comes for us
  • 16:42 and takes us to Heaven for this wedding.
  • 16:44 Well, over at his house he's building on the Bridal Chamber.
  • 16:48 His Father was the judge on when the thing was done.
  • 16:50 His Father had done this previously in his own life,
  • 16:53 his older sons have done it, and so on.
  • 16:56 And so he would exam it from time to time.
  • 16:59 So if you see a young man building a Bridal Chamber,
  • 17:02 there's no use to say, "When's the big day?"
  • 17:04 Because he will say, "I don't know. Only my Father knows."
  • 17:08 That's the way Jesus answered in his role as the Bridegroom
  • 17:13 in the Gospel, when He was asked about the Kingdom.
  • 17:16 Well then, when the chamber really was done,
  • 17:19 his father approved,
  • 17:20 he would tell him to go get his girl.
  • 17:22 And he would take his brothers, his Groomsmen,
  • 17:24 and they would go to her house at midnight,
  • 17:27 making sure everyone was asleep, and
  • 17:30 wanting to sneak up on her, actually.
  • 17:32 And the rules were though, that when they got close enough to be heard,
  • 17:36 someone in the wedding party had to shout.
  • 17:39 And when she heard that shout she knew he'd be there in just a moment.
  • 17:43 And so it says in the Scripture, I Corinthians 4:16,
  • 17:47 "The Lord Himself will
  • 17:48 descend from Heaven with a shout."
  • 17:51 That shout, that cry that was made in the parable,
  • 17:54 That is the signal that the Bridegroom is coming for the Bride.
  • 17:58 And then she would come out and they would go on.
  • 18:01 And the love story goes on.
  • 18:03 Our ministry offers it as a study booklet, if you'd like to have it.
  • 18:08 In Hosea 2:16
  • 18:18 These Hebrew words in the English Bible
  • 18:21 simply mean, "Thou shalt call me husband and no more master."
  • 18:29 Masters and false gods in affect that were
  • 18:32 "competitors" to the real God..."Idols".
  • 18:34 Baali was an idol in the north country
  • 18:36 and Baalim is the plural of that, of the idols.
  • 19:24 Jezreel - which is a word for "Israel"
  • 19:41 He draws the distinction here between Believers
  • 19:43 of whatever Nation, of whatever kind. Jews and Gentiles,
  • 19:46 that those that weren't his people before, like the outlying nations,
  • 19:51 will be His people, and He will be their God and their Husband.
  • 19:55 Jeremiah 3:14 says,
  • 20:07 In the end the Lord will bring His wife, His Bride to the Kingdom to come.
  • 20:13 Amen!
  • 20:23 For insightful perspectives on Israel and Bible Prophecy
  • 20:27 as for our free monthly Newsletter, the Levitt Letter.
  • 20:31 At levitt.com you can read the Newsletter,
  • 20:34 Watch the TV program,
  • 20:36 or visit our online store.
  • 20:39 Stay current with us on social media via Facebook and Twitter
  • 20:42 Come with us on a Tour of Israel or Petra
  • 20:45 or a Cruise to Greece and Ephesus.
  • 20:48 Please contact us for more information.
  • 20:54 Our Resource this week,
  • 20:56 "A Christian Love Story" Booklet and CD.
  • 20:59 Read and listen along to the beautiful story
  • 21:02 of the wedding customs of Israel in Messiah's time,
  • 21:05 and how He fulfilled these traditions,
  • 21:08 calling out His Bride, the Church.
  • 21:10 A striking and inspiring example
  • 21:13 of Scriptural logic and elegance.
  • 21:15 Contact us and ask for
  • 21:17 "A Christian Love Story" Booklet and CD.
  • 21:23 I think I could talk "wedding" all day.
  • 21:27 I love being in love.
  • 21:29 I love being married to this guy.
  • 21:31 You're amazing!
  • 21:32 And you're celebrating,
  • 21:34 we talked about at the beginning of the program,
  • 21:36 an anniversary today.
  • 21:37 Yes, I was married for about 30 years to my first wife,
  • 21:40 may she rest in peace.
  • 21:42 She went to be with the Lord.
  • 21:43 I since remarried,
  • 21:44 and we celebrate our anniversary every month.
  • 21:47 Okay, we're going to do that.
  • 21:48 We're going to start.
  • 21:49 Hey! Wait!
  • 21:50 It gets expensive David!
  • 21:52 You know, we can teach about weddings theologically.
  • 21:54 You guys are in it how long?
  • 21:56 Twenty-eight.
  • 21:57 Good years.
  • 21:59 We live in a world today where people marry for an ideal.
  • 22:01 They think they got a raw deal,
  • 22:02 they go searching for a new deal.
  • 22:04 And you guys are approaching a 30 year marker.
  • 22:07 A lot of people out there are languishing for love.
  • 22:11 What's your secret?
  • 22:13 What do you think?
  • 22:16 We laugh a lot.
  • 22:17 I mean, we really do.
  • 22:19 We have a lot of joy.
  • 22:21 You're quiet right now.
  • 22:23 No, I'm thinking.
  • 22:24 I just know that the Lord put us together,
  • 22:26 and so thankful for our ministry together.
  • 22:28 We sing together...
  • 22:30 That's a much more spiritual answer.
  • 22:31 traveling together and...
  • 22:33 I new it was right!
  • 22:34 We laugh a lot.
  • 22:35 We have a lot of joy.
  • 22:37 Well, laughter's good medicine,
  • 22:38 joy, simcha , it's all good
  • 22:40 At wedding ceremonies people say, Til death do they part.
  • 22:42 I don't know why we even say it any more.
  • 22:44 I don't think people mean it.
  • 22:46 Our older viewers that watch...
  • 22:47 Well we were more pre-disposed in my generation
  • 22:50 to take those vows seriously.
  • 22:51 But we live in a world today... God help us.
  • 22:54 Right.
  • 22:56 And I know Zola taught.
  • 22:58 And Zola taught so much today on the wedding feast up in heaven.
  • 23:01 Are we eating?
  • 23:04 We are celebrating, right?
  • 23:06 Are we going to eat up there?
  • 23:07 Well it's interesting that the Bible begins
  • 23:09 with a food problem in the Garden of Eden.
  • 23:10 And it ends with the marriage supper of the Lamb.
  • 23:12 And there's a whole lot of food in between.
  • 23:14 Jesus did a lot of His teachings around food.
  • 23:17 It's very interesting the way it works.
  • 23:20 Human experience begins with food.
  • 23:22 When a baby breast feeds and re-connects and
  • 23:25 all special events, you know, boy asks a girl out for a meal.
  • 23:30 It's more than just going out to Dairy Queen.
  • 23:32 He and she are exploring possibilities for the future.
  • 23:35 The big question is popped at a dinner oftentimes,
  • 23:39 and it's celebrated with a meal.
  • 23:40 Barrie and I are going out tonight.
  • 23:42 Food factors into the equation but
  • 23:44 it's so interesting to look at the biblical story the way Zola does.
  • 23:47 People are interested in Bible prophecy but
  • 23:49 they didn't get the connection to the Jewish Wedding,
  • 23:53 to the Groom going away and then coming back.
  • 23:55 It's a great story!
  • 23:56 It's a great story.
  • 23:57 And we've read his book.
  • 23:58 Yes.
  • 23:59 Zola's book if you don't have it.
  • 24:00 It is wonderful!
  • 24:02 All about the marriage feast.
  • 24:04 But growing up in church we don't understand the Jewish connections.
  • 24:07 People don't and that is so tragic.
  • 24:10 I like to say with my own life and ministry
  • 24:12 and our television program too.
  • 24:15 We want to help Jewish people come to know Jesus,
  • 24:17 and we want to help Jesus people come to know Jews.
  • 24:20 There's so much that's been lost
  • 24:22 by throwing the Jewish story out of the biblical drama.
  • 24:26 And it is so highlighted.
  • 24:28 Zola not only wrote a book on it,
  • 24:30 when I was with him we did a series,
  • 24:32 "Beloved Thief", a musical...
  • 24:34 Right.
  • 24:35 about the whole story as it relates to Bible prophecy.
  • 24:38 It's a real "zinger".
  • 24:39 It's good.
  • 24:41 I don't think we even knew about that until we read that booklet.
  • 24:45 Which is sad, isn't it?
  • 24:46 It is very sad that we in the Church
  • 24:48 don't understand this marriage feast.
  • 24:51 This sounds trite, I think but I think we think,
  • 24:54 "Oh, we're going to be able to eat without getting fat."
  • 24:55 That's almost the Christian viewpoint,
  • 24:57 the Christian women's viewpoint of the marriage feast in heaven.
  • 25:00 But it is so symbolic.
  • 25:02 It is.
  • 25:03 Because with the Jewish wedding feasts and the time and the
  • 25:07 groom going off and building a room,
  • 25:09 and we don't understand unless we know about the Jewish aspect.
  • 25:13 Here's the way I look at it.
  • 25:14 People read the Bible absent a Jewish perspective.
  • 25:17 It's a great story.
  • 25:18 It comes in black and white.
  • 25:19 It's crystal clear.
  • 25:20 But when you have a Jewish understanding.
  • 25:22 All of a sudden it's technicolor, and it's Dolby sound.
  • 25:26 It gives these various hues and nuances
  • 25:29 which wouldn't otherwise be there.
  • 25:31 And I think people are missing....
  • 25:32 I appreciate our friends that help support this ministry
  • 25:35 so we can get it out there on the airwaves.
  • 25:37 Yep, that's great.
  • 25:38 This program is gone way too fast.
  • 25:40 I think you could have talked all day on marriage
  • 25:42 and the Feast and all that,
  • 25:44 but, thank you for joining us today.
  • 25:46 We're going to go to a Zola song.
  • 25:47 Oh yes, and happy anniversary to you.
  • 25:49 Well thank you very much.
  • 25:50 Right now we're going to go to a Zola song
  • 25:52 as we end our program...
  • 25:54 In Psalm 122:6 it says, Sha'alu' Shalom Yerushalayim
  • 26:00 Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.
  • 26:11 ♪ Orchestra Music only ♪
  • 27:21 Our monthly Newsletter, the Levitt Letter is free
  • 27:24 and full of insightful articles and news commentary
  • 27:27 from a Messianic perspective.
  • 27:29 Visit levitt.com to find our Newsletter
  • 27:32 along with current and past programs,
  • 27:34 our Television Schedule and much more.
  • 27:38 Don't forget to order this week's Resource
  • 27:40 by calling 1-800-WONDERS,
  • 27:43 or you can purchase it from our store at levitt.com
  • 27:47 Your donations to Zola Levitt Ministries
  • 27:49 help these organizations bless Israel.

Episodes in this series

  1. Overview
  2. The Rapture
  3. The Judgment Seat of the Righteous
  4. The Wedding
  5. The Second Coming
  6. The Throne of Judgment
  7. The Kingdom Begins
  8. The Kingdom in Progress
  9. The Gog & Magog Invasion
  10. The Great White Throne of Judgment
  11. Eternity
  12. The Music

Guest organizations and links