This volume argues that ancient Greek girls and early Christian virgins and their families made use of rhetorically similar traditions of marriage to an otherworldly bridegroom in order to handle the problem of a girl’s denied or disrupted transition into adulthood. In both ancient Greece and early Christian Rome, the standard female transition into adulthood was marked by marriage, sex, and childbirth. When problems arose just before or during this transition, the transitional girl’s status within society became insecure. Walker presents a case for how and why the dead Greek virgin girl, depicted in Archaic through Hellenistic sources, in both texts and inscriptions, as a bride of Hades, and the life-long female Christian virgin or celibate ascetic, dubbed the bride of Christ around the third century CE, provide a fruitful point of comparison as particular examples of strategies used to neutralize the tension of disrupted female transition into adulthood. Bride of Hades to Bride of Christ offers a fascinating comparative study that will be of interest to anyone working on virginity and womanhood in the ancient world.

Right from the very beginning in eternity past, God had planned history with His Son having a bride, a companion that would co-reign with Him and enjoy Him forever. That is the eternal purpose of God in creating a bride for His Son. If you read the Scripture from cover to cover, you would discover that God teaches us in a variety of different ways. Sometimes God uses powerful word pictures, sometimes He uses symbols, sometimes He uses examples of people both good and bad. Sometimes God uses a direct word, an authoritative word, sometimes He uses examples from nature, like a tree planted by the rivers of water that will not cease to bear fruit. This book highlights how God gave us an example of an ancient Jewish wedding ceremony that correlates with Christ, the Bridegroom, and His bride the church. From the father choosing a bride for his son, paying the bridal price, the bridegroom snatching his bride and bringing her to the bridal chamber, and then finally co-reigning with him in their household with him as the head. It is absolutely amazing the correlation between the two. What was a mystery to the Jews has been revealed. The mystery was that both Jew and Gentile called the church would be the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is describing the kind of relationship we can have with Jesus. God is seeking willing lovers, who would voluntarily seek His heart, voluntarily surrender to Him, and voluntarily love Him with all their heart, soul and mind, and strength.

Who will be in the Bride of God from the Old Testament? Who will be the Bride of Christ in the New Testament? Answer: those who have loved God through Jesus Christ the most. Only God knows who these will be. However, we can examine ourselves now in the light of God’s Word and know our love for Jesus and His church. Your reading will take you through the ups and downs of the faithful Old Testament saints who looked forward to the first coming of Christ, the Messiah. You will tearfully marvel at the faithful Jews who made the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. This book is written to motivate you to love fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ now to be a part of the marriage of the Lamb and the Bride. This writing is about living in the eternal city with God forever, a city not made with human hands. As stated in the book, there will be many who will live outside the gates of the New Jerusalem. These will not enjoy the rewards and privileges of those who live in the Father’s mansion. They are the ones who will be saved so as by fire. My grandfather Scott used to tell me that these are the ones who get to heaven by swinging on the gates of hell. Again, the essence of the book is to motivate you to love Jesus Christ and His church now and at the judgment seat of Christ to be recognized into the Bride of Christ.

The Holy Wedding is a six-week study revealing God's original intent to have a people in which He could share His love through an intimate relationship-like a marriage. God's design would eventually lead to a holy wedding between Himself and His people. We pick up the thread of this beautiful picture in Genesis and follow it through all the way to Revelation. The Bible employs various imagery in describing God's people, but the most intimate and affection portrayal is that of a bride. Realizing God loves His bride passionately, emotionally, longingly, protectively, faithfully, and jealously is essential because it is transforming. A power is awakened when our hearts are assured that we are deeply loved as there is no fear in love; perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18). This is a love to be cherished! I hope you will join me in exploring the magnificent story of Christ and His Bride as we anticipate the day that we will behold our Bridegroom face-to-face.

Right from the very beginning in eternity past, God had planned history with His Son having a bride, a companion that would co-reign with Him and enjoy Him forever. That is the eternal purpose of God in creating a bride for His Son. If you read the Scripture from cover to cover, you would discover that God teaches us in a variety of different ways. Sometimes God uses powerful word pictures, sometimes He uses symbols, sometimes He uses examples of people both good and bad. Sometimes God uses a direct word, an authoritative word, sometimes He uses examples from nature, like a tree planted by the rivers of water that will not cease to bear fruit. This book highlights how God gave us an example of an ancient Jewish wedding ceremony that correlates with Christ, the Bridegroom, and His bride the church. From the father choosing a bride for his son, paying the bridal price, the bridegroom snatching his bride and bringing her to the bridal chamber, and then finally co-reigning with him in their household with him as the head. It is absolutely amazing the correlation between the two. What was a mystery to the Jews has been revealed. The mystery was that both Jew and Gentile called the church would be the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is describing the kind of relationship we can have with Jesus. God is seeking willing lovers, who would voluntarily seek His heart, voluntarily surrender to Him, and voluntarily love Him with all their heart, soul and mind, and strength.

This book deals with the third major encounter that a believer can have with God through the person on Jesus Christ. The first encounter represents the way, the second the truth and the encounter in this book represents the life of one who overcomes the flesh.