In English this is usually translated, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD".
In Hebrew baruch ha’ba means "welcome". They say welcome with a blessing attached to it.
In the gospels we find Yeshua (Jesus) making this statement, "Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD". (Luke 13:35) Yeshua was predicting the destruction of Jerusalem because they did not recognize Him as their Messiah. Many individuals did but not the leaders and nation as a whole.
We could leave this phrase alone at this point and take it at its face value that the nation and people of Yeshua, specifically the Jews, will repeat this phrase to Him when He appears the second time. However, is it possible that there is a deeper meaning yet to be uncovered?
Although Jewish wedding customs change and have probably changed in many ways since the first century, here is one custom that I find interesting. In some Jewish weddings the Rabbi will repeat this phrase over the guests and specifically the bride and groom at the beginning of the ceremony. Many Jewish sources state that in the ancient Jewish wedding the bride and her companions would shout this phrase when they saw the bridegroom coming with his entourage. They would shout it out to "welcome" the arrival of the bridegroom.
Was Yeshua's statement "wedding talk" to His bride? The groom who had been rejected was now looking forward to the day when His bride would recognize Him, at His return for her, and would shout out a great celebratory "WELCOME TO HIM WHO HAS COME IN THE NAME OF YHWH”! We know who you are now, we accept our bridegroom.
We know that everything else that He did points toward the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony so why does this explanation not fit in perfectly? In Revelation 22:17 we read where the "spirit and the bride say come" (this is just after all the recorded scriptures about the bride). This scripture certainly sounds like it is a welcome given to the bridegroom by the bride. Come Bridegroom! Baruch Ha'ba B'shem Adonai.
Leisa Baysinger
