Symbolism and History of a Wedding Ring
January 11, 2025
After experiencing a divorce and the nature of the predatory divorce industry, I chose to dive deep into every single aspect of marriage. The purpose, the process, and the elements including everything down to the detail of the wedding ring and the proposal process. What I learned reshaped my perspective on the proposal and it’s elements.
Today’s society does things and goes through motions based on cultural traditions. Very few of us ask the question “Why?”. When we start asking this simple and powerful question, and place effort into learning… we learn. What we do with that information is the real question.
When I began learning about the (bride’s) wedding ring (keep in mind that my entire life is based on Biblical truth. It is the Bible where I center my studies.) my studies led me into learning of the proposal process as well. What I learned is that the giving of the ring is an honorable process, it is the way we present it that may symbolically condemn the marriage from the start.
The roots of the wedding ring began with Hebrew/Jewish weddings. For simplicity, I am going to begin at the time that Jesus walked the Earth. During this time, what is known as the betrothal period (what we know as the engagement period) a groom would give his bride a coin at the beginning. The betrothal period was typically one year. The coin was given so that the bride would remember her groom during this time of engagement. It was also part of the gift giving at the start of the betrothal.
The coin would serve another purpose as the wedding approached. Eventually, the groom would retrieve the coin and take it to a jeweler who would convert the coin into a ring. The ring would then be presented to the bride at the wedding. During these times (contrary to placing the ring on the “ring finger” as we do today), the groom would place the ring on the index finger of his bride.
Now, fast forward to the “middle ages” or what many call the “dark ages”, during this period of human history the marriage proposal process was defiled and the modern day marriage proposal process was born.
Today a man approaches his bride to be with a ring. He bends a knee and places a ring on his bride’s finger as he proposes marriage to her. This process represents a scenario in which a king would be defeated. Upon his defeat he would participate in a surrender ceremony where he would kneel to the dominate king’s queen and place his “ring of power” on her finger.
This process represents a man surrendering his power and authority to a woman who had authority to conquer and rule over him. Today, this process is repeated approximately 800,000 times a year in the United States. Men repeat this process because its what they see and know and its just a part of American culture that is unchecked and not questioned.
I see myself as a man who does not conform to ways of anti-Biblical evil. I was upset with myself knowing that I too participated in this process. Looking back on that marriage, it is now evident that I did surrender my authority to my ex and that was very visible in that “marriage”.
God requires that a man are the head of his wife. A ring is a perfect and beautiful gift for a bride. Keep in mind that the purpose of a ring is to keep the husband on the mind of the bride, not to be a symbol of surrender. The process of delivering that ring should reflect the groom’s willingness to mimic our Heavenly Father in as much as he possibly can. Establishing a man’s will should start at the very beginning of the groom/bride relationship.
As for me, when I entered into the covenant that I currently am in with my Wife, I began our marriage with a Galilean/Hebrew style proposal and then betrothal process. One key difference was that the coin that I gave her was a 2,000 year old “widow’s mite”. Its a reminder of the way that I think of her. This coin wasn’t melted into a ring, I purchased a ring since melting a 2,000 year old “Bible” coin wasn’t prudent. It was really fun, my Bride and I learned about the bride/groom symbolism in the process. Not to mention, we inspired dozens of other couples to follow suit.
As a Christ centered man, I would strongly suggest that you be bold enough be different and question everything. We have been lied to at just about every turn here in the United States. Being bold is attractive to your bride. Being bold is a way to honor God. God will exalt those who are bold.
If you are interested in learning more about the type of proposal and wedding that I am referring to in this article you can go to www.BeforeTheWrath.com and watch the film. I suggest every enthusiast of marriage and Jesus to do the same.
I hope this article has been a blessing to you. If you can exalt a family member or friend with this information, please feel free to send it to them. My team and I are here to take marriage back to it’s roots and make families healthy again. Engaging in our content empowers our mission. Today you have exalted us by just reading this information.
Disclaimer: The author of this article is not a licensed attorney. The information in this article is not and should not be considered legal advice. The viewpoint expressed herein in based on the understanding of the author’s personal study. Please take the time to study the subject matter on your own and come to your own conclusion. May our Heavenly Father exalt you.