I am currently involved in a study of the eschatology of the parables of Jesus. In Matthew 22 Jesus told The Parable of the Wedding Feast. In it Jesus tells a story of a king who made a wedding for his son, and he sent out his servants to those who had been invited. A quick read might overlook the fact that the servants were sent out to the invited guests to extend the second invitation, and this symbolizes the two covenants God made with Israel.[1] This was a common practice among those living in the ancient Middle East. The custom is put forth in the book of Esther chapters five through seven. Although the first banquet was enjoyable, it was merely the forerunner of the second and most important banquet, and it was at the second banquet that the heart of the person making the feast was made known (cf. John 3:16; cf. Esther 7:1-6; Acts 7:13).
In the parable the kings servants were mistreated and eventually killed by the invited guests, which, of course, angered the king. Therefore, he sent out his armies to destroy those wicked people and burn their city (Matthew 22:1-7). It is difficult for people, who have read or were told about Jewish history in the first century AD, to not take Jesus words to refer to the Jewish catastrophe in 70 AD, wherein the Roman armies came and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. The Jews in the first century AD, who were living under the Old Covenant, were offered a new covenant as per Jeremiah 31:31-33. This was their second invitation, but, according to the parable and history, the nation as a whole rejected that invitation.
We need to also consider the wedding motif in Jeremiah 31:32—“although I was a husband unto them, says the Lord.” The covenant made at Sinai is what is in question here. In effect, God married the Jews at Sinai, or perhaps some may say God betrothed her at that time. Jesus wasn’t simply pulling parables out of the air without any meaning or without a former application. Not at all! He came specifically as the Servant of the Jews for the sake of the truth in order to confirm the promises God made to them through the fathers (Romans 15:8). In other words, the second invitation had to go out to the Jews in order for God to be faithful to the promises he made through the fathers, even though it was known the Jewish authorities (and hence the nation as a whole) would reject it (Matthew 22:3-6).
According to Hosea God divorced Israel (the ten northern tribes) through judgment, destroying the nation and taking the people into captivity (cf. Hosea 1:9; 2:2). However, in the latter days the Lord would come to them again and say you are my people (Hosea 1:10; 2:23). In other words, the Lord would remarry the House of Israel (the ten northern tribes), but it would be in the latter days (Hosea 3:5), which were in the generation of Jesus (Hebrews 1:2). Thus, Jesus tells The Parable of the Wedding (Matthew 22:1-14), extending the second invitation.
Eventually, those whom Jesus sent out with the Gospel were abused, persecuted from city to city and many were killed (Matthew 22:3-6). The Gospel went out to Judah and the ten tribes in the Diaspora (cf. James 1:1). The righteous remnant believed (Isaiah 10:20-22; cf. Matthew 22:9-10) and were persecuted by those who refused to believe (Galatians 4:23-29). Nevertheless, as the scripture says the persecutors were destroyed with their city (Matthew 22:7; cf. Galatians 4:30-31).
Thus, the wedding feast, itself, was not delayed, according to the scriptures. On the contrary, although the invitation was refused by the original guests that had been invited, the wedding took place. Therefore, contrary to how many believe today, the wedding feast did occur in 70 AD, at the coming of the Lord and just after his judgment upon Jerusalem and the Temple.
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[1] See my earlier study: The Parable of the Two Invitations.
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