Revelation 19:7-9
The “Marriage of the Lamb” was one of the themes that Jesus loved to dwell on. In the Parable of the “Ten Virgins” He tells how the Virgins went out to meet the Bridegroom, and the unpreparedness of some of them to meet Him. And in the Parable of the “Marriage of the King’s Son” (Matt. 22:1-14), He prophetically refers to it, and gives us a fore view of it, and in these verses He describes its consummation, saying in Revelation 19:7-9:
Revelation 19:7-9
7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Notice that it does not say the “wedding of the bride,” but the “wedding of the Lamb.” That glorious event will not be so much the consummation of the hopes of the bride, as it will be the consummation of the plan of God for His Son arranged before the creation of the world. Ephesians 1:4 states: 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
The “wedding of the Lamb” is the consummation of the joy of Christ as a man. It would not have been possible if Jesus had not been born in the flesh. Otherwise, it would have been the union of dissimilar natures because the bride is of human origin. This is why Jesus took His human nature back with Him to glory, and today we have in Heaven the man Christ Jesus. 1. Tim. 2:5 states: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
While the bride was chosen for Him before the foundation of the world, the engagement could not take place until after Jesus assumed humanity, and so it was not until after Jesus’s incarnation that Paul could say: I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 2. Cor. 11:2.
There have been many long engagements in which the engaged have been faithful to their vows until the long wait has ended in a happy marriage, but the longest this world has ever heard of is that of Jesus waiting for His bride the church. He has been waiting now for 2000 years, but He will not have to wait much longer. Soon the sleeping church will hear the cry: “Behold the bridegroom comes, go out to meet him,” and Heaven will re-sound with the cry: “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come.” Revelation 19:7. Generally the most interest in a wedding is focused around the bride, but the intimation in Scripture is that the most interest in the marriage of the Lamb will center around the bridegroom. If there is joy in heaven in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents, and that joy is the joy of the Father, how much greater will be the joy of the Father when He will see the completion of His plan for His Son in His marriage to His bride, the Church. There have been many royal weddings of international interest where the invited guests and spectators witnessed a magnificent spectacle in design, decorating, floral arrangements, and food. But the wedding of the Lamb and His bride will outdo them all and will unite heaven and earth in a bond that will never be broken.
When and Where will the Marriage of the Lamb take Place
The marriage of the Lamb takes place in heaven after the Judgment Seat of Christ and before the appearing of Christ and His saints at His return to the Earth.
The character of the ceremony or who will perform it, (although needless to say it will be God the Father Himself), and what vows the Bridegroom and bride will take, is not disclosed, but that there will be a ceremony of some kind that no divorce or separation can ever break, is without question, as there never has been a legal marriage without some ceremony. Notice there is no one giving away the bride as the Bible teaches in Ephesians 5:27 that Jesus presents her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Who is the Bridegroom?
The Bridegroom is the King’s son as spoken of in the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:1-14. John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as the bridegroom and himself as the “friend” of the bridegroom who was full of joy to hear His voice in John 3:29. In Matthew 9:15 Jesus referred to Himself as the Bridegroom stating: “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them.” And in Matthew 25:1-10 in the parable of the Ten Virgins Jesus refers to Himself as the Bridegroom. So, we are taught the Bridegroom is Jesus.
Who is the Bride?
First of all, let’s remember that there are two brides in the Scriptures, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. The one in the Old Testament is Israel, the bride of Jehovah; the one in the New Testament is the Church, the bride of Christ.
The Bride of Jehovah
In Isaiah 54:5 Israel is told: For your Maker is your husband. But because Israel was unfaithful Jeremiah 3:8 says: I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. God divorced Israel. However, God promised to take her back when she ceased from her adulteries. Jeremiah 3:11-18 states: The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ” ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will not be angry forever. 13 Only acknowledge your guilt– you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,’ ” declares the LORD. 14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you–one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the LORD, “men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance. See also Ezekiel 16:1-63 and Hosea 2:1-23; 3:1-5a.
Israel will be taken back as a wife, not as a virgin. But the Lord Jesus will marry a virgin. So, the wife, Israel, of the Old Testament cannot be the bride (virgin) of the New Testament. Many theologians teach that the wife (Israel) will reside in the earthly Jerusalem during the Millennium, while the bride (the Church) will reside in the New Jerusalem. These distinctions make it clear that Israel cannot be the bride of Christ. John did not call the bride “wife” until Revelation 21:9 which was after the marriage when she was no longer bride, but wife.
The Bride of the Lamb (the New Testament Church)
The bride of the Lamb is from a disowned and outcast people brought about by the disobedience of the head of the race in the Garden of Eden, but thank goodness, the Bridegroom knew her and loved her. To redeem her He came from Heaven to her sin filled and cursed home on earth, where He was rejected by members of her family, taken captive, and subjected to a mock trial after which He was scourged and crucified as a common criminal, voluntarily laying down His life for her, demonstrating His love, and opening the way for her redemption. He then left her to return to His Father’s House to prepare a home for her, and during the period of her engagement He has left her with her own family while sending the Holy Spirit to teach and protect her, and prepare her for the day of their marriage, when He will descend in midair to meet her on her way to the bridal halls of heaven. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. There are many today who believe the bride is composed of all the saints from Abel down to the time of the taking out of the Church, but this is not true as the church did not exist until the Day of Pentecost and the taking out of the church belongs to the church only.
What is meant by the Bride Making Herself Ready?
We are told in revelation 19:7 to rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. And then in verse 8 that fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.“ The fact that the fine linen in which the bride is clothed is not called the righteousness of Christ, but the righteousnesses (plural) of the saints makes it clear that what we are talking about is not the imputed righteousness of Jesus, but the righteous acts and works of the saints themselves.
So, where and when does the church clothe herself since the Bible states that our righteousnesses are as filthy rages in the sight of God. This appears to show that the church does not clothe herself while on earth. In actuality the bride does not put on her wedding garments until after she has been tried at the Judgment Seat of Christ where all her false works will have been burned up by fire (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). The righteousnesses of the saints will be their righteous acts and works that will come out of the fiery test of the judgment of reward and be found in the praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. These will make up the beautiful wedding garments that will clothe the saints.
What is the Marriage Supper?
It is not the marriage itself. The marriage feast is the supper that follows after the marriage has been solemnized. One thing about this feast is that it will be such an honor to receive an invitation, and to be present that the angel said to John: “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” It will be the most glorious feast even presented.
Who are the Guests? (This Marriage Supper takes place just prior to the return and start of the 1000 year kingdom reign)
Ah, now the question! Who are the guests? It is clear that the guests are not the bride, because the bride would not be called or invited to the wedding, she already has a place there and there could be no wedding without her. As all the dead in Christ will rise and be present at the marriage of the Lamb, and as only those who are saved from Pentecost to the taking out of the church belong to the church (the bride), the guest list will include Old Testament saints such as Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Job, Moses, David, the Prophets, and even John the Baptist who claimed to be the “friend” of the bridegroom. Additionally, there will be the “blood washed multitude” that came out of the tribulation after the church has been caught out. So we see that the righteous of all the past ages and dispensations, and all the saints of God who shall be worthy, and who are not included in the bride (the church), will be guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Angels will be spectators at the scene but cannot be guests because the honor is reserved for only those who have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.
What Happens After the Marriage Supper of the Lamb?
After the marriage supper the groom (Jesus) will take His bride (the church) on a honeymoon to the earth, the place where the bridegroom suffered and died to purchase her redemption with His own precious blood. The place where He was rejected. He will then set up His earthly kingdom and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David, and His bride (the church) will reign with Him for a thousand years. What a wonderful honeymoon that will be with the earth being blessed with the presence of the King of kings and His lovely bride, the church.
But that long honeymoon will end, not for the bride and groom, but for the earth, by the return of the bride and groom to the Father’s house. Then after the earth has been renovated they will return with the descent of the Holy City to live on earth forever. So enraptured was John by the revelation that he says in Revelation 19:10: At this I fell at his (the angel’s) feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.“ That is, all prophecy testifies of Jesus.
