Smoodock's Blog

I have heard a lot of things about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and all of the commentaries, which I possess, put the event in the future. Some even believe Revelation 19:7 refers to a physical event. Hymns have been authored and sung about sitting down with Abraham, Moses and David, even Peter and Paul etc. Whoever might be one’s favorite Biblical character, it is almost certain that one would sit down at the table next to that particular hero of the Bible. Can you imagine the length and breadth of the table that would have to be constructed? But, God can do anything, so whatever one is able to imagine can be done! Right? The problem arises when we realize that not every imagination of our hearts meets with the Lord’s approval (Isaiah 55:8).

John heard the great multitude in heaven cry out: “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Revelation 19:6-7). So, praise and honor is offered to the Lord, our God, because the long awaited event, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, had finally arrived! I wonder, though, what would such a thing look like? Will those who witness the event actually sit down, next to one another, and partake of a physical meal (Matthew 8:11-12; cp. 22:2-14)?

According to the Scriptures, the Lord already had a wife, and his bride was Israel. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves a few questions about his relationship with her. First of all, when did that wedding take place, and, secondly, how did that marital relationship fare? To the first question, the only significant vows that took place between the Lord and Israel occurred under Moses’ leadership. The Lord and Israel covenanted together and were united in a marriage bond. The Lord would take care of Israel, and Israel would be obedient to the Lord. In essence, these were the wedding vows. To the second question, Israel was unfaithful and became a harlot, and the Lord divorced her (Jeremiah 3:8). So, essentially, the Old Covenant represented a Marriage Covenant between the Lord, God, and his people, Israel (Jeremiah 3:20), and the wedding occurred at Sinai, when the Lord told Israel he would be their God, and they agreed to obey and honor him alone.

It is in this context, then, that we must understand the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It is not a physical wedding or a wedding feast like those we are invited to when someone we know marries. Rather, Revelation 19:7 represents the establishment of the covenant the Lord made with his disciples during what we call the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion. The betrothal took place on Pentecost (Acts 2), but the marriage wasn’t consummated until the coming of the Lord cir. 70 AD. At that time the New Covenant was established before all the world by removing the great harlot, Jerusalem, as a recognized representative of the Lord our God.

Therefore, we must now ask: who, exactly, is the Lord’s bride? Most New Covenant scholars would say that the Lamb’s wife is the Church, i.e. all those who make up the Body of Christ, or all those who believe. However, this is only partially true. To simply conclude that the Church, the whole Church, is the bride of Christ is not only ridiculous, but it contradicts Scripture. For example, Daniel 2:44 tells us that the Kingdom of God would be set up during the reign of the final empire of the Jewish age, which was Rome. Moreover, that Kingdom would eventually dismantle all other kingdoms, but it would never be destroyed. In other words, the Kingdom of God would never end. If this is so, then the Church would continually reproduce children for the Lord ad infinitum. If the Church endlessly provides children or disciples for Christ, when would the marriage take place, and, even more importantly, would this make her children bastards until the time when the marriage takes place and the process of making disciples ends? Surprisingly (in the context of modern church doctrine), the Scriptures say, the process would never end.

Therefore, since it would be absurd to conclude that the Church, the whole Church, is the Bride of Christ, we must interpret Revelation 19:7 to mean the Bride of Christ is that portion of the Church that existed in the 1^st century AD, plus all the faithful who died, from Able to Pentecost 31 AD, when the Church was born. This is not only the Bride of Christ, but the Mother of all future generations of believers.

The text then concludes that the Bride of Christ made herself ready (Revelation 19:7-8), but how was this done? According to Revelation 3:4-5 only those who overcame the world would walk with Christ in white, and anything less would defile their garments. Moreover, Jesus also told his Church that they needed to buy white raiment from him. If they failed to do so, they would be naked. That is, their sins would be evident to all. So, white robes were given to the faithful (Revelation 6:11), which were robes they washed in the blood of Christ (Revelation 7:14). In other words, they didn’t count their own lives precious. Rather, they overcame evil through the blood of Christ, and their testimony about him (Revelation 12:11), which, of course means they obeyed him and preached the Gospel (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:20).