July 12 2022

Today, Tuesday July 12

“The Marriage of the Lamb”

Revelation 19:7-10

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

In Revelation 19-20 John has recorded five key events that will take place before God "wraps up" human history and ushers in His new heavens and earth.

The first event is heaven is rejoicing because Babylon has fallen. The “great harlot” has been judged. (Rev. 19:1-4). Heaven is also rejoicing because, “The Lord God omnipotent has begun to reign” (Rev. 19:5-6). Now we are also told that a great multitude in heaven is saying, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (Rev. 19:6-7)

When there is a wedding, there is a bride and a bridegroom. At this wedding in heaven the Bridegroom is of course the Lord Jesus Christ. The bride is his church. Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” He also told the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 5:25-27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the “bridegroom” in John 3:28-29: ”You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.”

It is interesting to also note that in the New Testament, John the Baptist is the first to call Jesus the Lamb of God in John 1:29: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Here in Revelation 19, this wedding is called “the marriage of the Lamb”. Not the marriage of the King of kings, or Lord of lords, or even the marriage of Jesus, but “the marriage of the Lamb”. The emphasis here is on the Lamb. This is reminder that Jesus has paid the purchased price for His bride, the church. Paul told the elders at the church of Ephesus, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” (Acts 20:28)

At a wedding, it is customary to focus attention on the bride; but in this case, it is the Bridegroom who receives the honor! “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory…” (v. 7). We believe that this wedding between Christ and His Bride, the church, takes place in heaven sometime near the end of the Tribulation period.

Tomorrow we will be looking at a beautiful picture in the Old Testament of how God is gathering and making up the “bride” as today the gospel is being preached to the world. We find this story in Genesis 24 where Abraham sends his servant Eliezer to go back to his home country to find a bride for his son Isaac. Please take a few minutes to read this story.

My friend, this wedding and marriage supper is just around the corner!!!!! Today you are being invited to be a part of the beautiful bride of Jesus Christ and participate personally in this wedding in heaven! If you have already accepted this invitation, then today you should be making preparations for this ceremony in heaven by keeping your heart and life clean through the Word of God and daily confession of sin. (Ephesians 5:26-27)

God bless!