All the teachings I have ever heard on the wedding and marriage supper involved the Body of Christ so it's hard for me to see these passages according to right division. I'm looking for clarification on some verses.
Revelation 21:9-11 says that the bride and the Lamb's wife is Jerusalem (which is very cool) and is decked out in jewels etc. but then Revelation 19:7-8 says she is arrayed in fine linen and seems to suggest that the bride is a people group. Also, v.7 says she has made herself ready and I'm wondering about this. It seems like it's always God who does the work in his people...why here does she make herself ready?
Matthew 25:10 says that those who were ready went into the marriage with the bridegoom but Luke 12:36 says that those who waited enter after the lord (bridegoom?) returns from the wedding. This one has my brain in a pretzel.
So, I guess I'm wondering who exactly is going to be at the wedding/marriage feast, when does it take place, who or what is the bride etc.
The wedding Supper of the Lamb has nothing to do with those of us who are in the church, the body of Christ! It is a prophecy that will happen in the future on the earth and involves the Believing Remnant of the Nation of Israel and the Lord Jesus at His second Advent and the land of Israel—particularly the city of New Jerusalem!
We, in the Body, will have already been raptured into Heaven [Romans 11:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18], judged on our edification in Pauline doctrine at the Judgment Seat of Christ [1 Corinthians 3:10-17; 2 Corinthians 5:10], and will already have taken our positions of rank, authority, and rulership up there with the Father (Ephesians 2:6-7; 1 Thessalonians 3:13).
Revelation says that the bride is the Lamb's wife! So who is this bride? It's the city New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:9-11
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Revelation 21:2
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb happens when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to set up His Earthly kingdom.
Revelation 19:6-7
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
When the city comes down from Heaven with the Lord, the Old Testament saints will be in it.
Revelation 21:3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
They are the "fine linen, clean and white," that is, their righteousness!
Revelation 19:8
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
It also includes His holy angels, who also will be there...
Revelation 19:14
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Matthew 25:31
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
God Prophesied this very thing....how Israel will be His jewels, and they will be married to their land!
Isaiah 62:3-5
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
So the Bride is the city of New Jerusalem, and those who are pure and holy (both people and angels) are the adornment, apparel and clothing of the Bride. God also compares holy people to Jewels…
Isaiah 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Malachi 3:17
And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
As far as it says that she "made herself ready" in Revelation 19:7-8, that simply means that when it is time for the Lord to come back to the earth and to bring back His city and His people, before they begin to descend from the Heavens, all the saints and angels will be gathered together for this momentous occasion. The comparison is that of a bride getting herself all decked out and dressed up right before her wedding ceremony begins!
Revelation 19:7-8
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Notice the parable of our Lord in Matthew 22:1-14. During His earthly ministry, He was gathering a little flock that He would make righteous (through His Crosswork), and who would then be given the kingdom. In the parable, there were some who tried to enter the wedding without the right garments. And because they did not have His righteousness, they were cast away. So the Lord fulfilled this at His second coming.
Notice also the wedding at Cana of Galilee in John 2. Jesus, His mother and His disciples (followers) were all there. He turned water into wine—a type of the joy that Israel will have again by His Holy Spirit in them, in that kingdom when He returns.
Lastly, part of that Supper has to do with His destroying the Anti-Christ and his followers at the battle of Armageddon! The birds of the air and the beast of the field will eat the flesh of His enemies, and then His coronation will take place afterwards!
Revelation 19:17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Hopefully this helps...Maranatha!
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