Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #7 of Revelation chapter 19 and we are going to be reading Revelation 19:7-9:

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. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

In our last study we went to Matthew, chapter 22 and we looked at the parable of a king that bid guests to a wedding.  We saw that God was picturing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the two periods of time He did pour out His Holy Spirit, during the early rain and the Latter Rain. 

Also in that parable the Lord was picturing Judgment Day as the time when the wedding is held.  We have also been discussing how God is likening Himself to a bridegroom and He is likening those He has saved as His bride.  Let us go to another passage that shows this spiritual marriage relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and those He has saved.  In Romans, chapter 7, we will see that God actually pictures all mankind as being married to the Law of God and, yet, that husband, the Law of God, condemns His wife due to the wife’s infidelity.  This is why in the Epistle of James God addresses mankind as, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses.”  It is because we are all under the dominion of the Law of God as soon as we are born into the world.  We are in the submissive role of the “wife” that is bound to her husband, the Law of God, and we are subject to obey it perfectly.  If we fail to obey on even one point, the Bible says we are guilty of all.  If we commit one sin, the wages of sin is death.  It is the jealous husband, the Law of God, which in the Day of Judgment (which we are presently in) condemns the wife that has transgressed the Law and committed spiritual adultery.  God has laid down Laws in the Bible that indicate the adulterer or adulteress is to be stoned to death, because the wages of sin is death.  It is a picture God has set up to point to this close and intimate relationship that mankind, created in God’s image, has with the Law of God.  Romans, chapter 7 goes into a discussion of the spiritual marriage between man and the Law of God.  It says in Romans 7:1:

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

Notice that the “law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth.”  In a marriage relationship, the man has dominion over the wife and the wife is to be in submission to the husband.  Likewise, the Law is cast in the role of the husband.  It goes on to say in Romans 7:2:

For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

This is part of God’s Law concerning marriage and divorce, remarriage and widows or widowers.  If a man or a woman has been married and divorced, but his or her spouse is still alive, the Bible does not allow for them to remarry because it would be adultery; they are already married to their former spouse in the eyes of God.  So if this woman marries another, she commits adultery, because God still considers her as married to her first husband.  This is an important Law because God is saying it is only when the former husband is dead that she is free to marry another.  So if a woman had a husband, it does not matter how long she was married, whether it be 50 years or 5 years. But if the husband dies, it ends the marriage between the woman and her husband and now she is free to remarry.  The Bible has no problem with that.  God’s Word says it is fine, if that is something you want to do; it is permissible for you to do.  But if your husband is still alive, it is not permissible.  That would be committing adultery because the husband is not dead.  This is important because mankind is married to the Law of God and the Law is our husband.  However, the Law is condemning us.  We would want to get out of that marriage relationship if possible, but the only way to get out of a marriage relationship is in the event of death, so God says, in Romans 7:3-4:

So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Do you see what God is saying?  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but there are certain sinners that happen to be God’s elect, chosen according to the good pleasure of God.  He chose certain ones to save and it had nothing to do with any goodness within them, but only according to His good pleasure.  Yet, He did choose certain individuals, but they are married to the Law of God which condemns them for their sin.  So God provided a solution.  They “become dead to the law by the body of Christ,” because Christ died as He paid for the penalty of their sins, freeing them from the binding marriage relationship with the Law of God.  Through Christ’s death they are free and God says, “That ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead.”  Of course, this is Jesus Christ – He is the one to whom we are married.  Since it says, “That ye should be married to another,” it means we were previously married to the Law of God, but now through the body of Christ we are freed from that relationship.  That is why the Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”  We are not condemned by the Law.  Our former husband no longer sees the sin and there is no longer that binding relationship with the Law of God. 

This is the wonderful aspect of the spiritual marriage between Christ and His bride, comprised of the entire company of the elect. 

There is another parable in Matthew 25 that also involves marriage.  Matthew 25 is where we read of the 10 virgins.   Five were wise and five were foolish.  It says in Matthew 25:5-13:

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Here, we see there was a proclamation: “The bridegroom cometh.”  Then all the virgins went out to meet Him.  That relates to the worldwide proclamation of May 21, 2011, which announced the coming of Christ in judgment.  Since He is the bridegroom, it was a declaration, “The bridegroom cometh.”  Then all of those in the churches turned to their Bibles, as represented by the lamps, but those with oil in their lamps (the wise) were able to light the lamps; that is, their minds were illuminated through the Holy Spirit, which is typified by the oil.  Since the Holy Spirit enlightened their minds, they had understanding.  This is why Daniel said of the time of the end, “None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”  The parable in Matthew 25 is a commentary on Daniel, chapter 12.  The wise virgins have understanding when they light their lamps because they possess the Holy Spirit that guides them into all truth concerning God’s program of times and seasons.  They are able to discern both time and judgment.  But none of the wicked shall understand.  The foolish virgins also have lamps; they have Bibles.  But they lack the Holy Spirit to enlighten the Word of God, so it is like they are reading in the dark.  It is pitch black and you cannot learn much, if you can see anything at all.  That is how it is for the unsaved when they read these things in the Bible concerning the end of the church age and Christ dying for sin from the foundation of the world or the timing of the Great Tribulation and Judgment Day, and so forth.  As God opened up this information, it was necessary for the Holy Spirit to open the minds of the readers as they “trimmed their lamps.”  If they did not have oil, they could not trim their lamps and see these things.

Here, we see that the bridegroom finally came and that would have been on the day that was proclaimed, as revealed by God to be exactly 7,000 years from the flood, which was May 21, 2011.  It had the equivalent underlying Hebrew calendar date on which God shut the door of the ark and on May 21, 2011, God shut the door to heaven and the bridegroom came in judgment.

Notice what it says in Matthew 25:10:

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage…

We saw a similar statement in Revelation 19:7:

… for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

In the parable, those that were ready went in with Him to the marriage.  We have to be careful with the language that the wife “hath made herself ready.”  We will talk more about that later, but one thing is for certain: God is the one who saves; it is fully by His grace and mercy and only through the work and faith of Christ that any individual can become saved.  Christ has made those that He has saved “ready” for heaven by saving them.  Yet, the wife or the bride can also play a part in making herself ready through evangelization because God’s program was to give the truth of His Word to His people (His bride) and they would proclaim it far and wide.  The Gospel would go into all the world and as it went forth, the Word of God did not return void, but it found the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  God blessed His Word by saving those individuals and they were added to the spiritual “bride.”  The bride is collectively all the people God has saved and she is made up of millions and millions of the elect.  That is how the bride “made herself ready” through the sending forth of the Gospel and through the outreach to the elect, as God moved in her to will and to do of His good pleasure.  All the elect were finally found and saved, completing the formation of the “bride” and, thereby, making her “ready.”  So we see a little reference to that here in Matthew 25:10:

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage…

The Greek word translated as “marriage” is Strong’s #1062, the same word translated as “wedding” in other places.  You know, even though it is the same Greek word, when we use the word “marriage” or the word “wedding,” it has a rather different meaning in our minds.  For instance, if we say, “They went into the marriage,” we tend to think in terms of the marriage bed and consummating the marriage, but that is not what this word means.  Remember, it is the same word we saw back in Matthew 22:2-3:

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

The words translated as “marriage” and as “wedding” are from the identical Greek word.  So the “marriage” for his son is the “wedding.”  It is a word that identifies with the ceremony and not with the intimacy of marriage, the consummation of the marriage.  Even today, if someone is having a wedding, what do we think?  We understand that they are going to go to the City Hall and they will have a Justice of the Peace to officiate and they will have a gathering of family and friends at the wedding.  It is a ceremony.  When we think of “marriage,” we tend to think of it in more personal terms.  That word leads us into a more intimate understanding, but it says in Matthew 22:8:

Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

These are from the same Greek word and it is translated as “wedding” in one verse and as “marriage” in another verse. 

Then it says in Matthew 22:10:

So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

If you were to say that the “marriage was furnished with guests,” it does not sound quite right to our ears, but we understand when it says “the wedding was furnished with guests.”  It is the ceremony and the place where the joining together of the bride and groom would take place. 

So it should say in Matthew 25:10: “and they that were ready went in with him to the wedding,” instead of saying “and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage.”  Why is that important?  It is because the entire world was bidden to that wedding when the call of the Gospel went forth: “Come to the wedding.”  All were bidden to come.  When God saved the last of His elect, they were “ready” and they went in with Him to the wedding, which means the elect are present at the wedding, but so are the unsaved.  In the parable in Matthew, chapter 22, the king came in to inspect the guests.  It says in Matthew 22:11-14:

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.

The king is inspecting his guests, but he only confronts one guest because he does not have on the proper attire.  He bypasses other guests that are in the proper attire and these are the elect that have come in with the bridegroom to the wedding and they are present at the time of the wedding ceremony.  This wedding ceremony is identified by the Bible as Judgment Day and this is what is being emphasized in Revelation 19:9:

Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Then it says in Revelation 19:17-18:

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; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

This is the “marriage supper” of the Lamb and, of course, that supper would take place during the wedding feast or wedding ceremony and that is what is presently happening, spiritually, in the world.   It is Judgment Day and it is the time of the “wedding,” the joining together of the Lord Jesus Christ and His complete “bride,” who is now made ready due to the fact that every individual who was to become saved has become saved.  You would not marry the “bride” that represents all the elect until all the elect are gathered together in that body, in the sense of having saved everyone whose name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Now “she” is ready for the marriage and has come to the marriage because “she” is the elect that are alive and living on the earth and it is at this time that God is holding the marriage feast.

We will continue to look at this idea.  It is really interesting how God ties the wedding to Judgment Day.  Also, God does not speak of a “supper” in the Old Testament, but He calls this “marriage supper of the Lamb” a sacrifice.  Lord willing, when we get together next time, we will look at that language.