Read with Me
Revelation 19:6-10 (HCSB)
Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying:
Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty,
has begun to reign!
Let us be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory,
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His wife has prepared herself.
She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure.
For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
Then he said to me, “Write: Those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb are fortunate!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.” Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow slave with you and your brothers who have the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
Listen with Me
With the proclamation of the start of the wedding celebration of the Lamb, John was shown God’s future conquest of every enemy and His recovering of his Bride, the Church, to Himself. Thus, the overturning of Rome and its tyrannical empire becomes an archetype of God’s ability to cause the complete downfall and ruin of all evil from the earth.
Jesus himself used the image of the wedding banquet in several of his parables (Matthew 22:1-14, 25:1-13; Luke 14:15-24), illustrating the end of time and the final gathering of all God’s people to Himself.
The two grand themes in these parables are that though many people are invited, few are willing to put aside the things of their life and come, and the invitation to the wedding banquet must be responded to when it is issued. Those not ready, and willing will find themselves locked out and consigned to an eternity in the outer darkness far from God’s throne.
The emphasis in the vision that was shown to John is focused on the beauty of the bride and the blessedness of all who are invited to the feast and then who actually enter in. The bride is depicted wearing white, completely clean fine-spun linen, the highest grade, and identical to that which formed the walls and curtains of the tabernacle, and the garments for the priests (Exodus 26:1, 27:9, 28:6). This fine white dress does not symbolize purity, although it is recognized that the bride is in fact pure. It symbolizes the righteous deeds of the saints, the obedience to God’s commands and to His leading that springs from a loving and pure heart.
The angel who was showing John the vision commanded him to write the line “Those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb are fortunate!”. And when John hesitated, the angel urged him further by telling him that these words were not just his own opinion but are the true words of God. John was so overwhelmed that he fell on his face at the angel’s feet and began to worship him. The angel was horrified at this and flatly rejected the worship, identifying himself as only a slave on the same level as John, and instructing John to redirect his praise and worship to God instead.
Pray with Me
Father, this was clearly an overwhelming experience for John, so much so that he began to worship the glorious being who stood before him instead of the far more glorious being who was the source of the angel’s glory. But what he saw and reported is essential for us to know. An invitation to the wedding supper is not extended to everyone, but only to those who have believed in Jesus, who had been made pure, and whose lives exemplify that purity through obedience and good works. Help me, Lord, to never take my own invitation for granted, but to live every day in such a way that I will be able to stand with Jesus as a part of his bride on that day. Amen.