The Marriage of The Lamb
Revelation 19:1-10
Message #33
Today, we are going to see two super important events that are placed right before the Second Coming of Jesus. In the next message (in the second half of Chapter 19), the Tribulation ends with the Battle of Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ, and in Chapter 20, the 1,000-year Millennium where believers will reign with Jesus on earth begins.
Today, in the first half of Chapter 19, we see two crucial events that seem to act as a bridge to get us from the judgment of the Antichrist world system we’ve seen in the last two messages to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in our next message. It’s the beginning of the Millennium, the New Heaven and New Earth, and into eternity in the rest of the book. It gets really, really good from here on, and Heaven knows it, and there are going to be some massive HALLELUJAH’S to kick off all the good that is coming.
In our last two messages, we saw the “world system of the Antichrist” completely destroyed. We started with the False Prophet and the Great Prostitute. Then we saw in the last message the political/economic system of the Antichrist, both. The combination of those two makes the “world system of the Antichrist.” And Jesus destroys it! God pours the seven bowls out on that world-system of the Antichrist and it was FINISHED at the end of chapter 18. Today (first), we see Heaven absolutely erupt in radical worship and rejoicing in response to God’s judgment and victory over the “world system of the Antichrist.”
But before we start, let me explain for the sake of just one word. I’m going to use the ESV today instead of the NLT for one word – and that word is – HALLEUJAH!!!! And that word Hallelujah means “Praise the Lord.” But the Hebrew word Hallelujah has great roots and is super powerful to shout out. So, every time we come to the word Hallelujah on the screen, I really want you to SHOUT it out for me.
Revelation 19:1 (ESV)
1 After this . . . (Let’s Stop there)
John starts a new section by saying After this (Meta Tauta), which has been his signal throughout the book that the scene is changing. And so, after all the judgment we’ve seen poured out on the world system of the Antichrist in the past few chapters. Revelation 19, verse 1, is the turning point. John is writing about a new set of events. Chapter 19 is the crescendo of the Book of Revelation. In a sense, it is the crescendo of the entire New Testament because this chapter ends with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
So, John sets his “scene changing” divider – Meta Tauta and here is what the scene is changing to.
Revelation 19:1 (ESV)
1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
The Great Multitude in Heaven Crying out – HALLELUJAH!! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God
Heaven is about two things. It’s about worship, and I’m not talking about sitting on a cloud with a toga strumming a harp; it’s about all-out worship. And it’s about service. We’re called servants, and we’ll be serving God in Heaven.
Hallelujah is a combination of two Hebrew words. HALLEL (Praise). So, we call the last section of the Psalms the “Hallel Psalms.” And they are the Psalms of praise that the pilgrims would sing as they were going up Mt. Zion to the Temple for feast days or sacrifice. HALLEL (Praise) – YAH (short for YWH). YAWEH is a transliteration, the vowels added to the tetragrammaton YHWH that began to be used from Exodus Chapter 3, where God says tell them I AM sent you. I EXIST. It means “The All Existing One.”
So, the tetragrammaton YWHW became the word that the Bible writers weren’t allowed to write. When they did write it, they would write it with a dash, throw the pen away, and get another pen. (Pens weren’t easy to come by, either.) But they would bless the pen or whatever they did to it, and they would keep writing. They did that every time they wrote the word of God. That’s the YHWH. It was YAWEH, and then it became JAH-HOVAH. – Jehovah – Praise Jehovah. Praise God. We say, “Praise the Lord.” It’s the same thing.
And this is the only place in the New Testament where it’s used! Doesn’t it blow your mind that this is the only place that the Holy Spirit says, “Okay – NOW! Use the word. Use Hallelujah. Use that word that means so much to the Jewish Nation. HALLEL-YAH. Hallelujah!” And it is used four times and six verses. And remember, when the Holy Spirit wants to make a point, he repeats it! The great multitude in Heaven is crying out Hallelujah!
The great multitude in Heaven is crying out Hallelujah!! And in Revelation 19, verses 2-3, we see more of why they are.
Revelation 19:2-3 (ESV)
2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
They are praising God because his judgments are true and just. God is holy and just and love. He is holy, righteous, just, fair, and loving. The second Hallelujah is for victory over The Great Prostitute who corrupted the earth and who killed the saints. And the Great Prostitute was riding on the Beast, both as symbols of the world system under the Antichrist, and here we see the smoke from God’s judgment on that complete world system goes up forever and ever (eternal judgment). If you have received the truth that your salvation is through faith alone, it’s by God’s grace alone and through your faith alone; if you’ve received that free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, then you have to also receive (or at acknowledge) the last sentence here of verse 3. The smoke from her goes up forever and ever. It’s an obvious reference to eternal judgment. There is eternal life, and there is eternal judgment as well.
As we continue in verse 4, John is trying to convey just how massive this heavenly worship event is.
Revelation 19:4 (ESV)
4 And the twenty-four elders (that’s us – we see that as us) and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”
In the two messages from Revelation Chapter 4, we explain there how we see John going to Heaven as a picture of the Rapture and the Twenty-Four Elders as a picture of the Church surrounding the throne and casting their crowns before the throne of God. Also in those messages, we taught about the Four Living Creatures here in verse 4. The Four Living Creatures are the Cherubim who fly around the throne of Heaven, always singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Those Four Living creatures are the worship leaders of Heaven. And again, we went through this all in detail back in Chapter 4. So, you’ve got the Church and the Twenty-Four Elders, you’ve got the worship leaders of Heaven, and you already have (in the previous three verses) Heaven going off in a Hallelujah worship. Now, you’ve got the Church and worship leaders.
That’s three times in four verses Hallelujah!!! They are all falling down in worship, crying out Hallelujah!! Praise the Lord!!!
Heaven is about radical, raise the roof, all out WORSHIP!!
And then, just in case there’s one angel sittin’ in the corner somewhere playing video games, we read this.
Revelation 19:5 (ESV)
5 And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
This is a call to ALL of Heaven to break out in praise. Heaven knows the battle between Satan and God is over – except for the final step (we’ll see that next message). And Heave is breaking loose in full-scale praise and worship, and it is a big, big deal.
And then, verse 6 carries this massive worship event right into our next major event today.
Revelation 19:6 (ESV)
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, (what did it sound like?) like the roar of many waters and (what else did it sound like?) like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, (and what was this great multitude doing?) crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
When Heaven goes off in worship, it’s like the roar of many waters, like standing on the edge of Niagara Falls. And it’s like mighty peals of thunder, like standing in a thunderstorm, seeing the lightning hit and feeling the thunder at the same moment, all of Heaven is crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. And that is a great lesson on worship right there!
Revelation 19:7 (ESV)
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
These verbs rejoice – exult – give – are all strong exhortations in the Greek (They’re not quite commands, but they’re just under it, like, Come on!) Be rejoicing, and the word exult means to Leap for joy!! Jump up and down! When you see people singing worship songs and they are jumping up and down, they are exulting!
And why is it that Heaven is rejoicing and leaping for joy? Because the Marriage of the Lamb has come!! and his Bride has made herself ready; The Marriage of the Lamb has come!!
All through the Bible, God’s relationship with his people has always been likened to marriage because the marriage union is the most incredible, intimate, one flesh union that God created. In fact, God created marriage at this intense, intimate level to give us an idea (picture) of how he created our relationship with him to be. He’s saying, “Look guys, marriage should mirror your relationship with me as the Bridegroom,” Jesus speaking. There are two reasons for that. One is so we can look at what our relationship with Jesus is, or how it’s designed to be, and we can say we can get a handle on what our marriage should look like by understanding our relationship with Jesus. But the other reason is so that the world can get a picture. (We may not be doing a great job.) That’s why God uses marriage in the Bible to illustrate how incredible and intimate and one flesh our relationship with him can be and one day will be, and we (all true believers) are “the Bride of Christ.”
Now, Jewish weddings are not like Western weddings, and our marriage to Christ follows the Jewish wedding, and there are clearly defined steps to complete a Jewish marriage.
Step 1 – there’s a marriage contract committed to long before the actual marriage called The Betrothal.
The betrothal is much more than our “engagement.” It’s a binding marriage contract (even a covenant). How long ago were you betrothed to God? You have to ask, from whose perspective? Because God cannot not know anything, and God exists outside of time. And because of those two character traits of God, you have ALWAYS BEEN betrothed to him from his perspective. But when were you betrothed to him from your perspective? The moment you received Christ as your Savior.
And if you have given your life to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord today, then you are betrothed to him. You received that offer of betrothal, of marriage, that covenant of marriage. And so, at that point there is a dowry paid to the bride’s family. Well, that dowry paid by the Groom was the most expensive dowry that will ever be paid in all of creation because Jesus paid for you to become the Bride of Christ by paying for your sin.
The covenant – the binding marriage contract – has been completed and paid in full when Jesus died on the Cross for your sins and beat sin, and death, and the grave on your behalf. But the marriage hasn’t occurred yet. We are still betrothed to Christ even though the covenant has been completed and paid in full. And if you are betrothed to Jesus through faith in him as your Savior and Lord – then you are his. And this is what Jesus says in John 10, verse 28, speaking of you.
John 10:28 (ESV)
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
There’s been so many times that I’ve said, “Lord, man, I’m here, but I’m hanging on by fingernails. But Lord, I’m still hanging on – I’m still hanging on.” And then one day, someone told me, “Hey. You’re not hanging on to God. He’s hanging on to you!” He’s not going to trust you to hang onto him. You have to have the faith that he’s hanging on to you. This is what Jesus is saying.
So, the betrothal is done. Now, in a Jewish wedding during this Betrothal period, two things happen.
1). The Bride begins preparing herself, especially her wedding garments
2). The Groom will go and prepare a place for his Bride, and most often, this would be a room built onto his Father’s house where the Bridegroom would soon bring his Bride.
It’s a big, big house - With lots and lots of room
A big, big table - With lots and lots of food
A big big yard - Where we can play football
It’s my Father’s house
(You remember the song from Audio Adrenaline.)
This is exactly what Jesus is referring to with his Disciples in John Chapter 14.
John 14:2–3 (ESV)
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms . . .
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
The Disciples understood Jesus was making a direct reference to the steps of a Jewish wedding because he was speaking in the context of the culture. This perfectly illustrates our union with him, and he says to his Disciples, I am going to go to my Father’s house to prepare a place for you. You stay here and prepare yourself and watch for me to return to take you to your new home.
Step 2 – is when the is when the Groom would come for his Bride to take her back to his Father’s house. But the Bride would never know the exact time that her Bridegroom would come for her. So, she would watch for the signs that the Bridegroom is close – is coming to get her – and she would make herself ready along with her Bridesmaids, which is the perfect picture of us and the rapture. We see the signs of our Bridegroom’s imminent return, and so we make ourselves ready and watch for his appearance.
THIS is exactly what the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (your Bible might say virgins) in Matthew 25:1-13 is all about. What happens in this parable? Five are ready, waiting for the groom. Five are not. The five that are ready are stingy (and God kind of overlooks it), and the five that are not ready go into town and they miss the Bridegroom coming. And they come banging on the door after the wedding, and Jesus says to them, “Depart from me. I don’t know you” So, when the time is right, the Bridegroom comes and takes away the Bride and her Bridesmaids. They make a grand procession back to the Groom’s home, where there is the wedding ceremony. The parable has one point: Be ready! Because you never know when the Bridegroom is coming to take you back to his Father’s house.
Step 3 – The wedding ceremony would usually occur IN the Groom’s house, where he had made a place for her. But after the wedding ceremony would come the marriage feast (supper). The marriage feast would often last seven days or more, where all the guests would take part in the joy of the marriage. The marriage feast is a non-stop celebration of joy.
It was at a marriage feast In Cana that the family ran out of wine, and Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. NOT BECAUSE it was alcohol but because wine is a symbol of joy. And the marriage feast is all about celebrating the joy of marriage, and so Jesus was extending the joy of the marriage feast. (By the way, back then, wine was three percent alcohol by volume, not the eighteen percent it is today.)
Now, the length of the marriage feast is determined by the wealth and status of the family of the Groom (not the Bride). The more wealth and status the Groom has, the longer and more extravagant the marriage feast will be. So, when the Groom is Jesus, and his family is the Godhead, how long do you think the celebration of this marriage feast might last? Well, it could be 1,000 years, right? Which is how long we will reign with Christ on earth during the Millennium. The Bible doesn’t say how long it is – we don’t know. But we know the context, culturally, is that it is a long time. So, there’s a good chance there’s a reference to an extension of joy back in John Chapter 2 in the wedding at Cana to God extending the joy of the Marriage to the Lamb.
But look again at Revelation 19, verse 7.
Revelation 19:7 (ESV)
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
How do we make ourselves ready for the Marriage of the Lamb?
Here’s what verse 8 says.
Revelation 19:8 (ESV)
8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
That word literally is “righteousnesses” and so translated by the ESV as “righteous deeds.”
The Bride goes through a lot to get ready for a Jewish wedding. In fact, the entire time the Bridegroom is preparing a place, the Bride is preparing herself and watching for his return, and one of the key preparations for the Bride is always preparing her wedding garment.
So, here in verse 8 it says, it is granted to the Bride to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
If you belong to Jesus Christ today, it has been granted you to prepare your own wedding garment. The word “granted” has two definitions. It can mean “freely given” or “an opportunity given.” So, it can mean that her wedding garment was freely given to her, or it can mean that she had the opportunity to clothe herself however she chose. To me, it’s both.
Notice that our wedding garment is NOT the righteousness of Christ; it is the “righteous deeds of the saints.” And the Bible is clear: our salvation is through faith alone with no works added. Your salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone. We are seen as righteous in Christ’s eyes. We know that. We also know that we have a role in our practical righteousness. It’s not the righteousness that we call positional (from Romans Chapter 6 that makes us righteous before God). But we have a role in our practical righteousness. That means the way we live. (The whole Book of James is written about this. James says if your faith is real, it will work – it will show.)
So, what are the “righteous deeds of the Saints”? It seems that the righteous deeds is a clear reference to how we live for the Lord after we receive salvation by faith. So, your faith alone in Jesus Christ “covers you” IN his righteousness for salvation. But how you walk in that salvation determines whether you’ll be wearing a white potato sack, or perhaps a white hospital gown with the back open, or something a little nicer as the Bride of Christ. The 13th message in the Revelation series was called “The Bema Seat Judgment.” And in 1 Corinthians 3, we looked at the fact that how we live for Christ here does have an impact on our eternity with him there. What we built on Christ goes through the fire. And what’s worthy comes out on the other end, and what’s not worthy burns up. And this verse, Revelation 19, verse 8, is another clear reminder of that truth. We have a chance to put on something more than a pure white hospital gown or potato sack.
We know, through the Book of James, through a lot of the Book of Hebrews, a lot of ways – especially the Bema Seat Judgment in 1 Corinthians 3 – that what we do here somehow impacts our life in Heaven, though our salvation is secure. That’s why Paul says there at the Bema Seat section that some will enter Heaven as if through the flames. Like, not only are you wearing a hospital gown, but it’s on fire! And you’ll just be like, “Yeah. But I’m here!”
Lastly, in every wedding there’s the Groom, the Bride and those who are invited to the celebration. The invited guests. Have you ever seen a wedding where the Bride and Groom are whisked off somewhere beautiful for the wedding ceremony and then come back to have a big reception in town? Well, many scholars believer that is exactly what happens with the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Feast (Supper).
Revelation 19:9 (ESV)
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
It could be that the Marriage of the Lamb is in Heaven, but the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is on earth. So, the Bride and Bridegroom are whisked off to the glory of Heaven for the actual wedding. And then we come back to earth for the 1,000-year celebration of the Marriage Supper, also known as the Millennium.
So, if the Church is the Bride of Christ, who are those who are invited to the 1,000-year Marriage Supper? They are the Believers who survive the Tribulation on earth and who will enter the Millennium in their natural bodies. And they are especially those of Israel who will believe en mass during the Final Days, and especially at the Second Coming. The Millennium will be the greatest wedding feast of all time and eternity.
And the Old Testament Saints will be there
And the Believers who come through the Tribulation will be there
And all of Believing Israel (who come through the Tribulation) will be there
And the Bride of Christ (us – the New Testament Church) we will be there
And it will be a 1,000-year celebration with Jesus Christ on earth just to kick off our eternity with him.
Now, finally, in verse 10, the Apostle John is so overwhelmed he falls down at the feet of the Angel in worship.
Revelation 19:10 (ESV)
10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Two quick lessons to end today.
1). DO NOT worship any THING or ANY PERSON or even ANY ANGEL – worship God alone
2). The last sentence in verse 10 . . . For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy
means the purpose of prophecy is to give us a clear testimony of who Jesus Christ is, and in this Chapter, Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church.
So, I pray today, that you have been “betrothed” to Jesus Christ. I pray that you are waiting and preparing for him to come and take you to his Father’s house for the Marriage of the Lamb so that you can come back to Earth to take part in the 1,000-year Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And most important of all, if you haven’t yet been “betrothed” to Jesus, you can be today.
Today, in the first half of Chapter 19, we see two crucial events that seem to act as a bridge to get us from the judgment of the Antichrist world system we’ve seen in the last two messages to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in our next message. It’s the beginning of the Millennium, the New Heaven and New Earth, and into eternity in the rest of the book. It gets really, really good from here on, and Heaven knows it, and there are going to be some massive HALLELUJAH’S to kick off all the good that is coming.
In our last two messages, we saw the “world system of the Antichrist” completely destroyed. We started with the False Prophet and the Great Prostitute. Then we saw in the last message the political/economic system of the Antichrist, both. The combination of those two makes the “world system of the Antichrist.” And Jesus destroys it! God pours the seven bowls out on that world-system of the Antichrist and it was FINISHED at the end of chapter 18. Today (first), we see Heaven absolutely erupt in radical worship and rejoicing in response to God’s judgment and victory over the “world system of the Antichrist.”
But before we start, let me explain for the sake of just one word. I’m going to use the ESV today instead of the NLT for one word – and that word is – HALLEUJAH!!!! And that word Hallelujah means “Praise the Lord.” But the Hebrew word Hallelujah has great roots and is super powerful to shout out. So, every time we come to the word Hallelujah on the screen, I really want you to SHOUT it out for me.
Revelation 19:1 (ESV)
1 After this . . . (Let’s Stop there)
John starts a new section by saying After this (Meta Tauta), which has been his signal throughout the book that the scene is changing. And so, after all the judgment we’ve seen poured out on the world system of the Antichrist in the past few chapters. Revelation 19, verse 1, is the turning point. John is writing about a new set of events. Chapter 19 is the crescendo of the Book of Revelation. In a sense, it is the crescendo of the entire New Testament because this chapter ends with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
So, John sets his “scene changing” divider – Meta Tauta and here is what the scene is changing to.
Revelation 19:1 (ESV)
1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
The Great Multitude in Heaven Crying out – HALLELUJAH!! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God
Heaven is about two things. It’s about worship, and I’m not talking about sitting on a cloud with a toga strumming a harp; it’s about all-out worship. And it’s about service. We’re called servants, and we’ll be serving God in Heaven.
Hallelujah is a combination of two Hebrew words. HALLEL (Praise). So, we call the last section of the Psalms the “Hallel Psalms.” And they are the Psalms of praise that the pilgrims would sing as they were going up Mt. Zion to the Temple for feast days or sacrifice. HALLEL (Praise) – YAH (short for YWH). YAWEH is a transliteration, the vowels added to the tetragrammaton YHWH that began to be used from Exodus Chapter 3, where God says tell them I AM sent you. I EXIST. It means “The All Existing One.”
So, the tetragrammaton YWHW became the word that the Bible writers weren’t allowed to write. When they did write it, they would write it with a dash, throw the pen away, and get another pen. (Pens weren’t easy to come by, either.) But they would bless the pen or whatever they did to it, and they would keep writing. They did that every time they wrote the word of God. That’s the YHWH. It was YAWEH, and then it became JAH-HOVAH. – Jehovah – Praise Jehovah. Praise God. We say, “Praise the Lord.” It’s the same thing.
And this is the only place in the New Testament where it’s used! Doesn’t it blow your mind that this is the only place that the Holy Spirit says, “Okay – NOW! Use the word. Use Hallelujah. Use that word that means so much to the Jewish Nation. HALLEL-YAH. Hallelujah!” And it is used four times and six verses. And remember, when the Holy Spirit wants to make a point, he repeats it! The great multitude in Heaven is crying out Hallelujah!
The great multitude in Heaven is crying out Hallelujah!! And in Revelation 19, verses 2-3, we see more of why they are.
Revelation 19:2-3 (ESV)
2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
They are praising God because his judgments are true and just. God is holy and just and love. He is holy, righteous, just, fair, and loving. The second Hallelujah is for victory over The Great Prostitute who corrupted the earth and who killed the saints. And the Great Prostitute was riding on the Beast, both as symbols of the world system under the Antichrist, and here we see the smoke from God’s judgment on that complete world system goes up forever and ever (eternal judgment). If you have received the truth that your salvation is through faith alone, it’s by God’s grace alone and through your faith alone; if you’ve received that free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, then you have to also receive (or at acknowledge) the last sentence here of verse 3. The smoke from her goes up forever and ever. It’s an obvious reference to eternal judgment. There is eternal life, and there is eternal judgment as well.
As we continue in verse 4, John is trying to convey just how massive this heavenly worship event is.
Revelation 19:4 (ESV)
4 And the twenty-four elders (that’s us – we see that as us) and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”
In the two messages from Revelation Chapter 4, we explain there how we see John going to Heaven as a picture of the Rapture and the Twenty-Four Elders as a picture of the Church surrounding the throne and casting their crowns before the throne of God. Also in those messages, we taught about the Four Living Creatures here in verse 4. The Four Living Creatures are the Cherubim who fly around the throne of Heaven, always singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Those Four Living creatures are the worship leaders of Heaven. And again, we went through this all in detail back in Chapter 4. So, you’ve got the Church and the Twenty-Four Elders, you’ve got the worship leaders of Heaven, and you already have (in the previous three verses) Heaven going off in a Hallelujah worship. Now, you’ve got the Church and worship leaders.
That’s three times in four verses Hallelujah!!! They are all falling down in worship, crying out Hallelujah!! Praise the Lord!!!
Heaven is about radical, raise the roof, all out WORSHIP!!
And then, just in case there’s one angel sittin’ in the corner somewhere playing video games, we read this.
Revelation 19:5 (ESV)
5 And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
This is a call to ALL of Heaven to break out in praise. Heaven knows the battle between Satan and God is over – except for the final step (we’ll see that next message). And Heave is breaking loose in full-scale praise and worship, and it is a big, big deal.
And then, verse 6 carries this massive worship event right into our next major event today.
Revelation 19:6 (ESV)
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, (what did it sound like?) like the roar of many waters and (what else did it sound like?) like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, (and what was this great multitude doing?) crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
When Heaven goes off in worship, it’s like the roar of many waters, like standing on the edge of Niagara Falls. And it’s like mighty peals of thunder, like standing in a thunderstorm, seeing the lightning hit and feeling the thunder at the same moment, all of Heaven is crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. And that is a great lesson on worship right there!
Revelation 19:7 (ESV)
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
These verbs rejoice – exult – give – are all strong exhortations in the Greek (They’re not quite commands, but they’re just under it, like, Come on!) Be rejoicing, and the word exult means to Leap for joy!! Jump up and down! When you see people singing worship songs and they are jumping up and down, they are exulting!
And why is it that Heaven is rejoicing and leaping for joy? Because the Marriage of the Lamb has come!! and his Bride has made herself ready; The Marriage of the Lamb has come!!
All through the Bible, God’s relationship with his people has always been likened to marriage because the marriage union is the most incredible, intimate, one flesh union that God created. In fact, God created marriage at this intense, intimate level to give us an idea (picture) of how he created our relationship with him to be. He’s saying, “Look guys, marriage should mirror your relationship with me as the Bridegroom,” Jesus speaking. There are two reasons for that. One is so we can look at what our relationship with Jesus is, or how it’s designed to be, and we can say we can get a handle on what our marriage should look like by understanding our relationship with Jesus. But the other reason is so that the world can get a picture. (We may not be doing a great job.) That’s why God uses marriage in the Bible to illustrate how incredible and intimate and one flesh our relationship with him can be and one day will be, and we (all true believers) are “the Bride of Christ.”
Now, Jewish weddings are not like Western weddings, and our marriage to Christ follows the Jewish wedding, and there are clearly defined steps to complete a Jewish marriage.
Step 1 – there’s a marriage contract committed to long before the actual marriage called The Betrothal.
The betrothal is much more than our “engagement.” It’s a binding marriage contract (even a covenant). How long ago were you betrothed to God? You have to ask, from whose perspective? Because God cannot not know anything, and God exists outside of time. And because of those two character traits of God, you have ALWAYS BEEN betrothed to him from his perspective. But when were you betrothed to him from your perspective? The moment you received Christ as your Savior.
And if you have given your life to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord today, then you are betrothed to him. You received that offer of betrothal, of marriage, that covenant of marriage. And so, at that point there is a dowry paid to the bride’s family. Well, that dowry paid by the Groom was the most expensive dowry that will ever be paid in all of creation because Jesus paid for you to become the Bride of Christ by paying for your sin.
The covenant – the binding marriage contract – has been completed and paid in full when Jesus died on the Cross for your sins and beat sin, and death, and the grave on your behalf. But the marriage hasn’t occurred yet. We are still betrothed to Christ even though the covenant has been completed and paid in full. And if you are betrothed to Jesus through faith in him as your Savior and Lord – then you are his. And this is what Jesus says in John 10, verse 28, speaking of you.
John 10:28 (ESV)
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
There’s been so many times that I’ve said, “Lord, man, I’m here, but I’m hanging on by fingernails. But Lord, I’m still hanging on – I’m still hanging on.” And then one day, someone told me, “Hey. You’re not hanging on to God. He’s hanging on to you!” He’s not going to trust you to hang onto him. You have to have the faith that he’s hanging on to you. This is what Jesus is saying.
So, the betrothal is done. Now, in a Jewish wedding during this Betrothal period, two things happen.
1). The Bride begins preparing herself, especially her wedding garments
2). The Groom will go and prepare a place for his Bride, and most often, this would be a room built onto his Father’s house where the Bridegroom would soon bring his Bride.
It’s a big, big house - With lots and lots of room
A big, big table - With lots and lots of food
A big big yard - Where we can play football
It’s my Father’s house
(You remember the song from Audio Adrenaline.)
This is exactly what Jesus is referring to with his Disciples in John Chapter 14.
John 14:2–3 (ESV)
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms . . .
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
The Disciples understood Jesus was making a direct reference to the steps of a Jewish wedding because he was speaking in the context of the culture. This perfectly illustrates our union with him, and he says to his Disciples, I am going to go to my Father’s house to prepare a place for you. You stay here and prepare yourself and watch for me to return to take you to your new home.
Step 2 – is when the is when the Groom would come for his Bride to take her back to his Father’s house. But the Bride would never know the exact time that her Bridegroom would come for her. So, she would watch for the signs that the Bridegroom is close – is coming to get her – and she would make herself ready along with her Bridesmaids, which is the perfect picture of us and the rapture. We see the signs of our Bridegroom’s imminent return, and so we make ourselves ready and watch for his appearance.
THIS is exactly what the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (your Bible might say virgins) in Matthew 25:1-13 is all about. What happens in this parable? Five are ready, waiting for the groom. Five are not. The five that are ready are stingy (and God kind of overlooks it), and the five that are not ready go into town and they miss the Bridegroom coming. And they come banging on the door after the wedding, and Jesus says to them, “Depart from me. I don’t know you” So, when the time is right, the Bridegroom comes and takes away the Bride and her Bridesmaids. They make a grand procession back to the Groom’s home, where there is the wedding ceremony. The parable has one point: Be ready! Because you never know when the Bridegroom is coming to take you back to his Father’s house.
Step 3 – The wedding ceremony would usually occur IN the Groom’s house, where he had made a place for her. But after the wedding ceremony would come the marriage feast (supper). The marriage feast would often last seven days or more, where all the guests would take part in the joy of the marriage. The marriage feast is a non-stop celebration of joy.
It was at a marriage feast In Cana that the family ran out of wine, and Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. NOT BECAUSE it was alcohol but because wine is a symbol of joy. And the marriage feast is all about celebrating the joy of marriage, and so Jesus was extending the joy of the marriage feast. (By the way, back then, wine was three percent alcohol by volume, not the eighteen percent it is today.)
Now, the length of the marriage feast is determined by the wealth and status of the family of the Groom (not the Bride). The more wealth and status the Groom has, the longer and more extravagant the marriage feast will be. So, when the Groom is Jesus, and his family is the Godhead, how long do you think the celebration of this marriage feast might last? Well, it could be 1,000 years, right? Which is how long we will reign with Christ on earth during the Millennium. The Bible doesn’t say how long it is – we don’t know. But we know the context, culturally, is that it is a long time. So, there’s a good chance there’s a reference to an extension of joy back in John Chapter 2 in the wedding at Cana to God extending the joy of the Marriage to the Lamb.
But look again at Revelation 19, verse 7.
Revelation 19:7 (ESV)
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
How do we make ourselves ready for the Marriage of the Lamb?
Here’s what verse 8 says.
Revelation 19:8 (ESV)
8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
That word literally is “righteousnesses” and so translated by the ESV as “righteous deeds.”
The Bride goes through a lot to get ready for a Jewish wedding. In fact, the entire time the Bridegroom is preparing a place, the Bride is preparing herself and watching for his return, and one of the key preparations for the Bride is always preparing her wedding garment.
So, here in verse 8 it says, it is granted to the Bride to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
If you belong to Jesus Christ today, it has been granted you to prepare your own wedding garment. The word “granted” has two definitions. It can mean “freely given” or “an opportunity given.” So, it can mean that her wedding garment was freely given to her, or it can mean that she had the opportunity to clothe herself however she chose. To me, it’s both.
Notice that our wedding garment is NOT the righteousness of Christ; it is the “righteous deeds of the saints.” And the Bible is clear: our salvation is through faith alone with no works added. Your salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone. We are seen as righteous in Christ’s eyes. We know that. We also know that we have a role in our practical righteousness. It’s not the righteousness that we call positional (from Romans Chapter 6 that makes us righteous before God). But we have a role in our practical righteousness. That means the way we live. (The whole Book of James is written about this. James says if your faith is real, it will work – it will show.)
So, what are the “righteous deeds of the Saints”? It seems that the righteous deeds is a clear reference to how we live for the Lord after we receive salvation by faith. So, your faith alone in Jesus Christ “covers you” IN his righteousness for salvation. But how you walk in that salvation determines whether you’ll be wearing a white potato sack, or perhaps a white hospital gown with the back open, or something a little nicer as the Bride of Christ. The 13th message in the Revelation series was called “The Bema Seat Judgment.” And in 1 Corinthians 3, we looked at the fact that how we live for Christ here does have an impact on our eternity with him there. What we built on Christ goes through the fire. And what’s worthy comes out on the other end, and what’s not worthy burns up. And this verse, Revelation 19, verse 8, is another clear reminder of that truth. We have a chance to put on something more than a pure white hospital gown or potato sack.
We know, through the Book of James, through a lot of the Book of Hebrews, a lot of ways – especially the Bema Seat Judgment in 1 Corinthians 3 – that what we do here somehow impacts our life in Heaven, though our salvation is secure. That’s why Paul says there at the Bema Seat section that some will enter Heaven as if through the flames. Like, not only are you wearing a hospital gown, but it’s on fire! And you’ll just be like, “Yeah. But I’m here!”
Lastly, in every wedding there’s the Groom, the Bride and those who are invited to the celebration. The invited guests. Have you ever seen a wedding where the Bride and Groom are whisked off somewhere beautiful for the wedding ceremony and then come back to have a big reception in town? Well, many scholars believer that is exactly what happens with the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Feast (Supper).
Revelation 19:9 (ESV)
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
It could be that the Marriage of the Lamb is in Heaven, but the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is on earth. So, the Bride and Bridegroom are whisked off to the glory of Heaven for the actual wedding. And then we come back to earth for the 1,000-year celebration of the Marriage Supper, also known as the Millennium.
So, if the Church is the Bride of Christ, who are those who are invited to the 1,000-year Marriage Supper? They are the Believers who survive the Tribulation on earth and who will enter the Millennium in their natural bodies. And they are especially those of Israel who will believe en mass during the Final Days, and especially at the Second Coming. The Millennium will be the greatest wedding feast of all time and eternity.
And the Old Testament Saints will be there
And the Believers who come through the Tribulation will be there
And all of Believing Israel (who come through the Tribulation) will be there
And the Bride of Christ (us – the New Testament Church) we will be there
And it will be a 1,000-year celebration with Jesus Christ on earth just to kick off our eternity with him.
Now, finally, in verse 10, the Apostle John is so overwhelmed he falls down at the feet of the Angel in worship.
Revelation 19:10 (ESV)
10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Two quick lessons to end today.
1). DO NOT worship any THING or ANY PERSON or even ANY ANGEL – worship God alone
2). The last sentence in verse 10 . . . For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy
means the purpose of prophecy is to give us a clear testimony of who Jesus Christ is, and in this Chapter, Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church.
So, I pray today, that you have been “betrothed” to Jesus Christ. I pray that you are waiting and preparing for him to come and take you to his Father’s house for the Marriage of the Lamb so that you can come back to Earth to take part in the 1,000-year Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And most important of all, if you haven’t yet been “betrothed” to Jesus, you can be today.