Las Vegas, Nevada Church
Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

 
 
 Letter Answering Department Survey:  Marriage   ...Will there be marriage in the Millennium, 2nd Resurrection and/or Kingdom?
                                                                                                                                                                           
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MP3     the subject heading for this letter is: Marriage
 
 
 

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SUBJECT:  Marriage in the Kingdom of God, in the Millennium and in the 2nd Resurrection

 

QUESTION:  Is there marriage in the Kingdom of God as we know marriage today?  Is there marriage in the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ, known as the Millennium?  Is there marriage in the 2nd Resurrection, which is the 100-year period?

 

ANSWER:

 

This document will address all 3-time periods.

 

Quick answers:

 

In the Millennium:  Yes, there will be marriage and children will be born.

In the 2nd Resurrection:  Yes, there will be marriage, but no bearing of children.  God will chose who is married to whom.

In the Kingdom of God: No, there will be no marriage, as we will all be spirit beings and absolutely one with another, something that marriage portrays.

 

We get many such questions but as you will see you were not the first.  People in the time of Christ had the same questions.

 

THIS REGARDS THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 

Matthew 22:23-30

23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:

26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

27 And last of all the woman died also.

28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

 

This event is also covered in Luke 20:

 

Luke 20:34-36

34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:

35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

 

So, since, there is no marriage in the Kingdom of God, it matters not the marital status we knew on earth. 

 

Now, you might ask, "Why is there no marriage in the Kingdom of God?"   To understand the answer you must realize the difference between physical existence and spiritual existence.  God invented marriage to give us an idea of what being spiritual is like.  Right now there is God, the Father and Jesus Christ and they are composed of spirit.  Being spirit, they are one with one another:

 

John 3:6

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

John 17:20-22

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

 

Note:  Christ is stating that He and His Father are one.  In physical marriage, we are "one flesh" which means the closest kind of relationship.  This close physical relationship (heart, mind, emotion, body and spiritual) is a picture of what the spiritual relationship will be.  Our closeness to God will be just like it is between Christ and God, the Father now.  AND it will be like that between each of us.  As a spirit being, you are much closer than any relationship of the flesh.  Since physical marriage is a picture of the spirit state, there is no need for marriage in the Kingdom.

 

Notice also that Christ is praying to the Father that we, His firstfruits, are one, AS THEY ARE ONE (verse 22).  A very heavy responsibility.

 

Now, having said that, this closeness of the spirit is described AS A MARRIAGE!!

 

Revelation 21:2-3

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.

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.

 

Revelation 21:9-10

9 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.

10 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,

 

Revelation 22:16-17

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

 

Matthew 25:1-13

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

9 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.

10 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.

11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

 

Clearly, Christ is the bridegroom and we are the bride.

 

REGARDING THE MILLENNIUM

This is the 1,000 year reign of Christ after He returns and after the Great Tribulation, in which billions will perish in war.  There will still be tens of millions still alive at His return.  He will set up His government, along with the firstfruit saints, who were changed to spirit at His return.  There is no marriage for spirit beings, as we showed above, but there will be marriage for the humans who are alive in that 1,000-year period and for the offspring they generate.  Marriage was designed for humans to, in part, teach them about the oneness of spirit beings.  This design will continue. 

 

During this time, people will learn about God, have access to the Holy Spirit and endure in the Salvation Process.  At death, they will be turned to spirit beings on the spot.  Clearly they will not be in the second or third resurrections.  Anyone in this time rejecting God will immediately be thrown into the Lake of Fire, which will be present throughout the 1,000-year period.

 

REGARDING THE 2ND RESURRECTION

The Second Resurrection is for everyone who never heard the name of Jesus Christ, were never called by God to be a firstfruit and/or never had the Holy Spirit of God in them.

 

These people have all died.  They may have been married several times.  Some men, in history, had hundreds of wives and some women had hundreds of husbands.  Billions, no doubt, had two, three or more spouses.  Some may have had a perfect first marriage and less than perfect second or third marriages.  Some may have had two or more quite satisfying marriages.  Still others may tell you that their best marriage was the second of three or four and who was lost in death.  It would be impossible for man, himself to sort these things out in the second resurrection.  Remember that marriage is binding until death and, in fact, there will be no binding marriages existing among these resurrected humans.

 

Remember too that God is resurrecting people from all of history, including different nations and different cultures.  Some people will be missing from this 2nd resurrection, having already been assigned to the 3rd resurrection (the Lake of Fire).

 

What God will do is bring together the best mates for each person.  We have much example of Him doing this in the Old Testament.  This is the only way all of these marriage situations could possibly be figured out.  Clearly, He may put together two people who were married prior to death.  This would be a logical assumption.  God will be in complete control during this time and will administrate all things through Christ.


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Las Vegas, Nevada Church of God - part of The Intercontinental Church of God and The Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association - Tyler, Texas