SUBJECT: The Marriage Supper

QUESTIONS:  Where and when does this marriage supper take place?

ANSWER:

Revelation 19 mentions the marriage supper of the Lamb. Some insist this supper will take place in heaven during the tribulation, making a pre-tribulation rapture necessary, if we are to attend. But does the Bible really place this event in heaven? Let's make a few observations. Chapter 18 has just described the destruction of Babylon, at the very end of the tribulation. Chapter 19 opens with a roar of saints in heaven, rejoicing over God's destruction of Babylon, the great whore. Just before heaven opens, and Jesus and his army of saints and angels streak towards earth, we find the following account.

Revelation 19

7 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.

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.

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

Here we have the saints shouting and rejoicing because it's time for the wedding! A decree is made concerning the bride's clothing. John is told to write a blessing, and heaven opens and Jesus descends to earth. There is no mention of this wedding or supper occurring in heaven, only the joy of anticipation by those who are about to be married. Why is there no description of the wedding or supper in heaven? Because the first resurrection IS the marriage of the Lamb which is about to commence. The marriage is the union of the saints with Christ. It can only occur when the bride is complete. That's why the statement is made, "His wife hath made herself ready." The church has been purified and made white through tribulation, now she is ready! [1 Peter 1:7, & 4:12,13]. The marriage supper will not occur in heaven, but on earth at Christ's Kingdom.

Isaiah 24:23 to 25:1-2, 6-8

23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
 

25:1 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee...

2 For thou hast made a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city: it shall never be built.
 

6 And in this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of morrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

This passage parallels Revelation 19 in several ways. First, Isaiah is clearly speaking of Christ's Kingdom. He speaks of the sun and moon being darkened to announce the Day of the Lord. Just as in Revelation 19, the people rejoice over the destruction of Babylon, [vs. 1,2]. Just as in Revelation 19 Isaiah speaks of the marriage supper. But he unmistakably places it on mount Zion in Jerusalem, [vs. 6]. Further proof that this is indeed the marriage supper of the Lamb, comes from Jesus' own words at the Last Supper.

Luke 22

16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves;

18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come...

29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;

30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus was referring to Isaiah's prophecy. These verses alone prove that the marriage supper will not be in heaven before the Kingdom of God is established on earth.   Verse 30 seems to gives us this specific setting and timing of the marriage supper.  It takes place after His return to earth, after the firstfruits have been changed to spirit beings and “at a table in His kingdom.”  This we conclude that the marriage supper takes place at His return in His Kingdom on Earth and from Jerusalem.

It is not just a meal at a table but a situation…a being (something present and happening).  It is the union, the coming together (as in the physical metaphor of one flesh) of the bride saints and Christ in a bonding together from that moment and forever.

 
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