The Marriage of the Lamb

The Marriage of the Lamb is a special nuptial ceremony for the saints in heaven as they are presented to Christ in marriage to be “fully” joined to Him – Christ as the head and resurrected saints as His body. Eph 5:27 That he (Christ) might present it (the Church) to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Resurrected saints consist of all Old and New Testament saints, including the Church-at-large – all believers in Christ who reside in heaven.

Rev 19:6-7 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 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. KJV

The resurrected saints are the bride of Christ who will be preparing herself to get ready for her bridegroom.  Her preparation will that of sanctification to become pure, without spot or blemish, to become "fully one" when her bridegroom comes to take her unto Himself.  Arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, Christ’s bride is presented at the consummation of the marriage.  To understand this marriage union better, a look at a Jewish wedding and the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 will give a clearer understanding. Matt 25:1-13 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 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. KJV

During the time when Jesus walked this earth, a typical Jewish wedding went something like this:

The bridegroom leaves his father’s house to go to the house of the bride which he or his family have chosen. Choices are generally practical in the search of a bride, often finding someone who would fit well within the bridegroom’s customs and family structure. The bride could be as young as 12 years old (menstuating); however, most girls are older when her bridegroom is choosen. In nearly all cases, the bride has no say-so in th choosing of a husband.  The bridegroom (or in the case of a young bridegroom, it may be his father) goes to the bride's father’s house with the intention of negotiating a price for the future bride. The payment is generally compensation for the loss of a worker, such as the price of two camels and one ox.  A negotiated price of a dowry on the part of the bride will also be required to give to the bridegroom.  When the negotiations are completed, the bridegroom and bride's father write up a document (contract) and make a solemn covenant on the price and conditions of the bride and the dowry, sealing it with a betrothal cup of the fruit of the vine as a covenant.

As soon as the completed contract is written up and sealed with the covenant, the couple is considered married; however, it cannot be fulfilled until it is consummated. The consummation will take place at the marriage feast at a later date.  Preparations need to completed first. The bridegroom needs to prepare a place for him and his bride and the bride needs to prepare herself for her bridegroom. When that time comes is often uncertain at the time of the signing of the contract and sealing of the covenant.  Today’s western society might consider this period of time an engagement; however, under Jewish law, this marriage is binding and can only be broken through death or divorce.

The signing of the contract and the sealing of the covenant means this will be the last time the bridegroom will drink of the fruit of the vine until the marriage feast following the consummation of the marriage. The bridegroom must leaves his bride to go back to his father's house to make preparations for the new home that he has chosen for his bride. If a bridegroom, however, does not have the price that is due for his bride,  he may have had to work for the bride’s father for a period of time to pay for her, similar to that of Jacob of the Old Testament who had to work for his Uncle Laban to acquire Rachel for his bride. How long of a period of time that would be would dependent on the negotiated price. Once that is fulfilled, the bridegroom then has to prepare a place for himself and his bride so they can be ready to spend a lifetime together. That time varies, dependent on what needs to be done for preparation.

Once the betrothal, meaning signing of the contract and celebrating of the covenant, the bridegroom is not allowed to speak to his bride. To communicate with his bride, he sends a friend with messages and gifts to comfort his bride in her anxiety until he is able to come for her. The gifts are helpful while she prepares herself.  With the help of the gifts brought by the bridegroom's friend, the bride puts her wardrobe together with the finest she can gather. She adorns herself with the finest perfumes and does everything she can to make herself beautiful inside and out for her bridegroom.  Her purpose is to strive to be without spot or blemish for her bridegroom.  How long she has to prepare is uncertain is dependent on how long the bridegroom is gone.  She just has to be ready when he comes for her. To help her prepare, the bride also gathers several of her unmarried girlfriends (virgins or handmaidens) to help her prepare her wardrobe.  It is a time of excitement and preparation.  Day and night they work to prepare for the bridegroom’s coming. Their oil lamps need to be kept oiled at all times, because Jewish weddings are always held at night - sometime after sundown. The bridegroom’s time of arrival could be early in the evening or very late at night.

When the bridegroom is ready to bring his bride to himself, he comes with a big procession. Several torches are lit and trumpets are sounded as they draw near to his bride. As the procession gets closer, it becomes evident he will be there soon. The noise is heard and torches are seen from a distance, getting louder and more visible. This is the sign that a wedding is about to take place. The virgins who are helping the bride, excitedly hearing and seeing the procession off in the distance, finish the last minute details to get the bride ready. Their lamps should be well oiled, because the marriage feast is about to begin.

The bridegroom finally arrives at the doorstep for his bride. He then shouts with a loud cry – “come.” The bride, dressed in her finest attire, including a heavy veil over her face, then joins her bridegroom. Off they and the wedding party on the bride's side go to the bridegroom’s house to consummate the marriage. The bride's veil completely covers her face, so as to be hidden at all times from her bridegroom.  Upon arrival at the bridegroom house, guests are present outside the house and wait to hear news of the consummation. When the bridegroom and bride have consummated their marriage the wedding feast begins. The feast itself is filled with food and fruit of the vine, having gaiety and laughter, dance and celebration, often lasting up to seven days.

When Jesus spoke to His disciples at the last supper (John 15-17) He referred to several parts of the Jewish wedding to describe what would happen when He returns.  Sad to say, however, most of His people (the Jews) who he wanted for His bride rejected Him, so a new bride was chosen - any and all who would receive Jesus the Christ into their lives (Matt 22: 2-14). We as Christians have been betrothed to Jesus Christ ever since we asked Him into our lives at the new birth.  Jesus then became our bridegroom. The bride of Christ is also composed of all who will ever live in the New Jerusalem, whether they are Christian or Old Testament saints. Jesus left his father’s house to look for His bride. Phil 2:7 But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. AMP He came to earth for sole purpose of bringing mankind - any and all who would receive him, unto himself (John 3:16).

Using this story of a Jewish wedding gives us a clearer picture of what is going to happen to us as Jesus’ bride at the Marriage of the Lamb.  Jesus sought us as his bride. He had to pay a price for us – far greater than two camels and an ox. His price was his blood shed for us on the cross of Calvary (1 Cor 6:20)

Jesus negotiated the terms of our marriage to Him and has written up his contract and covenant. (Matt 26 26-29).  Look at the following points to show the similarities of what happens in a Jewish wedding:

• The contract of His marriage agreement is the Word of God.
• The sealing of the covenant is His shed blood on the cross. 
• Jesus drank from the fruit of the vine with His disciples at the last supper and set up the terms with them stating that His blood paid the price. It was sealed, bought and paid for. He even stated that he would not touch the fruit of the vine again until the marriage in heaven.
• Jesus left to prepare a place for His bride in heaven. (John 14:6).
• While on earth, the bride of Christ needs to prepare herself to get ready for the return of her bridegroom Christ.
• Jesus sent His Holy Spirit *which is a part of Himself) ahead of time to give us gifts to help us prepare for His coming. (Eph 4:8 Eph 4:11-13). We have everything we need for our preparation. (Eph 5:27). The gifts are meant to be used.
• Jesus tells us exactly how we are to prepare and adorn ourselves for the consummation and wedding feast through His Word. At the appointed time we will be joined to Christ in heaven at the Marriage of the Lamb to become “fully one” with Him. When we do, we will come back to earth to rule and reign with Him for 1000 years and then into eternity.

The time is short – the clock is ticking away. Our bridegroom is preparing and ready to come. The signs are here. The wedding feast in heaven is being prepared. We as Jesus’ bride need to prepare ourselves as much as we can right here on earth because what we don’t complete on earth, we will have to complete when we get to heaven. What we do on earth for preparation brings rewards. If done in heaven, there are no rewards. Either way, when we are presented to our bridegroom at the Marriage of the Lamb, we will be without spot or blemish, and we will then be able to sit at the Great Feast of our nuptial – with our Lord.

The Marriage of the Lamb and the feast

Rev 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.

As we are presented to Christ, fully prepared, the marriage is consummated. There will be worship – great worship. Rev 19:6&10 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth…And I fell at his feet to worship him.

Immediately following the wedding feast comes the honeymoon. The Bible tells us we will ride with Christ on horses and chariots, dressed in white linen robes and come back to earth for Christ’s second coming to win the Battle of Armageddon and take over rulership during the 1000-year Millennial reign and throughout eternity. As one with Christ, we will serve Him with our giftings as we rule and reign over those upon the earth. (Refer to the article on the Millennium.)