While the church as the betrothed bride of Christ is a widely understood concept, the events
surrounding the eventual marriage (the union between Jesus and his church) are often less clearly
taught, and in some respects have developed their own mythology. However the marriage of the
lamb does, as we’ll see, occupy a very clear place in prophecy.
Despite the book of Revelation not being entirely consecutive1, the last eight chapters do flow fairly chronologically and are all focused on a series of latter events leading up to, inclusive of and
following, the return of Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at the verse which proclaims that the time of the marriage is come:
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready”.
(Revelation 19:7)
Here we have this amazing statement, the time that Christ and the church have waited so long for,
and it occurs right on the eve of Christ’s return to the earth in power and judgment over the wicked governments of man. If we are in any doubt of the connection we only need to see that the few
verses in between the two events are linked in that they each start with ‘And’, ‘Then’ or ‘Now’, so that the flow is unmistakable. And if we are at all unsure about the person of the one who comes on a white horse in the passage, it becomes crystal clear later when we read:
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God.
(Revelation 19:13)
And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
(Revelation 19:16)
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So we know this is the return of Jesus, but we probably need to think for a moment to determine
who the armies of heaven are that follow him. Look at the parallel between the description of the
Lamb’s wife in heaven and the armies that follow him at his coming. Of the Lambs wife it says:
And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
(Revelation 19:8)
And of the armies that follow the Lamb it says:
And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.
(Revelation 19:14)
That it is indeed the saints who follow him at his coming is confirmed in I Thessalonians where it
says:
…at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints
(I Thessalonians 3:13)
So where is the marriage in all this? Revelation 19:8 says that it has come, but by verse 17 it has happened since by then we get to the marriage supper of the Lamb. While it is not stated, the
coming itself would appear to actually be the marriage. At first this may sound strange, but it’s very easy to support.
Before going any further though, let’s look at a small dilemma. How is it that of Lazarus it was said
“he would rise again in the resurrection at the last day”, whereas to the thief on the cross Jesus said
“today you shall be with me in paradise”? To understand this we simply need to understand the
difference between going to heaven when we die and the first resurrection. The first resurrection is from an earthly perspective. In other words, when those who have died in Christ return with Christ, then from an earthly perspective, those who had died will have risen again. But it has greater
significance than this alone. In I Corinthians 15 Paul goes to great lengths to explain the difference between the natural body and the resurrected body:
As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
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(I Corinthians 15:49)
Then he tells us that we shall not all die (physically), but we shall all be changed into the resurrection body:
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed…
(I Corinthians 15:51)
Earlier in the chapter he explained that the resurrection has a certain order. Speaking of being made alive again he says:
But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
(I Corinthians 15:23)
Again, how do we reconcile the resurrection at Christ’s coming with what Jesus said to the thief on the cross, and the connection Paul makes in 2 Corinthians 5:8 between being absent from the body
and present with the Lord? The truth is that the state of believers who have died and gone to
heaven is not their final state. Wherever believers are seen in heaven in revelation they are simply described as being clothed in white robes (of righteousness). As we know, in this state they do not seem to be able to enter our physical world, whereas Christ in his resurrected state was able to
traverse freely between the heavens and earth. The key thing to understand is that believers in
heaven will, at the resurrection, be clothed in their eventual resurrection bodies; bodies like those of the risen Christ. At this point they become of the same type of body as Christ, becoming like him and one with him. The I Corinthians passage flows on from the verses we have been looking at into
verses that are completely parallel to the classic Thessalonians rapture verses:
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(I Corinthians 15:52)
Note the duality of the event; the dead are raised and we are changed. This is separated out more in I Thessalonians where it says:
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
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Then, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
(I Thessalonians 4:16, 17)
Here we have the very same description that Paul associated with the resurrection of the dead in I
Corinthians, only here we can see more clearly the emphasis on it being a resurrection of the dead. It simply explains that those Christians remaining on the earth at this time will also be caught up in it.
This is the wonderful point at which we shall all finally be brought together with the Lord. This is the marriage of the Lamb to his bride, occurring in a moment at the last day – at his coming. This is the great promise given four times in John chapter six, that all who came to him he would “raise up at
the last day”. Do you see this clear link between the resurrection and the marriage? The marriage
can’t possibly occur beforehand or there would be a great number of believers still on the earth who would be absent from it, for whatever you think of the tribulation saints it would be ludicrous to say that they are not Christians and are not part of the body of Christ (or bride of Christ).
To summarize, “the day of the Lord” is the focal point of prophecy, both in the Old Testament and
the New. It is the day where the saints are rewarded and the kingdoms of man are judged. It is the
bringing together of all those who are in Christ at the resurrection to be “ever more with the Lord”.
He appears with those who were dead and those Christians who remain are caught up too. He
descends on the Earth with this army of the redeemed following him and destroys the armies of the
beast. At that time the Antichrist is destroyed and the true Son of God reigns over all the earth, and all his saints with him.
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