Shortly after the Apostle John finishes describing the final outpouring of God’s wrath in the Bowl Judgments, as described in the book of Revelation, he pivots from the declared doom, prophesied fall, and worldly lament over Babylon. John then hears praise resonating in Heaven. With a loud voice, the great multitude shouts, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her” (Revelation 19:1-2). Four times the multitude cries, “Hallelujah!” The last exclamation emphasizes the finality of the judgments poured out upon the Earth: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns” (Revelation 19:6).
We might expect that the next scene John witnesses is Jesus Christ returning in glory at the Second Coming, as described later in chapter 19. But first, John tells of a great marriage feast that will take place before Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist and the armies of the earth gathered in the Valley of Jezreel.
The details of the Marriage Supper remain somewhat mysterious, but we know from Scripture that it is an “invitation only” event.
The Bride Made Ready
Continuing to record the expressions of praise by the heavenly multitude, John hears them say, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). This passage alone presents several questions:
- Who is the Bride?
- How has she prepared herself?
- What is the nature of the relationship between Jesus Christ (the undisputed Lamb of God) and the Bride whom He marries?
- When and where exactly does this marriage (and accompanying supper) take place?
- Are other attendants invited who are not the Bride?
Let’s step through those questions one by one to get a handle on the great promise made to all who have put their trust in Jesus Christ.
The Bride
The Bride is the Church of Jesus Christ. That includes every Jew and Gentile who has confessed their sin and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ—trusting in Him alone for eternal salvation. As the Bridegroom, Jesus gave Himself for the Bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). He loves His Bride and is eager to gather her to Himself and bring her into His Father’s house.
Bible scholar Dr. Randall Price emphasizes the beneficiaries of this special promise: “This is designed for the Church—the raptured saints, and that’s why it’s the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”
Prepared Herself
The idea conveyed here is that the Bride takes a proactive role in preparing for the marriage. In Jewish tradition, once a betrothal had been agreed upon, the marriage was legally binding. But it was not fully manifested (or consummated) until the bridegroom came to collect his bride and take her back to the place he had prepared in his father’s house. While she waited, the bride was expected to keep herself pure, prepare her heart, mind, and body for the covenant and conjugal relationship of marriage, and eagerly await her bridegroom’s arrival.
Likewise, every individual within the body of Christ (the Church) is expected to be pure, to prepare their heart and mind for the upward call, and to eagerly await the sound of a trumpet and the cry of an archangel announcing that our Bridegroom is coming. We cannot prepare ourselves in the sense of being self-sufficient in any way other than those charges. But the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things also guides us into all truth and discloses what is to come (John 14:26; 16:13).
Nature of the Relationship
Anyone living on this side of Eternity is incapable of fully comprehending the nature of the relationship that awaits us when Christ gathers us to Himself. But Scripture does provide glimpses of the glory that awaits us.
Simply put, we will be united with Christ. There will be no barrier of time or space to separate us from our Beloved forevermore. Paul puts it this way: “…now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Given the metaphor Jesus chose to describe the intimacy of His relationship with us, we have to recognize that every metaphor breaks down even as it provides insight. No relationship draws two people closer than the bonds of marriage. Rightly understood, it is a lifetime covenant that brings blessing to both—and extends blessing to children for many generations to come.
The most intimate act of marriage is the conjugal relationship between a husband and a wife. In Old Testament parlance, a man was said to “know” his wife (Genesis 4:1). Rather than a mere polite phrasing for a sexual encounter, “knowing” conveys a deep intimacy of love, hope, and mutual trust. The intimacy we can anticipate with Jesus should not be reduced to some twisted Freudian physical relationship but must be understood as the most intimate fulfillment of the love, hope, and trust we have placed in Him. That is why Paul described his anticipation of “knowing fully just as I also have been fully known.”
When and Where
The narrative flow in Revelation 19 suggests that the Marriage Supper occurs toward the end of the Tribulation. Others have described it as a “seven-year supper” (to quote one of evangelist Don McGee’s favorite descriptions) that lasts from the Rapture until the Second Coming.
Dr. Price says, “A marriage supper always [follows] after a great victory, after a great triumph, after something.” Accordingly, he would place the Marriage Supper at the end of the Tribulation as a culminating celebration over the fourfold “Hallelujahs,” rejoicing that Jesus is finally going to exert His reign.
Based on his study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dr. Price also suggests that there will be two great banquets—the Marriage Supper of the Lamb with Church Age saints and another feast thrown to celebrate God’s fulfilled promises to Israel, where Christ serves as the Priest who offers bread and wine to those who anticipated the Messiah before the Church Age or trusted in Him after the Rapture.
Old Testament passages such as Isaiah 25:6-9, Hosea 2:16-20, and Psalm 45:6-17 clearly anticipate a great banquet as would follow the marriage of a king and his bride. Whether those point prophetically to the Marriage Supper or another End-Times banquet is open for interpretation.
Pastor Carl Broggi says that “the marriage of the Lamb takes place in Heaven during the seven-year Tribulation period. The Church is evaluated; rewarded.” But he believes that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb takes place on the Earth when the Lord comes back—putting it after the Tribulation. He sees passages such as Isaiah 25, Matthew 22, and Matthew 8 pointing to the time “where we sit down with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, God’s people of all time, and with the Lord. It is, I think, going to be a very special start to the Millennial Reign.”
Lest we quibble over the exact timing of the Marriage Supper, prophecy teacher Pete Garcia offers insight into the flow of time in Heaven. He says, “I think we have to distinguish the fact that here in this reality we’re bound by time. So when you step outside of time [following the Rapture], trying to place [the Marriage Supper] in human time would be kind of difficult. But I think that while the Tribulation is going on during those seven years on the Earth, we’ll have the Bema judgment, then the Bema judgment reward ceremony, and then the dinner.”
I’ve shared these varying perspectives to convey the reality that none of us really knows exactly when or where the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will take place. We don’t know the menu, the length, or the ceremony or program. We do know the dress code: “fine linen, bright and clean”—given to the Bride as a representation of the righteous acts of the saints (Revelation 19:8).
And we do know that we will be there. Will you?
Other Attendants
Here again there is some mystery regarding the “other attendants” at this supper. Will they be angels, Old Testament saints, or post-Rapture Christian martyrs? My expectation is yes, yes, and yes.
The promise of the Rapture is only for Church Age followers of Jesus Christ. Those Old Testament saints who were in “paradise” (or “the bosom of Abraham”) before Jesus’ death at Calvary will not receive glorified bodies until after the Second Coming, just before the Millennial Kingdom.
Pete Garcia echoes this same sentiment. Regarding the guests at the Marriage Supper, he said, “I think that’s the Old Testament saints—the faithful from Adam all the way up through John the Baptist (through the timing of the Cross).”
You Are Invited; Are You Ready?
But the marriage analogy beautifully conveys the deep love our Bridegroom Messiah—our own Kinsman Redeemer—has for His betrothed Bride. He longs to gather her to Himself and bring her into the place He has prepared for her in His Father’s house. He eagerly anticipates the intimacy of relationship that will be possible when we have been given glorified bodies and see Him face to face.
The only question is whether you are part of the Bride and longing for your Bridegroom. Are you preparing yourself for the consummation of your faith—the upward call of Christ into a glorious eternity with Him? Or are you so busy and distracted by this life that your response to the promise of His coming is, “meh”?
If “meh” is all you can muster, perhaps you need to better “make yourself ready,” for our Bridegroom is coming soon!
