Preparing for the Wedding Day, Part 3
We want to continue with the wedding preparations. Every bride and groom has to set a date for their wedding and then they send out the invitations, so this is what we are going to look at this month.
You are Cordially Invited…
Every invitation says something like, “You are cordially invited to attend the marriage of…”. So let’s see what the invitation to the marriage of the Lamb looks like:
“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… It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, ‘Write, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true Words of God.’ And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Revelation 19:7-9, 22:17).
The Place: Jerusalem
Luke 1:32-33: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His Father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.”
Isaiah 24:23: “For the Lord of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders.”
Isaiah 2:2-4: “In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains… and many peoples will come and say, ‘Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob’… For the Torah will go forth from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
The Date: Not Known
Acts 1:7: “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.”
Matthew 24:42: “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
1 Thessalonians 5:2: “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.”
Menu: The Abundance of the Earth
Isaiah 25:6: “The Lord of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined aged wine.”
Isaiah 55:1-2: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat… Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in abundance.”
Revelation 22:2: “On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Dress Attire: Repentance
Matthew 4:17: “Yeshua (Jesus) began to preach, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'”
Isaiah 55:6-7: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 61:10: “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
The Invitation List
The Scripture tells us, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper.” Who are these that are invited? We must determine those who are the bride from those who are the guests. We know that according to Jewish tradition, the man and woman would become betrothed and then he would go and prepare for their future and in a year or two he would return for the wedding ceremony. So we know that the bride has to be a group of people who are still alive when Yeshua returns. With that in mind, let us look at the Scripture to determine who will be the guest at the marriage supper.
Revelation 2:7 tells us, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Congregation. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” Revelation 20:4-5 tells us, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Yeshua and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for one thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.” Revelation 19:14 tells us, “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him (Yeshua) on white horses.”
Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.” Matthew records Yeshua’s sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:3-12 and we see that the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, the righteous, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and those who have been persecuted, insulted, and had false witness against them for the sake of the gospel will be among those mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. We also see Old Testament figures like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be there (Matthew 8:11) and I’m sure all the prophets and the righteous ones of old will be there. So we see all of these are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Yeshua tells several parables using the wedding analogy, so we will take a closer look at them next month; but for now, the invitation is out there and the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” How about you? Are you going to be there?
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