Marriage of the Lamb

November 21, 2021 Background Scripture: Revelation 19 Lesson Passage: Revelation 19:1 8 The main theme of the book of Revelation is the return of Jesus to the earth. Jesus' return, or second advent, is a major tenet of the Christian faith. All Christians who died during the past two thousand years did so with this hope in mind, All believers who lived before Jesus' first advent, died with the hope of both events occurring on earth. The believers who saw Jesus during his first advent hoped to live to see his second. Many died believing that Jesus was coming back while they were yet alive. Today, Christians understand that Jesus has not come back yet, but we are confident that he will return to the earth—even if it's after we too have died in the faith. The book of Revelation gives us the assurance of this, Today's Background Scripture records the second advent of Christ on earth. Our Lesson Passage gives the preparations that will take place prior to it. There is celebration in heaven because God had destroyed the evil earthly government that had corrupted itself before God. (This is clearly a future event!) The earthly government had caused much pain, suffering, and death of the saints of God. God had avenged His own and judged the wicked. Heaven erupted with celebration and praises to God. Heaven was now prepared for a divine Wedding. This is truly a match made in Heaven. We need to point out some distinct differences between some typical marriage arrangements in Eastern cultures versus those that are typical of Western cultures. In Western cultures, we tend to romanticize marriage beginning with the traditional "boy meets girl and boy falls in love with girl". Later, after a period of blissful courtship, the gentleman proposes to the girl that they make a lifelong commitment and get married. And the script normally says, "and they lived happily ever after". Many cultures of the East have understood and accepted that marriage is an arrangement made by two families for the benefits of a couple who are often infants or youth at the time. After the two individuals come of age, the families will then plan a wedding to consummate the prior agreement. I was exposed to this early in my professional career when a co-worker was all excited about traveling back to India to his wedding. I asked him to tell me about his fiancé. His response sounded like he was reading a resume'. When I inquired further, he informed me that he had not met the lady. In fact, when they were both children, their parents had agreed that they would marry each other after they became adults, had finished their schooling, and began their careers. Yet, he was the most excited groom-to-be I had ever met. Over the years, I have observed how many such arranged marriages tend to be more successful than those of Western culture. (Success from the perspective of not ending in separation or divorce after a brief time.) Those marriages were not based on feelings or physical appearance, but rather on a commitment to travel through life together. I have also read about numerous marriages of this type in the Bible. That brings me to the subject of today's lesson. The "Marriage of the Lamb" is an arranged marriage; again, typical of Eastern culture. The church is not in a courtship with Jesus Christ; we are betrothed to him. God is orchestrating the whole thing. Christ has prepared His bride for this eternal commitment never to be separated by death, again. Heaven will be rejoicing and festive. The scene unfolds in our Background Scripture. The righteous actions of Christians are the apparel that the bride of Christ will be arrayed in. The church had been made ready for the return of her Lord and Savior. The Church and Christ were prepared to be united forever. This is prophetically called the marriage of the Lamb. God is the wedding Coordinator, and we all have invitations to be there. Robert C. Hudson October 25, 2021