We are in the ‘End Times’ series, and today’s message is: The Marriage of the Lamb.
As an introduction to this message, I want to give you some biblical facts: Did you know that the Old Testament has 39 books with 351 prophecies, and all of these prophecies about Jesus’ first coming were faithfully fulfilled?
And that in the New Testament, out of 27 books, 24 speak about the rapture and Jesus’ second coming! And certainly, all these prophecies about Jesus’ return will be fulfilled, for Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Mark 13:31 NIV
One of the great events of the end times is “The Marriage of the Lamb”, which will take place shortly after the rapture of the church.
“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 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.” 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. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” Revelation 19:6-9 NKJV
I want to ask you a question: Did Jesus get married? No, but He will! His bride is preparing herself; Jesus will have His celebration, and those who are ready will participate in the wedding feast of the Lamb!
The Galilean Wedding in Biblical Times
So that you can understand this event and what the Bible teaches about the Marriage of the Lamb, I need to tell you what a Galilean wedding was like in biblical times.
Jesus and all His disciples were from Galilee, and the Galileans had a tradition slightly different from the rest of Israel.
The wedding of the Galilean people began long before the time of the feast. There was a price that had to be discussed and a covenant to be made between the father of the prospective bride and the father of the prospective groom. For this covenant to be agreed upon, several things had to happen:
First: The bride needed to consent to the marriage. Just as Jesus does not force anyone to accept Him as Lord and Saviour, the bride was also not forced to marry.
Second: To become betrothed, or engaged, the bride and groom underwent a spiritual cleansing ceremony in a pool of water, and this ceremony was called “Mikvah”.
The moment the couple entered the pool of water, they declared themselves “born again”. Therefore, this ceremony could be compared to our baptism.
This betrothal ceremony (like an engagement) was legally binding; there was a covenant contract that showed the couple was officially married, but they were not permitted to enjoy the physical benefits of marriage (they could not have sexual relations) until after the wedding ceremony.
During the betrothal ceremony, the groom gave the bride a ring and a gift, and they also shared a cup of wine, drinking from the same cup.
When they were drinking this cup of wine, the Groom said to the Bride: “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
After this moment, the groom returned to his father’s house to prepare their future home. The bride also began to prepare for the groom, learning how to cook and getting her wedding dress done.
She had to sanctify herself and get ready to start her new life with the groom.
In the Galilean culture, the groom never told anyone the wedding date. Only the groom’s Father knew the date. Did you know this?
The wedding announcement was made by surprise at the last minute. Before the Groom arrived to fetch the bride, a messenger was sent to blow the Shofar to announce that the groom was coming. And all of this happened at night, after dark.
When the messenger announced that the Groom was coming, the entire town, friends, and relatives would come to celebrate the wedding, and this feast would last a whole week (seven days).
Only after the wedding celebration did the groom take the bride to their home where they would live together forever.
Did you know that your marriage proposal has already been made? How many of you here have already been proposed to by Jesus?
How did He propose to you? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NIV
How many have already accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour of their lives?
Know that this invitation from Jesus, “Come to Me”, is a Wedding Invitation for you to be part of the Marriage of the Lamb!
That is why, at the Last Supper, Jesus broke the bread, offered the wine, and said: “You are to do this in remembrance of Me until I return!”
“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:25 NIV
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:1-3 NIV
Jesus is preparing our dwelling place with the heavenly Father!
The disciples were sad because He was leaving; He said: “I am going, but I will return!”
The Bible says He will return! When will this be? No one knows! The groom could announce his return at any moment! And what should the bride do? Live a life of preparation, seeking a life of holiness to be ready when the Groom returns to fetch her.
Before the Wedding, there will be a great feast!
Have you ever seen a celebrity’s wedding? Like the wedding of prince Harry and Meghan — how people watched it online and commented about it? This will be nothing compared to the marriage of the Lamb!
Can you imagine when the angel sounds the trumpet and announces that the most anticipated event of millennia is about to happen?
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” Revelation 19:6-7 NIV
Wow, what a tremendous thing! Will you be there?
This day will come! Only the invited guests will be present at this wedding! While the wedding feast is taking place in heaven, the world, here on earth, will be experiencing great chaos during the great tribulation!
Those who are left behind after the rapture will face the great tribulation! Can you imagine it?
The marriage of the Lamb will be very different from weddings in our culture, for in our culture, the climax of the wedding is the bride’s entrance, and everyone awaits her arrival. But at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the climax will be the Groom’s entrance!
On that day, everyone will be awaiting the Groom’s entrance!
All together we will sing: ” the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: ‘Great and marvellous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.'” Revelation 15:3 NIV
All those who lived for Jesus on earth, who sanctified themselves, who awaited His return will rise when the trumpets sound – the church will ascend, the dead in Christ will join us and we will all meet there, on the great day of the Marriage of the Lamb’s feast.
The marriage of the Lamb is a cause for great joy. For the Angels said: Let us rejoice and be glad, for the wedding feast of the Lamb has come!
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” Revelation 19:7 NIV
On that day, there will be no sorrow. The joys of this world will be nothing compared to that day. You will know that you arrived there only by His Grace! And you will sing: “It was grace, it was by grace that I overcame and arrived here!”
No one will enter by their own righteousness, but only by the righteousness of Jesus on the cross! For it was the Lord Himself, the Groom, who justified us!
You are saved by grace, not by works, but after being saved, you need to prepare yourself!
Only those who are prepared will be raptured and participate in the Supper of the Lamb. The Supper of the Lamb will be the reward for the faithful!
The parable of the ten virgins, told by Jesus in Matthew 25, describes 5 of them as foolish/lazy; they failed to keep their lanterns full of oil, which speaks of the presence of the Holy Spirit. When the groom came, they didn’t have any oil, they weren’t ready, and so they couldn’t enter; they were left out of the wedding feast.
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:10-13 NIV
However, 5 of them prepared themselves for that day; they were connected with the Body of Christ, they were seeking God, seeking the presence of the Holy Spirit. For it is the Holy Spirit who leads us to live a worthy life, a life of preparation for the marriage!
I am terrified for some Christians in my own church, by Christians who are disconnected from the body of Christ, from fellowship and from church life, and are in danger.
However, the most important thing is for you to be prepared for that day and to certain that you will be there! Why will you be there? Because He died for us, and also because we have been getting ourselves ready for this day.
The Bible says: “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)” Revelation 19:7-8 NIV
The Bible says that the wife beautified herself, prepared herself, and her attire consists of her righteous acts and good works.
Have you ever seen a young woman about to get married, how she gets ready? Some of them begin the preparation years before the wedding, preparing her dress and planning the details of the wedding, but on the wedding day, she spends the whole day at the salon. Massages, oils, manicures, pedicures, makeup, hair. Some even go on a diet weeks before because they want to be looking their best on that day.
I remember at my wedding, when Fabiana finally came in, wow, how beautiful she looked!
The Bible says that the bride beautified herself, and therefore we, the Church, must beautify ourselves for the Groom.
We must ask and pray to God to help us overcome our difficulties, weaknesses, the sins that we hide even from our family, and the unhealthy behaviours that we have not yet let go of.
Today, many who are in the church do not bear good testimony, for they live in sinful ways; they are constantly quarreling with their work coworkers, they are Christians who get divorced, abandon their spouses instead of forgiving them, Christians who gossip, Christians who hide their sins from their spouses, talk behind their brothers’ backs, do not forgive, feel hurt, Christians who have addictions to cigarettes, alcohol, pornography, who are disobedient to parents, Christians who do not listen to their leaders, are rebellious and disrespectful.
Beloved, the church is the bride of Jesus, and if He is holy, we must sanctify ourselves for Him!
Every time the Bible speaks of fine linen, it speaks of purity. The bride’s garment, worn for the wedding, was clean, spotless, and completely adorned.
How are you living your life? I have been living every day of my life waiting for the day of the Marriage of the Lamb! I have prayed and asked the Lord to show me any area of my life that I need to fix, which areas I need to change!
These days are days of spiritual cooling; many are choosing to stay in their homes and don’t even want to participate in the services, home groups, meetings and many are growing cold. Many who loved the Lord are growing apathetic and are drifting away from their faith!
Remember that the Wedding is for those who are called and have accept the invitation.
To the church in Laodicea, Jesus said: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20 NIV
This is related to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. The church worldwide is living in sin, most Christians are uncommitted to the church, to the Body of Christ, and they think it’s fine; people live in sin, young people and adults living a sexual life and thinking that God accepts everything.
Jesus is calling, He is knocking at your door! Who will open the door to your heart?
The world will collapse; the antichrist will govern the world, and the world will be ruled by him. There will be only one religion, one currency, and if we are not raptured or accept the mark of the beast, we will suffer or die!
I believe that Jesus will come for the church before this happens. Jesus is the Groom, and I do not believe He will say: ‘I will marry you, but first I will leave you there to suffer all kinds of abuse, and then I will come for you.’ No, I do not believe this!
The groom protects the bride and comes to take her, as Revelation 3:10 says:
“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.” Revelation 3:10 NIV
However, if you are not prepared, you will not be raptured, you will be left behind and will go through the great tribulation, and you will miss the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.
Jesus is saying to His church today: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock!” “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20 NIV
I believe we are living in the last days before this great wedding feast of the Lamb takes place.
Today is the day for you to start getting ready! Repent of your sins and abandon them, return to Jesus and accept the wedding invitation, because He loves you, He died for you, and He will return to fetch you!
May God bless you and may you be among those who will participate in the Supper of the Lamb!