WEDNESDAY September 11th
Revelation 19:9
‘And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”’
Following on from our previous devotion, todays is intended to ask who those are who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
When Elaine and I got married, we weren’t the guests, but we invited guests. They were those who could witness our being joined together in holy matrimony and then afterwards could come and celebrate with us at the wedding reception. None of the guests could claim to be the bridegroom and none of the guests could claim to be the bride. They were invited guests.
I have done a lot of reading and research for this devotion, because sometimes when preparing devotions, I come to some verses where it needs a lot more time and effort to put them together. And strangely it is difficult to even find harmony with the various interpretations of this verse from various writers.
And the conclusion I have drawn is this: The bride is the Church, therefore it cannot be Israel, and it cannot also be the Old Testament saints, for they have not been a part of the Church. But it doesn’t mean that Israel who are God’s chosen people cannot be in heaven, (maybe the 144,000 we read of in Revelation is speaking of those from Israel who will be there) and it also doesn’t mean that the Old Testament saints cannot be in heaven, they will be, but they will have been included through the various covenants that God had put together for them and their obedience toward them. In fact, we read in Scripture that they, that is the Old Testament saints could not be made perfect until after God had fulfilled or brought to completion all he had provided for the Church (Hebrews 11:39-40).
So, they will be at the marriage supper, not as the bride but as the guests, looking on in wonder at what God had accomplished through Christ at Calvary! One writer also says that the guests will include those who came to faith during the time of the tribulation.
I suggest we cannot be 100% sure of the guest list, but we can be 100% sure of the bride and the bridegroom, and I want to be included, I want you to be included, and I want that if anyone is reading this devotion has not yet come to accept Jesus as Saviour that you do so, before it is too late. The bridegroom wants you to be his bride.