Who is the Bridegroom?

The question “Who is the Bridegroom?”

has but one answer. The Bridegroom can

only be “the King’s son” of Matthew 22:1-

14, the Lord Jesus Himself. In John 3:29,

long after John the Baptist had introduced

Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away

the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), John was

asked to identify himself. He made it clear

THE MARRIAGE SUPPER THE MARRIAGE SUPPER THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMBOF THE LAMBOF THE LAMB (Revelation Chapter 19:7-10)

THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST A STUDY BASED ON “REVELATION UNVEILED” BY TIM LAHAYE

07/18/2012

LESSON 22

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that he was not the Christ; in John 3:29 he

referred to Christ as “the bridegroom,” to

himself as “the friend who attends the bride-

groom [and who] waits and listens for him,

and is full of joy when he hears the bride-

groom’s voice.” Clearly Christ is here re-

ferred to as the Bridegroom as well as the

Lamb. Thus, Christ is the Bridegroom at

the marriage of the Lamb.

Who is the Bride?

The answer to the question “Who is the

Bride?” presents a difference of opinion.

Some say that the Bride is Israel, because

in Revelation 19:7 she is called “wife,” as in

Isaiah 54:5 Israel is called the wife of God.

But the Bride cannot be Israel because a

bride is not called the wife until after the

marriage has taken place. Besides, there

are two wives in Scripture. The Old Tes-

tament wife was “cast off” because of the

spiritual adultery committed in the wor-

The marriage supper of the Lamb was one of the themes on which the Lord Jesus loved

to dwell. In many of His stories or parables, he spoke of marriage suppers. For instance,

in the parable of the ten virgins, He told about the preparation for the coming of the

bridegroom. In Matthew 22:1-14 He spoke the parable of the marriage of the king’s son.

At this festive occasion the king sent out servants to invite people to come to this

blessed event.

MARR IAGE SUPPER OF TMARR IAGE SUPPER OF TMARR IAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB (CONT…)HE LAMB (CONT…)HE LAMB (CONT…)

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reason we believe the Judgment

Seat of Christ, which will take

place during the Tribulation, will

precede the marriage supper of

the Lamb, and immediately after

the judgment of reward has been

presented to the last believer, the

marriage of the Lamb will take

place. All Christians who have

trusted in Christ during the age

of grace, from the day of Pente-

cost to the Rapture of the

Church, will make up His Bride.

How does the bride make

herself ready?

The wedding dress of this Bride,

made of fine linen (Rev. 19:8), is

defined as “the righteous acts of

the saints.” That is, the Bride

makes herself ready through her

righteous acts. Inasmuch as this marriage comes after the Judg-

ment Seat of Christ, most likely

the position of the individual as a

member of the Bride of Christ is

determined by the outcome of

the judgment by fire, when his

works will be judged. Therefore,

When and where will this

marriage take place?

The marriage of the Lamb must

take place in heaven, for in Reve-

lation 19:11, after the marriage of

the Lamb and the marriage sup-

per of the Lamb, we find the

Lord Jesus coming in what we call

“the Glorious Appearing” to set up

His Kingdom. For this reason we

must conclude that the marriage

and the supper have occurred in

heaven. Their location in Revela-

tion 19 shows these events to

have taken place at the end of the

Tribulation, just before the mil-

lennial reign of Christ on the

earth.

Ephesians 5:27 indicates the man-

ner in which the Bride will be

presented to Christ: “a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or

any other blemish, but holy and

blameless.” This condition will

exist only after the judgment of

Christ when believers have been

completely cleansed and the

Church is made whole. For that

ship of other gods (Jer. 3:1-20;

Ezek. 16; Hos. 2; 3:1-5).

The Church has been guilty of

many sins in her nearly two thou-

sand years of existence, but spiri-

tual adultery is not one of them.

Spiritual adultery is defined in

Scripture as the worship of other

gods.

One other verse of importance

to consider here regarding the

identity of the Bride is found in

Ephesians 5:32. The Apostle

Paul, speaking to husbands and

wives of their relationship to-

gether, likens the husband to

Christ and the wife to the

Church. He sums it up in verse

32 by saying, “This is a profound

mystery –but I am talking about Christ and the church,” clearly indi-

cating that the perfect picture of

the relationship between the

Lord Jesus and His Church is that

of a bride and a bridegroom.

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LESSON 22LESSON 22

Christians in this age must be

careful to do good works (Titus

3:8). The Lord Jesus challenges

Christians, “Store up for yourselves

treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20).

Although Christians are reluctant

to consider working for rewards,

we should remember that our

relationship to Christ as members

of the Bride of Christ will be de-

termined by faithful service today.

The Marriage Supper of the

Lamb

The marriage supper, of course, is

not the marriage, but the mar-

riage feast of the Lamb. It seems

a particular honor to be invited to

this feast, for John was instructed

to write, “Blessed are those who

are invited to the wedding supper of

the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:9) “Blessed” means happy or honored. In

other words, “Happy (or honored)

are those who are invited to the

wedding supper of the Lamb.”

The identity of the guest

John the Baptist, one of the last

Old Testament saints, indicated

that he was a friend of the bride-

groom (John 3:29). These Old

Testament saints will be in heaven

and will have their rewards, but

they are not the Church, not the

Bride of Christ. They are the

friends of the Bride and Bride-

groom, who at this point can be

seen as the ones invited as guests

to the feast. So then all the be-

lieving dead from Adam until the

resurrection of Christ will be

guests at this feast. In addition to

them will appear those who have

received the Savior during the

Tribulation, both Jew and Gentile,

many of whom will have

been martyred for the

testimony of Christ. This will comprise the

guest at the feast.

Tim LaHaye does not

imply that the Old Testa-

ment saints are inferior

to the Church, or the

body of Christ, but

merely to point out that

this is a special blessing

for the Church. Now Israel, or

the guest at the wedding supper

of the Lamb, have promises and

relationships to Him in which we

shall not share; however, the mar-

riage supper of the Lamb is an ex-

perience reserved for the Church.

The Honeymoon of the Lamb

Immediately after the marriage

supper of the Lamb, John tells us,

“I saw heaven standing open and

there before me was a white

horse.” (Rev 19:11) From this

point he launches into a descrip-

tion of the Glorious Appearing of

the Lord Jesus Christ on this

earth to set up His kingdom,

when He will come with His

bride, the Church. The earth –

the former abode of the Church,

from which the Church will have been raptured, and the place

where the Lamb Himself lived and

died—will then become the place

of the thousand-year honeymoon.

The Believer and the Millen-

nium

Immediately after the descent of

Christ to this earth, the millennial

kingdom will commence. Christ

will set up His kingdom and be-

lievers will reign with Him.

2 Timothy 2:11-12 clarifies this

prospect. That reigning is based

on the works of the believers, for

Paul said, “If we endure, we will also

reign with him.”

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