My wife and I recently celebrated 10 years of marriage and went to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate over dinner. That evening, we had a good laugh about how I used to go to great lengths to get dapper before date nights with my wife. I recall during the first few years of marriage I would make huge efforts to dress up such as, ironing my clothes, shining my shoes, shave. Wearing a sports coat was not unheard of during that time. I even went as far as taking her to the shopping mall for her to purchase an outfit and jewelry just for the evening. Oh my! How the times have changed over the last decade. She’s lucky now if I decide to comb my nest of ungroomed hair. Although, our styling efforts have changed, the preparation I used to put into getting ready for my bride is a great example of what Christ is doing for His bride, which brings us to our Weird Verse Wednesday!
Revelation 19:7-10 NASB
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. Then 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.” Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
A Lamb is Getting Married?
To understand this, we need to know who the Lamb is first. In the Old Testament God would require the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless animal for the temporary covering of their sins. Typically, the animal was a lamb. This lamb was not just like any other lamb as it was cared and nurtured for as if it was a child. Families would allow this animal to graze first in the field, bathe the lamb, and even allowed it to sleep inside. The purpose was that the lamb would be without any blemish before sacrificing it to Yahweh. We come now to the New Testament where Christ, by His own will, became the final sacrificial lamb for the atonement of sins for those who repent and believe in Him. The word, “Lamb” is used over 29 times in Revelation which is more than any other Book in the Bible! Now that we understand that Jesus is the Lamb, who is the bride? The church! Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians for husbands to love their wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Eph.5:25-27 NASB). This brings us to our WVW.
What’s the Context?
We are currently living during a period which is known as the betrothal period – or engagement period, which was customary to Jewish tradition for the groom and bride-elect to be committed to one another, but were not yet permitted to be with one another. Jesus told His disciples in John 14 that He was going to prepare a place for His loved ones and that is what Christ is doing now. The stylish efforts I made to impress my own bride is nothing in comparison to what Christ is doing to prepare for His bride. How incredible that day will be as mentioned in Rev.19:7, when the Lamb will arrive and fulfill the marriage with the church! Much like a bride-elect in the betrothal stage, the church is to be devoted to Him, honoring Him, and glorifying Him while waiting eagerly upon His return for His bride. Great will be the wedding feast after the marriage is fulfilled between the Lamb and church as mentioned in Matt.22:2.
Am I Invited to the Wedding?
Good News! The validation of our relationship with our Bridegroom doesn’t depend on our sinlessness, but on His! Rom.5:8 says, “that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This means that the love of Christ is so great, that He took on the vulnerable flesh of man to live a perfect life we could not accomplish on our own. He died on a cross and rose from the grave, so that anyone who repents and believes in Him, would not only be invited to the wedding, but would be the bride of the wedding!
Don’t miss your invitation!
DING ON,
RAZA REFORMA
Dingers, this Weird Verse Wednesday blog post was written by Sonny Florez from Raza Reforma Podcast! If you haven't noticed, they take expositing the word of God very seriously! Make sure you go and check them out on every major platform and follow them on instagram @razareforma!
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