The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb

Biblegems #259

                   

—art by folken2d

Question:  What is the marriage Supper of the Lamb, and when does it take place?

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb refers to the millennial reign of Christ.

In the Gospels, Jesus likens the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding banquet thrown by a king on the occasion of his son’s wedding. Because many of the invited guests chose not to attend, the king opens the invitation to anyone, requiring only that appropriate wedding attire be worn (Matt. 22:1-14). The “kingdom of heaven” refers specifically to Jesus’ prophesied, messianic reign on earth from David’s throne:

         Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David…

The marriage banquet is compared in Jesus’ parable to the entire kingdom of heaven experience, not just entrance into that Kingdom. In fact, entrance beyond the hall to the feast itself is denied to anyone who shows up inappropriately dressed (Matt. 22:14).

In Revelation, this wedding banquet is called “the marriage supper of the Lamb”:

         Rev. 19:7-9  Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

This banquet entails 1,000 years of celebration (Rev. 20:2-7), enjoyed by all the resurrected, redeemed people of God, Jew and Gentile, representing all the ethnic groups of mankind (Rev. 7:9).

Joining them at this great feast taking place in the Promised Land, principally on Mt. Zion, will be the survivors of God’s wrath upon planet earth at the Return of Christ:

         Zech. 14:16  Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles…

        

One thousand years of festivities comprise the wedding “day” of Christ and His Church. It begins with the Lord’s Return as king for His Bride at the Rapture (1Thess. 4:16-17) when they are finally joined as one (Rev. 19:7). This fulfills the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. 14:16)—a time of restoration, rebuilding and the repopulation of earth under Christ’s earthly reign (cf. Matt. 8:11; Is. 25:6; Zech. 14:16; Rev. 19:7, 9; Luke 14:15-17, 24; Matt. 22:2-4, 8-9), when the resurrected redeemed will reign with Christ.

         Rev. 20:4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Joseph & Mary's Genealogies

Biblegems #19

What is the significance that in Jesus' genealogy Joseph and Mary were both descendants of David, but Joseph was from Solomon and Mary from Nathan? (Matthew 1; Luke 3)

This question touches on an important issue that skeptics frequently point to when discussing Jesus’ claim as Messiah. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Solomon and Nathan were brothers, each sons of king David. However, God revealed to king David that the Messiah who would sit on the throne of David forever would also descend from his son Solomon:

But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever (1 Chr. 22:9-10).

Matthew’s gospel clearly indicates Joseph’s legal lineage from David through Solomon. Jesus’ biological lineage to David is established through Mary, as shown in Luke’s gospel, who was a descendant of David through his son Nathan. While this does not connect her to God’s promise that the Messiah would be born through David’s son Solomon, it does link her and Jesus biologically to the seed of David.

Related to all of this is a prophecy in Jeremiah that skeptics of Jesus’ claim as Messiah often raise. The prophecy is found in Jeremiah 22:3 which reads:

This is what the LORD says: “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.”

According to this prophecy, not one of the offspring of the wicked king Jeconiah, a descendant of Solomon in the Matthew genealogy, would ever sit on David’s throne. This would seem to disqualify Jesus. However, as Jesus was not Joseph’s biological son, he was also not biologically descended from Jeconiah. The virgin birth bypassed God’s curse on Jeconiah yet still permitted Jesus to be counted a legal heir of David's and Solomon’s throne—and biologically of the seed of David though Mary.

Once again, God is seen to fulfill all His promises, even when His own interactions with humanity would appear to put up walls impossible to scale. But, as Gabriel said to Mary, and as Jesus Himself would often remind His disciples, “nothing is impossible with God” (Lk. 1:37; cf. Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27).

Do you have a question for Biblegems? Click the Comments link below and submit your question in the Comments box, or send your question to pastorcoleman@fbcma.org

When Does “David” mean “Jesus"

Biblegems #9

Question: When does “David” mean “Jesus” in Scripture

— and how do we know?

Old Testament prophecy often refers to the Messiah, Jesus, as sitting on David’s throne. Perhaps the most well known is rehearsed in churches every Christmas:

       Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Probably the most singular example of biblical prophecy where David may not refer to the Messiah is Ezekiel 34:23-24:

I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

The setting is the Millennial Kingdom when Christ will reign for a thousand years on the earth (Rev. 20:6). He will restore Israel as a people to Himself and to the Promised Land (Jer. 23:5-6), and from Jerusalem in Zion He will restore and govern the entire earth (Micah 4:2). Here, taken at face value, Ezekiel prophesies that during the Messiah’s Millennial reign: I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David… and my servant David will be prince among them — ruling over the descendants of Jacob. Hosea, speaking of the same time period says, Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king.

Throughout prophetic Scripture, when the Messiah is linked to king David’s throne, He is David’s Seed (Is. 6:13), David’s descendant (Ps. 132:11-12), the righteous Branch (Jer. 33:15), etc. A distinction is always carefully made between David Himself and the Messiah to come. But in Ezekiel 34, David himself is said to sit on the throne with the very limited task of ruling over restored Israel. And to emphasize the point that David is not to be metaphorically confused with God, Ezekiel 34:24 says, “I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince…”

The passages in Ezekiel and Hosea do not stand alone. Jeremiah also prophesies of that Millennial Kingdom: Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them (Jer. 30:9).

A straightforward reading of Scripture is always the best guide to it’s own meaning. Unless the Bible itself clues us in that terms are to be taken symbolically (Seed, Branch, etc.), let the Bible say what it means and mean what it says. It should not be surprising that David will serve such a role in the Millennium: Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years (Rev. 20:6)!