Revelation 19:7 – In the Old Testament, God is the Husband of Israel (Isaiah 54:5-6; 62:5; Jeremiah 31:32; Ezekiel 16:7-14; Hosea 2:16, 19). In preparation for her remarriage to the Lord, His bride, the church consisting of Jews and Gentiles, has made themselves ready. This has been brought about by God through His Spirit and the work of the Body of Messiah (2 Corinthians 11:2; Philippians 2:12-13). The bride has been cleansed at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
John no doubt had Psalm 45 in mind and we see in the marriage of the King. We have the promise of Yeshua that He will not drink of fruit of the vine until is fulfilled in Heaven, it is here at the marriage supper of the Lamb that He will partake of it (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25). In Luke 12:37 the Lord will cause us to sit down and serve us at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Each time we take communion we are reminded of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb 1 Corinthians 11:26.
When the Bridegroom comes He will come as a thief in the night so we can be a part of the Marriage feast. She is thus clothed in fine linen, bright and clean. These are the garments worn by the host of heaven (made up of angels and the redeemed saints) that accompany Jesus when He returns to earth (Revelation 19:14). The fine linen speaks of the righteous acts of the saints. At salvation, believers are clothed with righteousness, given to them by their faith in Yeshua (Romans 3:21-24; 4:5; 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:8-9). ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ “This is the fourth of seven beatitudes in Revelation (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 20:6; 22:7, 14).
The recipients of this blessing are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That they are invited guests marks them as a distinct group from the church, since a bride would hardly be invited to her own wedding. Some commentators believe that these guests represent Old Testament believers. The Tribulation saints, glorified and still alive on earth and entering the millennial kingdom, will be guests. Covenant theologians make no difference between the church and other believers and would suggest that the guests are the angels who will be there as well. Israel looked forward to this great wedding banquet (Isaiah 25:6-10) the kingdom.
Revelation 19:8 A believer prepares himself by receiving the Lamb of God as his Savior. A person will not be acceptable at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb unless he accepts the garments of righteousness through Yeshua (Matthew 22:1-13). We are clothed by the King through the sacrifice of the Lamb (Revelation 3:3-4,18,4:4).
A believer prepares himself by righteous deeds or acts. This means two things. The believer acts righteously, does the right thing when he receives Jesus Christ as his Savior. God actually takes a person’s faith in His Son and counts his faith as righteousness. This is called imputed righteousness, righteousness that is given or put to one’s account before God. This is the first righteous deed that a person is to do. The believer is also to do other righteous deeds. A believer prepares himself by following the Lamb. The Lord laid down His life so too should His followers (Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23ff; Romans 12:1-2).
Jesus and Scripture tells us that there will be positions in the new heavens and earth, degrees of labor and service, of responsibility and duty assigned to all of us. What and how much we will be assigned to oversee and reign over depend on our faithfulness now. These robes for the great Marriage Supper will be the robes of righteous deeds and works that will indicate our roles or responsibilities in heaven and determine where we will be sitting at the Marriage Supper (1 Corinthians 3:12ff; Revelation 14:13).
Revelation 19:9 Jesus spoke of many coming from the east and the west and sitting down with the patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11). The word used for sitting down is the word for reclining at a meal which was the ultimate sign of freedom. At the last Passover of Yeshua the disciples were all reclining with the Lord and it was there that Yeshua instituted communion, which as we have said looks to the Messianic Banquet of God. What a great blessing it will be for those who are present.
Revelation 19:10 John was drawn to worship the messenger but the angel forbids him because worship belongs to God alone. There were some who were worshipping angels and John makes the point in this vision again that such things are clearly ungodly. Gentiles who came to faith were vulnerable to angel worship since they were polytheistic in their culture. There was the temptation to contextualize the Greek polytheism to help them become more comfortable in the church.
The angel also tells him “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” This is the reality that Yeshua is the center of all Scripture. The Rabbis taught that all the Law and the Prophets were for nothing but the days of Messiah. Prophecy is the message of things to come but also the message that applies to today; it is forth telling and foretelling.
