Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Of course, with every wedding is a wedding supper. It is no different in the spiritual realm than in the physical. After all, the physical is many times a manifestation of the spiritual. As the Church is the bride of Christ, we will then be a part of a marriage supper that will occur in heaven (Rv 19:7). This could not occur until the Church was made blemish free and conducts the righteous acts of God (Rv 19:8).
In Jewish weddings, this phase of the marriage ceremony could last an entire week. This is similar to what will occur in heaven as well. While this is going on, the Tribulation Period on earth is also occurring—for seven years. As we have seen in other passages of Scripture, a day for a year is not uncommon (Dn 7:25; 12:7; Rv 12:14). This gives the bride time with her bridegroom before they dwell together for all eternity.
Understanding this also helps us to understand that the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture event cannot be the same event and occur simultaneously. Otherwise, this phase of being the bride of Christ could not occur because this event occurs in heaven (Rv 19:1).
Another factor in understanding these two events are indeed separate events is recognizing that the trumpet talked about by Paul concerning the Rapture (1Co 15:52) is not the same as the seventh trumpet talked about by John (Rv 11:15). Perhaps understanding the Jewish feasts of Shavuot (Pentecost) and Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets) can help us here. As we talked about earlier, the first trumpet is noted as the trumpet blast that occurs on Shavuot because this represents the betrothal period of God and Israel. And we mentioned that Shavuot (Pentecost) was also the beginning of the Church Age (Ac 2). So, the time period between the first and last trumpet would represent the entire Church Age. This then begs the question as to when is the last trumpet to sound? It would stand to reason that Rosh Hashanah would have some play in this as it is known as the Feast of Trumpets (Lv 23:23-25). There are one-hundred trumpet blasts that occur on this day, yet the last trumpet call of the day has a different sound than any of the others. Could this be the last trumpet call Paul referred to? After all, this would be something known to Jews, and he was a Jew after all.
These Jewish feasts were also prophetic and are all about the nation of Israel and are about the Church, the bride of Christ, in that because of our belief, we have been grafted into their promise as well (Ro 11:17). We know that Pesach (Passover), Matzah (Unleavened Bread), and Bikkurim (Firstfruit) represent the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1Co 5:7; 15:20; 2Co 5:21), and Shavuot (Pentecost) represented the coming of the Holy Spirit (Ac 2). The Fall Jewish Feasts refer to what will occur in the “end times.” Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets) represent God remembering his covenant with Israel, since Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) was only ten days away where they would be judged as a nation, Israel wanted God to remember his covenant with them as they had no other grounds to stand on before a holy God. This would represent the beginning of the Tribulation Period because this period of future history is for the retuning of both Judah and Israel back to their homeland (Is 11:11-22; Ek 37:1-28; 39:27-28; Jr 19:14; 32:37). Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) represents the Second Coming of Christ as he will heal and forgive Israel upon his return (Zc 12:10; 13:1), and Sukkot (Tabernacles) represent the beginning of Christ Millennial Kingdom as he will be dwelling with his people on the earth (Zc 14:9; Rv 20:4).
Therefore, the last trumpet blast is a representation of the end of the Church Age and the beginning of the Tribulation Period where God remembers his covenant with Israel and begins to work with her again (Ro 11:25-27).
If the event of the marriage supper is occurring in heaven, what is really happening on the earth during this time? Join me in my next post and we’ll find out together.
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens