The Wedding Feast
By Shirley Mitchell
“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saint.)
Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb! ’ ’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’ ”
Revelation 19:6-9
“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” The Father will spare nothing in celebration of His only Son’s marriage. I imagine that God will display His glory unlike ever before. The splendor will be magnificent. It will be a feast of rich foods. There will be jubilation and unbridled elation. All the tribes, nations, and tongues will be there. Every generation will be there. His bride has made herself ready. She is radiant and wears fine linen, bright and clean. We will be reunited with our loved ones. I will get to see my daddy again! I will finally have all of my friends around me. I have said many times, “Oh, how I would love to be with all of friends, all of the time, but that’s the beauty of heaven.” We will all be together then.
In the Barbie movie, Fairytopia, the fairy, Azura, has set the table for Barbie and her to eat. She sets the table for more than just these two and leaves the other seats empty. Barbie asks her why she makes the extra place settings. Azura says, “It is for the friends that I haven’t met yet.” I love this attitude. I set an empty chair in Bible study sometimes so we can be reminded that there are friends yet to come. In heaven, we will make new friends. We can meet the missionary who sacrificed all. We can meet the grandmother who prayed. We can meet someone from the furthest tribe from us. We can meet our favorite people from the Bible. We will have eternity to be with them and the old friends, too. We won’t feel like we aren’t giving enough time to our friends.
Our greatest joy will be our Bridegroom. The Greek word for “be glad” in verse 7 is the same word that we saw in session 6 that described Jesus’ joy when the 72 returned. It is agalliao which means “to exult, leap for joy, to show one’s joy by leaping and skipping denoting excessive or ecstatic joy and delight. Often spoken of rejoicing with song and dance.” Our joy will be physical. We will sing, dance, skip, leap, and hug. The word “Hallelujah” in verse 6 comes from two words: hallel meaning “praise” and Yahweh – which is God’s personal name for Himself. The first song in the Bible is a song of praise to God for His deliverance through the Passover Lamb in Exodus 15. The last song in the Bible is a song of praise to the final Passover Lamb and our God.
We won’t be the only ones getting down and jumping up. A Jewish bridegroom rejoiced over his bride. His joy was the greatest joy of the marriage celebration. Jesus has waited so long to behold His radiant bride who has made herself ready. His joy will surpass our elation. I imagine that His jubilation will capture the attention of all who are present that day.
Pray with me: Oh, Jesus, You long for the wedding day with Your Bride, us! It’s hard to believe how much joy we bring to You. Your euphoria and bliss will be unmatched at the wedding feast. You will captivate us. We long to be with loved ones and to meet new friends. It’s delightful to think we’ll get to meet people from so many nations and backgrounds and generations. Yet, Lord, You will be the One who captures our eye. You will be the One that we naturally move towards. We’ll hang on Your every word and we’ll follow Your every move. It’s in the Name of our Bridegroom, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, I pray. Amen.
Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study