The Marriage And Supper
Note that the Bible doesn't show the marriage of the church or the marriage supper happening before or during the tribulation, or in heaven; it doesn't announce the marriage and supper until the 2nd coming, immediately before we descend with Christ at Armageddon (Revelation 19:7-9, 14). "The bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage" (Matthew 25:10). The Bible doesn't teach a 3rd coming. This is why the Lamb is not shown to be at the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7) or the supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) at any time we see him during the tribulation (Revelation 5:6-13; Revelation 6:1; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 14:1-4).
After the tribulation, the rapture will gather us into the clouds to be married (Revelation 19:7) before Armageddon. The supper will be on the earth after Armageddon (Revelation 19:9, 17; Isaiah 25:5-9). Note that Paul says that at the 2nd coming "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed... when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:23, 52-54), for death will have been swallowed up in victory for all of us believers; and the supper on the earth in Isaiah 25:5-9 is spoken of in connection with this same 2nd coming and resurrection in which Jesus "will swallow up death in victory... And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him" (Isaiah 25:8-9).
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Jewish Marriage Customs?
In the pre-trib dispensational view, would any Jewish dispensation regarding marriage customs be applicable to the church? Would "Jacob's trouble" then also be applicable to the church?
What are the ancient historical sources for the Jewish marriage customs that the pre-trib view says apply to the church? Can you quote from the ancient Jewish sources for any marriage customs that would require a pre-trib rapture?
Be careful not to be led astray by any "traditions" or teachings of men that aren't in the Bible itself (Colossians 2:8; 2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Some say in the ancient Jewish marriage customs the groom comes to the bride's house "unannounced," but what ancient Jewish source says this? The Bible says Christ's coming to us will be announced (Matthew 25:6).
Some say the bride and groom must return to his father's house, but what ancient Jewish source says this? Just as Isaac took his bride into his mother's house (Genesis 24:67), and Jacob did not return to his father's house until some 13 years after his marriage (the 20 years of Genesis 31:41 minus the 7 years of Genesis 29:20), so John 14:2-3 doesn�t require that the rapture take us into heaven, for here Jesus doesn't say he'll take us into heaven. What he says is he'll receive us unto himself, as does 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Matthew 24:29-31, and elsewhere.
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Coming "From" The Marriage?
Note that to try to read into parables what they were not intended to teach can lead to grave errors in doctrine. Luke 12:35-40 is not a parable about where or when the marriage of the Lamb takes place, but rather is a parable about how we are to be ready for the rapture, for it says that we must "watch" for Jesus' coming and keep our lights burning, just as the parable of the 10 virgins says that we must "watch" for Jesus' coming and keep our lights burning (Matthew 25:7-13). The Bible doesn't teach a 3rd coming. Note that Luke 12:39-40 uses the exact same language as Matthew 24:43-44; they are both referring to the rapture.
Note that the "like" unto (homoios) in Luke 12:36 means it is a parable, just as the "like" unto (homoios and/or homoioo) in Matthew 7:24-27, Matthew 11:16-17, Matthew 13:24, Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:33, Matthew 13:44-45, Matthew 13:47, Matthew 13:52, Matthew 18:23, Matthew 20:1, Matthew 22:2, Matthew 25:1, Mark 4:30-31, Luke 6:48-49, Luke 7:31-32, Luke 13:18-19, Luke 13:20-21 means that all of them are parables.
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The Parable Of Matthew 22:1-13
Note that Matthew 22:1-13 is not a parable about where or when the marriage of the Lamb takes place, but rather is a parable about how the religious Jews had rejected the call to salvation and how God extends his offer of salvation to those they despised, who did accept it, a teaching which Jesus had just finished giving in the two previous parables and their explicit explanations in Matthew 21:28-43.
Note that to try to read into these parables what they were not intended to teach can lead to grave errors in doctrine. For while we can understand the lord of the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-36 to be the Father and his son in Matthew 24:37-39 to be Jesus, we cannot read Matthew 21:39 to mean that Jesus will stay dead or read Matthew 21:40 to mean that it will be the Father who will come to the earth to destroy.
Similarly, we cannot read Matthew 22:3-8 to mean that the Father tried to rapture the religious Jews into heaven for the marriage but they refused to be raptured, or Matthew 22:9-10 to mean that those who accept the call to be raptured will not be the ones getting married but will only be "guests" at the marriage. Also, one cannot combine all that the pre-trib doctrine attempts to read into the parable of Matthew 22:1-13 with all that the pre-trib doctrine attempts to read into the parable of the 10 virgins, for the former says that "both bad and good" are received into the marriage (Matthew 22:10), while the latter says that only the wise are received into the marriage (Matthew 25:10-12).
I understand the guest in Matthew 22:11-13 who comes into the marriage but then is subsequently cast out to be a reference to those believers who will be raptured but who will then be judged and rejected because of unrepentant unrighteousness. We see the same coming before the Lord, judgment, and rejection of some believers represented in the parable of Matthew 25:26-30. Note that the same language is used in Matthew 22:13 and Matthew 25:30 regarding the unrighteous believer being cast out into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and I believe Matthew 22:11-13 refers to the same garments of righteousness as Revelation 16:15, 19:8.
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More Than One Supper?
Note that the "supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19:9) is "the supper of the great God" (Revelation 19:17), for the Lamb is "the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13), "and it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation" (Isaiah 25:9).
Note that the birds will be on the battlefield feasting on the dead bodies of the wicked slain at Armageddon (Revelation 19:17-21), but that we believers will be in a different place feasting (Revelation 19:9) on "fat things full of marrow, and wines on the lees well refined" (Isaiah 25:6).
Some say the birds could not be called blessed guests (Revelation 19:9). But the birds are definitely God's guests as they are invited to his supper: "To all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God" (Revelation 19:17), and they are definitely blessed with a large meal (Revelation 19:18). God has blessed the birds from the beginning: "God created... every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply" (Genesis 1:21-22). God blesses all his creatures with food: "These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good" (Psalm 104:27-28).
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Revelation 19
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7).
Note that in Revelation 19:7 the bride has made herself "ready" for the marriage that will happen at the 2nd coming: "The bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage" (Matthew 25:10).
Note that in Revelation 19:9 people are "called" to the marriage supper of the Lamb that will happen at the 2nd coming: "And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation" (Isaiah 25:6-9).
Some say the verb tense in Revelation 19:7 means that the marriage had already happened. But note that this is not necessarily the case, for "is come" in Revelation 19:7 is in the aorist tense, which is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. So "the marriage of the lamb is come" is not necessarily past tense. And even if it were, how would this require that it happened before or during the tribulation, or in heaven? Revelation 19:7 could announce the marriage completed in the clouds at the post-trib rapture.
Some say the marriage must have occurred previously because the bride is already arrayed in fine linen (Revelation 19:8). But doesn't a bride get dressed before the wedding takes place?
Some say the marriage must have occurred previously because the bride is being unveiled in her finery at the end of the wedding, not the beginning. But what verse requires this? And even if this were true, how does this require that the marriage happened before or during the tribulation, or in heaven? She could be revealed at the completion of the marriage in the clouds at the post-trib rapture.
Some say the marriage must have occurred previously because the guests were already invited (Revelation 19:9). But aren't the guests invited to the supper which takes place after the wedding? And what verse requires the supper happened before or during the tribulation, or in heaven? Isn't the supper on the earth after Armageddon (Revelation 19:17, Isaiah 25:5-9)?
Some say the marriage has to last 7 days or 7 years. But what verse requires the marriage of the Lamb last 7 days or 7 years? Even if it did, in God's time "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years" (2 Peter 3:8), so 7 days or even 7 years could be completed in our time rather quickly. So how does this require that the marriage happened before or during the tribulation, or in heaven? Revelation 19:7 could announce the marriage completed in the clouds at the post-trib rapture.
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More Than One Bride?
Some say Jacob's marriage to Leah and Rachel typifies a pre-trib marriage to the church followed by a post-trib marriage to Israel, but the analogy doesn't work because Jacob married two brides, two bodies: Christ marries one bride (Ephesians 5:30-32), one body (Ephesians 4:4-6). Also, Jacob did not return to his father's house until some 13 years after his wedding (the 20 years of Genesis 31:41 minus the 7 years of Genesis 29:20).
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Groom Can't Go To War?
Some say Jesus can't marry the church right before Armageddon because he would be violating his law: "When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken" (Deuteronomy 24:5).
I believe this doesn't pose a problem for at least four reasons: First, I believe the OT laws have been abolished: "There is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof" (Hebrews 7:18); "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law" (Hebrews 7:12). So I believe Deuteronomy 24:5 has been disannulled.
Second, even when the OT laws were still in effect, they weren't arbitrary, but had purposes behind them for the good of man: "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27); "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7). I believe the purpose of the old law against sending a newly married man to war was to prevent his separation from his new bride. In the case of Jesus, the purpose of the old law is in no way violated, for his making war after his marriage doesn't separate him from us, as we will be descending to Armageddon right behind him: "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.... Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb... And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war... And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean" (Revelation 19:7, 8, 9, 11, 14).
Third, the man Jesus is the Sovereign God. No man can make him go to war, or "charge him with any business" or prevent him from being "free" in any way, so how does Deuteronomy 24:5 apply to him?
Fourth, Jesus is Lord of the law: "Have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple... For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day" (Matthew 12:5, 6, 8).