Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Male): Stay with us as Dr. Gary Hedrick focuses on prophecy and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, today right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctively first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our current series on the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. He'll be discussing the many striking similarities between ancient Jewish wedding customs and the events of the second coming. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now, with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you and welcome to another edition of the program, listening friend. It's good to have you with us today as we continue our series of studies on the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And what we'd like to do today is see if we can pull everything together that we've been studying for the past five days and answer some key questions about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Question number one: what is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Very simply, it's one of a sequence of end-time events outlined in the prophetic scriptures. It will be a grand celebration of the marriage of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, to his bride, the church. This great end-time feast is mentioned in Revelation 19:9 where it says, "And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Question number two: when will this feast take place? Well, in ancient Israel, the wedding feast took place after the bride was taken from her father's house by the bridegroom. We take this analogy to mean that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will take place after the church has been snatched away in the Rapture. After the Rapture, there will be a seven-year period of tribulation on earth.

Since the traditional Jewish wedding feast lasted for seven days and a prophetic week in scripture is seven years in duration—you'll find that confirmed in Daniel chapter nine—we take that to mean that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will encompass the entire seven years of the tribulation period. This is consistent with the fact that in the book of Revelation, the church disappears in chapter four, before the tribulation, and she doesn't reappear until chapter 19 at the conclusion of the tribulation when she comes back to earth with Jesus the Messiah.

It says in Revelation 19:14, "And the armies which were in heaven followed him," that is followed Jesus, "upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." Compare that verse with Revelation 17:14 and you'll find that the armies of heaven are not angels, as some have suggested, but the bride. It's us.

Question number three: where will the marriage supper take place? The answer is it'll take place in heaven. Heaven is wherever God is. Our understanding is that heaven is a literal place, somewhere in this universe or possibly beyond this universe, where God dwells. Hebrews 12:22 refers to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. That's where Jesus Christ went to prepare a place for us. And that's where the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will take place. Revelation chapter 21 describes this heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, and says that someday it will descend out of heaven from God.

Question number four: who will be present at this heavenly feast? First, God will be there. That's the triune Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each of whom are involved in the heavenly marriage. God the Father arranged it. God the Son paid the dowry. God the Holy Spirit issued the invitation. And by the way, listening friend, the invitation is still good.

Revelation 22:17 says, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." That's God's elect. The elect are those who are hearing, thirsting, and willing. And if you're hearing what I'm saying right now and you're thirsting for what we're talking about and you're willing to turn from your sins and trust Christ as your Savior and Messiah, then you can be saved right now.

All you have to do is ask him to save you and he will. There's no set formula, no magical prayer to pray. Just ask him to come into your life and to save you and he will. And then you'll know that you have a place reserved for you at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

So God will be there. The bride will be there. And the guests will be there. The bride is the church, and this isn't any particular denomination, although there are some denominations and some cults that claim to be the bride of Christ. The true church consists of all believers: past, present, and future, who've lived since the day of Pentecost. It includes both Jews and Gentiles who've placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah. That's the bride. Who will be the guests? Probably the Old Testament saints.

Question number five: isn't it better to interpret the Marriage Supper of the Lamb symbolically? No, it's not. And let me explain why. Our amillennialist friends interpret the entire book of Revelation symbolically. They say the apocalypse was never meant to convey actual events, but rather it was meant only as a symbol or a metaphor to depict the great struggle of the ages between good and evil. That's the amillennial or the idealist interpretation of the book of Revelation.

The problem with this interpretation is that there are too many actual events described in the Revelation that are traceable to passages in other books of the Bible where they're obviously literal. In chapters two and three, for example, of Revelation, a series of messages is directed to seven local churches. We know from history and from other parts of the New Testament that these were not symbols, but literal churches that actually existed. They were in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. They were not symbols, but real churches.

Another good example is Revelation 13 where you have a beast rising up out of the sea. It says this beast will blaspheme in the Jerusalem temple for 42 months or three and a half years. That corresponds perfectly with the prophet Daniel's description of the fourth beast in Daniel chapter seven. This is the Antichrist who will desecrate the end-time temple for the last half of the tribulation period or three and a half years. And both Daniel and Revelation agree perfectly with yet another passage of scripture in Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus Christ prophesied the coming of the abomination of desolation.

So when you have one scripture passage confirming another and then both of those passages being confirmed by yet another passage, it's a bad idea to take one of those passages and try to change its meaning. But that's what the amillennialists do. The problem they have is they don't know where to stop. If you don't have a literal Antichrist, then you don't have a literal tribulation, and they don't. If you don't have a literal tribulation, then you don't have a literal restoration of Israel, and the amillennialists don't.

And if you don't have a literal restoration of Israel, both physically and spiritually, then you don't have a literal kingdom, no Messianic age, and they don't. You see, where do you draw the line? Pretty soon you've got the whole Bible reduced to a hopeless morass of symbols and metaphors that don't make any sense. This is not to say that there's not a great deal of symbolism and imagery included in the book of Revelation; there most certainly is. But the prophetic events that are depicted in the Revelation are literal, future events. Even when they're couched in symbolic language, they still represent literal events in future history.

Now, will the Marriage Supper of the Lamb be a literal marriage feast in the sense that there will be long banquet tables with white tablecloths and big plates of food and jugs of wine and servants waiting on the tables? Is that literally what it'll be like? Well, some people see it that way. I was in a Christian bookstore the other day and they had a beautiful framed picture depicting the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and it had long banquet tables stretching as far as the eye could see with very ornate place settings. It was really quite a scene.

Personally, I suspect it'll be unlike anything we've ever experienced here on earth. In fact, the Bible warns us about trying to reduce the mysteries of God to the realm of human knowledge and experience. It says, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9). Will the marriage supper be a literal event? Absolutely. Will it be like any other marriage feast in the history of the world? I don't think so.

Question number six: what does the Jewish perspective on the Marriage Supper of the Lamb tell us about the timing of future prophetic events? Well, for one thing, it tells us that the pre-tribulational model corresponds best to the Jewish imagery. The seven days of the wedding feast represent the seven years of the tribulation period. It works out perfectly. If you take a mid-trib Rapture, a post-trib Rapture, a pre-wrath Rapture, or any other kind of Rapture, it's a lot harder to make everything fit.

Question number seven: can the analogy of the Jewish wedding feast be pressed too far? Yes, it can. Just like many of the parables have been over-interpreted by well-meaning people who try to give every little detail some special significance. The analogy of the Jewish wedding feast is meant to convey the idea that we'll be celebrating with Jesus Christ and the saints in heaven during those seven years of the tribulation. But if you press the details too far, just like anything else, you'll end up with some ridiculous interpretations. The important thing God wants you to know, my friend, is that his Son is coming back for his bride and you and I need to be ready. Well, we're out of time. Thanks for joining us, listening friend. I hope you enjoyed our study of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. You take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend for tuning in today. If you liked what you heard today, you will be pleased to know we've taken all of the programs in this series and placed them on one convenient CD entitled, "The Marriage Supper of the Lamb." And it's yours for a gift of just $6 or more to Messianic Perspectives.

Most of us already know how the traditional Passover observance points to the Messiah in so many ways, like the three pieces of matzah representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the breaking of the middle piece symbolizing the death of the Son. So the Passover traditions point to the Messiah, and so do many of the Jewish wedding traditions. For instance, the ancient marriage feast lasted for seven days and the New Testament teaches that there will be a wedding feast in heaven for the bride of Christ and it will last for seven years. Seven days and seven years. The parallels are amazing. That's what this series is all about.

Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you? As Dr. Gary Hedrick begins his series on "The Promise of His Coming," right here on Messianic Perspectives.