THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB, Web page of Leslie John, Meditations, Spreading Gospel

Revelation 19:6-9

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 saints.)
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."

The Jewish tradition has three elements in performing marriage. First, it is the betrothal, second, it is the presentation and the marriage, and third the marriage feast. Figuratively, Christ’s return to the earth, and reign on the earth is compared to this kind of marriage. First, is the Church age, wherein the betrothal of the bride takes place. Second, it is the presentation of the Church and the saints constituting the Church in the mid air when Jesus Christ comes for the second time and the marriage of the bride and the bridegoom takes place there. Third, it is the marriage feast on the earth, during the millennium reign of Christ on this earth. It is most powerful analogy of intimacy among God's pictures of our relation to Him (The relationships pictured usually, are “creator-creature”, “shepherd-sheep”, “master-slave”, “father-child”, “husband-wife”)

All those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior are accepted in to the Church and constitute the body of the Church. It is not particular denomination or organization that constitutes the Church. It is also not the prerogative of any particular sect or people, who belong to the Church. The word “Church” is misinterpreted and misunderstood by many people. Every sect or denomination gives importance its own people and its own organization and call it as the true Church.

John 3:29 refers Jesus Christ as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride.
2 Corinthians 11:2 refers to the presentation of the Church, chaste virgin, to Christ, the bridegroom.
Ephesians 5:22-27 refers to the relationship between Christ, the bridegroom and the Church, the bride.
Revelation 21:2 presents the true picture of the pre-marriage event “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

There is no mention anywhere in the Bible that God will accept only a particular denomination or sect as His Church; He also did not say that the people belonging to any particular Church only are the only true children of God. The essence of the phrase, “Children of God”, if understood properly, it is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s own personal savior that makes all the difference; not even the baptism, or the way a person is baptized. All those who assert that Jesus Christ did not come in the form of flesh belong to Satan, while all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God Himself, and has come in flesh belong to the True God.

Jews did not accept Jesus Christ as Messiah. They crucified Jesus Christ. That is the reason why gentiles received salvation. But then, does Bible contradict its own statements. God called Israel as His own children; He said, mother and father may forget their children, but He will never forget them. He keeps His covenant with the children of Israel.

The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are seen written on the gates of this heaven. If we look prophecies in the Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,"
declares the LORD.
33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

And in Zechariah 12:10 we read

Mourning for the One They Pierced

10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

God continues to give them chance to repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior during the great tribulation period. There is a prophecy about this in Isaiah 59:20 and 21 and Apostle Paul writes about this in Romans 11:25-27.

All Israel Will Be Saved

25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

The sayings of Apostle Paul, “all Israel will be saved”, should not be misconstrued that he means a time when every last person of Jewish descent will be saved; instead, a time when Israel, as a whole, will be a saved people; when the nation as a whole (especially its leadership) embraces Jesus Christ.
Even as the apostasy of Israel did not extend to every last Jew, so the salvation of Israel will not extend to every last Jew; Paul is speak of the "mass" of Jews when he says all Israel.
And, when all Israel will be saved, they will be saved through their embrace of Jesus Christ as Messiah (as unlikely as this seems), not in some peculiar "Jewish" salvation
The Bible indicates this is a necessary condition for the return of Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:39; Zechariah 12:10-11); Jesus will not return again until God turns the focus of His saving mercies on Israel again, and Israel responds to God through Jesus Christ.
This shows that God still has a redeeming work to accomplish with Israel, and that it will not be left undone.
We as the children of God, having accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, are privileged in this respect that we will be caught up in air, when Jesus Christ comes for the second time in the clouds. We are instantly glorified and receive glorified bodies and reign along with Jesus Christ during the millennial rule of Jesus Christ on this earth.

We are presently in the Church age having been constituted as members of the Church, which is the bride of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We as the members of the Church are presented to our bridegroom, Lord Jesus Christ, as He returns in the clouds for the second time. We will reign along with Lord Jesus Christ on this earth. The ones that are invited for the marriage feast are the Jews, who did not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

The parable of marriage feast is presented in Matthew chapter 22:2-14 The Kingdom of heaven refers to the Church viewed as the kingdom in Church age. The king is the Father and the Christ is the son. The marriage is taken place in full aspect of salvation; this includes the union of Christ, the bridegroom and the Church, the bridegroom. This inaugurates the millennial rule of Christ. The bidden guests are Israelites.

Let us wait for the bridegroom, our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.