The last chapter was all about the fallen world mourning the destruction of its most monumental achievement. This passage is heaven’s response to that. It reminds me of the emotions at the end of the Superbowl. One team and its fans leave the field in dejection, many of whom are weeping. The other team and its fans are beyond elation, engaging in the mother of all celebrations.
This passage documents a celebration unequaled since the beginning of time. Handel caught a glimpse of this when he composed the Hallelujah Chorus. After completing this piece, Handel exclaimed, “I did think I saw heaven open, and saw the very face of God.”
Against the backdrop of the last chapter where the Scarlet Woman, the great prostitute, goes a-whoring with the nations of the world, we see the wedding supper of the Lamb. His bride is that body of believers from every nation and tribe who have made themselves ready. The bride has been described several ways so far in this vision. She is described as 144,000 who are the sealed servants of God. She is the great multitude in white robes standing before the throne and the Lamb who have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb and have his name written on their foreheads. The bride is those who are standing beside the sea of glass who have been victorious over the Beast and who sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb.
God’s original intent from before the foundation of the world was that his Son would have a bride. As the Father and the Son exist in a trinity of love with the Spirit, so the Father ordained from before time that the love of the Father and Son would be expanded by including a bride for the Son and he would forever pour the love of the Father into his bride, and she would reflect that love back to the Son. Thus, the unfathomable ocean of the love found in the Trinity would be poured out on the community of believers, and expanded as the bride of Christ. This is part of the mystery that Paul tells us about in Ephesians 5:25-32.
This passage documents a celebration unequaled since the beginning of time. Handel caught a glimpse of this when he composed the Hallelujah Chorus. After completing this piece, Handel exclaimed, “I did think I saw heaven open, and saw the very face of God.”
Against the backdrop of the last chapter where the Scarlet Woman, the great prostitute, goes a-whoring with the nations of the world, we see the wedding supper of the Lamb. His bride is that body of believers from every nation and tribe who have made themselves ready. The bride has been described several ways so far in this vision. She is described as 144,000 who are the sealed servants of God. She is the great multitude in white robes standing before the throne and the Lamb who have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb and have his name written on their foreheads. The bride is those who are standing beside the sea of glass who have been victorious over the Beast and who sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb.
God’s original intent from before the foundation of the world was that his Son would have a bride. As the Father and the Son exist in a trinity of love with the Spirit, so the Father ordained from before time that the love of the Father and Son would be expanded by including a bride for the Son and he would forever pour the love of the Father into his bride, and she would reflect that love back to the Son. Thus, the unfathomable ocean of the love found in the Trinity would be poured out on the community of believers, and expanded as the bride of Christ. This is part of the mystery that Paul tells us about in Ephesians 5:25-32.
RSS Feed
