Revelation Chapter 19

UNIVERSAL REJOICING (Rev 19:1-10)

Brother Shallieu’s comments on Verses 7 and 8:

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for 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: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

Verse 6 concludes with the fitting climax of the rendering of praise to the Lord God Almighty. Verse 7 is not a continuation of the joyous acclamation of the preceding six verses but a separate refrain uttered by a separate class. It is a flashback and a cognition by the Great Company of an important event (the marriage of the Lamb) that previously transpired, that is, before the full and final judgment of the Babylonish whore (Rev. 18:21–24) and prior to the reign of Jehovah and His Anointed (Rev. 19:1–6).

Two factors in the opening clause of Verse 7 assist in differentiating those making the proclamation in this verse from those rendering tribute in Verse 6. They are the pronouns: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to *them [to Jesus and his Bride—the subject matter of verses 7 and 8].”

The Great Company class will recognize the significance of events considerably in advance of the world of mankind and shortly before the holy remnant of natural Israel. They will, at first, be deeply disappointed and chagrined with their failure to obtain the chief prize of the high calling to be united to the Lamb as his Bride, the door having been closed, as indicated by the following texts. “Afterward came also the other [the foolish] virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us” (Matt. 25:11).

“These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14).

Upon further reflection they will realize their own unworthiness for so high a station, and they will recognize the further evidence of God’s tender mercy and abounding grace on their behalf in proffering opportunity for the consolation prize of admittance into the spirit realm in a secondary sense. “Therefore, are they before [NOT IN] the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. . .. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 7:15–17), and “they shall enter into the king’s palace” (Psa. 45:15).

The Great Company class also utter the following:

“Although the fig tree [the Jewish nation—Luke 13:6–9] shall not [yet] blossom [be seen as the promised blesser nation— John 4:22], neither shall fruit [yet] be in the vines [when all the families of the earth are blessed—Gen. 12:2,3]; the labor of the olive [the Holy Spirit calling of the Rebekah class—Genesis 24] shall fail, and the fields [nations] shall yield no meat [the harvest being ended, no further results are yielded—Jer. 8:20]; the [little] flock shall be cut off from the [earthly] fold [transferred to the spirit realm—1 Thess. 4:17], and there shall be no herd [the red heifer class, the Ancient Worthies—Num. 19:2–10; Heb. 9:13; Tabernacle Shadows, pp. 105–112] in the stalls [that is, installed in their various appointed offices throughout the earth —Psa. 45:16]: Yet I [those of the Great Company class] will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17,18).

Verse 8 is an interjection into the narrative and a commentary about the attire of the bride class at the wedding ceremony of the Lamb. The Sinaitic manuscript supplies the additional adjective “shining” as follows: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen shining [or bright], clean [of utmost pristine purity] and white [reminiscent of Jesus’ garments on the Mount of Transfiguration—Matt. 17:2]: for the fine linen is the righteousness [or righteous acts] of the saints.”

The robes of verse 8 represent the resurrection robes of actual righteousness. (In their former earthly pilgrimage the saints received, on loan, the Lord’s imputed robe of justification to cover their sins.)

Verse 7 signifies the arrival of the wedding day. Verse 8 pictures the resurrected Church in brilliant white bridal garments, as it were, about to proceed down the aisle (as the heavenly host breathlessly listen and watch) possibly to the accompaniment of music somewhat akin to the well-known “Wedding March”: “Here comes the bride! All dressed in white!” In any event, the bride in Verse 8 is presented and finally stationed at the Master’s side, figuratively speaking, awaiting the formality and finality of the nuptial ceremony.

One might ask why in Psalm 45:9 the Church of Christ is seen standing at the right hand of Jesus in “gold of Ophir.” (Cohen’s translation of this verse is “Her raiment is of chequer work [needlework] inwrought with gold.”)

The reason is that Rev 19:7,8 describes the wedding attire of the bride, whereas Psalm 45 pictures the later coronation garments of the Queen (the glorified Church).

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*Them: In the Sinaitic manuscript, the objective singular pronoun him is wanting, and in its stead the objective plural pronoun them is found.”

We move on to Verse 9 in our next post.