Now we’re ready for chapter 19. The first thing we see is John’s account of events in heaven just preceding Christ’s second coming. This is the last parenthetical passage in Revelation. Verses 1-6 have to do with a great worship scene that is the result of the destruction of the great whore and the fact that God has, again, demonstrated His supremacy in all matters that pertain to both heaven and earth. Then, verses 7-9 talk about the marriage supper of the Lamb. This takes place just prior to Christ’s return to earth with His army of redeemed saints and angels in verses 11-14 to Armageddon, described in verses 15-21.
But before we look at this worship scene described in 19:1-6, it seems that I should insert a parenthetic of my own. There are several things described in the Gospels by Jesus and by Paul in his epistles that involve raptured believers. So, while we’re looking at John’s account of events involving the tribulation, there are other things going on at the same time. And we get glimpses of these things in what Jesus says in the Gospels and in some of Paul’s letters. These are all things that will take place sometime between the rapture and the second coming of Christ to establish His eternal kingdom on the earth. There are at least 5 things I want to list here that lead up to the marriage supper in Revelation 19. And since there is no way to be absolutely sure of the order of these events, I’ll just list them in what I think is a logical sequence.
The first is what Paul mentions in I Thessalonians 3:13 and 5:23. When you read these two verses you will see that they have to do with believers being established faultless or blameless before God the Father. The word translated “establish” in 3:13 is sterizo and means, “to confirm” or “to set permanently”. The phrase “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with His saints” is a reference to the rapture and should not be confused with the 2nd coming. Here, Jesus is coming to the Father with the saints after meeting them in the air (I Thessalonians 4:17). He is not coming to the earth with the saints to establish His earthly, eternal kingdom (Revelation 19:11-14). The context (the saints being established blameless before God) sets the timing of this event.
In 5:23 Paul says the spirit, soul and body is preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve always loved this verse. Think about it. The time will come (at the rapture) when your spirit, soul and body will be established in a permanent state of holiness. The world, the flesh and the devil will never again have any affect on you for all eternity.
The second is the judgment of the saints first mentioned by Paul in Romans 14:10-12. He explains the purpose of this examination in I Corinthians 3:11-15, which is to determine whether or not the things done for Christ were, in fact, done for the right reason (to really glorify Him) or for the wrong reason (to glorify the flesh). To illustrate this he uses gold, silver, and precious stones, then wood, hay and stubble that is exposed to fire to see if it burns. The fire is symbolic of God’s character (Who He is) and nature (what He does). In other words, if the things we do in this life are consistent with God’s character and nature, they will endure and we will be rewarded for them. If they are done for selfish reasons or with wrong intentions, they will burn and we will suffer the loss. Paul makes it clear in verse 15 that this is not a determination of one’s salvation (obviously if you are raptured and taken to God’s presence, that is not in question). Then in II Corinthians 5:10 Paul mentions this again and calls it the judgment seat of Christ.
There is an interesting reference found in Revelation 4:9-11. Here, in a scene in heaven the 24 elders (they are redeemed saints) throw their crowns (rewards) down before God’s throne in an act of worship. And, I suspect all saints at some time will show the same gratitude and enthusiastically give any reward they might receive back to the One Who made it all possible in the first place!
The third thing I want to mention is that I believe at some point soon after the rapture there will be periodic or established worship times in the presence of God. Paul says in I Corinthians 2:9 (also mentioned by Isaiah in Isaiah 64:4) that “eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who love Him”. The events and circumstances will, I believe, dictate that all creatures will be moved to worship God on a regular basis.
As we have worked our way through John’s revelation we have seen accounts of living creatures, elders, saints, angels and martyrs all worshipping God at different times. And even though religion often tries to create the erroneous idea that “heaven” involves this continuous worship scene where all the redeemed are sitting on their own little private cloud, playing their harp and worshipping God for all eternity; the truth is that worship will be involved, but it’s certainly not the only thing the saints will do in eternity. And, it’s obvious that they will not be sitting on a cloud and will not spend eternity “in heaven”, but will be on the earth.
Then there is the question regarding the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem and when it will be occupied. Jesus explains to His disciples in John 14:1-3 that He’s going away to prepare a place for them and that He will come back to get them. The place He’s preparing is the New Jerusalem and the time He comes back to get them is the rapture. So we know the city will be occupied after the rapture, but before it comes to the earth in Revelation 21:2, where it says the city has been “prepared” (past tense of hetoimazo, to make ready) as a bride and “adorned” (also past tense of kosmeo, to furnish) for her husband. When the city descends, it is both finished and occupied. To read more about the city, see Hebrews 11:10, 13-16, 13:14 and Revelation 3:12.
The last thing I want to mention is the establishment of certain responsibilities and privileges. John mentions the fact that redeemed saints will be a kingdom and priests that will reign on the earth (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10). One would assume that the responsibilities of that rule would be given before the rule actually begins. And, it begins with the Millennium, as we will see when we get to our study of that 1,000-year period. Since the Millennium begins with Christ’s 2nd coming, mentioned at the beginning of this lesson as one of the events described in chapter 19, we have to think that this is something that would be settled by then.
If you remember back when we were in chapter 14 looking at the account of the 144,000 Jews that are taken up from the earth to God, it says in verse 4 that they “follow the Lamb everywhere He goes”. I mentioned at the time that I thought this was probably a time of preparation for them, as they were destined to become the spiritual leaders of the earth during the Millennium.
In the next lesson we’ll begin to work our way through chapter 19.