Commentary - Revelation 19:7-10

Bird's-eye view

This short passage in Revelation 19 is a hinge point in the entire book. Immediately following the final, cataclysmic judgment of Babylon the great harlot, the scene in heaven erupts in a crescendo of praise. The smoke of the harlot's destruction gives way to the glorious light of a wedding feast. This is the great contrast John has been building: the corrupt, idolatrous bride, drunk on the blood of the saints, has been utterly destroyed, and now the true Bride, the Church, is presented in splendor. The theme is ultimate consummation. History is not a meaningless cycle; it is a love story, a divine romance moving toward a wedding day. The Lamb who was slain is now the triumphant Bridegroom, and His people, having been prepared and purified, are brought to Him. The passage climaxes with a crucial clarification about the nature of true worship and prophecy, grounding all of it in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is a moment of pure, unadulterated joy, a glimpse into the final purpose of all things.

The structure is straightforward. First, there is a call to worship and an announcement that the wedding has arrived (v. 7). Second, there is a description of the Bride's attire and what it signifies (v. 8). Third, a beatitude is pronounced on all who are guests at this feast (v. 9). And finally, John's overwrought reaction and the angel's corrective rebuke provide a vital theological lesson about worship and the nature of prophecy (v. 10). This is the "why" behind all of redemptive history: that the Lamb might have His Bride, and that God might be all in all.

Outline

Context In Revelation

Coming right on the heels of the total annihilation of "Babylon the great" in chapters 17 and 18, this passage is a burst of glorious light after a scene of profound darkness. The "Hallelujah" chorus of verses 1-6 celebrates the justice of God in judging the great whore who corrupted the earth. Now, that same heavenly multitude shifts from celebrating the destruction of the false bride to celebrating the presentation of the true Bride. This wedding feast is the answer to the harlot's gaudy allure. It is the culmination of the covenant promises made to God's people throughout Scripture. This event sets the stage for the final act of the drama: the glorious appearing of Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords to conquer His enemies (19:11-21), the millennial reign, the final judgment, and the unveiling of the new heaven and new earth, where the Bride, the New Jerusalem, will dwell with her Husband forever (Ch. 21-22).

Key Issues

The Great Reversal

The Bible begins with a wedding in a garden and it ends with a wedding in a city. In between, the story is one of a marriage broken by sin and infidelity, and a faithful Husband who goes to the most extreme lengths imaginable to redeem and purify His adulterous wife. The entire Bible is a love story. The central conflict in the book of Revelation is a tale of two cities, which are also two women: Babylon the harlot and Jerusalem the Bride. Babylon offers illicit pleasure, power, and wealth through compromise with the beast. She is clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels, but she is spiritually bankrupt and drunk on the blood of martyrs. The New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, offers true communion, righteousness, and eternal life through faithfulness to the Lamb.

The judgment of Babylon in the preceding chapters is not just divine score-settling. It is the necessary removal of the rival. The harlot must be destroyed so that the true Bride can be revealed in all her glory. This is the great reversal. The world system that appeared so powerful and alluring is exposed as a fraud and cast into the lake of fire. The Church, which appeared weak, persecuted, and foolish to the world, is vindicated and exalted. The marriage supper of the Lamb is therefore the ultimate celebration of God's faithfulness to His covenant people and the final victory of love over lust, of faithfulness over infidelity, and of the Lamb over the beast.

Verse by Verse Commentary

7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”

The heavenly chorus, having just shouted "Hallelujah" for the righteous judgment of God, now shifts its focus to the glorious consequence of that judgment. The command is to rejoice, to be glad, and to give glory to God. This is not quiet, somber reverence; this is ecstatic, overflowing joy. And the reason is given plainly: the marriage of the Lamb has come. The appointed time, the culmination of all the ages, has arrived. The Lamb, Jesus Christ, who was slain from the foundation of the world, is about to be united with His people in a final, unbreakable covenant bond. But notice the second clause: His bride has made herself ready. This is a crucial statement. The Bride is the Church, the collective body of all the redeemed throughout history. How has she made herself ready? The following verse will explain, but we must see here the interplay of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God chooses and redeems the Bride, but the Bride has a role to play in her own preparation through a life of faith and obedience.

8 And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Here we see the divine-human dynamic in full display. The Bride's wedding dress is not something she wove herself out of her own innate goodness. It was given to her to clothe herself. This is the grace of God. Our ability to do anything righteous is a gift. We are not saved by our works, but we are saved unto good works which God has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. And what is this glorious wedding gown? It is fine linen, bright and clean. This stands in stark contrast to the gaudy, blood-stained attire of the harlot Babylon. And then John gives us the divine interpretation so we don't miss the point: the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. This can be a troublesome verse for those who hold to a simplistic view of justification. But the Bible is clear. While we are declared righteous solely on the basis of Christ's imputed righteousness received by faith, that justifying faith is never alone. A true, living faith will inevitably produce righteous acts. These acts are not the ground of our salvation, but they are the evidence of it. They are the fruit that proves the tree is alive. On that final day, the collected, Spirit-empowered works of the saints will be their glorious garment, a testament to the grace of God that worked in and through them.

9 Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

An angel, likely the one who has been guiding John through these visions, commands him to write. This is a message of supreme importance, to be recorded for all the saints. A beatitude is pronounced: Blessed are those who are invited. To be invited to this feast is the greatest honor and happiness imaginable. In one sense, the Bride and the guests are the same group of people, the Church. But the metaphor shifts slightly to emphasize the privilege of the invitation. We are not crashing the party; we are invited guests. We have no claim to be there on our own merits. Our presence is entirely due to the gracious summons of the King. The angel then adds a solemn confirmation: These are true words of God. This is not wishful thinking or a fanciful allegory. This is divine, bedrock reality. This wedding feast is as real and as certain as God Himself.

10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow slave with you and your brothers who have the witness of Jesus. Worship God! For the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Overwhelmed by the glory of the vision and the majesty of the angelic messenger, John does what is perhaps understandable but entirely wrong: he falls down to worship the angel. The angel's reaction is immediate and emphatic: Do not do that! The line between creature and Creator must never be blurred. The angel identifies himself not as a divine being to be worshiped, but as a fellow slave. He puts himself on the same level as John and all believers, described as those who have the witness of Jesus. All of us, angels and men who are redeemed, are servants of the same Master. The command is simple and absolute: Worship God! God alone is the proper object of worship. The angel then gives a profound reason for this, a statement that unlocks the meaning of all biblical prophecy: For the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. What does this mean? It means that the central purpose, the driving force, the very soul of all true prophecy is to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Whether it is the Old Testament prophets pointing forward to Him or the New Testament apostles testifying about Him, the subject is always Jesus. He is the point of it all. The angel is not the source of the message; he is just a messenger. The message itself, the testimony, all points to Jesus. Therefore, to worship the messenger is to miss the whole point of the message.

Application

This passage is a profound encouragement and a stern warning for the Church. The encouragement is this: history is headed for a wedding, not a funeral. Despite the chaos, persecution, and apparent triumphs of evil in the world, the Lamb is victorious and His Bride will be made ready. Our small, often unseen acts of faithfulness, our daily choices to obey God, to love our neighbor, to pursue justice and mercy, these are not wasted. They are the very threads that God, by His grace, is weaving into our wedding dress. We should therefore live with a joyful and confident expectation of this great day, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.

The warning is twofold. First, we must constantly be on guard against the allure of Babylon. The spirit of the harlot is always trying to seduce the church into compromise with the world for the sake of comfort, wealth, or influence. We must maintain our purity and our distinctiveness as the people of God. Second, the angel's rebuke to John is a permanent warning against all forms of idolatry. Our tendency is always to worship the creature rather than the Creator. We can make idols of powerful leaders, of profound experiences, of spiritual gifts, or even of the messengers God sends us. We must be ruthless in directing all our worship to the one true God, revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Bridegroom. He is the subject of all prophecy. He is the one to whom all glory, honor, and praise belong, forever and ever. Amen.