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And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound
of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent
reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage
of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And
to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for
the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to
me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage
supper of the Lamb!' “And he said to me, "These are the true
sayings of God." And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said
to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of
your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:
6-10)
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and
gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
"Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new
covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say
to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that
day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom. (Matthew
26: 26-29)
There is a widespread notion among believers, because of the errant
teaching of a pre-tribulation rapture, that at the time when the Gentile
church is caught away there will be, somewhere in heaven, the
marriage supper of the Lamb. During this period – or so it is taught in
many of these same circles – while the Gentile believers will be
celebrating with the Lord and Messiah in heaven, the poor Jewish people
“down below” will be experiencing a terrifying “time of Jacob’s
trouble,” or tribulation.
This teaching is, of course, false and erroneous: For there are not two
peoples – the Jews and the Christians, or Israel and the Church – as
two distinctly separate units or flocks.
When we Gentile believers came to faith in Jesus as Messiah, we were
grafted into the tree and commonwealth of Israel, So we became one body,
one tree with the true believing Israel. Those Jews who did not believe
and were cut off from THEIR OWN TREE – where we Gentiles found a place
by the immense grace of God – will in the end – as Paul says in Romans
11 – be grafted back in their own tree, and NOT in a new tree
called “the Church” or Christianity.
In the end God does NOT have two sets of people –Israel and the Church.
He has only ONE. The two sticks Judah and Ephraim will become one
stick, the two flocks, one flock – as is clearly seen in Revelation
21:2-4, where we read a description of the Bride who has made herself
ready for that marriage feast of the Lamb:
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall
be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more
death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former
things have passed away."
And in Revelation 21:10-14.
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a
great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as
crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates,
and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the
names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on
the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three
gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations,
and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Now notice: the names of all the twelve tribes of Israel are mentioned
here as being not outside but inside, and part of, the Bride! So Isaiah
prophesies amazingly:
And in this mountain the Lord of hosts will
make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines
on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the
lees. And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering
cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He
will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears
from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the
earth; for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day:
"Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save
us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice
in His salvation." For on this mountain the hand of the Lord
will rest, and Moab shall be trampled down under Him, as straw is trampled
down for the refuse heap. (Isaiah 25: 6-10)
Notice that both the description by Isaiah 25:8 about the Lord wiping away
the tears of people and this same theme mentioned by the already quoted
verses from Revelation 21:4 shows that this great, joy filled happening
will take place on earth not in heaven as the tabernacle of God is WITH
MEN AND HE (like in Paradise on earth!) will dwell WITH THEM and
they shall be His people.
“Come I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s
wife.” (Revelation 21:3)
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and
showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven
from God.
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine
in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And
the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings
of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates
shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And
they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But
there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an
abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of
Life.
(Revelation 21: 10, 22-27)
Notice that this is all ON EARTH as Nations and Kings of the earth are
still mentioned here!
Isn’t this wonderful, and in a way so Jewish and Biblical, that the
Marriage Supper will be ON EARTH not in heaven! And that the heavenly
Jerusalem, the Bride who has made herself ready, will COME DOWN (not go
up!) to earth. So too will the Lamb, King Messiah! The King will
come with His Kingdom DOWN to earth, here to sit on His Holy Hill in front
of all the nations of the world, together with His own, blood-bought,
Bride.
This will happen on earth, at the final close of this age, as a majestic
climax brings to an end all the sins, wars and evil kingdoms of men that
defiled this world, and finally the King and His Kingdom will come to His
earth to finish it all with a heavenly highlight of praise and doxology.
This is what many believers have prayed down through the centuries: “Let
your Kingdom COME (here); let Your Will be done (here) on earth, as it is
in Heaven!”
And when Isaiah prophesies that the Lord will prepare a feast “on this
mountain,” which mountain would that be other than the Lord’s own Holy
Mountain that is so often mentioned and described in Scripture.
Is it possible that just as, with His Jewish people today, one and the
same place is used for the festive banquet of circumcision, the bar
mitzvah, and later the Chupa marriage ceremony, that the Messiah
who was circumcised and bar mitzvad on that Temple Mount, will also have
His Marriage Feast right there?
Is this why the 144,000 who follow the Lamb wherever He goes – being
redeemed from among men to God and to the Lamb – are already seen
standing on this Mountain – Mount Zion – as a first fruit of the
soon-coming marriage there?
Indeed it was to this coming event that Jesus alluded at His final supper
with His friends, when He said: “I will not drink again from this fruit
of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s
Kingdom.”
It is amazing! As Isaiah says: On this Mountain this Marriage Feast will
take place – not in heaven but ON EARTH!
Hallelujah!
Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director
International Christian Zionist Center
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN ZIONIST CENTER
P.O. Box 49063
91490 Jerusalem, ISRAEL
Telephone:
+972 (0)2 581 9701
Fax:
+972 (0)2 540 0133
Email Address:
iczc@iczc.org.il
Web-site: www.israelmybeloved.com
Cheques can be made payable to ICZC, P.O. Box 49063, 91490 Jerusalem,
ISRAEL
Europe Registered Organization: Israel Economic & Trade
Center B.V.; Chamber of Commerce nr. 35257, Amersfoort, Netherlands
______________________________
WE
are ONE!!!
ricoel@thebodyofmessiah.com
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