Posted on 11/24/2011 6:04:04 AM PST by GiovannaNicoletta
Colossians tells us that the Jewish festivals “are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16 NIV) We all understand this principle as key to understanding the Old Testament, but it may be key to understanding Revelation as well…
There are a lot types in the Bible, both Old Testament and New (a type being a kind of prophecy-by analogy). The most widely recognized one is, probably, is the Jewish feast of the Passover. The symbolism there is unmistakable: the sacrifice is slain and the blood of the sacrifice is applied to the top of the doorway. Whoever is covered by the blood is spared from judgment, whoever is not discovers that truly, the soul that sins shall die.
The partakers of the first Passover understood the symbolism: the Messiah promised to Eve (and later recorded by Isaiah: by His stripes we are healed…) would Himself be a sacrifice slain for their sins.
He Himself would be their ultimate Passover Lamb.
And that’s just how John introduces Him to his Jewish brethren: "Behold, the lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the whole world." The whole world. He doesn’t just take away the sin of one person, one time, but the sin of the whole world, once, for all time. By one sacrifice He has made perfect those who are being made holy.
The next time we see Jesus specifically described as the Lamb is in Revelation, where He appears in the throne room of God as the “Lamb that was slain”. And Paul tells us in Hebrews;
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.” (Hebrews 10:12-13 NIV)
That's where He is now.
Intriguingly, we have the testimony of two witnesses from Scripture that lay out a rudimentary timeline for us and make it clear that one important event precedes that final confrontation between good and evil. The final battle wherein Jesus puts His enemies under His feet.
Jesus has one other promise to fulfill before he goes to battle, and He Himself told us what comes next:
"I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:2-3)
Those words are part of what was the customary betrothal vows of the time The betrothal was a covenant, with obligations on both sides. The groom promised to provide a home and other physical needs to the bride, and the bride promised to remain pure, to prepare otherwise, and to wait for his arrival. Breaking the engagement was as serious as a divorce.
II Corinthians 11:2 says that we are betrothed to Christ.
Jesus has, as He promised His betrothed, has to return to get us.
There is a passage of scripture, actually, that describes the wedding of the Messiah. Psalm 45. The Wedding of the King:
“A wedding song. My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. 2 You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever. 3 Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously in the cause of truth, humility and justice; let your right hand achieve awesome deeds. 5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet." (Psalm 45 NIV)
What kind of wedding is this? It’s talking about war!
The Groom is made clear in the next verse:
6 Your throne, O God,[c] will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
Hopefully you remember this verse from Genesis 49. It’s Jacob’s prophecy over Judah, predicting the Messiah from Judah’s line. It’s a signature verse of the coming Messiah.
And just as Paul predicted, He’s coming to put His enemies under His feet. (verse 5)
This is a wartime wedding, and as true of so many other war brides, the groom is tying the knot before he returns to the front.
There’s a sequence here, and it’s important. Jesus is in heaven, waiting for His Father’s signal, but someday our very own Prince Charming is coming to get us. He will come and, as promised, take us to where He is now. In heaven.
There we’ll have the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19).
Psalm 45 describes the Messiah, the Groom, as leaving the wedding feast with a sword on His side, ready to put His enemies under His feet.
Funny. We see the exact same thing in Revelation 19: “the marriage of the lamb has come" (Rev 19:7 NASB), then the ultimate picture of the Kinsman –Redeemer , the Warrior King come to rescue His people:
"Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had[e] a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,[f] followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp[g] sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:11-16)
Let’s review:
Doesn’t that pretty much prove a pre-trib rapture?
I’m just saying…..
Ping!
Works for me.
God bless you.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Safe to say it makes it harder to disprove. ( I have tried to do that a few times since the seventies ; )
Makes me think of all our forces afield and yet away from home.
Thanks so much.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
THX THX.
Doesn’t that pretty much prove a pre-trib rapture?
"from that time waiting till"
If He's waiting until His enemies are made His footstool (i.e. not coming down before they're made His footstool), what part of that verse proves a pre-trib rapture?
Thank You GiovannaNicoletta! Happy Thanksgiving! The rapture is coming any minute now!
Of course, you also have to take the Scripture literally, like Jesus did. Allegorizing Scripture makes it meaningless and therefore not understandable.
Right. So unless He shows up riding a horse with fire coming out of His eyes, crowns stacked up one on top of another on His head, wearing a bloody robe, a sword sticking out of His mouth and a leading a cavalry mounted on white horses I'll know it's not Him.
And, since human beings, in our pathetically limited, finite understanding can't always immediately grasp what God says, it is up to us to search the Scriptures and find out what He's talking about. And, since nobody in the history of the world aside from the Apostle John has seen what Jesus Christ will look like when He returns to earth, then we have no choice but to believe what God told the Apostle John and what God showed him unless we believe that we have the omniscience and divine wisdom to deny what God tells us.
For example, Hebrews 4:12 refers to the word of God as a "two-edged sword". The reference to a "sword" in the description of Christ's return is the Scripture by which He will judge those still on earth. The Apostle John, in describing what Jesus looks like, refers to His eyes as "a flame of fire" (Revelation 1:14). And, again, since neither you nor anyone else has been given the vision that John was of what Christ will look like, we have to go with what John said unless we are prepared to deny Scripture. When Jesus returns (Rev. 19:18), an army follows Him. The army's members are riding on white horses, and they are clothed in fine linen that is white and clean. In Revelation 19:8, we are told that the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. So the "cavalry", as you so condescendingly refer to them, that returns with Jesus are the born-again believers in Christ who were raptured before the Tribulation began.
As for the crowns, which for some reason you believe are the same type of crowns which man has used throughout history, the "many crowns" that John records refers to the diadema, the crown of royalty and authority. The fact that there are many crowns means that Jesus is the ultimate in royal authority and power; it is a visible manifestation of what we mean when we say King of kings; it is an expression of unlimited sovereignty. Last, the robe "dipped in blood" represents His crucifixion.
Jesus also is described in scripture as the lamb without blemish, white as wool, the perfect sacrifice. Are you going to try to say that because Jesus obviously is not a lamb, we can't believe that Scripture either? Symbolism in Scripture always stands for something literal and it is the responsibility of those who profess to be Christians to search the Scriptures to find the meaning of the symbolism. The answers are always there.
Right. It all makes perfect sense, and is completely and inerrantly true, just like all of Scripture. Whenever a person can't understand Scripture, it's not because God is wrong or because God screwed up. It's because of the person's fallen state and inability to understand the things of God and feeling that they have the infinite wisdom to ridicule things they can't understand.
Exactly. That's what Jesus was trying to explain in John 6:51-56. I'm glad we agree.
It's good to know that we can now dispense with the foolish ridicule that attempts to discredit the word of God.
I too am glad we agree.
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