Sunday School Notes: Revelation 19:9-10

⁹ And he [the angel] says to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'” And he says to me, “These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ And I fell down before his feet to worship him. But he says to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren–those who have the witness of Jesus. Worship God. For the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy.”

Before launching into verse 9, we paused to note that translations differ on where to end the voice’s quotation (see last time). The ESV ends the quote halfway through verse 8, whereas the NASB puts a close quotation at the end of verse 7. The NIV closes it at the end of verse 8, and does the NET Bible. The ESV treats the second half of verse 8 as John’s commentary on what the voice said. This ambiguity exists because there is no punctuation in the original Greek. Usually, context and grammar are sufficient to indicate when speech ends. Here, however, is one of the places where it’s a little more ambiguous, so the translators have to interpret the best they can. Since it’s all the inspired word of God, it doesn’t really matter too much whether the voice said all, some, or none of verse 8. But in the event this discrepancy between versions causes confusion, that’s the reason the discrepancy exists.

Another translation difference occurs at the beginning of verse 9. The ESV (and my translation above) say that “the angel” speaks to John, however the Greek simply says “he says.” Both the ESV and the NIV read this way for clarity since it’s clear from the context (especially verse 10) that this is no longer the voice from heaven speaking. Which angel is this? Possibly the same angel from 18:1, though, given verse 10, that would preclude that angel from being Jesus. It could equally be the angel who spoke to John in verse 17, or any of the angels we’ve met so far. What we can be sure of from the text is this is an angel John has encountered before.

This angel commands John to write. “Blessed are those who are called [or invited] to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Why write this down? This is not the first time John has been told to write something. For starters, he was told to write Revelation (1:11). But then he was told quite specifically to write each of the letters to the seven churches (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). We also note in passing that he was commanded not to write what he saw in the vision of the seven thunders (10:4). I think this demonstrates that while the whole of the letter is important, there are certain parts that are of particular significance for the church. These are things that the church needs to pay special attention to. We’ve seen how the letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3 set the stage for the rest of the Revelation. Much of what John sees in the following chapters elaborates on themes brought up in those letters.

As we discussed last time, the marriage supper of the Lamb is the final hope of the believer. That’s what every Christian is looking forward to. The angel wants John to be sure the church knows that the Lord has not forgotten His promises. There will be a final supper when the Bride will meet her Groom, and they will share a feast together. This is not a supper to which anyone can come. Only those invited may sit at the Lord’s table. They are the ones who receive the Lord’s blessing, as opposed to the rest, the earth-dwellers, who are subject to God’s wrath and judgment. To make absolutely sure John understands the importance of this, the angel adds that these are the “true words of God.” The church can count on these words from God, and cling to them as the sure hope we all have even when it looks like the enemies of God have beaten us.

We talked a little about the marriage supper. There are two aspects brought out in 19:9 that need to be emphasized. First, the “supper” is a picture of intimacy. Back in 3:20, Jesus told the church in Laodicea that, in essence, if they respond to Christ’s admonition to them, he will dine with them and they with him. As we saw, the church in Laodicea was in serious trouble. Jesus complained that they were “neither hot nor cold” and as such were about to be “spewed out” of his mouth. But he offers them a lifeline. Repent and there will be a restoration of intimate terms. In 1 Corinthians 11:27-32, Paul talks about the Lord’s Supper, and how it should not be taken lightly. The Lord’s Supper is an echo, a shadow of that supper to come, when the Bridegroom will be with the Bride and we will fellowship with him, and with one another.

The second aspect we discussed was election. Those attending the marriage supper are “invited.” The Greek word behind this is the same word we translate “called.” It is true that, normally, invitations can be declined. But in the context of the marriage supper, those receiving the invitations also long to be present. These are the heaven-dwellers, after all, who are sealed with the name of the Lord and washed in his blood.

We couldn’t discuss the marriage supper of the Lamb without reference to Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus’s parable of the wedding feast. The context of this parable is Jesus’s conflict with the religious leaders. They were convinced that because they are the descendants of Abraham, their position with God is secure. In this parable, Jesus shows them that the original recipients of the King’s invitation (i.e., the Jews generally, but pointedly those who reject Jesus) have declined. As a result, the King goes into the highways and byways inviting anyone who wants to come. This doesn’t sound much like “election,” since it seems the people are the ones deciding whether they want to be at the wedding feast. However, remember this is a parable, a story, with a point. Jesus’s point isn’t to teach election, but to show that the Jews are not the only people to whom the gospel is intended (echoing “every tribe, tongue, people, and nation” that we’ve read in Revelation more than once). In the parable, one person shows up without the correct clothing and is cast into “our darkness” as a result since it’s clear he wasn’t invited. This parallels the pure linen or white robes given to God’s people.

So while Matthew 22:1-14 has a different teaching objective, it shares some points of similarity with Revelation 19. The call is universal, but not everyone will respond. Those with a hardened heart will want nothing to do with Jesus. However, many will attend the feast and be welcomed. Even then, not everyone who shows up at the door is welcome. There is a dress code, and you can only adhere to it through Jesus. He is the one who provides the appropriate garments.

But a bride does not usually receive an invitation to her wedding. There is normally a distinction between the bride and those invited. It would seem, therefore, that there is a difference between those who are called and the church. In response to this I would raise a couple of points:

• Matthew 22:1-14 is a parable, a story, intended to make a point, not a comprehensive theology of election, or of Christ’s relationship to the church. Indeed, the bride is not even mentioned in Jesus’s story. His focus is on the invitations, who they go out to, and who ends up in attendance.
• Bearing in mind that Matthew 22:1-14 is a parable, and Revelation 19:6-10 is a vision, we should be very careful treating them too literally. We draw from the narratives the truths they are intending to convey.
• While normally a bride and the wedding invitees are not the same, it is also true that normally a priest is not also the sacrificial offering. And yet we know that is true of Jesus. He is both our great high priest, and he is also the sacrificial offering on our behalf. So the church as a body can be the bride, and each of us individually those invited to the wedding feast. We have also seen in Revelation occasions where a vision requires us to suspend our mind’s eye to grasp all the symbolism. It’s hard to picture how the 24 elders can play their “harps” and offer up incense (Revelation 5:8-10). But we aren’t meant to picture that; we are supposed to recognize the symbolism and draw meaning from it.

So Revelation 19:9 speaks of the purified church that is invited to the wedding feast. They have been appropriately dressed, so no-one is cast out.

Suddenly, John gets the urge to worship the angel who is speaking to him. Maybe he is overwhelmed by the things he sees and hears, and confuses the divine origin of the angel’s message with the nature of the angel himself. The ease at which John makes this mistake should be a sober reminder to us of how easy it is to fall into idolatry. We easily become so attached to our favorite preachers or teachers that we ascribe to them an exalted status they would never claim. In God’s economy, the divine message is infinitely more significant that the human messenger.

The angel chastises John. In the Greek he says, “Hora mē!” which literally translates as “See not!” This is an idiom which better translates to “Don’t!” or “Stop it!” What the angel says next is quite profound. He tells John that although he is an angel, a supernatural being, he is still only a fellow-servant, a fellow-worshiper of God, along with John and everyone else who bears witness to Jesus. Popular culture has this image of angels as these glorious creatures with shining faces who are able to do spectacular miracles. Super-mortals, so much better than us, and so much closer to God than us. That’s the popular perception. The truth is, they are our equals before God’s throne. In fact, Paul tells us that we will judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). We should neither worship nor envy angels. In fact, angels envy those of us who are the recipients of the mystery of the gospel (1 Peter 1:10-12).

The angel tells John that the testimony of Jesus is “the spirit of prophecy.” That is, all those who bear witness to Jesus have a testimony that is the prophetic spirit. In the sense that we proclaim Jesus, we are all prophets, as are all of John’s brethren (see 22:9). Not in the sense of a formal office of “prophet,” but in that we all preach the truth of God’s word concerning Jesus. This goes along with Revelation 11, where the two witnesses (i.e., the church) prophesy for 1,260 days (see the notes on chapter 11). All those who proclaim Jesus are co-workers and co-servants with all the saint who have gone before us as well as the angelic host. And together we all give worship and glory to God alone.

Next week, 19:11ff.