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Is the supper in heaven or on earth?
“And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”” Revelation 19:9
And secondly if it’s called a supper are the guests assumed to consume food and drink? Or not?
Is the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven or on earth?
The marriage supper of the Lamb happens when the new earth is established after Jesus' 2nd coming.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” a for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
That is the church, the believers.
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
Jerusalem was where the Jews ate the Passovers. New Jerusalem will be the venue for the wedding feast.
Luke 22:14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
As of present time, the kingdom of God is established in us Christians spiritually. After the 2nd coming, it will materialize on the new earth. It is possible that the marriage supper of the Lamb is the fulfillment of the Passover.
17After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Yes, I look forward to the eating and drinking with no undue calories in the coming kingdom of God :)
Christ weds Himself to His Faithful by dwelling within them spiritually and so they are called the Bride of Christ in Sacred Scripture. In Rev. 3:20 Christ assures us: "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man shall hear my voice and open the door, I will enter in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." This interior eating is of a spiritual nature as we take up a truth offered us by Grace and as we understand, it becomes a part of us, of our spiritual body/edifice. The New Jerusalem coming down from heaven is both the dwelling of the Bride and is the Bride: it is the Kingdom of God built of our hearts by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. He leads us into all Truth and reveals to us by His light the deceits of Satan's temptations as they occur internally before our judgment. Perhaps there will also be a Wedding Feast upon the entry of the Resurrected Faithful into eternal life. But we must not postpone this intimate "supping" with Christ offered to us in this our mortal life. He spreads the feast of His Word before our eyes, and then He gives us grace upon grace to understand it. Christ said,... "And when He (the Holy Spirit) will come, He will reprove the world of sin, and justice and judgment."(John 16:8) Is this not a feast? Thanks be to God! As to that other feast of Rev. 19:17, does it not refer to the banquet of heresy offered by the Apostate Church in God's name at the end of time?
Is the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven or on earth? Rev. 19:9
The marriage of the Lamb takes place in heaven. Why?
Revelation Vs 19:1 says: "After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,"
The bridegroom, Jesus is now in heaven so those faithful followers promised in marriage must first die and then be resurrected to heaven in the likeness of Jesus. [2 Cor. 11:2, Rom. 6:5,8]
Jesus is now in heaven.
2 Corinthians 11:2 NET
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
The Little Flock [Luke 12:32] chosen by God from mankind will be resurrected to heaven in the likeness of Jesus, to live with him
Romans 6:5,8 NASB
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
The apostle Paul looked forward to receiving his heavenly resurrection.
2 Timothy 4:8 NASB
8 in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Marriage of the Lamb
Revelation 19:7-9 NASB
7 Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His [a]bride has prepared herself.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the [b]saints. 9 Then he *said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are the true words of God.” [ Parable of the wedding feast Matthew 22:1-14 ]
And secondly if it’s called a supper are the guests assumed to consume food and drink? Or not?
No, this is figurative language, spirit creatures literally do not consume or eat anything in heaven. Reference to in the scriptures of drinking in heaven symbolizes --JOY-- the joy that his resurrected anointed brothers of Christ will have by being together with him in heaven. [Psalms 104:15]
This is a very difficult question to answer exegetically. Because the whole premise of ‘who’ the bride is is founded on doctrine, traditional interpretation (reasoning), not scripture.
Many use various verses such as Paul’s in his letter to the Ephesians to support their view that the ‘bride’ is the church. But those verses that Paul wrote do not specifically, neither even ‘sort of’ provide a foundation for this view - because they are similes. Comparing relationships. ‘This’ is like ‘this’.
Exegetically there is only one verse that talks about a ‘bride’-
REV 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And one verse that talks about the marriage supper (Revelation 19:9). So *just using scripture’ the only clear reference to a ‘bride’ (Revelation 21:21) reflects that the associated ‘supper’ is on earth!
Your question makes, or takes the assumption that the church is the bride, therefore, from this you could ask whether the supper was in heaven. I accept that there are many that believe that the church is the ‘bride’, maybe even the majority - it is widely taught! The simple fact is you can not argue that the church is the bride exegetically - although you can apologetically argue it doctrinally.
Even at a simple level, consider this. The church is Christ’s body. How can the ‘body’ marry itself? This question blatantly confronts doctrine. But, it in no place does it anywhere confront any scripture.
And, what this ‘view’ totally disregards is the Old Testament (Hebrew) concept of ‘marriage’. Which Revelation 19/20 is using (Revelation is written as an Old Testament book!) - that is, the ‘picture’ being portrayed is of ‘oneness’ (Echad). Marriage makes two separate ‘’’ things ‘’’ - one!
The word “Lamb” throughout Revelation is not the regular “technical” word for lamb but a diminutive version that should read something like “Lambkin”. It is an affectionate term used for one’s cherished son. There is an old Jewish joke (I’ve tweaked a bit):
A Jewish mother and her son are waiting for the school bus to take him to school for the first time. She says to him, “Lambkin, look at me. You are going to do perfectly fine, Lambkin, and I’ll be here when you get back, my precious Lambkin. Hopefully, Lambkin, the other children will appreciate what a wonder you are, my dear Lambkin.”
That afternoon he got off the bus and his mother kissed him and hugged him and asked, “So what did you learn today, my precious Lambkin?!”
He stammers and replies, “Well, for one thing, I learned that my name is David!”
So by referring to Christ as “Lambkin” John is asserting that Jesus is the beloved son of God. So Jesus is the Groom:
[Mat 9:15 NLT] (15) Jesus replied, "Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
[Jhn 3:28-30 NLT] (28) You yourselves know how plainly I told you, 'I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.' (29) It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. (30) He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
[Jhn 3:29 NLT] (29) It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.
So who is the bride? We learn about the bride in prophecy:
[Isa 62:5 NLT] (5) Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
Jerusalem is the bride. Not the physical city but rather the New Jerusalem:
[Isa 62:5 NLT] (5) Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
The New Jerusalem is the New Creation aka the Kingdom of God aka the City on a Hill aka the New Covenant People aka The Israel of God aka The Body of Christ aka God’s Building aka the Heavenly City aka the New Man[kind] aka the Temple Not Made With Hands aka the Freewoman etc:
[Gal 4:21-27 KJV] (21) Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? (22) For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. (23) But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. (24) Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. (25) For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. (26) But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (27) For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
So what is for dinner? The dinner is the corpses of the ungodly who “Michael and the armies of heaven” (in the form of the Roman army under Titus) will slaughter Circa 70 AD in the Jewish war with Rome. Their bodies will not be buried after the “lake of fire” consumes the city and the birds will come and pluck out their eyeballs and gorge themselves on their flesh:
[Rev 19:17-21 NLT] (17) Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: "Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. (18) Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great." (19) Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. (20) And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast--miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. (21) Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.
This feast is also described in Ezekiel:
[Eze 39:17-24 NASB] (17) "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. (18) "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. (19) "So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. (20) "You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD. (21) "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. (22) "And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward. (23) "The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword. (24) "According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them."'"
So to answer the question, no. The wedding feast occurred around 70 AD, when the Old Covenant Jewish Jerusalem temple-based theocracy was judged on their judgment day, causing the Old Covenant to “disappear” forever, and the descent of the New Jerusalem aka the Bride of Christ who would witness the destruction of their persecutors.
[Mat 21:37-45 KJV] (37) But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. (38) But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. (39) And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. (40) When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? (41) They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. (42) Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? (43) Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (44) And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. (45) And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
The wedding feast are the corpses of the enemies of God with which the Messiah littered Jerusalem Circa 70 AD when he participated in the Jewish war with Rome.
