Previous Verse       Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 9 (God's WordTM)       Next Verse

Home       New American Standard Bible       New International Version       New King James Version      Español       Deutsch

   9Then the angel said to me, "Write this: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the lamb's wedding banquet.'" He also told me, "There are the true words of God."
    Then the angel said to me, "Write this: `BLESSED are those who are invited to the LAMB'S WEDDING BANQUET.'"
The speaker probably is the angel in Revelation 17:1 who had shown John the destruction of Babylon (materialism globally). He goes on to show the other side: the LAMB'S WEDDING BANQUET.  The sight must be so awesome that John is standing there grasping for anything he can relate this to. Apparently, he can't find anything so beautiful, and so the angel has to remind him again to "WRITE this:" (Revelation 1: 11,19).

This "BLESSED" is the fourth one in the Revelation (see the list in Revelation 1:3). There is variance among scholars as to whom are the invited. Some suggest that the BRIDE is not at the WEDDING BANQUET. In Jewish weddings, the bride was brought to the groom at the end of the BANQUET. So the invited must be guests. Interpreting this says that the believers saved under grace, i.e. after Christ's resurrection and up to the rapture are not the ones invited. That would leave pre-Christ's resurrection and after rapture believers as the invited. This distinction may be reading too much into this verse; rather, it probably means the invited are those who have attained salvation regardless of age period. God doesn't want any to perish (2 Peter 3:8-9-13) and the WEDDING BANQUET is for the living. Furthermore, Jesus in Matthew 8:5-11-13 indicates there is no distinction between Jews or Gentiles at the BANQUET. This doesn't take anything away from the status the Jews hold as God's chosen people.

In a sense, everyone is invited to the BANQUET as everyone's name is written in the book of life to begin with. We choose to "uninvite" ourselves by having our name erased from the book of life (Revelation 3:5). Our actions or life style or life motivations then indicate our choice (James 4). If we choose to be an enemy of God, then we certainly aren't going to be invited to the WEDDING BANQUET. The BANQUET is for the cleansed (previous verse) and the righteous. The invitation is the knock on the 'church' door (Revelation 3:20).....we choose to answer the knock or not.
    He also told me, "These are the TRUE WORDS OF GOD."
This seems so obvious to us, but John has seen and written about so much caused by the devil or deceiver (Revelation 12:9), that he may have wondered whether this WEDDING BANQUET is one of the devil's deceptions (Mark 13:14-22-23). Thus it is entirely appropriate for the angel to confirm that the invitation to the WEDDING BANQUET is authentic and from God.

This expression is used twice more in the Revelation (Revelation 21:5 and Revelation 22:6). Heaven must be so awesome and different due to the absence of evil that John has to be assured that this is NOT a deception. All uses of this expression surround glimpses of the new heaven.
 GOD'S WORD is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations Bible Society. Quotations are used by permission.

References to the Revelation of Jesus Christ are in bold italics. All other references are in bold only. Return from cross-references by using the BACK button.