God’s Invitation to the Wedding Banquet

God’s Invitation to the Wedding Banquet and how is it related to our salvation? Why wedding? What can we learn from a wedding?

Ideally, when two people are in love, they decide to get married as an act of ‘ultimate commitment’ to each other. There are many reasons that people who are in a relationship tie the knot according to national dating expert and Founder of matchmaking company, Barbie Adler: heightened sense of security; companionship, affirmation of mutual love, starting a family, and financial benefits.

Of course in marriage there are always two people involved. In celebration of their love, they come together in union through a wedding, to make it legal and binding. It is one of the most memorable, sentimental and joyous moments of the couple and of the witnesses, especially when the groom sees his bride in her wedding dress for the first time. So a wedding is considered as one of the major events in one’s life.

Then why did Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet? What important matter must we realize through a wedding?

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Matthew 22:1-10 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son…so the servants went into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet. What makes a wedding banquet possible is the appearance of the bridegroom, the bride, and the guests. In the parable given by Jesus, however, only the bridegroom and the guests appeared. Without the bride, a wedding is not possible.  Then when will the bride appear? The Bible prophesied that the bride is to appear in the last days at the end of God’s 6000 year work of redemption.

Revelation 19:7-9 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

The book of revelation is a book of prophecy pertaining to these last days. In these last days, God’s people will rejoice for the wedding of the Lamb Jesus (John 1:29) has come. 2000 years ago, Jesus came to this earth alone, and did not have a wedding, because at that time, the bride was not yet ready. But in the last days, when the bride is ready, the wedding will take place, and God’s people will rejoice for those who had been invited to the wedding banquet will be blessed. This will surely happen at the time of Jesus’ second coming in the last days.

The Bride is to Appear for the Wedding in the Last Days

The most anticipated moment in a wedding ceremony is the appearance of the bride in her beautiful wedding dress. It is when all anxiety and nerves fall away and excitement sets in.

As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so God rejoices over his bride (Isaiah 62:5). The Bible prophesied that when the bride appears in the last days, the people of God, too, will rejoice, for they will receive God’s blessing of salvation.

Blessing Through the Wedding

Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say,”Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

In Revelation 19:7 is mentioned the Lamb, who is Jesus, and his bride, and in Revelation 22:17 is mentioned the Spirit and the bride. According to the prophecy, in the last days, the Spirit and the bride will give the free gift of the water of life, that is eternal life, to all who are thirsty. According to Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one and the same God, our Father. Then who is the bride who is to appear in the last days?

The New Jerusalem is the Bride of the Lamb

Revelation 21:9 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.”

It is certain that the bride of the Spirit is the wife of the Lamb Jesus. An angel of the Lord told Apostle John that he will show him the bride.

Revelation 21:10 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.

The bride is the Holy City Jerusalem coming down from heaven. It does not refer to the old Jerusalem in Israel but the New Jerusalem who is from heaven. If the Spirit is our Heavenly Father, then who is the Heavenly Jerusalem to us?

The Bride is our Mother

Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

The Bible clearly testifies that we have our mother in heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem. And it is prophesied that in the last days, the Heavenly Jerusalem is coming down out of heaven to give us the water of life.

In Galatians 4:28-31, the children of promise who will inherit the kingdom of heaven are the children of the free woman, Jerusalem. They are those who confirm with their mouth that the Jerusalem above is “our mother”.

And those who come to the Spirit and the bride, to the second coming Christ our Father and Heavenly Jerusalem our Mother, will receive the water of life freely.

That’s why blessed are those who are invited to the wedding banquet. To be invited in the wedding banquet is to be invited in the kingdom of heaven.

The Wedding Dress of the Bride

The wedding dress of a bride is one of the most important things in a wedding. It symbolizes many things and depicts the culture, traditions, and nature of an individual. Before and even now, in India and Africa, for example, they use bold and rich colors and luxurious fabrics for the bridal gown, which may depict the wealth and status of the bride’s family. But in western countries, and in some Asian countries, they embrace the  traditional white gown that symbolizes purity and virginity of the bride. The bride’s jewelry or ornaments, too, have historical, traditional, or spiritual significance.

Whatever dress and ornaments the bride chooses to wear, they surely are the best and the most special dress and ornaments that accentuates and captures the beauty of the bride.

Even the Bible mentioned about a bride’s jewelry and wedding dress.

Jeremiah 2:32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments?…

In Revelation 21:2, the Apostle John saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And in Revelation 19:8, the fine linen that the bride wore stands for the righteous acts of the saints.

In Isaiah 49:15-18, God’s love and compassion towards the people of Zion is likened to a mother’s love for her children. In verse 18, the Lord said, “you will wear them all (God’s children) as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

The verse indicates that the bride wears her children like an ornament; and in Revelation 19:8, the fine linen that the bride wears represents the righteous acts of the saints. This indicates that the people of God who are in Zion and keep the feasts of God in Zion are the ornaments of Heavenly Mother, who is the bride.

Just as the wedding dress and ornaments make the bride feel special and happy, so does the righteous acts of the saints.

Only the people of Zion who keep God’s commands and confess with their mouth, ‘there is Heavenly Mother, we believe in Heavenly Mother!” can be the ornaments of the bride. And only those who come to the Spirit and the bride, and who respond to God’s invitation, can receive the blessing of the water of life and live forever.

How can we Recognize Our Mother?

The Bible prophesied that only the Heavenly Father will establish Jerusalem, not by men, not by her personality, nor by her wisdom and appearance.

Isaiah 62:6-7 “I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem, and makes her the praise of the earth.”

He who establishes Jerusalem is our Heavenly Father. This verse indicates that God will not rest until He makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth, until all people of the world knows Jerusalem Mother.

From the time of Genesis, God already prophesied that He Himself will make known to all people the Heavenly Mother. God’s will is revealed through Adam and Eve who represent the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Mother.

Genesis 2:23 “The man(Adam) said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.”

Here, Adam called Eve, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Adam represents the One to come, Jesus who comes a second time, while Eve represents Heavenly Mother. So this means that Heavenly Father establishes Heavenly Mother.

Genesis 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

Who named his wife Eve? It is Adam. Eve means “life” or “living”. She was called Eve because she will give life to all living. Only a mother can give life. Just as life is given through Eve, so eternal life is given through Heavenly Mother. This is a clear prophecy that Heavenly Father will let us know the Heavenly Mother who gives eternal life.

In these last days, who made known about Heavenly Mother? It is Christ Ahnsahnghong. Christ Ahnsahnghong is the Second Coming Christ who established Jerusalem in these last days. He made known to the people of Zion the Heavenly Mother who gives eternal life.

Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother Jerusalem invites everyone to the wedding banquet, but only he who responds to the invitation and wears wedding clothes, that is, God’s righteousness, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who rejected the invitation, and did not prepare wedding clothes will be thrown in to the  darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:1-14).