Throughout the Bible we find parallels between the Lord's relation with His people and marriage. The Ten Commandments were, in effect, a marriage contract between the Lord and the Children of Israel. But, while Moses was on the mountain receiving the contract, the Children of Israel were committing spiritual adultery with the golden calf.

Jesus tells a parable of a great wedding banquet in Matthew 22:1-14. In this parable He shows how the Lord has included we Gentiles (anyone not a Jew) in His plan. The parable is a story of a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to announce the banquet, but the people ignored them. Some of the people killed the servants. So the king sent an army to destroy the wicked people.

Obviously, God is the king and Jesus is the son in this parable. Jesus is telling the Jews that the Lord invited them to the wedding banquet, but they ignored His invitation and even killed His servants, the prophets. As a result, the Lord sent an army (the Assyrians) to destroy unfaithful Israel. The story is about how Israel rejected the Lord.

But it is also a story of how the Lord included all of us, not just Israel, in His plan. After the people rejected him, the king told his servants to go out and invite everybody, both good and bad, to the banquet. This shows how the Lord has invited every one of us to His feast.

It is at this point that the parable shifts from national responsibility (Israel) to individual responsibility (you and me). The king gives everyone a wedding garment. This is a picture of God's forgiveness that is offered to all. But there is found at the banquet someone who has not accepted the free gift. The man without a robe was speechless. He had no excuse for not accepting the free garment. The king has this person thrown outside into the darkness.

The wedding garment is a picture of the Lord offering everyone the free gift of salvation. In Revelation 19:8 we are told the Church will be given white robes of fine linen to wear to the wedding banquet of Jesus. We do not earn the robes; they are given to us. We are individually responsible to accept the free gift. If we do not accept the gift, the result is judgment in outer darkness.

The great wedding banquet in the Revelation is for the Lamb and His bride, the Church. There are seven blessings in the Revelation. Revelation 19:9, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb,” is the fourth blessing. This places it in the special Servant Lamp position of the Menorah design created by the seven blessings. (For a further explanation of Menorah designs, please click HERE.)

How blessed we Christians are, to be invited to the Lord's Great Banquet. Praise Him always!