Bible Study - The Resurrection is Not Pictured by Pentecost

So, what holy day does the Bible actually associate with the resurrection of the saints? The answer to that question is found in the clearest, most consistent passages of scripture. And they point not to Pentecost, but to trumpets. So, let's look over here. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 52.

I want to begin here. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 52. Well, I skipped right over that. Here, here we go. 1 Corinthians 15:52 where Paul tells us, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." So at this last trumpet, whatever day this is associated with, and it's clearly a trumpet, and at that trumpet, there's a resurrection. There's a resurrection of the dead, and there's a changing of those who are alive.

And those who are alive are those who are in Christ, as Paul says in First Thessalonians. So this verse clearly describes an actual event, the moment when the faithful are raised from the dead and changed from mortal to immortal. And the timing is very precise because it does take place at the last trumpet.

The seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation corresponds to this moment. And that's not symbolic. It's the culmination of God's plan to establish his kingdom. You know, of all of God's annual holy days, trumpets is the only one built around the imagery of the blowing of trumpets. It's called a memorial of blowing of trumpets.

A day that signifies alarm, change, and the arrival of a king. Notice Leviticus chapter 23 where we find the feasts of the Lord. Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 24. Leviticus 23:4 says, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial, a blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

" This is the only holy day that is memorialized by the blowing of trumpets. And the prophetic fulfillment of trumpets align with the Revelation 11 and verse 15. When the seventh trumpet sounds, let's notice that Revelation 11 and verse 15. Verse 15 of chapter 11 of the book of revelation says then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.

And of course this is just this is the seventh angel sounding the trumpet. He's not screaming with a loud voice. He's playing a trumpet. And so this is the day appointed to signify these events. It is the feast of trumpets that signifies these things. Now, Paul over in 1 Thessalonians, I just referred to that, but let's read 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4 16 and 17, where Paul says in verse 16, "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout.

" What is that shout? the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. So that angel sounds a trumpet and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. So there's no room here for a resurrection that would take place weeks earlier if that's what is being suggested by the affiliation with Pentecost.

Pentecost happens weeks before the feast of trumpets. And so how do you reconcile that idea when we clearly have a resurrection happening at the return of Christ which is signaled by the blowing of the seventh trumpet? Now for those who say that that Pentecost must be what signifies that I've mentioned just one of those challenges. But the reality is that Pentecost is known as the feast of the first fruits.

It does not represent the culmination of the first fruits journey. Rather it marks the beginning when God gives his holy spirit to those he calls out of this world. Those who become first fruits when they receive that Holy Spirit. But that's the beginning of the process of salvation for those first fruits. And Pentecost pictures the calling of those who will become these very first fruits.

It's not their transformation as the end of the process. It's the beginning of the process. So it's on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was given. And again, I don't have time to go through every single scripture that you can validate for yourself. I want you to validate for yourself. But in Acts chapter 2, we have recorded that on the day of Pentecost, when that day had fully arrived.

They were there together and the Holy Spirit descended upon them and they spoke in tongues and so forth. You know the story. But this was when the Holy Spirit was given. That Holy Spirit of promise that Christ had previously said would come only if and when he ascended to the father.

And he did inde indeed do that. So the receiving of this gift on the feast of trumpets is what makes possible the spiritual beettle of God's people. That's the beginning of their conversion and transformation. And that's what this life's all about. Transformation. This is a critical distinction.

Pentecost is about what God started, not about what he will finish. Leviticus chap 23 and verse 17 gives us a a clue about the meaning of trumpets or excuse me the meaning of Pentecost. Let's go back to Leviticus chapter uh 23 and verse 17. And let's note, it says here regarding the feast of weeks, it says uh verse 17 of Leviticus 23, you shall bring from your dwellings two wavees of uh two uh excuse me, two wavees of two ten of an epha. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven.

They are the first fruits to the Lord. So these two loaves which are offered on Pentecost as we just read were leavened. Now that pictures us first fruits. We're not unleavened yet. Jesus Christ was the unleavened bread but we're leavened. We have sin. Leavening as we learned from the days of unleavened bread in the context here it represents sin. Leaven isn't sin.

It represents sin. And so we see two loaves of fine flour, two loaves of bread which have been leavened now and they've been baked and they now are presented together which represents the church and either andor both the patriarchs and the prophets or Gentiles and Jews. All of that is true. And so these two loaves together are waved before God which means he acknowledges them. Okay, he acknowledges them.

Pentecost celebrates the work of the spirit which is the beginning of sanctification and the formation of the church. But the Bible does not connect Pentecost with the end of the process which is the resurrection of those perfected saints. Now, one of the other things that gets said is that the the last day, which we see in scripture, refers then to Pentecost. That's the argument that goes with this, that the last day refers to Pentecost.

But that's simply not biblically accurate. The phrase the last day is repeated just eight times in the New Testament, and all are in the Gospel of John. And not once does John associate the last day with Pentecost. In fact, let's read two examples here over in the book of John, the Gospel of John, chapter 6. John chapter 6 and verse 39.

John 6 and:39 says, "This is the will of my father who sent me that of all he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day." The last day. Now notice also John 11. Let's turn over just a few pages here to John 11 and verse 24 where John quotes Martha. John 11 24.

Now, John is quoting Martha where Martha says to him, "I know that he," she's talking about her brother Lazarus. She says, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." These days do not picture Pentecost because they're clearly not a holy day reference. They are a period of time reference.

The the the word that's us used in that context text is esqueological meaning it's an endtime picture. That's what the last day means. She's not referring to a festival. She's not referring to a calendar count, which is what you would be doing if you were going to 50 in the last day of the 50th count. She's clearly not talking about that. She's referring to the end of the age.

The last day in Jewish understanding meant the final day of this present world when God would raise the dead and establish his kingdom. In fact, the phrase the last day always refers to the day of judgment, not the feast of Pentecost. The count of Pentecost is literal, but Pentecost is never called the last day. And in fact, there's no association with any kind of resurrection on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was given on that day. Yes. And the church was founded. Yes.

But no resurrection took place on that day. So no literal resurrection. Lazarus was not resurrected on the day of Pentecost. And there's no future resurrection associated with Pentecost that would account for Lazarus's resurrection in the last day. That can only mean one thing. That's the final day of judgment.

or the day of judgment. Okay. So we begin with that understanding that Pentecost does not represent the resurrection. It does not picture the resurrection. The resurrection is pictured by trumpets. The scriptur is very clear about that. The second point I want to deal with then is what do we know about the destination of the saints? This is particularly important in light of this conversation about looking when we look later at the sea of glass and even the marriage supper of the lamb. So let's let's look exactly

what the scripture tells us about what the destination of the saints is. What do we know? And that's a fair question. It's one we should ask and one we should know. What we know first of all and we just read this here. We're going to go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 16.

Okay? 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 16. Because Paul describes the return of Christ in detailed and unmistakable terms. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says, "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout." So, we know where he's coming from. Christ is coming from heaven. Now, in this case, he's talking about the third heaven. Okay? That's where God is.

That's where Christ is. That's where Christ has ascended to when he died and and and 10 days before Pentecost. And it is where he remains to this very day sitting on the right hand of our father in heaven as our high priest. And he's going to return to this earth. And he's going to happen at the seventh trumpet.

And that's what we read here in verse 16. For the Lord himself, Jesus Christ will descend from heaven. So we know where he's coming from. And we know when he's coming from because it says when he's coming with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. Okay. So we have context here. It's very detailed.

We know when he's coming and we know where he's coming from. So we have a path. He's coming from the third heaven. He's descending now. Okay. He's not ascending. He's not uh you know stationed someplace you know in between. He it's just a direct route is is apparently what the scripture is telling us. It's direct because what happens to the saints? Well, it says the saints are raised and caught up together to meet him in the air. Let's notice that again.

Then we who are alive and remain, verse 17, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. Now, he's talking about those who died in Christ. They are resurrected first and then we who are alive and remain will be changed and we will rise to meet them in the air in the clouds. It says which is which which means in this atmosphere and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

And it says here remember it says here to meet the Lord in the air. Now that word meet implies a welcoming escort as when a cit a city's citizens go out to receive a returning ruler and accompany him back. Okay. This is a reception of the king who comes to reign. So they are forever with him after this. So wherever he goes, they go.

Now what we will notice is that Christ continues to go down. He continues to descend. And it is with the with him that the saints continue and escort him in his descent. Notice where he's headed. Zechariah 14:es 4 and 5. Zechariah 14:es 4 and 5 and it says and in that day his feet this is Jesus Christ will stand on the mount of olives.

So here we are with that same word that day, the last day, that final day of judgment. And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.

Then you shall flee through my mountain valley. Verse 5, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come and all the saints with you. So we rise to meet him in the air which can only mean we have been on the earth in the grave or alive and mortal and thus in the grave resurrected mortal changed and in both rise to meet Christ.

We do not descend to meet Christ. We rise to meet Christ in the air in the atmosphere of this earth and we clearly accompany him down to the mount of olives and that mount of olives is a real geographical location on earth. It's the same place from which Christ ascended. You can go back and refer to Acts chapter 1 11 and 12.

Acts 1 11 and 12 describes that and the saints accompany him there when he returns to that same place from where he ascended. And this is consistent with Christ's mission to establish the kingdom of God on the earth, not in heaven. It's here. He's coming to bring that kingdom here to earth. His throne will be in Jerusalem.

His reign will extend over the nations and those who are his. that is the first fruits, the church will reign with him. Now, this promise was declared centuries before revelation in the prophetic words to Daniel. Let's turn over to Daniel 7 27. So, Daniel 7 and verse 27. Prophetically, Daniel records, "Then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people who the saints of the most high.

His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions, all powers shall serve and obey him and his saints will rule those powers." There's hardly a more clear prophetic vision of what's going to happen after Jesus Christ returns. What is the future of the saints? It is to rule and reign underneath Jesus Christ. And notice that it said here the dominion, it says that the dominion, all of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, not those dominions within the heaven.

It is the dominions on this earth that are under that whole heaven as described here. And John echoes this vision in the final book of the Bible in the book of Revelation beginning over here in chapter 5 and verse 10. Revelation 5 and verse 10 says speaking of the saints he says and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth. And then Revelation 20 and verse 6.

This is our destiny as first fruits. Revelation 20 and verse 6. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power. But these people, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. So this is very clearly a millennial topic, a millennial topic which we would have covered and did in fact cover where we were for the feast this year. So the destination of the saints is the earth.

There's simply no there is simply no scripture there's no passage I can find anywhere in my Bible as I have researched this rather exhaustively by now that ever places the saints in heaven. I can't find a single time where the saints are placed in heaven. I just can't find it. I see statements that appear to say the saints are there.

But when you when you look at that and you run that through the hard principles that we use for what we call Bible study, principles handed down to me through the ministerial uh manual that I received which teach and coach us as ministers on how we're supposed to do Bible study.

When I follow those rules and I apply them to scripture, I simply cannot find any passage that corroborates that the saints are ever in heaven. Their destination is the earth. I can clearly see that. We can clearly show in the pages of our Bibles that that is true. The destination of the saints is the earth where we rule and reign with Jesus Christ who brings the kingdom of God to this earth and rules from Jerusalem the whole world.

So nowhere does the Bible describe the resurrected saints as going to the third heaven or standing before God's throne prior to Christ's return. We just can't I just can't find it. Any teaching that places the saints in heaven before Christ's descent at his return conflicts with what we know.

It introduces a destination the Bible does not confirm and creates contradictions in timing, in location, and in purpose. So again, we begin with what do we know? When Jesus Christ descends, the the saints, those who are dead in Christ, who were mortal, who died in the faith, are in the grave, and they are resurrected.

And those who are alive and remain who are in Christ are changed and they both together rise from the earth to meet Jesus Christ in the air. That's what we know. Okay. So, let's talk about the sea of glass. Let's let's look at what the Bible actually says and see if we can understand what Let me put it this way. Let's see what we can understand about that.

There's things we can't understand about that because they just haven't been revealed to us. But there's things we can. So let's look at let's look at that. What can we understand? We know that the sea of glass that term that phrase sea of glass is mentioned twice in the scriptures. We begin in Revelation 4 and verse 6. So we're here in the book of Revelation.

Now let's turn over to chapter 4 and verse 6 where we see the first time this sea of glass is mentioned and it and it gives us a place a location of it. It says, "Now before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were the four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

" Okay, this thing called the sea of glass is before the throne and it looks like crystal to John. That's what he writes. And he describes other elements of the throne room. these four living creatures with full of eyes front and back. Now, John is in the spirit and he's seeing something that he he can't hardly describe this.

He's doing the best he can and he's trying to paint a picture for us of something calm, something something beautiful, calm, you know, water. If you if he were to use like like the sea, if you looked at the Mediterranean Sea in October and November, it's very tumultuous. uh depending on what the weather is like. Well, any ocean is that way. We can kind of see that, right? So, it's tumultuous and so forth. He's describing something very calm here in this sea of glass.

And so, his using of this of this description as crystal, which we we know crystal isn't moving or anything, but it is quite beautiful and this is positioned before the throne. So, it forms part of the heavenly scene surrounded by spirit beings and worship. Now, the second mention is over in Revelation 15.

Let's turn over to Revelation 15:es 2 and 3. Revelation 15:es 2 and 3. It says here, "And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. And those who have the victory over the beast, over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the lamb." Okay, so this is the second case where we see the sea of glass is clearly mentioned.

It's got an added element to it that says here, it looks like it's mingled with fire. And now we have a group of people apparently standing on this sea. It says here that those who have the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his of his name standing on this sea of glass.

Now again, John is in vision seeing this incredible scene, but this is the only passage that describes people standing on the sea of glass. Now, the individuals are those who have this victory that's described. And now that apparently refers to saints, at least some of the saints. Okay, but it raises a question now because can it be all of the saints? Would we can we describe the those that God decides are the Philadelphiaians that he promises to protect in Revelation 3 and:e 10? Do they have to overcome the beast? Do they have to overcome his image? Do they have to overcome his mark? Do they have to overcome the number of his name?

Because all of those things are happening during the tribulation. And these are protected from that period of time. Clearly raises a question, doesn't it? Well, are these those that are being shown there? Then that begs the question, well, if they're not being shown there, who is being shown there? Is it all of the saints? What about all of the patriarchs of old? Did Abraham have to overcome the mark of the beast, the number of his name over his image? Did Abraham have to do that? Did any of the patriarchs and the prophets of old have to do this? So, it does beg that question, doesn't it? And

it adds an element of confusion if we were to try to say as some have that this is literal. This this is why they they argue that Pentecost represents the resurrection because it accounts for this group of people standing on the sea of glass.

Well, we already have established that Pentecost doesn't represent the res resurrection, but trumpets does. And if that's true, then that sort of dismantles the idea that some sort of a resurrection happened earlier than Christ's return. That's clearly not the case. And so we're left with what do we know? Well, there are several important considerations I think we should weigh.

Number one, the word literal sometimes gets used to mean actual or real in fulfillment. In Bible study, it's important to distinguish between a literal description and an actual event. Not all symbolic visions represent physical occurrences. The word literal means without symbolic meaning. And so when someone says no, they're literally standing on the sea of glass, we have to ask, well, literal means without any symbolic meaning.

And is that true? We've already broken some of that thinking down or that um you know, whatever leads to one to conclude that number two, this is part of a vision. It's not necessarily a chronological narrative. The book of Revelation is not written in a strict sequence of linear time. We know that there are uh what we call inset chapters and this would appear to be one of those. And of course chapter 15 begins with the phrase if you look at chapter 15:1 it says then I saw another sign in heaven.

So this is the very beginning then I saw. Now that's a common transition in visionary literature not necessarily a time stamp. In other words so what John sees may be symbolic of what God wants to reveal. not necessarily a physical event playing out in real time. Number three, the passage does not specify when this occurs. We're told what John sees.

People standing on a sea of glass, but we're not told when this takes place in relation to the resurrection or Christ's return. We have clues, right? We have some clues. And if we look at context, we can we can see that this appears to be before Christ returns. I'll get into that in just a bit. Let me show you here in a little bit.

But let's let's look also at this issue of the sea of glass u representing access to the throne because it might just mean that not necessarily the location of the saints literally. In Revelation 4 and 15, the sea of glass is placed before the throne. So that may depict proximity to God's authority rather than a geographic location. This is consistent with visionary symbolism elsewhere in our Bibles.

But the prophets also describe similar imagery. So consider Ezekiel's vision of the heavenly throne. Let's look at a couple of other ancillary things here, but they're related to this this idea that we have symbolism or we have visions previously that that that may well be about the sea of glass. So we're ask I'm asking myself, could the sea of glass itself be a literal thing? And the answer is it very well could be and and maybe even likely is um Ezekiel 1 and verse 22.

Ezekiel 1 and verse 22 in vision Ezekiel sees the likeness it says here of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal. So we see that same language don't we? stretched out over their heads. This firmament, excuse me, this firmament resembling crystal does recall the imagery we were given of the sea of glass in Revelation, but again, it's not described in dimensional terms.

It's part of a symbolic revelation of God's majesty and or majesty and sovereignty. Likewise, the temple and tabernacle contained a physical labor, a large basin of water used for ceremonial cleansing. Now, it stood before the holy place and was required for the priests to approach God. Exodus 30 and:e 18. Exodus 30 and verse 18.

It says, "You shall make a labor of bronze with its base also of bronze for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it." Okay, so we know what its purpose is. This labor. Uh now it's true that the physical tabernacle was patterned after the heavenly things.

The precise nature of the copies is not necessarily always made clear. For example, this labor clearly foreshadowed the spiritual cleansing necessary before entering God's presence. Likely reflected in this sea of glass. Right? But again, this draws a thematic connection. It's not necessarily a doctrinal blueprint. So whether the sea of glass has an actual material form in heaven, we cannot say for sure.

But it is clearly associated with worship, with purity, and with divine presence. The context of the scene in Revelation 15 is in the third heaven before Christ returns. Let's note that. Revelation 15:es 5-8. Let's just quickly touch on that. Revelation 15:es 5-8 gives us some context here.

Revelation 15 5-8 says, "After these things," so we have them singing the song, these these ones who who were described as having the victory, they they sing the song of Moses and the song of the lamb. Now we come to verse five. After these things, I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.

And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. So this is then before Christ returns. These angels are given the seven vials here while they are yet in the temple with God.

And then verse 7 says, "And then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

" So this is the beginning. They're given the seven vials which will be poured out as the wrath of God. When does that happen? After the seventh trumpet, Christ is going to have to descend and the angels are going to rise to meet him in the air. That's where the saints are.

The first fruits are either dead in Christ and buried in the ground or mortal and alive awaiting his return. And so that also conflicts with this idea then that this is a real or a literal setting with human beings or now somehow resurrected human beings. How else would they be there if it's literal? And so when we look at the imagery that we're presented here of the sea of glass and we're and we look at the elements of it, it's difficult to conclude emphatically that this is literal, you know, h resurrected human beings standing on the sea of glass before the throne of God for any reason at all. And so it's it's far more it

makes far more sense if you look at it for what it what it really is where John says, "I saw these things in vision and that's okay. So this is where we have to leave it. Anything further goes beyond what has been revealed and where God has not spoken plainly, we should not be dogmatic. Let's look at one last thing here and that's the marriage of the lamb.

This is the vision of of union and celebration and hope. And uh in my previous message, honestly, I just went too far with this thing. And I didn't realize it at the time. I was far too maybe I was just a little too emotional or something. I really wanted to make a a point and I just went too far.

Let's let's let's really look carefully at this wedding supper that's presented to us in Revelation 19 7 and 8. Let's turn over there. Revelation 19 7 and 8. Let's see what we know, what we can prove and uh and then what and what what we simply don't. So let's look at Revelation 19 7 and 8. It says, "Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come." So something has arrived.

This marriage has arrived and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Okay, so this is what we know and that symbol symbolism is very clear. We you can't miss at least the symbolic nature of what's being described for us here.

Even if we don't fully understand what might be literal here, we can clearly see the symbolism here. The lamb is Jesus Christ. The bride is the church. The first fruits, those who have endured trials and remained faithful. That's who's the church. So the scene is one of anticipation fulfilled. The relationship that has been in preparation through history is now brought to completion.

But beyond the beauty of the symbolism, yeah, we might ask, what do we actually know? What is clearly revealed? Well, Revelation 19 shows a vision in heaven of the bride made ready, followed by the return of Christ with the armies in heaven. Let's note verse 11. We're in Revelation 19. Let's note verse 11.

It says, "Now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war." That is definitely Jesus Christ. Now drop down to verse 14. It says, "And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.

" Well, that appears to say that these same saints who we just read in verses 7 and 8, the church would be returning from heaven with Christ. Now, that presents a conundrum, doesn't it? Some kind of a challenge there because of what we already know and have proved. The saints rise to meet Christ in the air. They don't descend from the third heaven with him. They rise to meet him in the air.

We go back to 1 Thessalonians 4 16-1 17 because this is the clear statement of scripture and we start with what we know that is clear and then we go to what is unclear because it says here in verse 16 for the Lord himself himself will descend from heaven. That's that third heaven vision that we see in Revelation 19:14.

Christ descending from heaven. And he's going to descend with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. So we rise up from the ground to meet him as he descends through the clouds.

and we meet him in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord from there. That's what the scripture says. Okay, so we this is what we know. What do we not know? Well, that's sort of the question, isn't it? We know what we know. And we know that his destination is not going back to heaven. His path is very clear. He comes from heaven to this earth.

And Zechariah 14:4 says that he's coming to stand on the Mount of Olives and that mount will be split in two and the saints are coming with him. So, how could we see that vision sort of capturing those ideas? Well, I could see that. At least for me, it makes sense that that would be a vision of Christ after he's returned from heaven and those saints escorting him from there after their resurrection where they've risen to meet him in the air. I can see that. That makes sense to me.

So, what is this marriage of the lamb describing? Well, first and foremost, it's a vision. We know that. That's okay. It's okay for us to just say that. That it is a vision. It's a scene that uses rich and familiar imagery to convey spiritual truth. Now, marriage is a biblical metaphor used throughout scripture to picture the covenant relationship between God and his people.

Israel was called the bride in the Old Testament. The church is described as a bride in the new. The message is consistent. God seeks union with his people, not just in proximity, but in purpose, in love, and in shared glory. This vision in Revelation 19 may reflect the moment of fulfillment when the faithful are finally united with Christ in power and glory.

And the long preparation of spiritual faithfulness is rewarded with eternal partnership. That's clearly what the symbolism suggests that it is the culmination of the union of Jesus Christ and the church. Whether or not there is a literal wedding ceremony or feast described here, we don't know. Could there be a literal wedding in heaven at some point? All I can say is maybe.

I'm not going to tell God what he gets to do and not do. I'm not there in the throne room. He's not counseling me and asking me what I think. He gives me some information and and what we have is what we have. And I think it's going too far to say definitively there will be a wedding in heaven.

I I can't I can't say that any more than I can say definitively there will not be a wedding in heaven. So I don't know. Scripture just doesn't describe that one way or the other. Christ. But let me but I do want to paint this picture a little bit fuller though because we do have some things in scripture that suggest some things. Okay, so Christ spoke of a future celebration.

Let's notice here Matthew chapter 26 and verse 29. I'm not going to tell Jesus Christ he didn't mean what he said. Let's notice uh Matthew chapter 26 and verse 29. Okay. Matthew 26 and verse 29. This is the final supper as recorded by Matthew.

And it says here in verse 29, quoting Jesus Christ, he says, "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine." There's only one fruit of the vine that he's describing. That's wine because that's what they had as a part of the last supper. He says, 'I will not drink of the fruit of this vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. He says, I will drink.

The other way of saying this is he says, I'm going to drink of this fruit with you, new with with you in my father's kingdom. I'm going to do that. It's he's when you have a double negative, remove the negatives and you have what the plain statement is. So he says he's going to do this. It's going to happen.

Well, we want and and rightly so to to see some kind of celebration that's going to be affiliated with or associated with the resurrection of the saints, the union of the church in Jesus Christ. What an incredible future and the fulfillment of this longgiven promise by God that it's natural that God that that we would want to see a celebration of that.

Hard not to take Christ at his word here when he says that this is something he's going to do. Now, he does not describe a specific location or really any any other context except that it's in the kingdom. But but that gives us room for hope and imagination. without being dogmatic.

Could there be a great wedding banquet, a moment of celebration in Jerusalem after the kingdom is established? Could there be music and feasting and reunion and joy unlike anything the world has ever known? Possibly, maybe even likely. And many of God's people find comfort in that thought. We also have parables of Christ such as the virgins awaiting the bridegroom in Matthew 25 or the king who prepares a wedding feast in Matthew chapter 22.

So is it wrong to envision a literal wedding supper? Not necessarily. But consider that the best picture we can imagine today may fall far short of the reality God has prepared. I was I've been thinking about this in light of this scripture here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9 where Paul says, "But as it is written," quoting from Isaiah, "I has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

" I was thinking about that. You know, I can picture a wedding. I've been to weddings. I've conducted weddings now. I got to conduct a double wedding of twins. Not that I'm bragging, I'm just commenting a fact. So, I can picture a wedding and the banquet that followed was wonderful.

The socializing, the joy, the happiness, all of that was fantastic. I can envision all of that. That I have no problem with that. Can Can I envision something even grander than that? Well, you can take say the royal weddings of the offspring of the house of David in our brother Ephraim in the United Kingdom. There have been some pretty spectacular weddings there.

So, so we can imagine those things. Those things I've seen, those things I've heard. They're within my imagination. Yet Paul says here, hold on a second. Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

All I'm suggesting is is that we may be limiting God when we say, "Well, it's going to be just like a literal wedding feast." I know he gives us that imagery, and he did that deliberately. I'm saying I can picture those things, though. Maybe maybe that's far short of what's really in store. And that kind of gives my spine a little tingle. It's an amazing thing to think about that we may in the best of our imaginations not come anywhere close to what God actually has prepared for us. And that should be equally encouraging to us.

So in this study, we've examined some of the key teachings currently circulating in parts of the greater church of God community, particularly regarding the resurrection of the saints, the sea of glass, the marriage of the lamb. These ideas are not without scriptural references, of course, and they are clearly meaningful to those who hold them. And I'm not attempting to disparage those who have wandered into beliefs that may have gone too far.

But as we've seen, scripture offers clear and grounded accounts of what lies ahead. What we know, the resurrection of the saints takes place at the last trumpet, not Pentecost. Christ descends at his return from heaven into the clouds on earth, and the saints rise to meet him in the air, that is the atmosphere.

Together they come to earth. Christ escorted by the saints to the Mount of Olives where the kingdom of God will be established. The saints are never described in scripture as going to heaven before that moment. Their destination, their role, their reward is on earth serving and reigning with Christ. The sea of glass and the marriage of the lamb are powerful symbolic visions.

They give us glimpses of majesty and holiness, joy and union. But we have to resist the temptation to assign literal timelines or locations where the scripture does not. And yet within the space between what we do and do not know, there is great hope. God gave us imagery of weddings, celebrations, banquetss, victory.

He gave us those things for a reason. They're scenes we can understand. They're moments of joy and unity and love that resonate deeply within our human experience. We may not know exactly what the future holds in every detail, but we do know that God's plan is greater than anything we can fully grasp today.

We can envision the wedding of the lamb as a time of rejoicing, of Christ finally reunited with his glorified church. We can imagine a feast unlike anything the world has ever seen. We can look forward to the moment when every trial, every sacrifice, every act of faithfulness is vindicated in a world ruled by righteousness.

And even if our imaginations fall short, even if the reality surpasses anything we could dream, well, we can trust that God has planned something that will not disappoint us. So we wait in faith. We live in hope. We hold fast to what is written, trusting that God's plan is not only true, but exceedingly good. And that one day, what we do not now know, we will know then.