You are here at number 3 (Parable).

Looking at the Parable of the Marriage Feast

Remember, the parable is about the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 22:
1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said, 2 The kingdom of heaven is like to a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatted calves are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go you therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he said to him, Friend, how came you in here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

The parable of the Wedding Feast gives several pictures, some of which I will address here. The parable is an allegory with important picture messages in it! Years ago when God was teaching me about the wedding, I realized that there is one Groom, one Corporate Bride, some servants, but many guests. The numbers of guests far outnumber the number of people fitly joined together in the corporate Spotless Bride. The Lord made clear that the whole thing could only come to pass when the Spotless Bride (this invisible corporate functioning organism) makes herself ready and the time comes on God's calendar (link). The guests and servants are Christians who are not a part of this living organism called the Married Bride. But as in any wedding the guests enjoy the same festivities!

Some people might say they want to be in the Bride rather than being a guest. Years ago I asked a lady if she wanted to be in the Bride or be a guest? She said she would rather be a guest, that she didn't want to go through what it takes to be in the Bride. She had counted the cost!

Revelation 19
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

One time the Lord told me, "You cannot really know what a scripture does say unless you know what it doesn't say!" With that in mind, looking at what God reveals about the Marriage of the Lamb in Revelation 19: 9 we see that God says, "Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." He wasn't talking specifically to the Bride but to Christians who are guests. He says, Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: … that it has come, which certainly includes the guests, the servants, and the Bride. No one should ever downplay, in any way, the part of the guests or the servants!

Looking at the parable of the Marriage Feast picture again, the Groom is the Lord, the King. The Bride is a corporate body made up of many parts fitly joined together before the actual marriage and spotless because she has prepared herself. Years ago I saw small spots as well as the three large ones on the body of Christ. They are also wrong patterns of doing things. Looking at the big picture, the guests are not fitly joined together and do not have the intimacy with the Lord that the Bride has.

In the parable Matthew 22:11-13, the King comes to look at the guests and one was not properly dressed.

11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he said to him, Friend, how came you in here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The King called him friend and asked him why he was not dressed properly, indicating that he could have been. The guest was speechless! I realized that this was a person who knew what the meeting was all about, wanted to be a part, and had made an effort to be there, but wound up speechless. The King (God) ordered this man, whom He had called friend, thrown out, which shows the seriousness of not having the right garments on, which represent "actions."

Years ago, during the Apostles Gatherings I attended, the Lord called them "Friends." Friends will do things for you and love you, but they are not married to you. One should always look at words, dreams, and visions where God reveals relationship to Him. Are you a child, a friend, a servant, a brother, or shown to be mature? He is not being critical. He is a just God of truth and we should pay attention. We as human beings can act mature one minute and as a child the next. This can happen over one particular subject, so there is no reason to be upset at being called a child or a friend, rather than His Bride. Just be open to God moving you, your thought patterns, your acts, and your circumstances. The Apostles in the gatherings were friends to the Lord and if you think about it, guests in a wedding are mostly friends and maybe servants. In the parable there are servants there in the meeting: 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot….

According to the parable, the guests must be dressed properly, but logically they do not have on the Bride's gown but proper attire to attend the feast. The soldier that had on fine linen in the Protection section of the Demonstration of God's Covenant movie could be a guest but might not be in that functioning living organism that is fitly joined together called the Spotless Bride. The Married Bride is a corporate body that is functioning together correctly and obeying Her Husband as a corporate body. She has corporate responsibilities that the guests and servants do not have!

Matthew 22:
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him (the guest) hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

One thing that bears our attention as I said at the first is the fact that the Marriage Feast of the Lamb is a meeting! Jesus was talking about the Kingdom of God when He gave the parable, so we see how important meetings are to the Kingdom of God. The Lord is not the head of His church until we let Him be the head of the meetings, from the beginning to the end. In the parable the King was the one in charge of the meeting, not the Bride, He was the one who saw the guest was not dressed properly. He was the one who had the person thrown out.

Matthew 22:
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

It is all about the King's meeting, not the Bride's meeting. Look at Revelation 19: 9 "Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." The marriage supper of who? The Lamb!

It should be noted that in the (parable) Marriage Feast meeting there are different functions. The King, the Bride, the servants, and the guests are all doing different functions. All of these take place in the same meeting atmosphere; whether a bride or a servant, they operate in the same atmosphere. The atmosphere is the King's atmosphere. This is the same picture the Lord gave concerning the Military Units in the I Saw the Lord of the Book of Revelation article. The Lord revealed the military units don't all have the same function, but all operate in the same atmosphere towards a common purpose.

On January 24, 2008, the Lord showed me I had to include the dark side, the things people don't want to hear or they won't see the seriousness of being cleaned up, of having the right clothes on (the right acts). Looking at the whole parable, it is clear that it was given to reveal the seriousness of the whole situation. It is not an automatic thing that occurs to believing Christians.

4. Reportiing Evens In and Surrounding the First Marriage Feast of the Lamb