The Table of the Lamb

The table is the place of ultimate grace. It is there that we are invited to sit. It is there where we are served. It is there that we eat, drink, talk, share, and pray.

One day there will be a great table prepared, a table in glory, a table that I believe will have the most unusual and eternal seating arrangement possible.

I am speaking of the table at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

The reference to this is found in Revelation 19. This is the Omega part of our Bibles and of Revelation particularly.

The Lord unveiled the great scenes in Heaven and on earth to John the Apostle. We can read of the peace and rest and concentration that always exist at the Throne of God. The Lord sees and knows. He works out His purposes through the dynamics that come from the nature of man and the choices made by that nature.

Heaven remains focused. Heaven indicates no anxiety. Even at the sound of the martyrs’ pleadings, Heaven allows events to progress in order to bring forth the culmination of Creation that will be the New Heavens and the New Earth.

I have grown to understand that our ultimate destiny will be more grounded than we realize. This dust from which we are made shall be sanctified, purified, regenerated, and renewed. Upon this turf we shall stand.

This is not a new concept. It’s as old as the book of Job, a piece of Bible literature that scholars reckon as most ancient. That righteous man who eschewed evil became the target of Satan’s warfare and contempt. Still, this man clung to his integrity as we read in Job 19:25-26:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

A Feast to Come

We can get caught up in thinking about the sweet bye and bye, the glory of the above and beyond. But what of the here, what shall it be? We experience what is now a world in turbulence, with an agitated atmosphere, and soil, rocks, and hills groaning, writhing, and shaking under the weight of sin.

Bloodstained over thousands of years, the earth yearns for the day of final victory over the sting of death. It is the last enemy to be banished by the work of the Son.

The earth awaits her renewal for a restoration of the beauty, dignity, and fruitfulness for which she was originally designed. Man was appointed earth’s custodian to cultivate her. The earth was to be stewarded with care and honor. What God had given Man to do was to engage with the very stuff of his being.

Earth was made by God for Man. From the earth, Man was formed by God for Himself. All things were to work together in decency and order. When the things of earth are at last made right, there has to be something to mark the moment.

When the things of earth are at last made right, there has to be something to mark the moment. Share on X

The Lord chooses a feast, a supper. Feasts are so earthy. Think about the Thanksgiving emblem that is the cornucopia. What is spilling out of that horn? The stuff of the earth – her produce, her fruits, and her blossoms are shown pouring forth. And so it shall be in the New Creation, the earth again shall be ever-alive for healing and nourishment.

There are trees mentioned in Revelation. These are stationed by the pure river that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Twelve kinds of fruit are yielded by these trees and their leaves were given for the “healing of the nations.” A better wording of this would be that these leaves were at the “service” of the peoples. (See Revelation 22:1-2.)

This scene described by John represents the union and communion of Man, existing eternally in diversity, as nations and the reclaimed realm of nature. Verse 3 of Revelation 22 makes a great proclamation: “And there shall be no more curse. …”

The defeat of death and its master manipulator the Devil are final. The progression of the implosion is somewhat detailed for us in the scenes described after the seventh and last seal of the book have been opened by the Lamb. The trumpets and bowl judgments are full of words about the collapse of the cosmic order and of what this triggers in terms of disasters. Anything that can be moved is moved. All that is devoted to destruction is ruined under wrath.

The extent of what we are told is limited by a moment when John heard seven thunders. At that point, the Apostle is told to put down his pen and to watch and hear.

I like this part of the Revelation because it tells me that our relationship to what God is doing is not about accumulating data. Could it be that the Lord just wanted John to observe and consider? He was a ready scribe for sure. But the overwhelming and remarkable unveilings could not really be appreciated without some semblance of Sabbath.

John had busily and attentively put it all down on paper. But we are to live the Word as it takes residence in us. That’s why the thunders were put before his eyes and ears to go into his heart. Our soul structures all need closet spaces, places where things can be stored away.

The Bride Welcomed Home

The Supper time that comes in Revelation shall mark the time when the Lamb takes His seat for fellowship with us.  This is what the feasts were all about as they were instituted in Exodus and Leviticus.

This grand finale shall celebrate that the Son, the Bridegroom, has welcomed home His Bride, the Church, to the place that He has prepared for her.

And so I am delighted when I read the Bible and study the feasts. I find them so encouraging.  

Go through the Word and note these moments. Abraham came back from his rescue mission related to Lot and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. This friend of God led 318 in regaining all of the people and stuff that had been taken captive.

How did Abraham celebrate? He didn’t plan anything. Instead, he was met by Melchizedek. This Priest of the Most High God invited the victor to the table prepared with bread and wine. (See Genesis 14.)

At the supper with the disciples, Jesus served them by washing their feet and then broke bread and passed the Cup.

The Marriage Supper shall feature a setting that will put us all near the Son. What this will look like has to be exceedingly above and beyond what we could ask or think.

I just know that the Scriptures tell me that I am of the Church, the Bride of Christ. This means I will somehow, someway occupy a place of honor and so will you. We will experience an amazing sense of His Presence. I expect all of us to be within earshot of Him who made a way for us to be there with Him.

How could it be any other way?

“Lo, I am with you always.” This was the promise made by Jesus in Matthew 28:20.

Not one of His promises ever fails. Amen and amen.