Revelation 19:7 continues, "Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him..." This is the time when God will be glorified. Following this, the verse says, "...for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (Wife is the correct translation, though some translators use bride.) Not only has God's authority commenced, but the kingdom has been ushered in. Furthermore, the corporate man, the eternal Eve whom God desired, has been obtained. The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. There are two reasons for praise. First, God reigns. To this we say, Hallelujah! Second, God has obtained what He determined to have in eternity past. To this we also say, Hallelujah! We too should rejoice and be exceeding glad, because one day God will surely obtain what He desires. When the marriage of the Lamb has come, the wife has made herself ready.

When we look at ourselves, it seems impossible that such a day will ever come when Christ presents a glorious church to Himself, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things. But since this will happen, how can we refrain from saying, Hallelujah! Regardless of how much weakness there has been, both yesterday and today, God will obtain His determined will in that day. Never forget this—in that day the wife will be ready. Therefore, we must give Him the glory, and we must say, Hallelujah!

Let us read verse 7 again: "Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." We must take note that this passage refers to the wife of the Lamb, not to the bride of the Lamb. Now let us go on to 21:1-2: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth....And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." When do the events in chapter nineteen, concerning the wife who has made herself ready, occur? It is before the millennium. When do the events in chapter twenty-one, concerning the bride who is ready, occur? It is after the millennium. Since the New Jerusalem must wait for the new heaven and new earth before it is the bride of the Lamb, why does it say that the wife of the Lamb is ready before the millennium? Please note that chapter nineteen does not speak of the marriage of the Lamb, it simply says that the marriage of the Lamb has come. At that time, if we look back, we will see that the harlot has fallen, and if we look forward, we will see the new heaven and the new earth. Therefore, the declaration that the marriage of the Lamb has come is made. In reality, however, there are one thousand years in between. Only when these one thousand years have passed will the actual time for the marriage of the Lamb come. The woman is actually the wife of Christ in the new heaven and new earth, not during the time of the kingdom.

There is one more thing which we must notice. In chapter twelve there is the woman with the man-child and many other children. But in chapter nineteen there is only the wife. Where are the man-child and the many children? It seems as if they have disappeared. How can the woman, the man-child, and the rest of her children become the wife of the Lamb?

In order to be clear, we must look at the principle of the man-child. Remember that the man-child accomplishes everything as if representing the whole church. In chapter nineteen, the declaration that the wife has made herself ready is spoken while looking upon the overcomers. The whole body of the church must wait until the time of the new heaven and the new earth to be the bride. She will not be ready until then. But one thousand years prior to this, there is an announcement that the wife has made herself ready. Why is this spoken? What kind of readiness is there? This proclamation refers to the readiness of the overcomers and to no one but the overcomers. Because the overcomers are fully ready, a declaration can be made that the wife has made herself ready.