The marriage supper of the Lamb, which will take place at the return of Christ to the earth, will be the manifestation of the marriage of the Lamb, a marriage that was accomplished previously. It is the previous operations that are essential.

There are four stages in the marriage of the Lamb:

The formation stage.

The reconciliation stage.

The union stage.

The manifestation stage.

We can notice three of these four stages in the marriage of Adam and Eve, which is a type of the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride.

The formation stage was the forming of Eve from the rib of Adam.

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman,.... (Genesis 2:22)

The reconciliation stage was not necessary because Eve had never been in rebellion against Adam.

The union stage consisted of Eve being brought to Adam and his acceptance of her.

. . . and brought her unto the man. (Genesis 2:22)

The manifestation stage was the declaration by Adam to Heaven and earth that Eve was his wife.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (Genesis 2:23)

The manifestation stage is the closest phase to what we would refer to as a wedding ceremony. But there is an important difference between the manifestation stage of the marriage of the Lamb and a wedding ceremony as ordinarily conceived. In the case of a marriage today, the actual marriage, the uniting, follows the wedding ceremony—if in fact a union ever does take place.

However, the marriage of the Lamb occurs as the believer takes up his cross and follows the Lord Jesus. The marriage supper will follow later. The manifestation stage, which includes the marriage supper, will be just that—a manifestation of what has taken place previously.

Adam and Eve had no wedding ceremony because none was necessary. It was not possible for Eve to be "married" to anyone else because she was of Adam's bone and flesh. She "was" Adam.

Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (Genesis 5:2)

"Called their name Adam"!

Eve was not created as an individual person who could choose whether she should marry Adam, remain single, or marry someone else. Eve was created as a helper suited to, and a completion of, Adam. Eve was formed because the Lord God had determined, "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18).

All subsequent human marriages can never be more than a shadow of the joining of Adam and Eve because Eve was created from and for Adam alone. The union of Adam and Eve was more than a partnership, it was the enlarging and completing of one person. If Eve had married anyone else it would have been Adam marrying that person.

The two were one flesh.

There was a forming, a uniting, and then a manifestation of what had been formed and united. A wedding ceremony was not necessary because a wedding is the moment in which the final decision to unite is made in the presence of witnesses. In the case of Adam and Eve the decision was made when God formed Eve from Adam.

Today a ceremony, a wedding, is necessary at the beginning of a marriage. By definition, fornication is the act of living together outside of legally-sanctioned marriage. Fornicators will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

To be continued.