**The Destiny of the Bride of Christ - Part 3 **
This age will come to a close at the end of the Great Tribulation period. After His wedding in Revelation 19:7, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will return to Earth to personally conquer all who oppose Him. He will personally administer the final wrath of God upon the Earth, as we are told in Revelation 19:15:
“Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” (NKJV)
But Jesus will not be alone when He returns. His armies will accompany Him.
The Armies of Heaven
“And the armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, [dazzling] white and clean, followed Him on white horses.”—Revelation 19:14 (AMP)
Who are these “armies of heaven” that are following Jesus when He returns to Earth? Are these armies of angels or saints?
There may be angels in these armies because we see Michael and his angels waging war in Revelation 12:7 before the start of the Great Tribulation. So, it would make sense for warring angels to be included in these armies.
But people are part of the Lord’s armies as well because we are told in Revelation 17:14 that ungodly earthly kingdoms “will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” (NIV)
This passage does not describe angels. These are disciples. These are people who are followers of Christ.
Could this be the same group of people described in detail in Joel chapter 2?
“Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem! Raise the alarm on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because** the day of the Lord is upon us.** It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness. Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears. Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again.
“Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them. Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes. They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses.”
Comparing His army to horses, could the Lord have been referring to this army when He challenged Jeremiah?
“If you have run with infantrymen and they have tired you out, How can you compete with horses?”—Jeremiah 12:5 (NASB)
Joel goes on …
“Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops. Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots, like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble, or like a mighty army moving into battle.
“Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror. The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank. They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step. They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows. The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine.
“The Lord is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?” (NLT)
This army has been mistaken for an army of the enemies of God because of the destruction that they cause, but this is the great army of God, fighting alongside of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the great “day of vengeance of our God.” (See Isaiah 61:2.)
Jesus seems to link this army to the wedding of the king’s son in Matthew 22:1-7:
“And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.” (NKJV)
There is a remarkable prophetic declaration in Joel 2, just a few verses after the description of this army of God:
“Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.”—Joel 2:16 (NKJV)
This prophetic call seems to link the army with the heavenly Bridegroom and His Bride, calling them out of the bridal chambers. And in fact, these armies of heaven are the very next thing mentioned in Scripture, immediately after the wedding of the Lamb of God and His Bride in Revelation 19.
The Warrior Bride
In the Song of Solomon—the Bible’s great analogy of Christ and His Bride—the king compares His mature bride to an army.
“O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem, Awesome as an army with banners!”—Song of Solomon 6:4 (NKJV)
“Who is she who looks forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Awesome as an army with banners?”—Song of Solomon 6:10 (NKJV)
Finally, the Bride is revealed so that others can see her emerging as armies of fearsome warriors:
“Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.”—Song of Solomon 6:13 (KJV)
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.”— Revelation 19:19
Years ago, I had a dream that I was hosting Martina McBride, the country singer. I believe the key to understanding that dream was in the meaning of the name. The name Martina means “warlike,” “soldier,” or “warrior.” McBride was simply a variation of the word “bride.” So, I believe this dream was about the Bride of Christ, and she is characterized as a warrior bride.
We see this aspect of the Bride of Christ in its fullness immediately after her wedding.
There is not much time for a honeymoon. As soon as the wedding feast is concluded, there is business to attend to, and it is very serious business. The Bride will join her Bridegroom to administer the final wrath of God on the Earth.
After the Wedding of the Lamb in Revelation 19:7, Heaven opens to reveal a scene of such awesome power and might that nothing and no one will be able to stand against it.
