E. Invitation to the Marriage Supper (19:7-10)

John leans into the imminent future as he invites faithful conquerors to the marriage feast of the Lamb. John combines the image of the coming of Christ as a feast (cf. Mk 14:25; Lk 14:15) with the symbol of the church as a bride (cf. Eph 5:23-32). He contrasts the clean, bright, linen-clothed bride of the Lamb (19:7-8) with the corrupt harlot, Babylon (v.2). This literary contrast between the harlot and the bride also is a moral distinction between faltering compromises with Babylon/Rome and faithful saints who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation calls for holiness in Christians. The morality of the church is to exceed that of the world.