41. VII. THAT SPIRITUAL NUPTIALS ARE MEANT BY THE LORD'S WORDS, THAT AFTER THE RESURRECTION THEY ARE NOT GIVEN IN MARRIAGE. In the Gospels are found these words:
Certain of the Sadducees who deny the resurrection, asked Jesus, saying, Master, Moses wrote, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother shall take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. There were seven brethren, one after the other of whom took the wife; but they died childless. At last the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of them shall she be? But Jesus, answering, said unto them, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but they which shall be accounted worthy to attain to another age, and the resurrection from the dead, shall neither marry nor be given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are like unto angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead rise again, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto Him. Luke 20:27-38; Matt. 22:23-32; Mark 12:18-27. There are two things which the Lord taught by these words: First, that man rises again after death; and second, that in heaven they are not given in marriage. That man rises again after death, He taught by saying, that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, and that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living. He also taught the same in the parable of the rich man in hell and Lazarus in heaven (Luke 16:22-31). [2] The second point, that in heaven they are not given in marriage, He taught by the statement, that those who are accounted worthy to attain to another age neither marry nor are given in marriage. That here no other nuptials are meant than spiritual nuptials is very evident from the words which immediately follow: that they cannot die any more because they are like unto angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. By spiritual nuptials is meant conjunction with the Lord. This is effected on earth, and when effected on earth, it is effected in heaven also. Therefore, in the heavens they are not again married and given in marriage. This is also meant by the words, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but they which are accounted worthy to attain to another age, neither marry nor are given in marriage. They are also called by the Lord sons of the nuptials* (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19); and, in the present passage, angels, sons of God, and sons of the resurrection. [3] That marrying means being conjoined with the Lord, and that entering into marriage means being received into heaven by the Lord, is clear from the following passages: The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man, a king, who made a wedding for his son, and sent forth servants and invited to the wedding. (Matt. 22:1-14.) The kingdom of heaven is like unto ten virgins, who went forth to meet the bridegroom; of whom five, being prepared, went in to the wedding (Matt. 25:1-seq.). From verse 13 in that chapter, where it is said, Watch, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh, it is evident that by the bridegroom, the Lord meant himself. Also from the Apocalypse:
The time of the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 19:7, 9. That there is a spiritual meaning in each and every word which the Lord spoke, is fully shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, published in Amsterdam in the year 1763. * According to the Greek text, this should be "sons of the bridechamber," as in the A.V.