Episode 2369 - Lesson 3 - Thursday - April 18 - The Harlot is Judged

Read Revelation 19:1–9. Two things are celebrated simultaneously: the end of the harlot and the marriage of Christ with His bride. How is it possible that both events are actually demonstrations of God’s righteous and loving character at the same time?Infidelity comes with a very painful price tag. The fallout spills over into the lives of children and others. Even the most patient of wronged spouses may eventually discover that there is a moment of no return, past which the marriage can no longer be redeemed. When our world reaches a point where hearts have hardened deeply enough that there will be no more repentance, no point exists in continuing history and allowing the unbridled suffering of sin to continue. Even though there is heartbreak over the lost, those who have suffered under this world’s dispensation of sin can celebrate that it is finally over—and that the world is being restored to the way God originally designed it. This time there will not be a turning away from God, because we have learned, the hard way, that God was correct about the devastation that comes from separating ourselves from Him.Read Revelation 21:1–4. What does the marriage imagery here mean, and why is it full of hope and promise? What is our assurance of the hope presented in these verses?“Marriage, a union for life, is a symbol of the union between Christ and His church. The spirit that Christ manifests toward the church is the spirit that husband and wife are to manifest toward each other.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, p. 46.Christ suffered unimaginable pain as the human race rejected Him and gave the affection that belongs to Him to other gods. And yet, even then, He gave Himself for us, paying in Himself for our infidelities and adulteries so that, if we repent and turn away from them, we have the promise of eternal life.Read 1 Peter 1:18, 19. What are we told in these verses that gives us the assurance of the end as depicted in Revelation 21:1–4?