The Ultimate Banquet
“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Revelation 19:6-9
Whenever we survey campers about their favorite Evening Program of the summer, there’s one that wins almost every single time, and we bet you can guess it - Banquet! And it’s not hard to see why. It’s the biggest celebration we have! When you combine a huge surprise (the theme!), a spectacularly decorated Dining Hall, and the chance to reflect with your favorite people on your time at camp, you get something that feels a little like magic. The whole night is a gift from the staff to the campers - you may laugh, you may cry, you may jump up and down.. you may do all of those at once! Just the word “Banquet” - doesn’t it just sound special?
Banquet at camp may be the best thing you can imagine right now, but did you know as Christians, we have an even better feast to look forward to? The book of Revelation comes at the very end of the Bible, and it can sometimes be a little intimidating because it includes lots of symbols and pictures.
But it’s really just a picture of how God is going to come back and redeem the people He loves. It tells us how our story is going to end. Do you ever feel tempted to flip to the back of the book you’re reading and see what happens? This is what Revelation shows us, and spoiler alert, it’s really great!
We get more information about what this is going to look like later in the book: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) This means that everything that makes you sad or scared or angry right now will be taken away, and even more than that, it will be made right.
It will be pure happiness forever and ever, because we will finally be with Jesus, which is all our hearts were created for. And we see in Revelation 19 that there will be a huge feast, and the biggest celebration ever, happier and more fun than the best birthday party or wedding you’ve ever gone to.
If you’re a Christian, this is what you have to look forward to! Everything will be made right. We will be at peace and with our Savior. No matter what happens in this world, nothing can take that away from us. Our Banquet at camp is just a small glimmer of what heaven’s banquet is going to look like - can you imagine? That is the best news for today friends - we know how our story ends, and it is really, really good.