‘And a voice came out from the throne, saying, “Give praise to God, all you his servants (Psalms 113:1; Psalms 134:1), you who fear him, the small and the great (Psalms 115:13)”. And I heard as it were the voice of a vast crowd, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Halleluyah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be abundantly glad, and let us give the glory to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready.'
The voice from the throne is the voice of one of the living creatures ever mindful of the need for all to recognise the holiness of God, and to give praise to Him. And his cry is to ‘all you His servants'. By comparison with Revelation 19:2 where ‘the blood of His servants' is mentioned, this means the redeemed people of God. This is confirmed by the descriptions used which have previously referred to the people of God (Revelation 7:9; Revelation 14:2).
On the other hand ‘the Bride' is mentioned in the third person, which might be seen as suggesting that the words are those of heavenly beings, for they are our ‘fellow-servants' (Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:9). But it is not uncommon in such chants and responses for people to speak of themselves in the third person. Thus ‘the Bride has made herself ready' can be seen as such a response, the people of God confirming that they are now ready, having prepared themselves for the moment they have awaited through the ages.
Alternately the idea may be that the whole of Heaven responds in a thunderous voice, with the people of God joining in, as they consider what all history has waited for, the marriage of the Lamb and His bride, celebrating the finalising of the Reign of God. The Kingly Rule of God had reached its fruition. The picture is vivid as it depicts the excitement about the wedding and the desire to see the beautiful bride.
‘The Bride has made herself ready'. It has taken many long centuries but at last the bride is presented to Christ, holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). The picture of Christ as the bridegroom is regular in the Gospels (Matthew 9:15; Matthew 25:1; Matthew 25:5-6; Matthew 25:10; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; John 3:29). For the church as the bride see 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:27. For the true Israel as God's bride see Hosea 2:19-20; Isaiah 54:1-8; and Ezekiel 16:8-14 where God Himself prepares the bride. Then all focus was on the bridegroom but now focus can be turned on the bride for she has been fully prepared for this day. The bride is, of course, righteous Israel, comprising the totality of God's resurrected people of the Old and New Testaments. (See on Revelation 7:4-8).
But it is noteworthy here that emphasis is placed on the bride having made herself ready. God is at work in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure, but we in our turn are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). So in contrast with the scarlet woman the bride is revealed by the path she chose, revealed by her righteous behaviour. She had responded to the call of the Bridegroom, and that had resulted in a life transformed which had set her apart from the people who dwell on earth. Those who have not prepared themselves are not the bride.