Hello! I am Jon Paulien and I’m glad you came to this page to check out my work. I am a New Testament scholar and Professor of Religion at Loma Linda University. On this website you will find a collection of my articles, commentary on Revelation, and links to my blog, videos, and other resources. Make sure you check the articles link above regularly to see the latest postings. In my hand above is an exact replica of p52, the earliest extant New Testament manuscript fragment, containing portions of John, chapter 18. Centered above my head is a replica of ancient Greek pottery. At either end above are two sets of books from, and about, my favorite spiritual author, Ellen G. White. I hope you enjoy the site.

Daily Devotional For November 9, 2026

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Rejoice, be abundantly glad and give glory to Him, because the wedding of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her to be dressed in fine linen, bright and clean (for the fine linen is the righteous actions of the saints). Rev 19:7-8.

           This text brings us to a much anticipated point in history. Jesus Christ comes face to face with His people! The encounter is described as a wedding. Everybody loves a wedding, and this will be the greatest wedding of all time! When we understand a few characteristics of ancient Hebrew weddings, the description in Revelation will mean even more to us.
           The ancient Hebrew wedding began with a betrothal, something like our concept of engagement. The prospective groom and his father would come to the house of the bride and her father for an engagement ceremony. In Hebrew culture, the engagement was more than just a promise, it was treated as seriously as a marriage, even though the couple did not yet set up a joint household.
           In the next stage of the Hebrew wedding sequence, the groom returns to his father’s house and prepares the place where the couple will live. This was usually somewhere on the father’s property. In a rural setting the couple would receive a piece of land where the groom and his bride would live and farm. The groom would work with other members of his family to build a suitable house for the new family on that land. In a more urban setting, they might build an extension onto the family home. While this is going on, the bride is at her father’s house, preparing herself to be a fit and honorable bride. She would also be shopping and packing things that would go with her to her husband’s house.
           On the wedding day itself, the groom collects his bride at her father’s house and takes her to the wedding celebration at his father’s house. In John 14:1-3, the second coming of Jesus is described in terms of this third stage of the Hebrew wedding sequence. The first advent of Jesus was like a betrothal. He left His Father’s house in heaven, came to earth and was engaged to His bride, the church. He then returned to Heaven to prepare a place for His bride while she remains on the earth preparing herself. At the second coming, Jesus returns to earth for His bride and takes her back to His Father’s house.
           In the ancient tradition, the wedding occurs when the place and the bride are both ready. The bride is dressed in the righteousness of Christ and the righteous acts that she has done. Her dress is distinguished from that of Lady Babylon, it is bright and clean.

           Lord, I want nothing more than to be pure and clean when You come. Take me and mold me to that end.