“Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb…”

(Part One of Two)

When I was working on the last blog about heaven I ran across some scriptures in Revelation that I don’t remember “seeing” before. Not that I hadn’t ever “read them”, but I hadn’t truly “seen” them before! (Not the first time that’s happened and probably not the last!). It really is amazing how we tend to look at scripture through our “doctrinal filters” and not read and understand it for what it actually says (I am so guilty of that!!). In this particular instance it took me by surprise because I wasn’t even looking for it, but I do believe that it was God who brought it to my attention.

These are the scriptures I am referring to: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Revelation 21:2 And this one in the same chapter: “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." Revelation 21:9-10

After I read these scriptures I was like “WHAT”!?? The Holy City of Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ!!?? How can that be?? I have always been taught and believed that WE, the church of believing Christians, is the Bride!! And when I realized what I was reading, my first thought was, “Oh my goodness! Israel is the Bride of Christ, not the church!!” (Again, not seeing it for what it actually said…) But, after doing a little more research I am not so sure about Israel being the bride anymore. I found a website that had some good information and explanations on the church not being the bride, but they do believe Israel is the bride. Here is an excerpt with their explanation: “In the Old Testament, the idea of Israel as the “wife” of God is developed. Though Israel was “married” to God she proved an unfaithful spouse. The nation’s unfaithfulness was expressed as spiritual adultery: it deserted Him for false gods, e.g., Baal, Asherah, Molech, Dagon, etc. Despite these failures, God declared the nation would return to Him, that they would become what He had purposed for them, and that He would fulfill His covenant promises to them. According to God’s promise, the entire nation would become priests (Exodus 19.6) and a faithful wife.” (http://doctrine.org/the-bride-of-christ)

Initially this statement made sense to me, and while I do believe God’s promises about Israel will come to pass, I am still not convinced that she is His “Bride”. His Exodus scripture says: “…you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'” I am not sure where he got the “faithful wife” part?? While God did refer to himself as a “husband” and spoke of Israel, like as unto “a bride” and “an adulteress wife”, there is no reference to Israel being the “Bride of Christ” in the Bible at all. Here are some scriptures I found that refer to God as husband and Israel as a bride/wife: “…for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. …" Isaiah 62:1-12 (As a young man…. As a bridegroom…This looks like a metaphor to me…)

For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit-- a wife who married young, only to be rejected," Isaiah 54:5- 12 (Again, “…as if you were a wife…” looks like another comparison statement.)

“Return, faithless people, declares the LORD, "for I am your husband. I will choose you--one from a town and two from a clan-- and bring you to Zion.” Jeremiah 3:14 (This looks pretty clear that He is referring to himself as a husband… but not the “Bridegroom”)

“But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel," declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 3:20 (Again, “… like a women unfaithful to her husband”)

“The time is coming, declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33 (He speaks of being a husband again here but then says He is their “God” and they are His people. Not Bridegroom and Bride)

“When you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment. 'You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! …” Ezekiel 16:31-33 (A wife and husband but not bride and bridegroom)

“There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. In that day, declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. 'I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.” Hosea 2:15-17 (Another husband term but not bride or bridegroom)

I love the Old Testament and hearing God’s heart and passion for His people and His desire for them to worship Him alone and not look to other god’s to care for them. I believe He speaks of Himself as a “husband” to help the Israelites understand His heart and love for them (considering the phrases “As a bride groom, as if you were a wife, like a women…”). I hear Him say over and over again that He wants to be their God, and for them to be His people, to desire Him ONLY, like in a husband and wife relationship. I personally see His use of “husband and wife” terms as an analogy more than anything else… But if I am wrong, which I very well could be, and they should be considered “Husband and Wife”, why would they go back to being the “Bridegroom and Bride”? What purpose would that serve? The only thing I can think of is that they will be remarried with the new covenant?? But even this is not supported by scripture…

So, after looking at the Old Testament and not really seeing the phrase “Bride of Christ” I went back into the New Testament. Again, I wanted to look at what Jesus said about this subject. What did Jesus say about the church?? Did he mention anything about it? If so, what did He say and what did He call it? After doing this research I found only two references to the church by Jesus: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, (ekklesia or assembly) and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:18 – And the second reference: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Matthew 18:15-17 Okay. But I didn’t find any references to the Bride of Christ by Jesus at all!! So neither the church nor Israel is referred to as “the bride”. Which makes me think, Hmmm… I would think that, if we, or Israel were the bride, that would be an important thing for Jesus to mention, right??

But, here are some descriptive terms Jesus did use in the Gospels. Friends and Guests:

“Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Matthew 9:15 In this scripture He was referring to his disciples, who are Jews (and Christians), and He calls them the “guests of the bridegroom…” Not the bride.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

“You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15 (See also John 21:5, Matthew 11:19, Matthew 20:13, Matthew 26:50, Luke 5:20, Luke 11:5-8, Luke 14:10, John 11:11)

Jesus tells several parables saying the Kingdom of heaven is like… “… a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' Matthew 22:2-10 In this parable I believe He is saying that the Jews were invited to the “wedding banquet” first and when they refused to come, He sent his servants out to invite anyone on the streets they could find, “both the good and the bad…” this is where the gentiles come in, “…and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” Vs 10

“…But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut…” Matthew 25:10

I have always seen this parable of the ten virgins as “the Christians” waiting for Jesus to come again and become His bride but, now that I really look at it, TEN virgins? Wouldn’t that be polygamy? And it says they went into the wedding banquet… not the “wedding”! They were there waiting for the bridegroom to come so they could attend the banquet and celebrate with the Bride and Groom.

And here are a couple more scriptures to throw into the mix:

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” John 3:29 John the Baptist was a Jew, yet he calls himself a “friend attending  the bridegroom”… Not the bride.

And in the book of James it says “And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.” James 2:23 Abraham was also a Jew and he is referred to as God’s friend… So, looking at these scriptures, it doesn’t look like Israel is the bride. Not once does He call anyone in the Jewish community a “bride” nor does He even allude to it.

“Most we have met do not believe the literal words of Revelation 21 and 22. They haven’t received the kingdom as a little child. They can’t wrap their brains around the fact that "the bride, the Lamb’s wife" is an actual city as she/it is described in wonderful detail.” (Look to the East: http://www.looktotheeast.com/bride_of_christ.htm) I read this statement when I was still thinking the Bride of Christ was Israel and thought to myself, “How weird that he is saying the bride is a ‘city’!!??”… But, the more I thought about it, and the more I searched the scriptures, the more I realized, well, that is what it says!! I was trying to “insert” MY understanding/belief into what it said, but it doesn’t say “Israel” at all, or the “church”! Just that the Bride of the Lamb is the “Holy City of Jerusalem”! Another key point is that the city is described in great detail and, if there were any people in the city as it is descending, I am pretty sure it would have been listed among the contents of the city but there is no mention of any “people” at all. I do believe that, as guests of the Bridegroom, not the Bride, we will dwell with Him in the Holy City of Jerusalem for eternity.

Okay, with all that said, I am not saying I have figured this all out… I certainly still have more questions about all this myself but at this point in time, I am thinking the Revelation scriptures are stating something really clear.

"Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." Revelation 21:9-10

Stay tuned for part 2 “The Body of Christ”…