Chapter8
Who is the Bride of Christ?
When John sees the new heaven and earth appear, he is called to come see the Bride of the Lamb[1]. He is then shown the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descending to the ground prepared as a bride.
Wow. A new heaven and earth. Sweet. And a capitol city, adorned as a bride for her ruler. Now, when God talks about a city He refers to the people who live there. Jesus made an example of this when He wept over Jerusalem, saying how much He longed to take the city in His arms[2]. Jesus didn’t want to hold the buildings, He was loving the people. In the passages of Revelation, we get not only a description of how the Holy City looks, but also of the people within it. So who are those who inhabit it?
John records hearing a loud voice declaring that God’s tabernacle is with men, that these are His people and He is their God. There are no more tears, pain, death, or sorrow, and old things are passed away. God declares all things new, and promises to give freely of the water of life to those who thirst. He says those who overcome shall inherit these things and be His sons. John says There is no temple because God and the Lamb are its temple, and there is no sun or moon because they are its light.
He goes on to say that the nations of the saved shall walk in the city’s light, that the kings and nations will bring their glory and honor into it, and that only those whose names are written in the Book of life will ever enter. John is shown the river of life, and the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of these nations. He hears it declared that the curse of separation is over and God can once again live with His servants, on whose foreheads is the name of God. They reign forever and ever.
There are two different groups here inhabiting this new earth. There are those who live in New Jerusalem where God takes residence, and there are nations of the saved who live outside the city and interact with it. Remember now, this is the new earth, all those here are His. So while most of us do live in a world with His presence, there is a special subset He draws even nearer to live with Him.
One thing we see is that God will live in the City with His servants. Servants can take the form of tradesmen, who are paid a wage and work it will, or slaves who are given neither consideration. In Old Testament times if you had a slave you had to offer him his freedom after a period of service[3]. But if you were a good and loving master he might not have wanted to leave. So you would pierce his ear as a symbol of his becoming your bondservant. In return for his agreeing to be your slave for life, you agreed to care for him and his family for life. When God speaks about His servants He speaks of His bondservants, those who when offered freedom have chosen servitude.
This City population also includes those who "overcome.” Overcome is a fighting term, meaning to gain victory against an adversary in combat. In Jesus’ letters to the churches He commends their good works, rebukes their wrongs, exhorts them to seek a special understanding, and makes a specific promise to "those who overcome.” They are promised to eat from the tree of life; to not be hurt by the second death; to be given hidden manna and a white stone with a new name on it unknown to any others but themselves and God. They are to be given power over the nations. They are also to be given the morning star, to be clothed in white and to never have their names blotted out from the book of life but confessed before the Father and His angels. They are to be made pillars in the temple of God and to never go out from it, and to have written on them the name of the City of God. Given new names they are granted to sit down with Jesus on His throne as was granted Him when He overcame and sat down with the Father.
These promises are all identifiable to those given by John to the inhabitants of New Jerusalem. One new promise is that of being given the morning star. Jesus called himself the Morning Star[4], and promised to give Himself as such to His Bride.
These people also eat from the tree of life, whereas in the earlier passage we saw that the leaves of the tree are for the nations.
Let’s look at that word ‘Overcoming’. In Revelation those who overcome are to be clothed in white. Daniel, in his visions, was told that after the beast had overcome the saints, many will be refined, purified, and made white. Then in Revelation 7:9-17 we see a vast multitude standing before the throne of God, wearing white robes and praising Him. These are described as those who come out of the great tribulation having washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb. These are promised to serve God before His throne day and night, and God will dwell among them. They hunger and thirst no more; the sun does not shine on them; the Lamb of the Throne will shepherd them and lead them to living waters; and their tears are wiped away. Rev. 6:9-11 shows us the souls of those slain for the Word of God and His testimony under the altar, and they cry out to God asking when He will avenge their blood. They are each given a white robe and are told to rest a while longer until the number of their brethren who are likewise killed is complete.
Dwelling on the word "overcome”, if we dig a little more we find two specific things overcome in the end time. One is the world, the other is Satan. We find that the world is overcome by the Blood of Jesus, but the Blood of the Lamb is specifically named in connection with the casting out of Satan[5]. We were told that Satan is overcome by the Blood of the Lamb, and the testimony of ‘those who do not love their lives unto death’.
This should put together some kind of picture for you. Jesus’ bride are those who have sealed themselves to God as true bondslaves willing to die for Him. They will be His Bide and live with Him in the City. And the rest of us will live outside the City in nations of the saved.
If I may rile some people; nowhere yet have we seen "the Church” in descriptions of His bride. This is unusual, because the Church is very much universally accepted as being the Bride of Christ. That connection comes from Ephesians 5:22-33, where Paul talks about husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the Church. In trying to explain what he calls a mystery, Paul quotes Genesis 2:23 where God declares that man and woman will become one flesh. In this setting God has just taken part of Adam’s body (his rib) to create his wife, Eve. Paul specifically calls the church the body of Christ; Jesus is called the second Adam[6]. To fit the pattern of Adam would it not follow that a part, and not all, of His body will be taken to create His bride? But nowhere does it say Church. It says those who seal their love of Him to the death.
Jesus talked about people entering into a wedding feast, and they were called blessed because they were invited. But in a Biblical wedding feast the bride was not invited and did not attend. She was sequestered away someplace being prepared for the wedding night. After the feast the groom would go to take his bride from that place. An example of this is Jacob’s marriage to Rachel[7]. If his bride to be had been at the wedding feast he would have known he was being given Leah instead. So again there are two groups here… the general populace who feast with God, and those give their life as a Slave and Bride to Him.
In another place[8] Paul explains further. He says he wishes to present us to the Lord as a chaste virgin. But then he fears, that we be deceived and corrupt that purity. I think what Paul meant is that the Church, the aggregate body of all who believe in Christ, BC or AD, have been born virgin for betrothal to the Lord. But this virginal quality can be corrupted on an individual basis. Those of His people who don’t fall to this corruption will be taken from those who do, to become His bride. The rib from the body.
Perhaps His Bride could also be seen by looking at her prefiguration (or Biblical pattern, getting back to that repeating history thing). God will physically dwell on the New Earth in New Jerusalem. On Old Earth (our Earth) God physically dwelt on earth in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the basic difference being that one (the Tabernacle) was mobile and the other (the Temple) a fixed site. The facilities both consisted of a central structure surrounded by a walled courtyard. One tribe (the Levites) were called apart from the family to serve inside the tabernacle/temple as God’s priests. The other tribes lived outside but brought their sacrifices into the tabernacle/temple. This is what John saw with the New Earth and New Jerusalem - the only difference being nations instead of tribes, a city instead of a tent/building, and commerce instead of sacrifice.
We heard earlier that a biblical bride went somewhere to wait and prepare for the groom. So where does She go ? Remember Jesus’ statement that those in Judea should flee to the mountains when they see the abomination of desolation, and our noting that the Judeans were very close and loyal to Him? We also saw the Revelation 12 prophecy of the woman who fled to a place prepared for her in the wilderness where she is cared for. Hosea 2 talks about the day of the Lord, as God speaks about Israel’s harlotry and His judgment upon her, after which He allures her into the wilderness and speaks comfort to her there. She is given vineyards as in the day she was called up out of Egypt, and she now calls Him Husband, not master. These people will be taken by God to a place of safety and preparation.
Back to the tribulation for a moment. We saw that there was worldly judgment, then the desolation of Jerusalem, then not just the catching up of God’s people but others being told to flee. There is a group who are drawn to a place of protection during the feast and millennium and the final battle, and in the recreation and new creation of earth and heavens. What we looked at before regarding what it’s like during that millennium talked about a group who are sequestered away, over whom the ‘second death’ at the very end has no place. So there are those who come out of the resurrection/’rapture’ who are sequestered as a bride during the millennium and final judgment.
God will have a pure and chaste bride - those who are committed to be His eternal bondservants to the death. Not all of His people will be a part of her, but each of us has a chance to be. It all depends on how much we love our Creator, and whether we let our simple dependence upon Him be corrupted.
So, what’s all this got to do with us now?
[1] Rev. 21, 22
[2] Matt. 23:37
[3] Gen. 21:1-6
[4] Rev. 22:16
[5] Rev. 7 and 12
[6] 1 Cor. 15:22, 45-49
[7] Gen. 29
[8] 2 Cor. 11
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