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[1]. 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[2]. 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[3] 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?
[HR][/HR][1] 1 Cor. 15:22, 45-49
[2] Gen. 29
[3] 2 Cor. 11
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[2]. 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[3] 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?
[HR][/HR][1] 1 Cor. 15:22, 45-49
[2] Gen. 29
[3] 2 Cor. 11