Who is the Bride of Christ?

Did you know that the phrase “Bride of Christ” does not exist in the Bible?

So how did this question ever come about as to whether the church or Israel is the Bride of Christ?

I’ve heard that “Bride of Christ” is a dogma of the Catholic Church. J.C. O’Hair said this concept had been advocated by the Plymouth Brethren, which made its way into the Scofield Bible. Scofield, in a footnote on Rev 19:7 to 9 talking about the Marriage of the Lamb, wrote:

“The Lamb’s wife” here is the “bride” (Rev. 21:9), the church, identified with the “heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22, 23) and to be distinguished from Israel, the adulterous and repudiated “wife” of Jehovah yet to be restored (Isaiah 54:1 to 10; Hosea 2:1 to 17)…

What?

We’re going to prove in this article that marriage in the Bible, particularly the OT, is often just a description of a lasting, loving relationship, a bond of love. Marriage is often used as a metaphor, a figure of speech that’s descriptive of a permanent union.

If you do a search on “bride” in the Bible, you will only find 14 references. Bridegroom, maybe 24 times. Betroth, only 4 times. Wedding, 7 times. Marriage, 19 times. It’s an easy study. Plus, you quickly realize that most references to brides are illustrations to make a point.

Take, for example, Isa. 61:10.

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

This is merely an illustration of the joy one feels being clothed in His righteousness because saints were saved by faith in the OT. This joy is like the joy of a bridegroom all decked-out in his best suit on his wedding day or the joy of a bride adorned for her marriage.

There are other references in which God uses the concept of a bride only as an illustration.

Consider Jer. 2:32, “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.”

Consider, too, Jer. 3:8, “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.”

Notice how His actions are past tense. “…I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce…”

If the Lord had already given Israel a bill of divorce, wouldn’t that mean Israel was His wife instead of a bride?

Ahh, but some might say, the Marriage of the Lamb is the remarriage of the Lord with His ex-wife!

So how do you explain vs. 14 that’s also in Jer. 3?

There, He tells Jeremiah to tell Israel, “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion…”(Jer. 3:14). In that same chapter, the Lord says, “I had given her a bill of divorce” and then later He says “I am married unto you.”

Is He married to Israel or isn’t He?

May I suggest that the bill of divorce and the reference to marriage are only used as illustrations to show the people of Israel the nature of their relationship to Him as well as the dire straits they’re in with respect to this precious relationship to the Lord?

Consider Isa 62:1-5.

Isaiah writes, For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Isa 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Isa 62:3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Isa 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. Isa 62:5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

Here the Lord is talking about giving Israel away in marriage to someone else! And it’s not even a person! It’s land! A big ol’ plot of land! Palestine here is called “Beulah” (vs. 4). Do you know what Beulah means? It means marriage. Hephzibah means “my delight!” This passage is describing the delight of Jehovah in placing Israel back in her land and marrying Israel to her land.

Can you believe that? Israel is going to be married to land!

Marriage in the Bible is often just a description of a lasting, loving relationship, a bond of love. Marriage is a metaphor, a figure of speech that’s descriptive of a permanent union. God uses here the metaphor of marriage to describe Israel’s permanent union to her promised land. They will never again be separated from that land.

There are also hundreds of verses describing Israel’s relationship to God as children to a loving father. Consider Exo. 4:22, “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:” Exo 4:23 “And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.” Consider Isa 63:16, “Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.” Consider Isa 64:8, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” The Apostle John also had much to say in his gospel and his letters about Israel as the children of God and the sons of God.

So which is it? Is Israel the child of God or the wife or the bride?

Hosea

Some might say, “No-no, Joel! Israel is promised to be the wife of Jehovah, His new bride, because of Hosea 2:2, 7, 14-16. In fact, we find in Hosea 2:19-20 that three times God says concerning Israel, ‘I will betroth you to Me.’ See? Doesn’t that mean Israel is the Lamb’s Bride?”

We have to keep in mind that Hosea is an illustration of the spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness of Israel. This story of Hosea is not prophetic doctrine just as it wasn’t doctrine for prophets to marry whores. This story was a means of rebuking and wooing the people of Israel back to a state of faithfulness. This was an illustration to drive the point that Israel’s idolatry was like unto Christ as adultery is to a marriage, and He would take them back just as a husband would take back an adulteress wife, just as Hosea took back Gomer after she left him. It’s a message of judgment and mercy, and adultery was the analogy the Lord used to prick their hearts about their spiritual idolatry and also how He would take them back if they committed themselves to Him again. When the Lord says three times in chapter 2 that “I will betroth her to me forever,” it was a message of mercy, not a doctrine about the future Marriage of the Lamb.

Consider Matthew 9.

Mat 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? Mat 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

John’s disciples watch Jesus and His disciples, and they wonder why they are not fasting. Jesus tells them when people have the bridegroom in their presence they do not mourn, they rejoice.

However, there will come a time when the bridegroom is taken away. Then, they will mourn and fast. Here we see that the bridegroom is identified as the Lord Jesus Christ, but notice how the disciples are described – as the children of the bridechamber.

Huh? How does that work exactly?

The Lord only speaks of the bridechamber, because the Bride isn’t here yet.

We’re not given here the identification of the Bride. We have a bridegroom and the children of the bridechamber, which are the disciples.

That’s it.

There’s no Bride.

Where is she? Who is she?

Nancy Paulson, in an article on the Bride of Christ would write, “The disciples, the ones who will sit on the 12 thrones are not called the bride. One would think they would be but they are not; they are called ‘the children of the bridechamber.’ The reason for this is because the terms bride of Jehovah, the wife of Jehovah are figures of speech describing a union, a oneness, a lasting relationship that one has. Being the bride is not a status like being a member of the Body of Christ. Marriage is a description of a relationship. We, for instance, are described as members of the Body of Christ. We are also described as ‘the temple of the living God.’ How many of us are a building? Not one of us, we understand that terminology to be a figure of speech that describes the relationship we have. This is the same issue with marriage terminology, including that of ‘the bride’…”

Consider Luke 12.

Notice what Jesus says to his disciples in Luke 12:36, “And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.”

Have you ever been to a wedding where the bride was not there? Well, if the disciples are the bride then it appears that they are not even at the wedding!

Consider John 3.

In John 3:29, John the Baptist says, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”

In John’s glorious testimony exalting Christ, he makes it very plain, as he always did, that he had been sent before the Messiah to prepare the way for Him. He then illustrated his relationship to Christ as that of the best man (friend of the bridegroom) to the bridegroom, an illustration which is just as meaningful today as it was then. The best man is usually the best friend of the groom. The best man does not glorify himself, but he does everything possible to help the groom and give him his rightful place of honor. His joy is fulfilled in seeing the happiness of the groom. This is just an illustration of the joy of the friend of the groom at His wedding.

The best man can’t be the bride, now can he?

Okay, Joel! Enough! Who is the bride?

I’d suggest that the bride is clearly identified in Rev. 21.

The Marriage of the Lamb is set-up in Revelation 19. You have the Great White Throne judgment in chapter 20. You have the new heaven and new earth at the beginning of chapter 21, and then… we’re presented the bride, the Lamb’s Wife.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…

After this we have many, many verses describing the length and breadth and height of New Jerusalem. This structure is so massive, it’ll be 1,500 miles high. The Lord will be exalted so high above the Earth in the eternal state, He won’t even be in the Earth’s hemisphere, that is, if all things are equal after we get the new Earth.

But the bigger point is this – it seems quite evident from all these verses that the Bride of Christ has to be New Jerusalem. The angel said, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife, and then John wrote, and he shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…

The Bride can only be New Jerusalem.

But how can a building be a bride?

How can Israel be married to a land?

Marriage in the Bible is often a metaphor, a figure of speech, that describes a union, and God uses the metaphor of marriage to describe His permanent union to His new dwelling place upon the new Earth – New Jerusalem just as He used marriage to describe Israel’s permanent union to her promised land.

We know from Gal 4:26 that New Jerusalem isn’t just the mother of Israel, but she is the mother of us all. Paul wrote, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” After the Bride gets married, she becomes our mother, too.

She is the home city, the city in which all of God’s people will abide in and around forever as God’s children, and the righteousness of all the saints will adorn that city.

Consider Rev 19:7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready (we established in chapter 21 that the Bride is New Jerusalem). Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints… The fine linen of New Jerusalem is the righteousness of saints.

I think we’re seeing in this verse a reference that includes the Body of Christ. How can it not include us when New Jerusalem is the mother of us all? Once we get to a new Heaven and a new Earth, we’re looking at a total oneness of the two programs of prophecy and mystery (Eph. 1:10).

Hal once told me the story about being at a conference and men were debating whether the Bride is Israel or the Body of Christ. Hal said, “Neither. New Jerusalem is the Bride, and we’re the dress!” LOL But he’s right. That is totally true. John tells us that the fine linen of New Jerusalem is the righteousness of saints, which I suspect means that the personality of that city, the glory of that city, will be characterized by the righteousness of all the saints, both Jews and the Body of Christ.

This is why Jerusalem that is above is free, because no one will be in bondage to the law, and she herself will be adorned with the righteousness of ALL the saints.

Because Paul tells us that she is our mother, God is, essentially, inviting us to join with His people in their great anticipation of what will become the center of our universe for all eternity. We cannot yet see that city with our eyes, but we study these passages and we dream of the glory to come because she is the endgame to it all, and we, like Israel, anticipate her arrival through the eyes of faith.

Let me ask another question.

In Rev. 19:9, John says, “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Who are those called to the marriage supper of the Lamb? Who are the guests? How can this not be both Israel and the Body of Christ? By this point, will we not have taken up our seats in heavenly places? Will we not all have a front row to the glorious Marriage of the Lamb?