The Bride: At The End in The book of Revelation

Christian Spirit Magazine December 1997 – God told John at the beginning of the book of Revelation to record the things he would see and hear because the time was at hand. Obviously, God did not intend those words to mean that every­thing He prophesied about would hap­pen immediately or come to pass in one fell swoop. Anyone who takes even a glance at Christ’s great prophetic dialogue known as the Olivet Discourse depicting the signs of His Return knows that the prophecies would extend over a wide range of time during this Age of Grace. What God was getting at was simply this: every­thing recorded in Revelation could be put to spiritual use by the believer right away, and could have an impact on their lives no matter where they lived in the timeline of God’s extended time of salvation for the Gentiles. Everything in Revelation could be pertinent and would be beneficial to their understanding and applicable immediately to their faith. What that means is that all the things written in Revelation have been pertinent to the followers of Christ from day one. It has been God’s hope that all Christians, from the first century A.D. on, would absorb the lessons of Revelation, heed its warnings and accept its charitable, loving admonitions and advice. If the time for its understanding and application was immediate, then so be it. If more pertinent to a succeeding generation then, let it be. Everything that was once pertinent certainly must be even more vital now as the day of Christ’s appearing and His Second Coming draws nearer with each passing day.

The vision of the Lamb’s bride in the second part of chapter twenty-one, which we are about to study, is no less important to our faith than any other part of Revelation. This panoramic picture is actually a detailed analysis of the Bride’s character and must not be viewed superficially, merely as a passing portrait of an obscure subject of mere curiosity. She is beautiful, yes, but what her beauty symbolizes is what should penetrate into our faith, get hold of our heart and mind and serve us as a role model that our personal life should validate. In verses 9‑27 God has revealed to us a glorious Bride without spot or wrinkle. This is the Bride in all her holiness, goodness of character and faith. God has made this vision available to all Christians, down through the Church age so they could have something with which to compare themselves, a sort of mirror in which to adorn and prepare themselves so they would be ready for the appearance of the Bridegroom. This representation of the Bride, descending out of heaven to be merged with God as one forever, is a metaphor used by God to show us the spiritual requirements and condition of faith through the mysteries, parables and exemplary lives of illustrious women who represent attributes and faith of Christ’s eternal wife.

Intro to Eternity
The first part of the second to last chapter of the Bible introduces us to eternity, the promised utopian paradise of God. We are told how everything will become new. Nothing in the former world will be able to tempt us or overcome our hope, faith and love in God. We are put at ease, God will not permit fearful people, doubters, liars, haters or sinners of any sort to enter into this realm which is the exclusive domicile of the Bride. Only the righteous in Christ will dwell as one with Him. The Father and The Son shall be its light and power source. There will be no moon, sun, stars or such ‘artificial’ light. Perfect beings in a perfect setting secure for all eternity. God will be all in all. The Scriptures advance the thought in this way – everything is ours, we are Christ’s and Christ is God’s. We belong and everything belongs to us.

In the first part of the chapter we had been alerted to the vision of the Bride of Christ, that glorious body of faithful believers who have been taken into eternity to live with Christ: “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. 21:2 We recall the words of the Bible, the mystery of Christ and the Church, which is revealed in Ephesians declaring Christ’s ultimate purpose for The Church, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Eph. 5:27 A few verses later we are directly and explicitly told by an angel that this city is a symbolic representation of the Bride, a visual aid of the mystery now complete and in full order, of Christ and His perfect Church, the Lamb’s wife descending from heaven, fitted out and fully suited as the eternal dwelling place of God.

“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 show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Rev. 21:9

Details of her beauty are about to be revealed in the powerful symbolism afforded by a rich and magnificent city. God reserves this epic depiction of her beauty for the second half of the penultimate chapter of the Bible. We are closing in on His final few words of Holy Writ. It is more than a fleeting glimpse into the eternal marriage of Christ and a spotless church, the vision being full of symbolic meaning. The Bride’s importance in the grand scheme of redemption and into eternity should not escape the reader as it is exhibited by the fact that she, the glorious wife of Christ, is also the final major topic to be revealed in Holy Scripture. It can be said that God ends His revelation to mankind by showing him the Bride of Christ. Up to this point she has only been mentioned briefly, her reality alluded to by prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Solomon and David, her future glory only hinted at, spoken of merely for the record and to give hope to those of us who accept what Abraham accepted, that we are strangers in a strange land, looking for an eternal home not made by hands, but by God, wherein righteousness dwells. It is worthy of note that the Bible begins with man alone in a garden. It ends with man in an enormously rich city in a vast social setting with countless friends and eternal relationships of undying love.

Now God is about to give the serious student of Scripture, those who have forged their way through Revelation, a series of snapshots within the overall picture of the Bride. Each one is a small picture within the big picture, each giving us deeper insight into her development, her holiness, her fidelity and her unimpeachable character of spirit. Each snippet should be scrutinized with the care in which an art dealer inspects a masterpiece he is considering for purchase. Each picture detail of the Bride is worth examining with spiritual eyes seeking the mind of Christ for personal application. Each brushstroke of this picture of the Bride is worth analyzing so that we, the prospective Bride, may peer at the handy work of Christ who is preparing the Bride so that He may present her to Himself holy and unblemished, a perfect piece of beauty artfully formed and lovely. We should use this picture to peer into our own heart, as a mirror, that we are prepared for His coming in hopes that He will find us to His liking, humbly waiting for His arrival among the others who have sought out eternal Brideship with God. Do we conform to her? Are we without spot or wrinkle or any such blemish, spiritually speaking? Are we doing the best we can to please Him by faith? God is giving us one last mirror in which to see our own reflection, to see if we are matching her beauty, in hopes that we will be found among her number. Verse nine offers the first clear picture where we can stop to rest and begin to compare ourselves to the bride-in-waiting.

It is not a coincidence that it is one of the judgment angels of the seven last plagues that introduces us to the Bride. To be counted among her number is a great judgment, though it is a good judgment, it is nonetheless a judgment, also for those who do not make the grade. To be excluded from her is a total spiritual disaster. In the preceding verse we learned who and what she will not be like. Those who couldn’t find it in their heart to truly trust God are not part of the Bride. Those who were afraid and could not believe that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose will not be among the chosen ones as the Bride. There is no place for naysayers or doubters in the eternal bosom of Christ?  And, of course, those who hypocritically cling to their sins (not those who fall occasionally or sin unwillingly, but those who love sin, willingly sin, hate repentance and cling to unrighteousness and self), such as: idolatry, fornication, hatred, lying, stealing and any other thing that is opposed to the sound doctrine of the Bible will be cast into outer darkness. Christians who claim they are Christian, but really are not in word and deed will be exposed by the Truth. The Father will not give away a corrupt Bride to His Son. There is no place for duplicity in the Bride. She cannot have one foot in the world and one in Christ’s bed. She cannot be kind or gentle, but still be whorish. She cannot be faithful and free of idolatry but still lie in her heart. She cannot be reverent and obedient, but be a rebel or non-submissive to God’s will, or a hater or have murder in her heart. She must be without spot or wrinkle or any such blemish. Ninety percent good and ten percent bad is not good enough. We are not talking about self-righteousness here. All the righteousness of the Bride will have been worked in her by Christ Himself by the ministry of the Holy Ghost. Those who walk in the Spirit they are the sons of God. (See: Living and Walking in the Spirit) Above all she cannot be full of fears and doubts about God’s goodness or that He is in control of all things. She must be ‘perfect’ in these things, perfectly situated and settled and trusting in God’s perfection. Not perfect according to man’s ideas but according to the standards of God’s perfection. She will believe in the way that the Psalmist describes the desire for a perfect walk. “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.” Psalms 101:2

It is a matter of having a perfect heart toward God. The philosopher David Hume defined perfection as: “That which is perfect is that which conforms to its standards.”  When it comes to spiritual perfection in Christ it is God who sets the standards and not man or any sport of church doctrine. The standards of godly perfection for the Bride conform to the standards of God’s hope, faith and love and have been declared throughout the Scriptures in things regarding righteousness, walking in the Spirit, conforming to Christ and bringing all thoughts of our mind into the obedient captivity of Christ. His standard is holiness, as the Bible says, “without which no man shall see God”. Heb 12:14

Holiness is being separated from ungodliness to godliness. Not that man can be perfect on his own account without the grace and help of Jesus Christ the Savior, but that we can be perfect in Christ by the requisites of faith. It is not that we will never stumble, it is only that when the weight and sin of this life and world beset us we seek Christ to shake them off our back for us. We do it His way and let the Holy Ghost guide us out of the dark and out of the ditch and into the light.  The Bride sings in her heart with trust, along with David’s song of Thanksgiving: “God is my strength and power: and He makes my way perfect.” 2 Sam. 22:33 How else could the Old Testament and Jesus both say, (without laying a guilt trip on us) “Be perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  Deut. 18:13 & Matt. 5:48 This is the perfection and spotless character of Christ’s wife. God gives her the power to walk in perfection. He does it by His magnificence, but she must allow Him.

Do not buy the deadly doctrine that is foisted upon us by the ill-advised doctrines of fabulously popular Laodicean indifference a call to humility and perfection. There are a ton of things required of the Bride which we will see pictured in the snapshots of the verses we are about to inspect. She must dress in proper spiritual apparel. As the famous theologian Karl Barth noted, the commands in Scripture are issued in the form of imperatives rather than laws. For instance, we are directed to ‘put on’ certain things, the new man, righteousness, Christ, and so forth. This is something we have to learn how to do and make sure we keep doing it according to need. Just as we put on some proper article of clothing to suit a particular purpose or social occasion. It requires our action, our discretion, our obedience, just as when mom told us to put our coat on as we were going out the door in the dead of winter. We must be obedient to the imperatives issued the bride, they are those things imposed on us by the realities of the mysteries of the gospel. Accordingly, we must submit, concede, receive, walk, wait, humbly serve, separate ourselves, bring our thoughts into the obedience of the captivity of Christ – love Him, set our heart to be wedded to Him for eternity. These the Bride must decide to do and then actually do them. God cannot and will not do them for us.

The Bride has no other God than her Lord; hides no other God in her back pocket or purse while standing before the Father. She must be a dutiful wife, faithful wife, with all fidelity, she is a green virgin, she has faith and confidence in her husband precisely in the way that the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 lives for her Lord’s glory and reputation and serves with joy. Otherwise, how could the marriage work? All the interactions and lessons of marriage in this life are nothing more than transitory images meant to show the eternally great spiritual truth that Christ is to be married to His beloved Church of the separated ones. Eph. 5:24‑32 If fornication and adultery are not permitted, are not accounted as righteousness in this life, should we think that God will permit them in the marriage of His Son?

God’s Blood Runs Through Her Veins

“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
   Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper [red] stone, clear as crystal;” Rev. 21:10‑11

The angel at once carried John away to a high mountain to show Him the Bride. It must be that her beauty and enormous glory could only be seen from a great vista. When we look at the Bride we are looking at the domain of Christ; this is His kingdom to which there shall be no end. The mention of a mountain overlooking a kingdom transports us back to another time when another angel, a fallen one, took Jesus to a mountain to show Him the glories of this world and to tempt Him to give up His quest for a Bride and rather bow down to him. “The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Matt. 4:8‑9 Christ resisted the Devil and won the battle. Now Christ’s faithfulness and truth has received its rich reward. We go to the top of the mountain to see the kingdom for which He awaited. The light emanating from the Bride pulsates with life. The jasper stone is clear as crystal, but has laser‑like streaks of deep red light running throughout her. It is the cleansing, life-giving blood of the Lamb. The blood of Christ runs through her veins, forever giving her strength and life. She is infused with the life of God. Every saint who is blessed to be part of the Bride is empowered with the authority and almighty unction of the blood of Christ their Savior. It is by the blood of Christ that she has utilized authority in His name and won victory over demons and devils that were at work to try to defile and subjugate her to sin.

The blood of Christ has given her power to resist temptation, that blood which has purifying power as the initial remedial healing for what ails man’s dysfunctional soul. The blood of Jesus alone gives access to the throne room of God during these trials and toils of earthly life. It made it possible for the door of God’s correction and hope to swing open so that God would hear prayers and cries for deliverance. This Jasper stone, with the blood-red vein of redemption running through, is the symbol of her covered shortcomings and sins, and by the blood, she won the forbearance of God and relied upon His living mercy in a merciless and cruel world. By it she is cleansed and made clean from past defilements. By the blood, she defeats the enemy of their souls, and by it, all perfection was initiated, and by it, life was granted to her.

The jasper stone, in which the city is encased, is pure and perfectly transparent and clear, except for the streaks of deep red veins in her. She has nothing to hide, no hidden sin, no dishonest agenda, no subversive ideas, not even a flaw. She is redeemed. They are permanent reminders of the wonder‑working power of the Lamb’s blood. No member of the Bride will be without this covering, or without the victories that the blood of Christ brings in this life, not least the perpetual covering of God’s love and grace. Because of the blood she will be able to love God for all eternity without reservation or restriction, in full assurance of faith because He wooed her and courted her and loved her first. How can she be casual or indifferent about this love? She loves Him the way the beloved loves her suitor in The Song of Solomon, with her whole heart, unrestricted.  

She is perfectly secure; and rests on a perfect foundation

“And she had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
   On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
   And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Rev. 21:12-14

In verses 11-13 some of the details of the bride/habitation of God start to come clear to us. There is a high wall, twelve gates, and it rests on twelve foundations. It is immense. Our attention is captured by her twelve gates and twelve foundations. Each gate and foundation has a name written on it. We suddenly realize that the Bride is made up of both the children of Israel and the Church, represented in name by the twelve sons of Jacob and the twelve apostles of the Church. This is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham which God made to him: “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Gen 22:18 Men and women of faith from every epoch of this age and every nation on earth make up the Bride and are now living under one banner, dwelling together with faithful Jews, together as “The Commonwealth of Israel”, as the Bible puts it. Eph. 2:12

The Bride which exists in these last days is only different from those who have prepared themselves by holiness and purity in the fact that they are the last generation; she is the Bride making the final invitation to the world to spotlessly and virtuously walk worthy of the Bride of Christ. The way of being a part of the Bride was made possible by the twelve tribes of Jacob, who, for our sakes, were used as examples to show the Gentile world the truth about sin and the way of salvation.

Remember, the letter to the Romans spoke about our being the “wild” olive tree grafted in at Israel’s expense and that someday the Jews would be restored to God. In previous chapters of Revelation we see the 144,000 believers out of each tribe of Israel being sealed with the protection of God during the Tribulation, and we see the salvation of Jerusalem at Christ’s return. Chapter 14 of Revelation shows a group of 144,000 followers of the Lamb, redeemed from among all the peoples and nations of men living atop heavenly Mount Zion, indubitably a snapshot of instruction about the nature and character of the promises and the imperatives of spiritual conduct for the Bride herself.

The picture of a ‘city’ or place of habitation for God, now coming down from heaven is the moment when the true “brotherhood of man” and the utopic union with God becomes established reality for all eternity.

The Church is fully represented as seen in the city’s foundations which are named after the Lamb’s closest friends and pillars of the Church. They are those who left everything behind; separated themselves for the gospel’s sake as Matthew did when he left the money changer’s table, as Andrew did when he left off following John the Baptist, as Nathanael did when left his cynical lounging spot beneath the fig tree, as Peter did when he put down his net and left his father’s business, all of them to be followers of Jesus day and night no matter where he went. The Bride is all they who leave everything behind in favor of being the espoused husband of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. These twelve apostles are general representatives, with their spirit of faith and loving trust in the Savior, with a common spiritual character which the Bride must and will have. Like the 12 apostles, she has left the world with its lures and cares behind, so she can be with Jesus. See: Separated

“And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
   And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
   And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 
And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.” Rev. 21:15‑18

We are then shown the dimensions and magnificence of the Bride. These measurements, like all the other pictures, are symbolic. The Bride is not actually a city, that would be absurd, God’s purpose for creating Man and undertaking all the abuse and heartbreak involved in redeeming Man is not to acquire for Himself an inanimate city. The city we are shown merely personifies the living Bride. “Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Eph. 2:19-22

To understand the symbolism we must take into consideration what the metaphor of a city symbolizes in Scripture.

Cities in Biblical days did not conjure up the same image in a believer’s mind as they do in today’s America. Today we think of the city as a place of violence and decadent living. We think of poverty and drugs, confusion, pollution and turmoil, rundown buildings, and methadone centers. There are threats on every side. But in the days of the Bible, it was just the opposite. The city was a place of refuge. God tells the dispersed Jews of the Babylonian captivity to seek “the peace of the city”. Under the law, a person who accidentally killed someone could run to a specified city and be safe from retribution by one of the victim’s family members. Cities were places of wealth and security. The walls provided the inhabitants within a haven from robbers and warring or marauding armies. When her gates were shut at night, sin and lawlessness was shut out. Inside her walls law and order prevailed and were strictly enforced. It was in the city that the authority of the king offered full protection and recourse under the law.

Outside on the plains, the mountains or in the woods, man was on his own, left to fend for himself and defend himself against attack. Caravans laden with gold, spices, tapestries, camels and oxen, delicacies, tools, fuel and weapons, even books and styluses, streamed into every major city of the Middle East. It was in the city that commerce flourished and could be conducted without fear of being vandalized. The shops of craftsmen and skilled artisans in every trade were to be found lining the streets of her commercial districts. Wealth was concentrated in the cities. If riches and luxury was to be found in a nation or region, it was to be found in its cities. These are the first places that the Gospel was preached.

Physicians and medical care could also be found in the city. Outside the city, there were very few doctors and even less knowledge of medicine. All of man’s physical needs were accommodated in the ancient city. The mind, too, was nurtured in the city. All libraries and seats of learning were situated behind the comfortable walls within the peaceful confines of city life. Schools of learning and education were the sole province of the metropolis. There, priests and scholars taught and instructed pilgrims who came for education and to worship their favorite god.

The city did not only provide for the needs of the body and soul, it was also the center of worship for every nation. The temples and shrines were placed within the confines of a well guarded city. The king, often the high priest or center of worship, resided in a palace within the city. In short, living outside the city was risky. There were threats on every side, with no place to run and hide other than the city. Living inside the protective walls of a city provided every possible security of law and order while affording its inhabitants the chance to acquire wealth and to live in luxury.

The city of the ancient world, therefore, is a fit symbol for the Bride of Christ. God has taken the measure of the city and it is a perfect cube 12,000 x 12,000 x 12,000 furlongs. (It is a 1,500-mile cube, or about the size of the United States.) It measures out a perfect multiple of twelve, the number of God’s perfect government as illustrated by the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. It could be argued that the twelve tribes are the Father’s representatives and the Apostles are the Son’s personal emissaries of orderly perfection. Her walls are also a perfect multiple of twelve measuring 144 cubits high. Within her walls is the perfect government and rule of community under God. (Thus the 144,000 Jews and the 144,000 followers of the Lamb are numbers representative of perfect government and order, perfect leadership of the Father and the Son together, within the habitation of the eternal Bride.) There is nothing like anarchy and or rebellion within her. Everything is in perfect harmony and is perfectly proportioned and perfectly led down to the slightest detail. All sin is shut out and nothing evil or threatening can enter through the gates and into the Bride (city) ever again.

She will be a Mecca for each and every kind of unimaginable riches and beauty, of good and holy spiritual things – for all eternity. The Bride, being likened to a city, is a promise of all that is safe and secure. All that is good and strong about the great commonwealth of mankind and God. She is secure, rich, beautiful, learned, healthy, and free to worship God in peace for all eternity. Reason enough to strive to be part of her… wouldn’t you say?