Israel is the wife of Jehovah and the Church the bride of Christ. The prophet Isaiah wrote, ‘The Maker is your husband’, Isaiah 54:5,6. In the New Testament the church is likened to a bride, Ephesians 5:22,23.
This refers to a special and intimate relationship with Almighty God. His plan has always been to be in a relationship where the created worships the Creator in spirit and in truth, for the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8.
God the Husband
Marriage points to two people in a special relationship that is a gift from God. A man and a woman are joined to become as one, Mark 10:6-8. The marriage theme began in the Garden of Eden and runs through the entire bible, ending in Revelation 22.
The book of Hosea is an allegory on the behaviour of Israel, in showing her actions as a harlot when she ran after other gods. Hosea reveals God’s steadfast love for his wife, despite her continued unfaithfulness, just as God never gives up on Israel.
Jeremiah also refers to God as a husband to Israel, Jeremiah 31: 32-34. In the millennial reign on earth God will be their God and they will be His people.
Counterfeiter
Satan is the great counterfeiter, always at work to thwart the work of God. He wants to hurt God by destroying that which God loves. This is so true in the times we live in where marriage has become a mockery, in same sex ‘marriages’. The human race has fallen far beyond the Days of Noah when we celebrate such relationships.
The Mesopotamian god was named Baal, which means owner or master. This idol worship that led Israel into all kind of difficulties as they hardened their heart against God. It was wicked Queen Jezebel who introduced the worship of Baal to the Israelites, 1 Kings 16:31. The same spirit is seen in Revelation 2:20.
The Bride of Christ
John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the bridegroom, John 3:29 and Jesus also referred to Himself as the bridegroom. Many see the Jews as attendants of the bride-chamber, or wedding guests, Mark 2:19. True believers and followers of Christ are referred to in terms of the Bride of Christ, Ephesians 5:22,23.
At a Jewish wedding the groom offers the bride a cup of wine. If she accepts the wedding goes ahead. Jesus made a statement at the last supper, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom,” Matthew 26:29. This was the same public statement a Jewish bridegroom made at his wedding as he promised to take his bride to the home he had prepared for her at His father’s house.
Paul also refers to the church, in terms of a marriage relationship, 1 Corinthians 11:2. The bride and the Spirit invite all to come to the marriage supper of the Lamb, Revelation 21:9.
Bride Price
Brides were highly esteemed, so a bride-price was paid. Jesus paid the bride-price, His own sinless blood shed at Calvary. The Word was God and the Word was with God and became flesh and dwelt among men, John 1:14. Jesus was total God as He hung on the cruel cross of Calvary. He paid a price that is incalculable, therefore we are not our own, 1 Corinthians 6:20. We are to become one with our Heavenly Bridegroom.
The New Jerusalem is also referred to as a bride, the Lamb’s wife, Revelation 21:9. The Holy City is where the wife and the bride will cohabit with Almighty God and the Lamb, Revelation 21:22.
Marriage
Marriage is a contractual relationship that includes intimacy, commitment, and communication. It includes established rights and obligations on both parties. God’s eternal plan is to have a people born of the Spirit, who will live in a deep, personal relationship with Him, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth, John 4:23,24.
God doesn’t need you, but He chooses and invites you to a love relationship with Him. We all want to be desired and loved by love freely given. God’s loving relationship will last into eternity, but it must start here on earth. We must enter into a relationship with an Almighty, Holy and totally Awesome God, here and now.
Ever Deepening Relationship
True marriage is not static for there is a deepening relationship despite the trials of life. The fact is relationships either grow closer together, or further apart.
The relationship you have now will only ever grow deeper and deeper if you press into the very heart of God. This is not the flimsy, glossy practice of religion, or what we class as Christianity today. It is a deep abiding relationship.
God gave man a free will and it is with a free will that individuals may enter into a personal relationship with the Messiah. Satan ever plots, lies, and schemes, trying to get the created to believe that a relationship with God is bondage, just as he did in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3:1.
The Bride of the Lamb are overcomers and will receive the rewards of an overcomer. The overcomer’s faith has been tried and tested in the fires of adversity, just as steel gains its strength from being tempered. Multitudes will turn to Christ during the coming Great Tribulation, Revelation 7:9. They will go through unbelievable testing, to the point of giving their lives for what they believe in.
Belonging
Israel will eternally be the wife of Yahweh and believing Christians will be the Bride of the Lamb, Revelation 19:7. The great multitude that no one can number, Revelation 7:9, who become believers during the period of the Great Tribulation, will be another company again. Read the signs of the time and you will know that many prophecies are being fulfilled on an almost daily basis. Lift up your head for your redemption draws near, Luke 21:28 as we live in perilous times. Soon the trumpet will sound and His Bride will be caught away.
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