The `wife' according to the plain teaching of Scripture is the nation of Israel. The Old Testament clearly reveals

this:

`Thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is His Name' (Isa. 54:5).

`It shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call Me Ishi (my husband) ... and I will betroth thee

(Israel) unto Me for ever ... I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the LORD'

(Hosea 2:16,19,20).

`Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for l am married unto you (Israel)' (Jer. 3:14).

In the witness of the Old Testament prophets, the relationship of Israel to the Lord was that of a wife to a husband.

It was also made clear that Israel had been an unfaithful wife going after other lovers, but through the grace and the

redemptive work of the Lord, that relationship would finally be restored and Revelation 19 sets this forth in symbol.

This marriage extends over the Millennium. It was customary for a Jewish wedding ceremony to cover a period of

seven days. `Fulfil her week' (Gen. 29:27) refers to this period, so the marriage festivities of the Lamb extend over

the seventh thousand years of the history of mankind.

However, as we have seen, there has always been a faithful remnant in Israel who are specially precious to the

Lord. They are likened to jewels in Malachi 3:16,17 and together with the worthies of Hebrews 11 were shown a

higher sphere of blessing by the Lord, namely the heavenly Jerusalem which finally leaves the heavens and descends

to the new earth and becomes one with it. This faithful company of Israel with Gentile believers too, who have been

blessed through and with Israel and have been judged by the Lord as equally faithful, are likened to a bride in

Revelation 21. The apostle John is given a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem `coming down from God out of heaven

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband' (21:1,2). Now a bride cannot be the same as a wife, a married woman,

and we can be absolutely sure of the fact that God does not mix His metaphors or confuse them in any way.

The nation of Israel and the faithful remnant of Israel are seen as two distinct companies in Scripture until the

time of the new heaven and the new earth. Then both of these redeemed groups become united as one, when the

New Jerusalem becomes part of the new earth. The redeemed nation of Israel, whose hope has always been earthly

then combines with the heavenly Israel of the New Jerusalem to form one company, for not even in type will God

condone polygamy.

Thus it is that John is finally shown by one of the angels the bride, the Lamb's wife and the two titles are brought

In this glorious wedding scene, which is a time of great rejoicing (19:7), the whole picture is highly symbolic in

the new creation which is yet to be. Every symbolic person stands for members of God's redeemed family. First

there is the Bridegroom, the Lord Himself, but not alone for He is the Head of His Body, the church and Head and

Body will be united when the hope of this church is realised and becomes the symbolic Bridegroom.

Some deduce from Ephesians 5:25-33 that the Body of Christ is also the Bride but in doing so they mistake the

argument which surely is that a man should love his wife as his own body, as Christ loved the church, His Body

(verses 28,30). Here we get perfect balance in the argument which is concluded by the statement of the Apostle,

`For we are members of His Body of His flesh and of His bones', not that we are members of His Bride. The new

creation of the Body of Christ is likened to a new man in Ephesians 2:15 and its goal is to grow up to a full-grown

male (4:13). Man may mix his metaphors, but God never does. The figure of a wife or bride is kept in Scripture to

the people of Israel and those who are blessed through and with Israel.

Then there are the two companies mentioned above finally united as the `Bride, the Lamb's wife'. Not only this

but we have those `who are invited to the wedding' (19:9) in other words they are guests. If analogy means

anything, then these must form a large company of believers, for in a wedding there is one bridegroom and one

bride, but there can be many guests. In the parable of the king's son, related in Matthew 22 those originally invited

from Israel as guests refused to come, so others were put in their place `from the highways' and then we are told the

`wedding was furnished with guests' (verse 10). Who are these? They cannot be represented by the bride or

bridegroom whose composition and history are made known in the Old Testament, the Gospels, the Acts, and now

in the Revelation.