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The Bride of Christ Speaks

Royal Wedding: Revelation 19:6-10

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The Book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible; it is God’s last inspired word to mankind, and concludes His message in a glorious shout of victory. God sent this message to encourage the Church, however John uses a form of writing that is unique to the New Testament and more common to the Old Testament (Ezekiel, Daniel etc.).  Layers of repeating metaphors that intertwine make interpretation of the book open to many opinions.  But one thing rings clear: God’s promise in Genesis—that Satan would be crushed—comes to completion, and God will reunite with His creation.  Then the victory party will begin “because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).

I.  The Bride.

Weddings, brides and grooms, and married love may resonate with women like no other.  Every girl dreams of her wedding day and her ‘prince’, who will find her, rescue her, and ‘live happily ever after’ in love with her.

Three women are mentioned in Revelation: the mother (12:1-17), the harlot (chapters 17—19), and the Bride of Christ, (19:8 through the end of the book).   The metaphor of the bride is not new in Revelation; it has been a running theme throughout God’s Word. Discover what we can know about the bride.

  1. What does Paul use to teach about the relationship of Christ and his church? Ephesians 5:22-32
  1. Ezekiel 16 describes God’s love for his people in violent terms that are hard to read. What is revealed about the “bride” and what does God do about it?

(The graphic nature of these descriptions should reveal how God sees us in our sin.  Mankind is pitiful, suffering, and valueless without God, which in fact, emphasizes the great love of Christ for his bride.  He took on that shame so she could be pure.)

  1. How much does the groom love the bride? Ephesians 5:25-27; Isaiah 49:16

Psalm 45 was commissioned for the wedding of the king’s son but, “he felt himself commissioned by the Spirit of God to write about the heavenly King, the Messiah, taking a bride” (Elwell).

  1. How does the bride look? Psalm 45:11-14
  1. What is her wedding gown made of? Revelation 19:8
  1. In Revelation 21:2 and 21:9-21 we see two metaphors layered together. What is the bride and what is she compared to in John’s description of the “bride and wife of the lamb”? How is she adorned in these two passages?

This passage reasserts the truth that God dwells in the hearts of his followers, the church, so it is God’s glory that is shining through the believers.  John reveals the intensity of God’s love for his bride through the description of the church as the bejeweled Holy City.  There are no human terms that will do justice to the glorious and victorious church of Jesus Christ.