Who (or what) is the "Bride of Christ"?
- Thread starter chimney55
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
Because of the Jewish wedding customs of the time of Christ and his apostles, I think that it will be at least 7 years before He returns to set foot on the earth.
The wedding tradition is one of the things that back a pre-trib Rapture. We spend the bridal week together in Heaven. We have to already be away from here and with Him if we are going to come back and help in the ....-whomping that will happen when He sets foot on the Mount of Olives and ends the tribulation. Hmmm.....one of the first things we do as wife, after the honeymoon, is clean house.
(Sorry- I just woke up and thought that was funny)
~A
Hopefully, by then I'll enjoy house-cleaning. But, seriously, although we come back with Him, we won't be "helping" Him. He's the only one with a weapon. It's the sword of His word. He will speak and it will be over. No need for us to do anything.
Beautifully said!.. and AMEN!
Last edited:
I literally belly laughed out loud! Girl, that was priceless! Jesus probably smiled Himself over that one!!!!!! Thanks for the laugh, I needed a good one! You are priceless!
I literally belly laughed out loud! Girl, that was priceless! Jesus probably smiled Himself over that one!!!!!! Thanks for the laugh, I needed a good one! You are priceless!
That was so funny and I missed it until now!!!! That was priceless!!!!! LOLOLOL
Might be just me but I believe that the OT children looked forward to the cross, we look back to it. We both look to Christ at the sacrifice that allowed reconciliation. (With out the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin).
I believe we are collectively the bride. Paul states in more than one place that the two (Jews and Gentiles) have been made into one. That the wall separating the two was done away with.
I believe we are collectively the bride. Paul states in more than one place that the two (Jews and Gentiles) have been made into one. That the wall separating the two was done away with.
The first part is correct. However, Israel was always referred to as the wife of God. The church (the bride) is a different entity made up of both Jews and gentiles who have come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
Amein, Chimney! You hit it on the head! That's why I don't understand anyone's views against Israel. I wouldn't wish to tell Almighty God that His wife isn't legit. Not moi. It's like I said, you mess with God, you're messing with me!
Amein, Chimney! You hit it on the head! That's why I don't understand anyone's views against Israel. I wouldn't wish to tell Almighty God that His wife isn't legit. Not moi. It's like I said, you mess with God, you're messing with me!
and me (Her Cuz!) also!!!! (lol)
I've heard that too but no one has ever been able to show me a scriptural reference for it. Do you remember where it is found? I did an eletronic search on over 200 books (Different Bible versions, commentaries, topical Biblical dictionaries, the works of all of the prominant Biblical expositors) looking for the phrase "wife of God" but can't find the source for it. I am probably using the wrong phrase, which one should I use to look into that idea further?
I'm with you on this (my further understanding needs to wait for the above answer though so I can move forward), but what about all of the OT Jews and Gentiles that Jesus went to Abraham's Bosom to preach to, set free and give gifts to? My understanding was that He had to preach to them and showed them that it was He that they were looking forward to and hoping in all along before they could "go to heaven".
Without understanding that it was Christ who was the substance of the sacrifice that they faithfully performed yearly (which was a shadow or type of Him), God placed them there temporarily until He came and was sacrificed. After that of course all who die in the faith go directly to be with Him.
Good topic, so where can we educate ourselves more fully on the wife of God idea?
Last edited:
eHuman, I don't remember reading it in Scripture. But I do remember that it was preached on, and I have no idea where all those notes are. I used to take some crackerjack notes. Maybe Chimney can help us out. The next few days are going to be full, but I'll keep checking back.
I don't know which translation that you are more comfortable with. Check Jeremiah 3 (in several versions if you wish) God says that He married Israel but she was not faithful. She played the harlot with other "gods".
They all went to Abraham's bosom although some may have resurrected at the time that Jesus died (see Matthew 27:52) although I can't say dogmatically that they all went. The bride of Christ is all people living and dead (whether Jewish or gentile) who saw or read about Him after his death and resurrection and came to believe on Him. (not just believe that He was an actual person who lived, but someone that would save them from their sins.) When Jesus, who is all knowing, sees that there is no one else to take Him up on His marriage proposal, He'll come get his bride to bring her home. People who come to faith after that (those who needed more "convincing" during the tribulation) are considered to be friends of the bride and groom and will attend the marriage supper of the Lamb after the bride and Groom return to earth.
I gave one place that you can start in. You can look also in the book of Hosea. He followed God's instructions and married Gomer who was a harlot and that relationship is said to mirror the relationship of God and his wife, Israel.
You mean Jer 3:1?
From the Hebrew Interlinear Bible (translating using Strongs, Brown-Driver-Briggs, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament), also KJV and NASU (I don't study from paraphrase Bibles), and also2 different parsing translators (to make sure of the correct voice, tense and mood) I must say I don't see what you do. I can't find anywhere that God eludes to marrying Israel. Only comparing his relationship to them "like" or "as" a human married couple.
The terminology used here as well as in Deut, Judges, Ezek, Hosea and other places compares God's children worshiping other idols to an unfaithful woman cheating on her husband. Done in this way so as to emphasize the gravity and personal offense God takes of them worshiping another.
Terms such as "like" or "as" are used for comparisons: "My child stealing from me is like a dog biting the hand that feeds him". That statement is a comparison and does not make my child a physical dog. In retrospect, Jesus does literally call the Church His Bride. I can't find one instance of God literally calling Israel his wife. There is a huge difference and you can miss the point of what is being taught in Jer 3 and other places if you make the example into a reality. The jealousy, pain, anger, and dishonor that results in a man's heart from a a wife who is adulterous is the message that God is portraying to His people. An intimacy that is supposed to be sacred and special and shared with no other man;the pain that it causes when it is freely given away to another human reflects God's heart when we or any of His trusts in or strays to "another" god. I may have missed where your reference is but I believe that you have mis-interpreted the scripture there.
Jer 3:20 "Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel," declares the Lord.
That was the point of my reference. No man can come to the Father except through Christ. The OT saints had to wait for Christ to be sacrificed for them to go to Heaven. Jesus preached Himself to them before they could enter Heaven, they believed on Him just as we do, they are part of the Bride.
I read your Jewish marriage tradition both times. But this statement here cannot be found in the text of the Bible. It is an assumption or a conclusion drawn but only possible by not seeing what scripture actually does say about it (which leaves this as an impossible alternative).
No, that scripture is said to mirror the fact that no matter how many times Israel strayed, God welcomed them back. Gomer was a "type" of unfaithful adulterous Israel.
A huge display of two things.
1. God is merciful and forgiving.
2. They need a Saviour because what they were guilty of was legally deserving of death.
Like I said I have heard this from the pulpit myself. There have not been any who have been able to show me wording that paints Israel as God's wife, only numerous comparing her to a wife in order to teach another principal.
Jeremiah 3:6-10
6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 3: 14
“Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband
6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 3: 14
“Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband
ba'al - to have dominion over, to marry, to rule over, to possess, or to own.
In context with the rest of scripture, are you sure that is the correct picture? Always Father never husband.
The "type" that is used of Jews "like" a wife were always as I said before to display the graveness of worshipping another god.
From the same writer,
Jer 3:19 "Then I said, 'How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I said, 'You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.' (I.E. to follow another...)
Jer 31:9 "With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn."
Proper context does not even allow for the Jews to be a wife to God. It is only found used in examples for faithfulness to the one who has dominion over the Jews.
In context with the rest of scripture, are you sure that is the correct picture? Always Father never husband.
The "type" that is used of Jews "like" a wife were always as I said before to display the graveness of worshipping another god.
From the same writer,
Jer 3:19 "Then I said, 'How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I said, 'You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.' (I.E. to follow another...)
Jer 31:9 "With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn."
Proper context does not even allow for the Jews to be a wife to God. It is only found used in examples for faithfulness to the one who has dominion over the Jews.
KJV 14Turn, 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:
NKJV 14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
I don't know what translation you are using, but I don't know how much clearer that it can be than that.
Yes, and He called worshipping other gods adultery--again an allusion to His marriage to Israel.
- Status
Similar threads
