W Potter
"Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife" (Rev. 21:99And 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. (Revelation 21:9)). At once the question arises, Who is this bride, the Lamb's wife? In Revelation 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17) two parties are mentioned—"the Spirit and the bride.”
No doubt both Abraham's servant and Rebecca looked forward to the end of the journey they took together. The servant is a foreshadowing of the Holy Spirit who has taken the place of Servant for the Son of Man's glory. "He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak." He has the interest of the church at heart, for it is Christ's interest and glory. He was sent from heaven to gather this bride—a company of people—and espouse them to Christ.
Look at the end of Ephesians 5. He has been speaking of the relationship of husband and wife, and says: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." In the eternal purposes of God, Christ and the church were one from the first. And when He began to reveal that mind, the first type was of Christ and the church: Adam and Eve and the way they were formed.
"Come Hither”
In the Revelation, ministry has to do largely with the angels, because all through the book there is a certain atmosphere of reserve and not one of intimacy. For example, "He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John." The blessed Lord was the One who received the revelation from God. In Revelation 21:99And 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. (Revelation 21:9) it says, "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." And at once he carries him away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, for the calling of the church is far above the earth; it is heavenly. How well the bride has answered to her heavenly calling is another thing. Her response to her calling has been a wretched, heartbreaking failure. Her place and her responsibility in the earth were to represent the Lord as the heavenly bridegroom. She was to go forth to meet the bridegroom (Matt. 25). Her failure has been a complete one. It could not be more wretched or woeful.
In Revelation 17:11And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: (Revelation 17:1) we read, "Come hither; I will show unto thee," not the great whore, but "the judgment of the great whore." This is the professing church in her place of responsibility on earth to bear divine light—to represent Christ. The church has sunk down to the level of the world. So it says, "I will show thee the judgment of the great whore.”
Every time we get Babylon spoken of in Revelation (eleven times), it is always great. If faithful, the church never could have been great in the earth. "If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." Her failure has been outright and complete. The great whore sits upon the waters and rules the masses of the people. Christianity has become popular in the earth, but popular Christianity is a fallen Christianity. It is an unclean thing—a mixture of what is divine with what is earthly.
"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness" (Rev. 17:33So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:3)). The first thing we notice is the "wilderness" in contrast to the "great and high mountain." The truth of Christ and the church, the Lamb and His bride, is only learned as one is, in spirit, outside.
"And he carried me away in the Spirit, and set me on a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city" (Rev. 21:1010And 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, (Revelation 21:10) JND). The omission of "great" city there is important. Every time Babylon is spoken of (or alluded to), it is always "great," but the first characteristic given of the bride, the Lamb's wife, is not her greatness, but her holiness.
"And showed me the holy city"—I think that is very precious. Holiness is what the new nature longs for, whether individually or collectively. Holiness is the atmosphere in which the divine nature feels at home and where it breathes freely. When in another atmosphere, it does not breathe freely, for that atmosphere is suffocating to the new nature.
“The holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God" (Rev. 21:1010And 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, (Revelation 21:10) JND). "From God" is a "Come Hither” the source; the city is of God and from God. "Out of the heaven" is the character; the city is divine and heavenly. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:11For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1): "A building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." In this verse we get the origin or the source of these glorified bodies. God is the source, and they are heavenly in their nature.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15:4747The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47): "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." It is the origin of the two men—the one of the earth and the other from heaven. Then in verses 48-49, "As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Finally, He tells us how we are going to get the heavenly image, both those who have fallen asleep, and those who have not. Verses 51-52 declare, "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." That is how we get conformity to this second Man.
Adam was not made for heaven, nor heaven for man. God prepared the earth for man and put him in it; there everything answered to his nature. If He had taken him to heaven, it would not have answered to his nature, for he was not made for heaven. He lost his earthly inheritance, but now he gets a better one, because redemption gets it to him. Redemption does not simply restore a man when he is lost, but it brings him into an infinitely fuller blessing, as infinitely better as the heavens are higher than the earth.
In Revelation 21:1-81And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:1‑8) we get eternity. "And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down [or descending] from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." It is New Jerusalem, not the old one. Here it is not Jerusalem on earth restored, but we see what a wonderful thing Jerusalem on the earth will be.
The marriage has taken place more than a thousand years before, but the bridal beauty is just as fresh. "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them." The fact is that God did pitch His dwelling place among men, and it is as if heaven itself is surprised: "Behold," it says. God's eternal dwelling place will be among men, for the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.
The bride, the Lamb's wife, brings before us a relationship, which has affections proper to it. They "went forth to meet the bridegroom." "Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." What is the characteristic of bridal affections? Oh, they are the freshest and sweetest! In the human relationship, perhaps they do not last a long time, but in the heavenly one, it is forever. I do not think that they are the deepest, but they are the freshest.
The bride, the Lamb's wife, is that company of saints that the Spirit of God has been gathering together since He came from heaven at Pentecost, uniting in one body and to Christ in glory. It is not individual; no one saint is the bride. There is no saint on earth that is not of the bride, the Lamb's wife. ("Saint" is an individual relationship, just like "father" and "children" are.)
We have an illustration of bridal beauty in Psalm 45. It is the earthly Jerusalem, typical (as far as it goes) of the heavenly. The psalm refers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. Verse 6 applies to the Lord Jesus as we have Him presented in Hebrews 1:88But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8).
It is important to see that the Lord will have two brides: the earthly or the Jewish one, and the heavenly one. He will enter into relationship with the heavenly one before He does so with the earthly one and in another way. Before He establishes Himself with Israel in the marriage relationship, He has to clear the way in judgment—"Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most Mighty, with Thy glory and Thy majesty. And in Thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things" (Psa. 45:3-43Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. 4And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. (Psalm 45:3‑4)).
After the judgments Jerusalem becomes the center of a system related to Him as His bride. That is easily seen, as in John 3:2626And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. (John 3:26), "And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him." They were jealous of their master's reputation. John had a wonderful place with the people. Thousands had flocked to him for baptism. Now he is losing his place.
"John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." Nothing had been made known about Christ and the church. It was hid in God. Now Israel has been divorced for her unfaithfulness; that is, for becoming idolatrous. The Lord will take her up again.
The heavenly and the earthly Jerusalem’s will be visibly connected. Heaven and earth in that day will not be absolutely separated, but visibly or physically connected. We see this in Revelation 21:2424And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. (Revelation 21:24), "And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it." There will be a canopy of glory, but they will not be able to see what is inside. On the mount of transfiguration the disciples could see those two men go into the cloud, but they could not see what was in it. They could see the cloud and know they were there, and they knew the Father's voice came out of it. That is the foreshadowing of the two Jerusalem’s. What a vast change from what it is now. An awful series of judgments prepares the way, and righteousness will do what grace has not done.
The holy city, descending from God out of heaven, symbolizes a divine and heavenly origin. The bride, the Lamb's wife, is simply a company of redeemed people, united to the Lord in that character of relationship of a man and his wife. The church is not married now. Israel was married; that is why she is called an adulteress. She is put away. The church is only espoused.
In Revelation 17:22With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Revelation 17:2) we get, "Drunk with the wine of her fornication." It is the stupefying effect of the union of the church and the world. An intoxicated person cannot see anything plainly. When we get intoxicated with the spirit of this world, we cannot see things clearly at all. Jehovah divorces Israel, but will marry her again. He will never divorce the church. When He deals with the church as His witness, He will give up the false forever. Before judgment He will take the true out of the mass of profession.
The Jews will remain on this earth. I believe the distinction between the Jew and the Gentile will cease in eternity, for in the opening of Revelation 21, we read, "The tabernacle of God is with men." During the millennium they will be in their relationship, but I do not find anything in Scripture that indicates that the Jew goes on to eternity as a Jew. Plainly, the new heavens and new earth in Isaiah 65 do not go on into eternity; they are dispensational. Read verses 17-25. It is clear they do not go beyond time, and the "new" there is a moral new—no more sighing or crying or anything of that sort.
In Isaiah 66:2222For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. (Isaiah 66:22) it says, "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain." That would seem to settle it. Then go on to verse 23, "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”
So, you see, it is the forever of time, and we find in Scripture more frequently the forever of time than the forever of eternity, but the context has to decide for us. In the end, the tabernacle of God is with men, and dispensational things are gone forever.
I have thought of it in this way. First, there was one people who were all of one speech. They sought independence of God, and went to work to build a tower to reach up to heaven so that they would not be scattered. But God came down and confounded their language. Later He brought about another people by calling out a new flock with Abraham as their leader. At that point you have two peoples on the earth: the Jew and the Gentile. The earth went on that way for about two thousand years. Then Christ came, and a third people, the church of God, now exists. These three peoples have gone on for about two thousand years. Soon He will take the church where she belongs—to heaven. Then He will have the Jew and the Gentile on the earth again, and they will go on to the end of the millennium. In the eternity which follows, we get back to one people again.
God will tabernacle with men for eternity in the new heavens and new earth. During the millennium He will tabernacle immediately over them, but not among them. He will have His temple, and that will be dispensational. There will be nations and the death of the sinner, because there will be disobedience still. From Sabbath to Sabbath they will come up, and they will go and look upon the carcasses of those who have transgressed, and it will be a warning to them. The millennium will be a wondrous time, but not perfection, not such as that in which God can find full delight.
The bride and Israel will remain two separate people. I do not say that Israel goes beyond the thousand years or that the dispensation continues to eternity. We do not get anything as to Israel as far as I know that is properly eternal. There will always be an earthly and a heavenly people.
In Revelation 5:99And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:9) it is the heavenly redeemed, and they are the company that sing—"Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”
Then, there is the outer circle—the angels—and they say, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”
Next, we have: "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." The whole creation (heaven and earth) is brought into blessing.
I would like to say a word about Revelation 7. It gives us details about the heavenly and earthly peoples of the millennial day. It shows the complete number of all the tribes of the children of Israel and an innumerable company of the Gentiles, the brethren and the sheep of Matthew 25. We see them established in blessing in Revelation 7, which is a parenthesis coming in between two sets of judgments.
Notice verses 10-13: "And la great multitude] cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?" In these verses he calls attention to something by asking a question.
"And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne," that is, He shall spread His habitation over them, or tabernacle over them. We get that in 4. "Come Hither” Isaiah 4 and other scriptures. It is that heavenly canopy over Jerusalem, that heavenly seat of authority, and below it the earthly Jerusalem.
In verse 16 we read, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat," that is, they will never endure persecution again, nor shall the sun (supreme power) become oppressive again. Never again shall they know any persecution. "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." This scene is the millennium; it is dispensational, not eternal.
In the transfiguration on the mount, the Lord gives us a picture of the millennium. The heavenly and earthly saints will be as separated as they were on the mount. In those three disciples we have the earthly saints who never pass through death. Then we have the glorified Lord and the two men glorified and appearing in glory talking with Him. We even get the subject of their conversation.
The two men are typical in this way. Moses is typical of the glorified saints who have passed through death, while Elijah represents the saints who have never passed through death. Both are in the same glory, just as it will be when the Lord comes and the living and the dead are brought together in the same glory. They are in the same state of immortality. The one have their bodies raised from corruption, and the other are changed so that they are never subject to death.