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Old 03-11-2009, 02:47 PM
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Default "Bride" in Swordsearcher

"Bride" Isa 49:18; 61:10; 62:5; Jer 2:32; 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11; Joe 2:16; Joh 3:29; Re 18:23; 21:2,9; 22:17

Isaiah 49:18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, AS A BRIDE doeth.
Context: Isaiah 49:7 "Israel"; Isaiah 49:14, "Zion"

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and AS A BRIDE adorneth herself with her jewels.

I'm not really sure if the "me" here refers to Isaiah, but this is spoken in the context of Israel being blessed (Isa. 61:3-11) after the "day of vengeance" (Isa. 6:2).

Isaiah 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land BEULAH: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be MARRIED.
5 For AS a young man MARRIETH a VIRGIN, so shall thy sons marry thee: and AS the bridegroom rejoiceth over the BRIDE, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

CONTEXT: Zion (Isa 62:1) and Jerusalem (Isa 62:1,6) at the MILLENNIUM. Isaiah 62:6 "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,"
METAPHOR: "Thy LAND" shall be "MARRIED".
SIMILE ("AS"): JERUSALEM is AS a "VIRGIN" and a "BRIDE" in the Millennium afterbeing "Forsaken" (Isa. 62:4).

Jeremiah 2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
CONTEXT: Israel (Jer. 2:14)

Jeremiah 7:34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

"Bride" here does not necessarily refer to Judah and Jerusalem but spoken in this context. See also Jer 16:9; 25:10; 33:11.

Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

"Bride" also does not necessarily refer to Zion, but it is mentioned with Zion in the context.

John 3:29 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.

"Friend of the bridegroom" - John the Baptist
(How do we know it's John the Baptist? The "friend of the bridegroom... REJOICETH greatly because of the bridegroom's voice", and John says, "This MY JOY therefore is fulfilled.")

"Bridegroom" - Jesus Christ
(I think it's obvious to everybody, with all Scriptural support, that the bridegroom here is Christ.)

"Bride" - Now, WHO IS THE "BRIDE"?
John 3:29 is not about the "bride" but about the "BRIDEGROOM". John is identifying who the BRIDEGROOM is.
Who is the "Bridegroom" John? John says, "He that hath the bride IS the bridegroom."
John assumes that the BRIDE is already there. The BRIDEGROOM is identified to be the One with the BRIDE. Then, who is the bride? To whom is John making the Bridegroom known?
John 1:31 And I knew him not: but that HE should be made manifest to ISRAEL, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

John the Apostle recorded the words of John the Baptist in John 3:29. The next time we see the word "bride" is in the book of Revelation written by the same person (Apostle John). Notice how the Church Age epistles was skipped over. There is no mention of the word "bride" in the New Testament except in JOHN and REVELATION, both books written by the same author.

Revelation 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
The word "bride" here, as in some OT passages concerning Jerusalem mentioned above, is not a reference to "Babylon" although mentioned in that context. ("Babylon the Great" is, of course, a counterfeit "bride" of a counterfeit "christ".)

1. John the Baptist defined "bride" (John 3:29) to be "Israel" (John 1:31).
2. John the Apostle defined "bride" (John 3:29) to be "the holy city", "that great city", "New Jerusalem".


Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared AS A BRIDE adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:9 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 shew thee the BRIDE, the Lamb's WIFE.
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Revelation 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had
TWELVE gates, and at the gates TWELVE angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the TWELVE tribes of the children of Israel:
14 And the wall of the city had
TWELVE foundations, and in them the names of the TWELVE apostles of the Lamb.
16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: ...
TWELVE thousand furlongs...
17 And he measured the wall thereof, an HUNDRED AND FORTY AND FOUR cubits, ...
(12 times 12)
19-20. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; ...the TWELFTH, an amethyst.
21 And the
TWELVEgates were TWELVE pearls; ...
Notice what were absent from John's revelation (Rev. 21):
1. He mentions "twelve apostles" but has no mention of THE ONE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES.
2. He mentions "twelve tribes of the children of Israel" but has no mention of the ONE CHURCH, WHICH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST.

With all the SCRIPTURE in front of me, who am I to "force" my pre-conceived idea into what it does not say? With all the few commentaries and theology books available to me eight years ago that say in unison that John 3:29 or Revelation 19 and 21 is "church", I decided to believe GOD'S WORD over man's.

Last edited by Biblestudent; 03-11-2009 at 02:55 PM.