New Jerusalem is the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb
New Jerusalem is the consummation of the Bible. Prior posts have covered three designations of this city: New Jerusalem, the holy city, and the tabernacle of God. Each post includes a quote from the book God’s New Testament Economy (see footnote).
New Jerusalem is also the bride, the wife of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. An angel said to John, “Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in spirit…and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:9-10).
The first wife in the whole universe was Eve. In Ezekiel 23 the children of Israel are referred to as the wife of Jehovah (vv. 1-4). In John 3 all the regenerated believers are the bride of Christ to be His increase, His enlargement (vv. 29-30). In Ephesians 5 there is the church as the wife of Christ, and in 2 Corinthians 11:2 the believers have been engaged or betrothed to Christ as their Husband. Revelation 19:7-9 unveils a universal wedding day, the marriage of the Lamb. Finally, in the last two chapters of the Bible we see the wife of the Lamb….The Bible concludes and consummates with a divine couple living a married life in eternity.
The church as the wife of Christ is neither different nor separate from New Jerusalem as the wife of the Lamb. They are the same except that the church in this age is at an earlier stage of development.
Ephesians 5:26-27 says that Christ is cleansing the church “by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.” The church in this age is gaining the glory and having all the spots and blemishes washed away to become New Jerusalem, the holy city-bride.
* From chapter 28, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.
Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The text of this Bible is at text.recoveryversion.bible; this too is © by LSM.
