The Bride of Christ

There is much confusion in our world about the identity of the Bride of Christ. Any serious Bible student will see the seeming contradiction in scripture about her identity. However, as the apostle Paul put it, “This is a great mystery:” Ephesians 5:32. I believe the mystery has been solved by the Israel Truth movement.

The most common belief is that the Church is the Bride of Christ. I believe this theory came from the Roman Catholic Church. The scripture used to justify their position is Ephesians 5:24,25, “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” The word bride is never used in this scripture. Christians are reading too much into it. It is about husbands and wives, but Christ is not a husband and He does not have a wife. Since the wedding has not happened yet, the Church cannot call itself the wife of Christ. All this scripture says is that Christ loves the Church and died for the Church. If Christ had marital relationships with anyone before the wedding, He would be a fornicator.

The mystery of the identity of the Bride is solved in the book of Hosea. In that book the prophet Hosea was told to marry an adulterous woman. He had children with her and then she left him and went off with someone else. Later, Hosea was told by God to take back his wife (to buy her back), and Hosea made a new covenant with her, where she would be faithful to him, and he would be faithful to her. This is symbolic of the love of God for Israel. Even though they committed adultery and left Him, causing the great divorce, He would buy them back (by the shed blood of Jesus Christ) and would marry them again. Can God marry an adulterous woman? The only way this is possible is for the woman to die to sin and be born again. Israel has to become Christian in a great revival. The Welsh revival turned a whole nation around. The coming revival will be much greater and will make us a Christian people again.

Our people are the walking dead. Men in the Israel nations do not believe they are sons of God. They believe they are evolved from apes. However, the good news is that for many of them, their eyes will be opened one day and they will realize their divine heritage. The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of what would happen to Israel in the Kingdom age, when he saw the valley of the dry bones. The dry bones came together when the breath of God came into them. “Then he said unto me. Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” Ezekiel 37:11,12. I believe the great revival will occur right after the great resurrection. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” Joel 2:28. Then the Bride will be ready for the marriage ceremony.

Redeemed Israel will be gathered to the New Jerusalem for the marriage ceremony. An illustration to help us understand this event is given in II Chronicles, chapter 5. In that account the nation of Israel was gathered to Solomon for the dedication of the temple. There was: a son of David on the throne, the nation of Israel gathered at Jerusalem, a completed temple, the tablets with the Ten Commandments, and a sacrifice followed by a feast. These features will be present at the coming wedding ceremony, except the sacrifice, for that has already happened two thousand years ago. The temple is Christ and the Church, but the Church is not the Bride. As prophesied in the book of Hosea, and in the 54th chapter of Isaiah, God will re-marry Israel and set up His Kingdom, beginning with Israel and spreading to the entire world.