We have been going through marriage in the Bible over the last few weeks. We began with the realization that God made marriage, not man, and that it was made with a purpose and in order. We looked at the role of a husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. Christ bathed the church in God’s word, He loved the church as He loved Himself, and how He lived and died for the church just as husbands are to do the same. Last week we spoke about wives, and how wives are to submit to the husband, not because he is perfect, not because the husband is always right, but because this is what pleases God, but there is more, and today we will discuss that.
Let’s read for the last time in this series Ephesians 5:22-33.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[a] 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. —Ephesians 5:22-33
What mystery are we talking about?
The mystery of Christ and the church, not husband and wife.
God uses marriage consistently and repeatedly in comparison for His relationship with us
Let’s explore that first
Direct Comparison for His people being His bride
Old Testament
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. —Isaiah 54:5
We see God compare Himself to Israel as a husband. He makes it clear He is referring to Himself, and inferring that Israel is His bride.
“When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. —Ezekiel 16:8
Everything here stated are clear marriage comparisons though some are only understood culturally. Age of love, old enough for marriage, spreading garment to cover, protect, and makes a covenant. You are mine.
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish[f] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. —Hosea 2:16-20
God talking about the future for His bride. For He again compares Himself as the husband.
New Testament
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. —2 Corinthians 11:2
You refers to people, and we are betrothed to Christ. He is our husband.
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” —Revelation 19:7-9
The Lamb is Jesus. We as the church are His bride. This is what it will be like at the end, and we see this multiple times.
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. —Revelation 21:2
New Jerusalem prepared as a bride for her husband, who is that? Jesus. This is the end of the story.
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” —Revelation 21:9
A little further, still referring to the church as the bride to Christ, the Lamb, as the groom.
And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. —Revelation 22:17
The Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the bride, us saying to those who are not in a relationship to God saying join us.
Indirect Comparison for His people being His bride
You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate;
But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah;
For the LORD delights in you,
And your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a virgin,
So shall your sons marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So Shall your God rejoice over you. —Isaiah 62:4-5
This is an example for us again, using marriage as a comparison how God rejoices over us, and how He sees us. He is the groom, and we are the bride.
29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. —John 3:29
This is using marriage as a comparison of John, the friend of the bridegroom, who was he preparing the way for? Jesus, which means we are His bride again. This is also a cultural example, because the groomsmen would prepare the way for the groom on his way to his bride. More on that in a bit.
Matthew 25:1-13
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
The parable gives us an example for the bridesmaids being at the wedding, and those who were not ready, and how one group is a part of the wedding, and the other is left out.
And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. —Mark 2:19-20
Jesus refers to Himself as the groom again.
We see this over and over again in the gospels. For the sake of time, I am moving on, because it isn’t over.
Cultural Comparisons of marriage referencing Christ, the groom, and the church, the bride
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. —Revelation 3:20
This is how the marriage starts. The groom and His father come knocking on the door of the future bride’s family house. If the door opens, the marriage process begins, if the door stays shut, then the groom is out of luck.
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the[c] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” —Matthew 26:26-29
When the Jewish marriage was agreed upon, the bride and the groom would drink from a cup representing they are engaged, and the groom would not drink wine until their wedding day.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Culturally, preparing a room, as Jesus says He is doing for us, is a direct marriage comparison, because when the groom is engaged to the bride, the groom goes back to his fathers house, and prepares a room for his bride. —John 14:1-3
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. —Matthew 24:36
After that room is prepared to the groom’s father’s satisfaction, then the father tells the groom to get his bride. Just as God is the Father to the groom, Jesus, and we are the bride.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. —1 Corinthians 15:51-52
As the groom and his groomsmen go to fetch the bride, they celebrate and make a big deal, which allows the bridesmaids know they are coming, and they lead the part to the bride to then go to the wedding.
There, the groom and the bride make their covenant to each other and God, drink of the cup one last time before destroying to cup so that no one else can participate in the marriage.
God uses the imagery of marriage over and over again, and why. To let us better know how He sees our relationship, and for us to better understand Him and His love.
God made marriage to help us better understand how good, how loving, and how incredible our God is.
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. —1 Corinthians 11:3
The head of every man, this means all of mankind, Jesus is the head. Jesus uses the Husband, Himself, in that role, while the bride, the church fulfills that role. What does that look like?
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. —1 Peter 4:8
Jesus did His role, and fulfilled his role from Ephesians 5:22-33. We, all of us who are followers of Christ are the bride. What does that mean our role needs to be church? WE NEED TO SUBMIT TO OUR HUSBAND, JESUS CHRIST.