Wedding Covenant Theology, Pt. 1
Who is the bride?
We’re going to take a deep dive into this ‘wedding covenant’ theory and test it. Because here is my observation- there is a heavy influence romanticizing scripture yet the situation that is being promoted cannot be found in scripture. The focus is being put on a scenario that does not actually exist and its pulling people away from the actual truth of the Word; believers are being swept away by the romantic notions of being a bride but at the same time lack understanding of the Kingdom and actual prophecy. And that’s really what I want to get down to, is defending the prophecy as well as disciplining those who actually want to learn, learn how to test everything against the law and the prophets. There are two camps that I have found with this theology- the trinitarian, dispensationalism camp claim is that the God of the Old testament was married to Israel and the Jesus of the New Testament is married to the church. It’s a bit of that separation and/or replacement theology worked in. The second camp is what i’ve observed in the torah community that recognizes the church IS Israel, this group believe that YHWH was married to Israel but had to divorce her, then YHWH came in the flesh as His own Son to die so that the marriage was nullified and YHWH could re-marry Israel. This camp attempts to use Torah to justify how a son could marry the Father’s ex-wife, because they are the same people. But, as you see, both of these camps have to twist a great deal of scripture and layer theology in order to make their interpretation fit. This by definition is called Eisegesis: a type of text interpretation where an individual's own ideas, biases, or presuppositions are read into a text, rather than drawing meaning out of it through careful analysis. It's essentially "leading" meaning into the text, as opposed to letting the text lead you to its meaning. In essence, eisegesis is the opposite of exegesis, which involves a systematic and objective analysis of a text. That is exactly what we see with these theories of the bride, applying meaning to a scenario apart from what the scriptures actually describe.
There are many aspects that go into this so we’re going to break it down piece by piece and truly test it against the scriptures. I was dead set on the bridal language at one point too y’all, I have been there! I did blog posts and IG content on it then all of the sudden the Father humbled me and said no why don't you go read that again and all of it just fell apart. And when that fell apart the scriptures opened up more than ever before, more than coming to Torah because I could see the Father’s Kingdom and I found my actual identity in Messiah. Prophecy made so much more sense, parables clicked into place, and scripture truly flowed. That is my heart for this study and what I want you to walk away with.
Lets start with where did the wedding covenant theory come from! A quick google search of ‘where does the church is the bride of Christ theology begin’ results in the following: The "church is the bride of Christ" theology is rooted in Old Testament imagery and finds its most prominent expression in the New Testament, particularly in Ephesians 5:22-33. Paul uses the analogy of a bridegroom and bride to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church, drawing on the Old Testament's concept of covenant love and the promise of a future restoration.
So here’s my first thought- #1 this theology is based on one new testament verse that is simply expressing leadership and sanctification. And that one verse is what's being used to re-define alllll of the rest of scripture before and after it. What’s crazy is even this admits that Paul was using an analogy, meaning it wasn’t meant to be taken literally. And #2 the “Old Testament imagery” tells me there are no actual verses that state this but pictures and metaphors, once again, it wasn’t meant to be taken literally- and over half of the imagery wasn’t even about people, it was about the land; about Zion. My issue is not with the metaphors and analogies, my issue is that metaphors and analogies are being taken out of context and used to completely re-define the literal. And because so much focus has been placed on these romantic sounding metaphors, nobody actually understands what they mean because the literal is completely left out!
In the New Testament (which remember is just compiled testimony of events and fulfilled prophecy, meaning there has to be prophecy to support the events) the church is called: the body of Christ, wedding guests, friend of the bridegroom, brother/co-heirs with Christ, children of the Most High. But never once is the church called the bride.
Now there is a theology that says the New Jerusalem IS the church, therefore Revelation 21 is speaking of the church. But the bible doesn’t say that. This theology takes the stance that the Kingdom is NOT a literal tangible place, “it’s just a metaphor for the church being one with Christ” however this stance completely dismisses well over 200 passages of scripture that describes the Kingdom, the New Jerusalem, Zion as a very real, literal place that we live inside and interact with. A place with specific dimensions, plants, building materials, and a geographical location. Do you see how the metaphor of the bride completely re-defines the literal!?
Revelation 21:2 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:9-11 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.
In this scenario going on John himself is a member of the body; of the church. He does not give any inclination whatsoever about the city being a metaphor for the church. In fact he shares very detailed explanations of what the city looks like which fits perfectly with the detailed dimensions and descriptions found in Ezekiel 40-48. So then people ask “how does Christ marry a city?” Obviously the “bride” part is the metaphor describing the inheritance He’s given to govern…because ‘the government is on His shoulders;’ He sits on the throne of David; He is the High Priest and judge of this city, of this land.
All of the bridal language is a metaphor regarding the city and the land. I mentioned earlier that my problem isn’t with analogies and metaphors, my problem is with them being taken out of context and used to redefine the rest of scripture to make it sound super spiritual and romantic.
Matthew 22:1-14 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come. Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless. Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
This parable was the invitation to the Kingdom. It’s describing Israel’s rebellion and the persecution of the prophets. It’s describing Romans 11, some natural branches being broken off because of unbelief that we might be grafted in- the strangers in the streets. But both natural branches and those grafted in can still be broken off and cast out. Nowhere in this parable does Messiah insinuate that the people are the bride, He’s giving a picture of what the KINGDOM is like, and is speaking of the guests invited in! We’re wedding guests!
Revelation 19:6-9 And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints. Then the angel told me to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
The fine linen being the righteous acts of the saints is this:
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
Revelation 6:10-11 And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed.
Revelation 14:12 Here is a call for the perseverance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Washing robes or being given white robes is an idiom for keeping the commandments; for righteous acts. The people are given white robes; the people are adorning the city. As a wedding gown is put on a bride, so are the people “put on” the city. This makes 10x more sense when it’s connected to Isaiah. A very large portion of Isaiah is speaking of Zion, of Kingdom restoration and in this, the Kingdom is personified as a woman- a barren woman who was desolate but children were brought to her. We talked about literary devices used throughout the whole of scripture in my previous two videos regarding the blood of Messiah. This is another great example of literary devices being used to paint the picture of a very literal place and event- this is the proper context of the ‘bride’ metaphors and analogies. Let’s look at more about the adornment of the bride:
Isaiah 49:8 Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on like a bride.
Isaiah 49:18 they will be put on her as an adornment as a bride is adorned.
Zechariah 9:16 On that day the LORD their God will save them as the flock of His people; for like jewels in a crown they will sparkle over His land.
The children are the adornment of the bride; the city. The righteous acts of the saints are likened to a pure white gown, covering the bride but the gown, the jewels are not in themselves the bride. We also see that the nations who run to her for refuge will adorn her…this adorning the city is an idiom for bringing glory to Yahuah who dwells in the city- it relates directly to Israel bringing their gold and jewels to Moses for the building of the tabernacle and then when Solomon gathered the best of the best materials for the building of the temple. This city is built by God not by man, but honor and wealth are brought to the place where His name dwells which is likened to a bride being adorned and honored as she takes her husband's name. And if you remember, name means authority- this city Zion is the place where the authority of Yahuah goes out. The Son possess the authority of the Father to rule the city and the whole earth when the city comes down. - He is the head of the city where the people/ the church/ Israel, dwells! If you’ll recall from previous videos about Yeshua being the prophesied Son of David, we talked about how princes and kings would be brought low before Him, this is what we read happening when the nations bring wealth to the city:
Revelation 21:24 By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.
Isaiah 60:9 Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you. . . .vs 14 The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
And many, many more verses describing this scene. I have these listed in the Kingdom of Heaven Study Guide available for download. But what you will not find in any of these prophecies is the assembly, the church, being called the bride- it’s all in regards to the city.
Isaiah 54 is an excellent place to study this out- it’s providing an allegory explaining that the children of Zion, who has been empty, will be much greater in multitude than Jerusalem on the earth. Paul uses this allegory on Galatians 3 to explain the covenants- that Jerusalm on the earth represents the current old covenant with mortal mankind, and Mother Jerusalem above represents the new covenant with resurrected, immortal mankind when she descends to the earth- the “labor” and “bearing children” in Isaiah 54 and many other places is speaking of the resurrection:
Isaiah 26:18-20 We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world. Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
This verse is directly relating the birth to the resurrection and the people being hidden away in their rooms- in Zion, while the bowls of wrath are poured out.
1 Corinthians 15:52 in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 54:1 Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband. . . 3 For you will spread out to the right and left; your children will inherit the nations and inhabit the desolate cities. . . 5-6 For your husband is your Maker- the LORD of Hosts is His name- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, He is called the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God. . . 11-13 O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity. . . 17 This is the inheritance of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness from Me, declares Yahuah.
The city is our inheritance, the place we dwell forever as children of the most high! You can see the personification and metaphor worked in here but you can also see the literal descriptions of elements of the city that align with Revelation 21-22 and Ezekiel 40-48.
Isaiah 49:18 says they (meaning her sons) will be put on her as an adornment as a bride is adorned. Then goes on to say in verse 21-22 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from? This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.”
Isaiah 60:4 Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather and come to you; your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried on the arm.
Isaiah 62:4-5 No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride. For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you. . . 12 And they will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of The LORD; and you will be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
Isaiah 66:7 Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy. Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.
This is literally speaking of Messiah being the first born of the resurrection and and then at His return those who faithful:
Revelation 12:5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
1 Corinthians 15:23-25 But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
There are very real, literal events taking place at Kingdom come. We have a specific role in the kingdom as a royal Priesthood under Yeshua's rule. These concepts are really difficult to grasp when you're clinging to the romance novel version of theology… the city is metaphorized as the bride- not the people!! Now, we will get into Jeremiah 3 and Ezekiel 16, and Hosea, and even the Parable of the 10 virgins. We'll get into Mt. Siani covenant agreement and even back to Abraham’s covenant. Everything I touched on here was just surface level but we're going to dig into all of it, Part 2.