The Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.
This is the correlative of “Come here, and I will show thee the sentence of the harlot” (Rev. 17:11And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: (Revelation 17:1)), for next to the glory of God and His Christ, the glory of the bride is the theme of Scripture after the ascension of her risen Head. But, it may be asked, why is the bride, both in the day of God, and in the day of the Lord, spoken of and described as a city? The answer is that there is nothing known to man that so describes full corporate completeness as a city, and no city called holy but Jerusalem (Isa. 52:11Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. (Isaiah 52:1)). “Thy Maker is Thy Husband; the Lord of hosts is His name” (Isa. 54:55For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. (Isaiah 54:5)). Thus we get expressed the marital and the corporate relationship of the earthly people. It is precisely the same in respect to the heavenly city, the holy city—New Jerusalem—Jerusalem, which is above (Gal. 4:2626But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:26)), city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:2222But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)). The spectacle of the harlot took place in the desert; that of the bride on a great and high mountain. Both are seen in spirit. The harlot is seen having the glory of man (the beast); the bride has the glory of God. The characteristic of the bride is, that she is “the light-bearer.” Only here, and in Phil. 2:15,15That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; (Philippians 2:15) is the word used. “Like jasper, clear as crystal”: the same stone that indicated Him that sat on the throne (Rev. 4:31) the stone representing Benjamin (son of the right hand), whose attribute is, “the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him.” The wall is great and high, 144 cubits = 216 feet. The city itself measuring 12,000 stadia of 600 feet = 136 miles in length, breadth, and height. If the last causes surprise, remember the canopy over the glory, and the pavilion over the earthly Jerusalem (Isa. 4:66And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. (Isaiah 4:6)). The city is of pure gold, but transparent; the wall of jasper diffusing the light on the earthly city below, and all around. Of the twelve foundations, each representing precious stones the first is jasper. Then as to the twelve gates: each one pearl; at each gate an angel; over each gate the name of a tribe, while each foundation is inscribed with the name of an apostle. The tribes are appropriately on the keystones, for salvation is of the Jews; and through them we entered. They in their turn are built upon the foundation of the apostles and (New Testament) prophets; Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone. And thus it comes to pass that all who looked for the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:1010For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)), from Abraham, whose children we believing Gentiles are (Gal. 3:2929And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)), down to the last martyred saint under the beast’s tyranny, are represented there.
Final Aspect of the Throne
Only one more aspect was needed to complete the Revelation, and that is here given. Let us review what has gone before. First, the Judge was brought before us, then the Church; for judgment begins at the house of God. Then the Thrones were set. The Lamb can alone unfold; the elders alone can estimate. Then came a series of judgments from the Throne, dealing with man as man. Then a new series began from the Temple, in respect to religious man as such. This ended in the total overthrow of everything irreligious (1) By the revelation of Christ; (2) By the binding of Satan; (3) By the setting up of a kingdom where man as man, and religious man as such, should be found under God’s King and Priest. Both having been displayed, and both having been manifested as existing by the excellence of the King-Priest, and not owing to excellence in man, the beauty and excellencies of the King-Priest’s companions in glory is shown (1) As to relationship [Bride]; (2) As to government [Throne], which is what this page treats of. All this was to be followed by a never-ending day of God, in a reconstructed heaven and earth; yet inasmuch as it was not the proper subject of this Book, which treats essentially of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, but a result springing from it, it is shown in a parenthesis, the bride and throne essentially concluding the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Water of life; food of life. Both are now found in Christ personally, and whosoever cometh to Him now, shall never hunger; and whosoever believeth in Him now, shall never thirst. Not so then. That gracious, tender, loving heart, that beats in a divine Man for men, and can be approached by the vilest and most sin-laden penitent, and who waits to be gracious, deferring the day of His glory, so that the entire long-suffering may be displayed, will no longer, in His person, present water and food of life. Out of the throne comes the one, and by the side of the river grows the other. But how, then, can you get at them? Nothing defiled can get into the city where they are. In other words, they are inaccessible there to those for whom NOW they are free as air, because they can be got at in His person who says, “Come unto Me.” The blest inhabitants of the city eat and drink; the very leaves are specific for every need of the nations below. There is no need above, for there is no curse. The throne of God and the Lamb is there; His servants serve HIM; His face they see; His name they bear in their foreheads. Night there is none; artificial, or even divinely ordained light is not needed. God is Light, and His servants are children of light: in Him is no darkness at all. They once were darkness; now are they light in the Lord. He once spake in Creation, “Let there be light,” and He in redemption has become their Light. Praise to His name!