Let us examine some parts of the life of Abraham and his extended family. In Genesis 22 we find God testing his faith, when He instructs him to go and offer this beloved son as a burnt offering. It must have torn Abraham’s heart very much, but he started out in simple obedience to do as he had been told. God, however, stopped him short of actually offering his son and provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac.
In this testing of Abraham, God wanted to express to us something of the great cost to Himself in the giving of His only-begotten Son. God loved guilty sinners, but His absolute holiness prevented Him from showing mercy until He had a way to do it righteously. This was accomplished when God sent His Son into this world and allowed wicked men to crucify Him; then on the cross in those three hours of darkness God poured out on His sinless head the judgment due to sins, so that He might be able to come out and save guilty sinners, and yet be righteous. Thus we see that Genesis 22 is more than history; it is an unfolding of the heart of God in a type. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
The Procurement of a Wife
Then in Genesis 24 we find Abraham acting to procure a wife, a companion, for that son of his love. This is the longest chapter in Genesis and one of the longest in the Old Testament, and it is all devoted to a man getting a wife. Why should God enter into such details of this family scene? It is to tell us that He is interested in His Son having a bride and to unfold His purposes in the Son of His love.
That beloved One had to go into death, the death of the cross, before He could have a bride. Then the Holy Spirit came down to seek a bride for Him, just as Abraham’s servant went into another land to seek a bride for Isaac. He went to find the bride, and to woo and to win her heart to the one who had been in the place of death and who had been given all the riches of Abraham. This faithful servant produced gifts which were evidences of the riches of Abraham and of Isaac and gave them to Rebekah as the token and pledge of the love of one whom she had not yet seen.
After Rebekah heard of all the glories of Isaac, she was pointedly asked, “Wilt thou go with this man?” Her answer was a clear and precise affirmative, “I will go.” She did not figure out what it would cost her to go, for her heart was won, and love does not calculate. Immediately she began the long journey through the desert to her beloved bridegroom, the servant conducting her all the way.
A Bride for Christ
Today the Spirit of God is in this world seeking out a bride for Christ, the One who had to die to put her sins away so that He could have her. The Holy Spirit is here to tell of the death, resurrection and glory of Christ and to woo and to win the hearts of sinners to Him who loved them.
It is significant that the first time we have love mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 22, where it is Abraham’s love to Isaac; the second time is in Genesis 24, where it is Isaac’s love to his bride — Rebekah. The former faintly pictures to our souls the love of God to His Son, and the latter feebly tells of the great love of Christ to the church, His bride, for while in the type Isaac was first on the altar in the place of death before he received his bride, it could not be said of him as of our blessed Lord, “Christ ... loved the church and gave Himself for it” (Eph. 5:2525Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Ephesians 5:25)).
The Bride Adorned
Now let us turn to the last book of the Bible, to Revelation 21, where we see a beautiful future scene. The church is seen coming down out of heaven “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (vs. 2). This brings before us what the church is to be to Christ. She will be beautiful because He Himself has made her so, and all her beauty is to be for Him, and for Him alone. We always like to see a bride, for a bride is beautiful, but here all her adornment is for her husband. It will be her delight to be fully and forever for Him. Fellow-Christian, what a glorious time awaits us — to be adorned as He would have us, and all be for Himself! May our hearts leap with joy at the thought of being thus prepared for Him who loves us and gave Himself for us. There will not be a spot or blemish to mar that perfection which is for Him.
The Lamb’s Wife
Then in the ninth verse of this same chapter we read another prophetic utterance: “Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Here the emphasis is on the “Lamb’s wife.” This is a glory that others may and will see, for she is here displayed “having the glory of God.” We shall share in all His glory, and while our beauty will be for Himself, there will also be to His glory the public display that we are His.
Just as Rebekah was for Isaac alone, his bride, and the one necessary to his happiness, so we who are saved shall be for Christ, fully in keeping with all He is, and, what is more, we shall be necessary to Him also. “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isa. 53:1111He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)). Then, as Rebekah was made one with Isaac and so possessed all of his great riches with him, so we shall be “the Lamb’s wife” and share all His riches and glory. Rebekah had not been to the altar with Isaac; he was there alone (except for Abraham, who had the fire and the knife, the symbols of judgment), but she was brought to him later to satisfy his heart and share all his possessions. So the Lord Jesus was alone on the cross in those three awful hours of darkness, except that God was there in judgment on sin. We are to be brought to Him as the fruit of His toil and sorrow, to satisfy His affections and share His glory.
The High Standard of Love
And our beloved brother and sister who have just been united in marriage, “in the Lord,” shall find full instructions in the Word of God for the pathway ahead. They are to represent Christ and the church. The husband is to love his wife “as Christ also loved the church”; what a high standard that is! How did Christ love the church? Even to the extent of giving Himself for her. And did He just give Himself once and stop there? No, He has occupied Himself with her ever since, nourishing and cherishing her. May we who are husbands keep this before us and never weary of doing that which is a picture of Christ’s love to and interest in the church. And as the church is subjected to Christ, so the wife is to be to her husband, remembering her blessed place in the beautiful type set before us. May we have God’s thoughts concerning marriage; the world does not know them.
When Rebekah neared the end of her wilderness journey, she “lifted up her eyes” to look for Isaac; he was out watching and looking for her. Then she lighted off the camel, for that which carried her across the desert was needed no more.
Our wilderness journey is about over; may “we lift our wishful, longing eyes,” waiting to see His blessed face.
Christian Truth, Vol. 4 (adapted)