Tuesday · Jun 23
The Bride
John was sent to the Island of Patmos. There, God gave John a vision about heaven.
Read Revelation 21:9–11 . What symbol do you read about in these verses? Why do you think John used it?
John uses the symbol of a bride. The bride is beautiful. On her wedding day, everyone wants to look at her. A wedding is a symbol for a new life together for the bride and groom. In the same way, we will start a new life with God when He comes back for us.
Jesus is getting a place ready for us ( John 14:1–3 ). We can’t imagine its beauty in our minds. “Human language can’t explain the reward that God will give His people. Only the people who see heaven will understand. No human mind can now know the beauty and majesty of heaven.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, page 675, adapted.
For sure, we really can’t understand the beauty of heaven or of the new earth right now. God shows John a vision of a special ‘wedding’ to help us. God also invites us to “think about the things that are in heaven, not about things that are on earth” ( Colossians 3:2 , WE).
God is carefully getting everything ready for this special ‘wedding.’ He doesn’t want us to be surprised with what will happen (read Matthew 22:1–14; Matthew 25:1–13 ).
Everyone in heaven will watch this ‘wedding’ happen. God invites us to be His guests. We will join with God’s bride. The bride is a symbol for the city that Jesus will take us to at His second coming. Elsewhere, the Bible also compares God’s people to a bride ( Isaiah 62:5 ). Maybe that is because the saints are inside “the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. This holy city is the new Jerusalem. It was prepared [made ready] like [the same as] a bride dressed for her husband” ( Revelation 21:2 , ICB).
This picture of the Holy City shows a special connection between God’s people and the city. That’s why both are named “the bride.” “The New Jerusalem is named ‘the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ [ Revelation 21:9, ERV ].”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, page 426, adapted.
Read Revelation 21:9–27 . Why is this scene so hard for us to imagine in our minds right now? How do we understand what God promises to us in these verses?