The Bride of Christ: Like Mother, Like Daughter
Seven lamps, seven candlesticks, a dove — and the Church made ready for the marriage of the Lamb
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day… And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man… The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Two sets of seven lights
Early in Revelation, John sees the Church as seven golden candlesticks with the risen Son in their midst. A few chapters later he sees the Spirit as “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne” of the Father (Revelation 4:5).
Yona Tree does not argue for or against any of these readings. The book focuses instead on the symbolism. The Holy Spirit is pictured as seven lights; the Church, made up of every human spirit the Spirit has given new birth, is pictured as seven lights too. The sevenfold Spirit surrounds Her eternal companion, the Father. The sevenfold Church surrounds her Bridegroom, the Son. Like Mother, like daughter.
Born of the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit
The Church is not only born of the Spirit; she is inhabited by the Spirit. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). It is fitting, the book suggests, that the Spirit who binds the reborn into one Body should be the One who prepares that Body — the Bride — for her wedding, much as a mother prepares a daughter during the season of betrothal.
Paul uses the same language of betrothal: “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Christ “loved the church, and gave himself for it… that he might present it to himself a glorious church” (Ephesians 5:25–27).
“The only one of her mother”
My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her.
For centuries Christians have read Solomon and his beloved as a picture of Christ and the Church. If so, the Church is described with the very symbol seen when the Spirit descended upon Christ at His baptism: a dove. And she has a mother who favors her above all.
The marriage of the Lamb
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who willingly gave Himself to atone for the sins of the world. His Bride will be the saints of all ages, who have received their righteousness from Him alone. No one has ever been righteous in and of themselves; righteousness is a gift received through faith, put on like a wedding gown.
The Bride is not perfect yet. Thankfully, the Spirit does not only teach her; the Spirit also prays for her: “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
The Spirit and the Bride say, Come
At the very end of Scripture the Spirit and the Bride speak together, with one invitation:
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
The Bride also appears as a city — “the holy city, new Jerusalem… prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). That vision is the subject of What Is New Jerusalem?
