If the church is the bride, what does Rev 21:9 mean? “Come I will show you the bride the wife of the Lamb, and He carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven.” This seems to be the only place where the word says right out who the bride of the Lamb is. Is there another place that’s more specific?
The implication in Rev. 21:9 is that the New Jerusalem, being a city, is the home of the Bride. In Rev. 21:27 John confirmed this by saying only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life can enter the city. Only the Church meets this qualification.
In 2 Cor. 11:2 Paul wrote that he promised us to one husband, to Christ, that he might present us as a pure virgin to Him. In Greek this means to espouse or betroth us. These are obvious marital terms.