In Genesis 2:18, God said “It is not good that the man should be alone”. Then He proceeded to create Eve. When the Pharisees asked Him about divorce, Jesus replied “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4).

So it is not good for a man to be alone; that’s why God made a man AND a woman. We know that the Earthly things follow the pattern of the heavenly things. And this explains why Jesus takes a bride – because it is not good for Jesus, a man, to be alone.

But the bride is very specifically the wife of the Lamb – of Jesus – and NOT of the Father (Revelation 21:9). So will the Father be alone for eternity? Is He doomed to the very thing He Himself said was not good – to be alone? To be without an help meet for Him – or, as the YLT renders it “an helper—as his counterpart”?

Solomon said “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22). Remember, it was for the FATHER’S pleasure that the worlds were created – Revelation 4:11. We know this was the Father, for Jesus appears before that throne later in the same chapter (verses 6-7), very clearly taking the book out of someone else’s hand – which can only be the Father.

So if ALL of this is for the Father’s pleasure, if it is not good for a man to be alone, if finding a wife is a good thing… and if Jesus will take a wife… how is it possible that the Father will not?

WHO IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST?

Revelation 19:7-8 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.

The Lamb is married at His return, as the saints are resurrected, to those saints; it goes without saying that it is the saints from this time, the first resurrection, that become collectively known as the bride of Christ. They are the church of which He is the head (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18, etc.).

Jesus is their head symbolically because Jesus is IN their head; His spirit remains in us, and we cannot sin; Christ in us our hope of glory. Not the Father – but CHRIST in us (Colossians 1:27). We are not without the Father’s spirit of course – but we only have access to the Father THROUGH Christ (Ephesians 2:13-18).

So since our access is THROUGH Christ, it stands to reason that we must have more of Christ’s spirit, since we, the church, are to be married to Christ and not the Father – because we obey Christ first, then the Father through Christ:

Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

But the wife’s bond is to her husband’s authority. Of course, the husband obeys his elders, so while the wife obeys her father-in-law, it is always indirect; she obeys the Father THROUGH her husband. Paul makes it absolutely clear that we are to be married to Jesus, specifically NOT to the Father, the lawgiver (Romans 7:1-4).

JESUS’ TEMPLE

The “God” and “Lord” that followed Israel in the wilderness was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). And that God – Jesus – requested that Israel build Him a tabernacle – a temporary dwelling, a tent. They did so, and that lasted for several hundred years. But that was a tent – not a house.

2 Samuel 7:6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

Acts 7:47 But Solomon built him an house.

So the tabernacle in the wilderness was the tent – temporary dwelling – of Christ. Solomon built Christ a temple – a permanent house. Paul explains what these symbols mean, and the difference between them, in…

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

So the tabernacle is our physical bodies and the temple is our future spiritual bodies; these are tents and houses, respectively, of CHRIST. Again I stress the point that the Father never entered into these houses directly. Jesus appeared in them, Jesus spoke from the thick darkness, but the Father NEVER did. So they are not temples of the Father, but temples of Christ.

…but then Solomon’s temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. A new temple was built. The dimensions were the same except that the second temple was half as tall – half as glorious. It also didn’t have the ark of the covenant in it. Yet it was much more palatial and the courts were much larger than the original temple had been.

Ezra 3:10-13 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, … all the people shouted with a great shout, … because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Israel had mixed feelings about this second tabernacles; some thought it was great, others thought it was a disappointment. How did God feel about it?

Haggai 2:3, 9 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? … The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

God considered this house better than the former one; that’s very important, because by every human measurement it was inferior. There was less gold, the ark was gone, it was half as tall; the only thing that could be said for it was that, by the time of Christ, it had many more buildings. So many that the disciples pointed them out to Jesus…

Mark 13:1 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!

Luke 21:5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, …

So the collection of buildings had become quite impressive in scope, even if individually they were less impressive than the original temple had been. But here’s the question we have to ask… was that Jesus’ temple?

The God of the Old Testament – Jesus – is never recorded as appearing in the second temple. Jesus was taken there as a baby (Luke 2:27), but it was hardly Jesus’ house. Whose house did JESUS say it was?

John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not MY FATHER‘S HOUSE an house of merchandise.

The tabernacle of Moses was Jesus’ tent. The temple of Solomon was Jesus’ house, the house that represented the firstborn sons of God. The house that represented the bride of Christ.

But the second temple was the Father’s house; the house that represents the secondborn sons of God, the saints from the church of the second resurrection… and therefore… the bride of the FATHER!

THE FATHER’S BRIDE

When you think about it from a distance, it makes a lot of intuitive sense. Two Gods, both male, both single. We know Jesus has a bride, therefore, logically, the Father should have one as well. We have two temples, one of which Jesus lived in and claimed He would dwell in forever (1 Kings 9:3). The other of which Jesus never appeared in as a God, and specifically said was His Father’s temple.

We have two resurrections, one of which is much more glorious – the first resurrection, the firstborn – who, according to God, are entitled to precisely double the reward (Deuteronomy 21:17, 1 Timothy 5:17) – just as the first temple is precisely double the height of the second (compare Ezra 6:3 and 2 Chronicles 3:4).

But just as the second temple grounds were much grander in scale, so the second resurrection will be MUCH larger. Remember, God doesn’t look at things like people do – the things humans value are worthless to God, and vice-versa (Luke 16:15).

Everyone who looks at the first resurrection is blinded by their glory, and is desperate to be a part of that resurrection; desperate to “save” people from the ignominious fate of not being a part of that resurrection. To them, the second resurrection people are “in their eyes as nothing”.

And on an individual level, the first resurrection IS a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35), just as, individually, an ounce of gold is vastly better than an ounce of brass. But a truckload of gold is not worth more than a mountain of brass. And 144,000 firstfruits are not worth more than countless billions of secondfruits.

The fact is, the second resurrection isn’t so bad. The love of God, immortality, happiness and an endless life of purpose awaits them as well as us; they just won’t be in charge, which is hardly that much of a loss.

And they will number in the BILLIONS, so their glory, collectively, will be greater than ours. Hence it is the far more valuable harvest, and thus it is appropriate that Jesus give it to His Father, and take the “lesser” bride for Himself!

1 Corinthians 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

All this builds a strong case. But you might be thinking, the plan is to create a bride for the Father, why is there no direct proof of that in scripture?

It’s amazing how much we can miss if we don’t know what we are looking for.

Revelation 21:1-3 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared AS A BRIDE adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God HIMSELF shall be with them, and be their God.

Think about when this is – this is after the second resurrection, after the final judgment of Satan and all evildoers; the bride of Christ was saved eons before this! So this is not the same bride as Revelation 19’s!Because she and Jesus are an old married couple by then!

How many times have you read this without realizing that this is not describing the return of Jesus; not the end of the first resurrection and the bride of Christ, but the end of the second resurrection and the bride of the FATHER!

It specifically underlines the fact that not Jesus, but God Himself will be the God of this bride. This is describing a resurrection of people who are filled, not with Christ’s spirit, but with the Father’s spirit. The FATHER dwells with them, and in them, not just Christ.

The city comes down as a bride prepared for her husband… prepared for the Father by Christ and His wife!

THE BRIDES

If you keep reading Revelation 21, you’ll come across an apparent contradiction.

Verses 9-10 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

First, this seems to be describing the same city. But it’s part of a different vision, brought by one of the seven-vial angels, which are from a much earlier part of the story. Also, note how it expresses the idea “you’ve seen the Father’s bride… now I’m going to show you the bride, the LAMB’S wife”. If this wasn’t a different bride, the emphasis would be out of place.

And yet, it does seem to describe the same city. Do the Father and Jesus share a bride? That can’t be true, since God considers that a terrible abomination (1 Corinthians 5:1). Were we wrong about there being two brides? Or is there something else going on here?

Psalms 122:1-3 … I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

Notice that odd phrase; “compact together”. YLT says “Is as a city that is joined to itself together.” ISV says “a city knitted together”. These translations all imply that it is two parts joined into one whole “city”. So when is this verse set?

Verses 4-5 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.

In this Jerusalem, the one which is “knitted together”, there are THRONES of judgment. This has never happened in history.

Verses 6-9 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy PALACES. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.

There have never been palaces in Jerusalem. A palace, to be sure; but this vision describes multiple thrones, and multiple palaces. Now, if this could happen, it would certainly be a recipe for conflict and strife between the rulers. And yet this vision speaks of peace within these walls!

Revelation 22:1-3 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb … And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

So if there can be two divine thrones, two divine palaces, two divine temples in one city (Revelation 21:22)... surely they have room for two divine “wives” in the same city? The temple grounds were always divided among inner court and outer court, with other courts for priests, gentiles, women, etc., so it’s not hard to see that the new city could be divided among the brides, yet still be the same city.

Take Rebekah, for example. She was part of Abraham’s household, and obedient to him – but through Isaac. Obedient to Abraham as Isaac interpreted it. Nonetheless, she was part of Abraham’s house, dwelling in his tents, as part of his “city”, even though she was not Sarah.

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, … sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Every city has different neighborhoods; since all belong to the Father, they’re all the same city. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for the bride of Christ to dwell in the city of her Father, alongside her Father’s much-younger wife whom she helped prepare for marriage!

FISHING FOR A CONCLUSION

So, the bride of Christ is mentioned alongside the bride of the Father throughout scripture. You’ve just never noticed because you’ve always thought, as I did, that there was only one bride, and therefore made no attempt to distinguish them.

Being ignorant of such a major character in the plan of God means we’ve overlooked her presence in many symbols. And many symbols we just couldn’t explain without this – like fish.

When you think about it, the position of fish in the Bible is unusual. They are clean animals which we can eat, there is an enormous variety of them… and yet not one has ever been sacrificed in the temple of God!

The few clean insects like grasshoppers are never important to our diet, and there are only a few species that are clean. But fish – they are the backbone of the diet of half the world. And yet they have no role in sacrifice, no representation on the temple walls, nothing. It’s like fish do not exist.

I mean, the great brass sea of Solomon would have made an awesome koi pond, but no – the OT God has nothing to do with fish. The OT never portrays God as a fisherman – as shepherd or a hunter, yes. But not a fisherman. If anything, He killed fish just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time:

Isaiah 50:2 … behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

Think about the symbolism here – the fish die of thirst. Literally, of a lack of water – a lack of the Father’s spirit. Water is a universal symbol of the Father’s spirit, which flows out from the throne in Jerusalem.

Everyone who is alive has a drop of that water in them, since “in Him we live and move and have our being”. Thus, many waters are many people with a drop of the spirit of God in them – whether these people are righteous or not (Revelation 17, for instance).

But Jesus’ spirit is like wind, and He appears in a cloud – which, incidentally, is the source of all heavenly water – rain! Because it is through Jesus that we have access to more of that spirit (Ephesians 2:18).

It is the Father who finds new potential saints in the world, then brings them to Christ (John 6:44-45). This is why Israel was baptized twice, immersed in two distinct spirits – the sea, and the cloud; the Father, and Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). More on that in my “Geography of Salvation” article.

So these fish are dying because Jesus dried up the “river”, the wicked river which He turned to blood in Revelation. But He promises hope for those same fish…

Jeremiah 16:16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

The context here is Israel who was scattered among the nations. God promises two different types of “gatherers” – hunters, and fishers. Because there would be two kinds of creatures brought back to God’s kingdom – beasts and fish. There is a clear distinction between these kinds of creatures in God’s mind…

1 Corinthians 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

Men, beasts, fish, and birds all have different meanings. Explaining these four categories is a matter of common sense. Men are made in the image of God – thus, they are literally symbols of God. But that leaves three – birds, beasts, and fish. What do they represent?

Knowing the meaning of the water and the air, the answer is obvious.

THE OBVIOUS SOLUTION

The fundamental difference between fish and other animals is that fish live in water, while beasts and birds live in air. Applying the symbolism you just read, it’s obvious that fish live in the father’s spirit, while other animals live in the spirit of Christ.

But even though all animals need water to live, being immersed in it will kill them.

And even though fish need air to live, being immersed in it will kill them.

The wife of Christ is expected to take on the spirit of her husband – Obey His words and become more like Him. She is immersed in this spirit, even though she has access to the spirit of her Father-in-law, she doesn’t live with Him – Jesus and the firstborn church reign on the Earth, and the Father won’t be here “until the end”. (1 Corinthians 15:24).

Conversely, the bride of the Father will be bound to Her own husband. She will learn His spirit, and live with Him. She will have contact with her son-in-law, of course, but she will be immersed in the spirit of her husband. Just as the fish extract air from the water to live. (Isaiah 11:9)

But that leaves one more group to be explained – if beasts are first resurrection, and fish are second resurrection, what do birds represent? Again, the answer is obvious if you think about it.

Ecclesiastes 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Beasts are limited to the Earth. They cannot ascend up to heaven at will… but birds can. So what creature can ascend up to heaven like a bird at will?

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Both beasts and birds live in air – the spirit of Christ. But while we are tied to the Earth, birds can ascend and descend to the heavens at will. If you aren’t convinced yet, this verse is conclusive:

Revelation 18:2 … Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

So birds are angels – which, as I said, is just common sense because both have wings and both can, in a way, ascend up into heaven. Jesus is the creator of all things, angels included – so these angels are made of His spirit, just as we are, thus God created an Earth where birds live in the air.

Clean birds, therefore, represent angels and “unclean and hateful birds” represent devils. Likewise, clean beasts and fish are the righteous, and unclean beasts and fish the unrighteous. Easy. Simple. Logical.

So then these four types of flesh represent four different creations of God:

1. Men represent the Elohim, the family of God.
2. Birds represent angels.
3. Beasts represent men in the flesh.
4. Fish represent men in the flesh in the second resurrection.

BECOMING A FISH

In Habakkuk 1, the prophet bewails the fact that Babylon is coming to spoil Jerusalem. You’d be tempted to believe this was just a physical thing if you didn’t know that all prophecies were dual.

Habakkuk 1:11-13 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Babylon was sent by God “for judgment”, and “for correction”. But Babylon decided to give the credit to his own god. I don’t need to go into the religious deception of Babylon, the wine she made all nations drink (which is mentioned in Habakkuk 2:15).

The reason I mention this now is to prove I’m right about the fish. Because God says they were created by Babylon! Babylon created the fish!

Verses 14-15 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them. They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

The wicked Babylonians “devoured the more righteous man”, and “made men as fishes of the sea”, who “had no ruler over them” – in other words, who rejected God as their ruler! And this “net” of religious deception became their new god!

Verse 16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.

What may have started out as Babylonian propaganda was converted to a religion because it made them rich and powerful. And this religion converted men – people who were like God – into FISH! People who would not be able to find salvation until the second resurrection!

As you keep reading Habakkuk, you’ll find God’s answer to the prophet’s lament, the punishment of Babylon and the redemption of the fish. After more Revelation-style apocalyptic visions, Habakkuk says of the vision God showed him…

Habakkuk 3:13 (YLT) Thou hast gone forth for the salvation of Thy people, For salvation with Thine anointed, Thou hast smitten the head of the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation unto the neck….

You would assume this is about the return of Christ, except that in context, it’s about the salvation of the men who had become fish. This suggests the end of the second resurrection is the time period. We can prove that because the “head of the house of the wicked”, can only be Satan.

But Satan isn’t wounded at the return of Christ! He is bound, but not harmed otherwise! (Revelation 20:1-3). This is talking about his final judgment, the ultimate destruction of the Babylonian system, and the beheading of the adversary of Truth!

And at the same time, the final salvation of the second-fruits, the fish inhabit the “many waters” that the whore sat on! The same waters which God turned to blood and “dried up”, who will be healed by the new waters which flow out from Jerusalem!

Ezekiel 47:9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

SALVATION OF FISH

Since we know this is the second resurrection, this is describing the process of saving the second-fruits. As I said, there is a much greater variety of fish than there are among clean beasts – I mean, there are cows, sheep, goats, deer… and a few dozen micro-species like Antelope and Ibex, but really – they’re a boring lot.

But fish… there are 32,000 different kinds of fish, and the vast majority of them are clean. This tell us something important – or rather, confirms something we already know. This life is hard. Becoming the bride of Christ means being the best of the best, and few will manage to balance on the narrow path to get there.

That’s why there are a lot more unclean beasts than there are clean beasts. Think about it – how many animals we can’t eat, compared to the handful that we can? Only a relatively few species.

On the other hand, only a handful of fish species are unclean – shark, swordfish, catfish, etc. No, I didn’t forget whales, seals, and dolphins – those are mammals, beasts, who dwell for short periods underwater, but can only live in the presence of open air. (No, I have no idea who they are.)

What this tells us is what we already know – that “few there be who find salvation” in this life, to become the bride of Christ… but that the vast majority find salvation in the second resurrection as the bride of the Father!

It also tells us that not everyone will, since there are unclean fish. It also confirms something else we already knew, which is that the saints from THIS life will help those second resurrection saints find salvation, which is why the disciples were promised…

Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

We’ve always assumed that meant in “fish them in this life”, but think about it… there is not a SINGLE reference to fishing in the New Testament after the gospels! Did Peter fish the Israelites and Paul fish the gentiles? Or did they shepherd them? As their Pastor!

1 Peter 5:2-4 Feed the flock of God which is among you, … being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

There are no post-gospel examples of fishing men, but there are dozens of examples of shepherding beasts! Which confirms the symbolism of the fish, that fish are not being called today! And therefore examples Jesus gave in the gospels are about the futuresalvation of the fishes!

1 Peter 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

This literally says to the church “you are as sheep”, or sheep symbolize you guys. Jesus told the disciples He would – at some indefinite future time – make them to be fishers of men. This is the job Jesus offered the disciples after their salvation!

Ezekiel 47:10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

Their job will be symbolic fishermen, those who spread their nets in the waters flowing out from Jerusalem which healed the fish in the sea! But in the present life, He commanded them to do what?

John 21:16 …Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

THE CHILDREN OF GODS

It is not good for a man, or a God, to be alone. The Father is even now helping Jesus create a wife for Himself. Helping convert her carnal, brawling nature into a loving and supportive wife who will truly be a help for her husband as He builds a house.

And once that happens, with the help of His wife, Jesus’ first task is to set about creating a much more glorious wife who will share the ideals and goals of His Father, so that no one in the universe will be alone.

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

And once they’re both happily married, living in a clean house full of harmony…

Then we’ll start talking about children.

Because they’re coming, too.