813. "And His wife has made herself ready." This symbolically means that those who will belong to this church, namely, the New Jerusalem, are being gathered together, introduced to it, and instructed.

The wife symbolizes the Lord's New Church, namely, the New Jerusalem, as is clearly apparent from chapter 21 that comes later, where we find the following:

I... saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)

And in the same chapter:

(An angel) came to me..., saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he... showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God... (Revelation 21:9-10)

The wife's making herself ready means, symbolically, that those who will belong to that Lord's New Church are being gathered together, introduced to it, and instructed. And because her making herself ready has the symbolic meaning, therefore it follows next that as a wife she was "arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright," which symbolizes an introduction through instruction. Moreover, for the same reason a white horse is also afterward described, which symbolizes an understanding of the Word provided for them by the Lord.

812. 19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come." This symbolizes the angels' joy of soul and heart and consequent glorification of the Lord, that from now on a full marriage of the Lord with the church is possible.

To be glad and rejoice symbolizes a joy of soul and heart. Joy of the soul is a joy of the intellect or joy in response to truths of faith, and joy of the heart is a joy of the will or joy springing from goods of love. Both of these are mentioned because of the marriage of truth and goodness in every particular of the Word, as explained in nos. 373 and 689 above. To give Him glory means, symbolically, to acknowledge and confess that all truth is from the Lord (no. 629), and to acknowledge that the Lord is God of heaven and earth (no. 693). Here it therefore symbolizes to glorify, because this involves both acknowledgments.

"For the marriage of the Lamb has come" means, symbolically, that from now on a full marriage of the Lord and the church is possible. For this to be symbolized, the Lord is therefore called the Lamb, and by the Lamb is meant the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (nos. 269, 291).

[2] It is when the Lord's humanity is acknowledged to be Divine that a full marriage of the Lord and the church is possible, and this can be seen almost without explanation. For in the Christian world of the Protestant Reformed, people know that the church is a church because of the marriage of the Lord with it, inasmuch as the Lord is called the Lord of the vineyard, ¹ and the vineyard is the church. Moreover, the Lord is also called the bridegroom and husband, and the church is called the bride and wife. That the Lord is called the bridegroom and the church the bride may be seen in no. 797 above.

That there is a full marriage of the Lord and the church when His humanity is acknowledged to be Divine is plain. For then God the Father and the Lord are acknowledged to be one, like soul and body. And when this is acknowledged, people do not turn to the Father for the sake of the Son, but they turn then to the Lord Himself, and through Him to God the Father, because the Father is present in Him like a soul in its body, as we have said.

Before people acknowledge the Lord's humanity to be Divine, there is indeed a marriage of the Lord with the church, but only in those who turn to the Lord and think of His Divinity, and not at all of whether His humanity is Divine or not. This is what the simple in faith and heart do, but rarely the learned and erudite.

Besides, one wife cannot have three husbands, nor can one body have three souls. Consequently, unless people acknowledge one God in whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord, no marriage is possible.

[3] We say that this marriage is possible from now on, because it was not possible fully until after the adherents of the Roman Catholic religion were separated in the spiritual world by the Last Judgment, and the adherents of the Protestant Reformed faith too, who are those who professed faith alone. It is because the separation of these is described in the preceding chapters that we say from now on.

That there is a wedding of the church with the Lord can be seen from the following:

Jesus said..., "The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them." (Matthew 9:15, cf. Mark 2:19)

The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to (invite people) to the wedding. (Matthew 22:1-14)

The kingdom of heaven (is like) ten virgins who... went out to meet the bridegroom..., five of (whom)...were ready and went in with (the bridegroom) to the wedding. (Matthew 25:1-12)

That the Lord meant Himself here is apparent from the verse that follows next, in which He says,

Watch..., for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come. (Matthew 25:13)

And elsewhere:

Let your loins be girded and your lamps lit, and you yourselves be like people who are waiting for their lord, when he will return from the wedding... (Luke 12:35-36)

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