The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17 ESV)

I have alway wondered about this verse. Why, for example, doesn’t it say, “Jesus and his Bride say, `Come’?” Or, why doesn’t it say, “The Spirit and Jesus say, `Come’?” Yesterday I realized that in essence the verse does say, “The Spirit and Jesus say `Come!'” because at this time the Bride has become “one” with Jesus.  Recall the Bride’s introduction in Revelation 19.

6 And I heard something like the sound of a great crowd and something like the sound of many waters and something like the sound of powerful thunder, saying,

9 And he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”  (Rev. 19:6-9 Lexham English Bible)

Jesus, of course, is this “Lamb” according to Revelation 13:8 and all of Revelation 5. In Revelation 19 the Lamb, that is Jesus, marries his bride. According to God’s eternal law when a man and a woman marry they become “one flesh.”

18 Then[v] Yahweh God said, “it is not good that the man[w] is alone. I will make for him a helper as his counterpart.”[x]19 And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky,[y] and he brought eachto the man[z] to see what he would call it. And whatever the man[aa] called that living creature was its name. 20 And the man[ab] gave names[ac] to every domesticated animal and to the birds of heaven[ad] and to all the wild animals.[ae] But for the man there was not found a helper as his counterpart.[af] 21 And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man.[ag] While[ah] he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh where it had been.[ai] 22 And Yahweh God fashioned the rib which he had taken from the man[aj] into a woman and brought her to the man.[ak] 23 And the man[al]said,

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh. (Genesis 2:18-24 LEB)

Jesus also spoke about this Scripture saying,

“Have you not read that the one who created them[d] from the beginning made them male and female 5 and said, ‘On account of this a man will leave his[e] father and his[f] mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?[g] 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

Almost all Bible translations render the Hebrew word צֵלָע tsela` tsay-law’ as “rib” in Genesis 2:21 and 2:22. This Hebrew word occurs 33 times in Scripture, however, and translators never use the word “rib” in any other verse. Usually they translate צֵלָע as “side.” Genesis 2, therefore, really tells us that God fashioned Eve from one of Adam’s sides. I teach throughout this blog that all historical Scriptural accounts also serve as parables, stories which tell a spiritual or prophetic meaning. I believe that in parable Adam’s sleep here represents Jesus’ sleep, or death, four thousand years later at Calvary. Similarly, God making Eve from Adam’s side prophesies the piercing of Jesus after he has fallen asleep from which God ultimately fashioned Christ’s bride.  Here is the historical account of that event:

 33 But when they[p] came to Jesus, after they saw he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out immediately. 35 And the one who has seen it[q] has testified, and his testimony is true, and that person knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.36 For these things happened in order that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not a bone of his will be broken.”[r] 37 And again another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”[s] (John 19:33-37)

Do you remember Jesus’ first miracle? He turned water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana. Do you remember his last supper with his disciples? He told them that the wine represents his blood. Later in his life the apostle John wrote more about the water and the blood. He said,

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 John 5:5-8 KJV)

All of Scripture is a parable, a spiritual story of God reproducing himself. The pictures of God making Eve and of Jesus on the cross show us how God creates the Bride of Christ. The water symbolizes the Word of God himself. “The life is in the blood’ and the blood of Jesus brings new, spiritual life to to our carnal flesh. The blood of Jesus, the very life of Christ, turns the water into wine, turns the Word we have consumed, the ancient paths as we saw yesterday, into spiritual perfection, into oneness with Jesus Christ himself. This explains how the Bride made herself ready, made herself fit to become the Lamb’s wife.

And now we can understand that when John says that three bear witness on earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, he means that the Spirit and the Bride bear witness to God’s work on earth. Remember that the Bride is a figure or picture of Christians who are filled with the water of Christ’s Word and who are growing into new life by the blood of Christ. People on earth see and hear the testimony of the Bride as she is led by the Holy Spirit. The Bride explains the goal of all Scripture… Stand by the roads and look; and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

Thus, The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”