Lesson 3  Images From Marriage

Lesson 3  Images From Marriage

(Revelation 19 & 21, Ephesians 5, Ezekiel 16)

Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D.  Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

Introduction: Do you love to spend time with those who are loving and warm to you?  I do! We would rather not spend time with those who are cold and distant. Of all the things you might expect from a pagan god, being loving and warm is not one of them. I am no expert on the pagan gods, but as I understand it love or warmth is an attribute of the pagan god, and not the emotion it showed to humans. For example, Eros, the god of love, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, are figures of passion. They might inspire love, but they are not showing love to humans. That is what makes our God so remarkable.  The true God of the Universe presents Himself as having the most loving interaction with humans. He is our Father. This week He is our Spouse. How grateful we should be! Let’s dive into our study of the Bible and learn more about God as our Spouse!

1.    Marriage to God

1. 1.    Read Revelation 19:6-7. Who is the Lamb? And what is He about to do? (Read Revelation 5:12. Jesus is the Lamb. He is about to become married.)

1. 2.    Read Revelation 19:8. Who is the Lamb marrying? (Read Revelation 21:9-10. This says the Lamb is marrying a city.)

1. 1. 1.    What? How can Jesus marry a city? (It is not just any city, it is the holy city, the New Jerusalem.)

1. 3.    Let’s go back and re-read Revelation 19:8. What is the New Jerusalem wearing? (“Fine linen,” which is defined to be “the righteous deeds of the saints.” How can a building be wearing someone’s deeds?

1. 4.    Read Revelation 21:27. Who lives in this city? (Those whose names are written in the Book of Life.)

1. 5.    Read Ephesians 5:28-32. What is the “profound mystery?” (That Jesus is the Husband of the church. Note that verse 30 states that Christians are “members of His body.”)

1. 1. 1.    While this may seem odd to someone who is not familiar with the Bible, Christians are identified with the Church which is Jesus’ bride. Thus, we are married to Jesus. This explains why the city is wearing the deeds of the righteous and the redeemed live in the city - the New Jerusalem.)

1. 1. 2.    Ask yourself why God would choose to have us view Him as our Father and our Spouse?

2.   Our Unworthiness

1. 1.    Read Ezekiel 16:4-5. What does the public think of this child? (They were willing to have it die. No one helped it.)

1. 2.    Read Ezekiel 16:6-9. What has God done for this unwanted child?

1. 3.    Read Ezekiel 16:10-13. Does God do only the basics for this unwanted child? (No. He gives her every advantage. He treats her like royalty.)

1. 4.    Read Ezekiel 16:14-15. Is this grown woman still unwanted? (No. She is now beautiful and desirable.)

1. 5.    Skip down and read Ezekiel 16:32-35. What kind of a wife is this? (An unfaithful, and frankly stupid wife. She is beautiful, but she pays others for sex. Even prostitutes know enough to demand payment!)

1. 6.    Step back a minute and tell me about this woman. Has God saved her?

1. 1. 1.    Has God made her desirable?

1. 1. 2.    Has God made her rich?

1. 1. 3.    Has God married her?

1. 1. 4.    What, reasonably, are her obligations to God?

1. 1. 5.    Tell me what God is teaching us a through this terrible and ridiculous story about marriage? (First, God is talking about Israel, but I think it relates to God’s people of all times. Second, the point for our purposes is that by having a “marriage” relationship with us, God has opened Himself up to all sorts of grief when we are unfaithful.)

3.      A Practical Example

1. 1.    Read Genesis 24:1-4. Why do you think it was important to Abraham to have his son married to someone from his “kindred?”

1. 2.    Read Genesis 24:5-6. What is the second obligation of the servant, Eliezer? (Not to leave Isaac with the girl’s family.)

1. 3.    Read Genesis 24:7-8. Does this give us a hint as to why Abraham did not want his son to marry a Canaanite or have his son stay with his new wife? (The plan was that Abraham’s descendants would throw the Canaanites off the land. The potential problem with marrying a Canaanite was obvious. Isaac could not stay with his “kindred” because he was a key part of the family movement to live in Canaan.)

1. 1. 1.    Is there a lesson today for the marriage of our children? (We don’t want our children to marry pagans because the goal is to avoid them and our grandchildren becoming pagans.)

1. 4.    Read Genesis 24:10-14. What is key to Eliezer’s success? (Prayer! We must pray for the future spouses of our children. We must teach them to pray for guidance to the right spouse.)

1. 5.    Read Genesis 24:15-19. Why do you think Eliezer proposed as the test whether the potential wife was hard-working? (It would tend to show that she was considerate, not selfish, and not lazy.)

1. 1. 1.    Should a person marry a lazy spouse? (In my observation marriages are in deep trouble when one spouse complains that he or she does all the work.)

1. 6.    Rebekah invites Eliezer to her home, Eliezer recites the entire story to Rebekah’s father and brother, and they agree to have Rebekah leave to marry the son of Abraham. Read Genesis 24:57-58. Why would Eliezer agree that Rebekah should make the decision? (This shows that in the little time Eliezer had spent with Rebekah he had gained confidence in her.)

1. 7.    Consider the background. Read Genesis 24:54–57. Is Rebekah given the final word on the marriage? (No. Just the issue of whether she will have ten days to say goodbye to her family.)

1. 1. 1.    Notice that it is the mother and brother who seem to be negotiating the marriage contract. Any idea why? (The Bible Knowledge Commentary reports that in that society a woman’s brother gave his sister in marriage.)

1. 8.    Read Genesis 24:59-61. What kind of blessing is this? Do you think this was the typical send-off for a bride? (John MacArthur calls this a “conventional prayer,” but it sounds to me like Eliezer explained the promises made to Abraham about his descendants.) 

4.   Choose Wisely

1. 1.    Read Revelation 17:4-5. What we have studied so far is the ideal “marriage” between humans and God. And we have studied the opposite, that humans who had a relationship with God became prostitutes, rather than faithful spouses. What does this “mother of prostitutes” seem to be? (This is the ultimate religious authority that is opposed to God.)

1. 1. 1.    When we read about Israel acting as a prostitute, rather than a wife, God was looking for Israel to return to Him. How does the prostitute of Revelation 17:5-6 differ? (This is not a power that desires to have a relationship with God. This is the organized opposition.)

1. 2.    Read Revelation 14:8. This is part of the Three Angels’ Messages (Revelation 14:6-11). What does this Babylon religious power do? (It forces sexual immorality.)

1. 1. 1.    Notice that Babylon is referred to as “she” and verse 8 uses the phrase “made all nations.” Is this actual force? (Read Jeremiah 51:7. By calling her a woman, referring to wine, and calling her a prostitute, the picture is one of allure, rather than absolute force.)

1. 3.    Step back a moment. We cheered God by saying that He wants to have the most intimate relationship with us because He compares it to marriage (and to being our Father). Is Satan looking for an equal and opposite relationship with us? (No. God sets the tone by calling us His bride. Turning to Satan simply means “not God’s bride.”)

1. 4.    Read Revelation 21:1-3. We previously discussed calling a city a bride. We see here that the true reference is to the people who live in the city. Does this give us the ultimate picture of our marriage with Jesus?

1. 5.    Read Revelation 21:4-7. What kind of relationship will this turn out to be? Some marriages are great and some are terrible. What kind is this?

1. 1. 1.    Notice also the reference to God being our father and we His children.

1. 6.    Friend, God desires to have the closest relationship with you. Will you accept? Will you remain faithful to the One who saved you and wants to take you to heaven to be with Him? Why not accept right now?

5.    Next week: The Nations: Part 1.