Establishing a throne: Who sits on it?

This is the third in a continuing series entitled Establishing a throne where I'm looking at Isaiah 16:5. By way of introduction I asked Would Jesus be a Democrat or Republican?, concluding the question was the wrong thing to ask. Then I followed with How is it [a throne] established? looking at the role love plays in the formation of God's kingdom.

Now, let's look again at the passage, focusing on the second phrase.

In love a throne will be established;
in faithfulness a man will sit on it --
one from the house of David --
one who in judging seeks justice
and speeds the cause of righteousness.
-- Isaiah 16:5

The faithfulness of both the Father and Son are involved in the establishment of Jesus' throne. Throughout history Father God has made promises. He started in a broad way with Eve when He told her at the fall one of her descendants would crush Satan's head. He narrowed it to a nation when He told Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed by one of his offspring. He restricted Himself even more by promising David he would have an heir on the throne forever. He finally focused it to a point in telling Mary that she, even though a virgin, would have a son who would take away the sin of the world and rule forever on David's throne.^[1]

These series of promises over about 4,000 years were partly fulfilled by Jesus the first time He walked the earth. God was faithful to keep the promises to Eve and Abraham. Satan's head was dealt a crushing blow that blessed all mankind by the work Jesus finished on the cross. Because of this past faithfulness, we can be confident He will complete the yet unfulfilled promises to David and Mary. God will be faithful to establish Jesus kingdom.

Jesus' too illustrated He was faithful to do the whole will of God without wavering. Following the ancient plan, He started with the incarnation when He set aside the glory of heaven and took on flesh and daily followed it, even to death on the cross. Through His faultless obedience to the Father, He has proved His faithfulness to both God and humanity. His faithfulness has demonstrated His worthiness to rule.^[2]

The final item of note is Jesus' humanity. He is not some other-worldly being that will rule, but a flesh and blood descendant of Adam, a man. So often we think of Jesus as a man during his first time on earth and then he becomes something else at the resurrection and ascension. No. He was a man with a resurrected body, but a body none the less. He ate. He drank. His disciples touched Him. He was not a ghost. He became nothing less with the ascension and He will continue to wear meat for eternity. This is the miracle of the incarnation. Not that God became man for 33 years but that He became man forever.^[3]

1. Eve: Genesis 3:15
Abraham: Genesis 22:15-19, Galatians 3:15-18
David: 2 Samuel 7:16, 1 Kings 8:25, Psalm 89:3-4, Psalm 132:11-12
Mary: Luke 1:29-33, Matthew 1:21

2. John 5:19-30, John 17:4, Galatians 4:4-5, Philippians 2:6-11, 1 Peter 1:20, Revelation 5:9-10, Revelation 5:12-14

3. Luke 24:36-43, Acts 1:11, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 7:23-25, Revelation 1:17-18, Revelation 1:31

The Suffering Servant

This Easter I want to look at the last face of Jesus in this series from the Song of Songs: the Suffering Servant.

Song of Songs 4:16 - 5:5 (selected)
Bride: Awake, O north wind; And come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits.

Groom: I am come into my garden, my sister, my bride: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Open to me, my sister, For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.

Bride: I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands droppeth with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid myrrh, Upon the handles of the bolt. I opened to my beloved; But my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone.

I see in this passage quite a few parallels with the last day of Jesus.

In the first part, the bride makes a declaration of commitment. The north wind brings cold, storms and winter hardships. The south wind brings warmth and the growing seasons of spring and summer. Here she's making a statement of dedication that come what may, in the good times and bad, she wants to be pleasing to her beloved. This reminds me of Peter when he says what's on all the disciples? hearts: 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.'^[1] There's a desire to be wholehearted in the commitment. It may not be something which can be fulfilled, but there is a desire to be unwavering.

Next, the groom says that he's come to his garden and tasted what it has. The sweet. The spicy. He encourages his friends and bride to partake with him. In the same way Jesus came and dwelt among us, enjoying his creation and enduring temptation. On that final night with them, it's not a stretch for me to see Jesus handing out the bread and wine and having this passage in mind when he said 'This is my body, broken for you. This is my blood poured out for you.'^[2] 'Eat O friends. Drink abundantly, O beloved.'

Following this, the groom says, 'open for me because I'm wet with dew and the drops of the night.' I see here the invitation of Jesus to his disciples, and particularly Peter, James and John, to pray with him in the garden. In the night season, when his head was wet with sweat and blood, in a time of anguish, he wanted those he loved near him to encourage his heart.

Finally though, Jesus had to walk the last road alone. Like the groom in the song, he had to withdraw his presence. The sheep had to be scattered. He had to go to a place where they could not follow and accomplish a task they couldn't do. He had to allow his body to be broken and his blood spilled so that we may eat and drink.

1. Matthew 26:35, Mark 14:31

2. 1^st Corinthians 11:23-25

The Consuming Fire

The passage of interest in this article can be viewed from multiple angles. Some interpret it to be the bride speaking, some the bridegroom. Being poetry, I think it's equally valid to see it from either perspective as they both provide useful insights. The line leading up to this passage says 'Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?' The bride and bridegroom are so close that it?s hard to distinguish between them. This may be why this passage is so hard to assign a speaker to. It's like a duet, where they're both singing the same words to express their heart. For the purposes of this essay I'm going to approach it as if the bride is speaking to her groom.

Song of Solomon 8:6-7
Set me like a seal on your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
No amount of water can quench love;
torrents cannot drown it!
If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.

Herein we see the love of God expressed as a consuming fire. The Shulamite is saying 'Sear my countenance into your heart. Engrave my name on your arm stretched out for me. Your love is a violent flame that cannot be quenched and I want to know its power in my heart.' Rivers of water cannot quench this fire. I think of an underwater crack in the earth's crust where liquid rock flows out from the center of the planet. All the water of the ocean cannot cool the fire deep within.

Just like the Shulamite, it's our heart's cry to love and be loved fervently. But in order to give our hearts over to this, we need to know that the one we're giving ourselves to is worthy of our trust. That person is Jesus.

One day two men were walking down the road. Their hopes and dreams had been crucified with Jesus a few days prior. They were confused, lost and wondering what to do next, like me at times. They had heard rumors of the resurrection, but they didn't know what to make of them. Their world was turned upside down as they traveled.

To this place of despair, in the loving kindness of God, the Lord himself shows up. He patiently takes them through the Old Testament and unfolds to them His identity. He shows them the loving God reaching out to humanity throughout history all the way to the cross. He gives them seeing eyes, hearing ears and understanding hearts. In the same way he does for me and so with them I can say with my first century brothers 'Did not my heart burn within me when He opened the scriptures to me?'^[a]

Jesus comes to us just as he did them. Like Thomas, He shows us the wounds He received on the cross that pierced His side and arms. Out of love, we've been set as a seal upon His body. Within His heart burns a raging, violent fire of love, stronger than death, more unyielding than the grave. Our heart's cry is best met when we're touched by His holy flame and allow ourselves to be kindled by it. It's in this place that Jesus' prayer^[b] that the same love the Father has for Jesus might also be in us is fulfilled. It's from this place that, like Thomas, we can fall at His feet, giving ourselves to Him in adoration and worship.

1. See Luke 24:13-33 for the complete story.
2. Part of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 18:21.

The Magnificent God

In this installment we'll be looking at the bridegroom through the eyes of the bride and then look at how her perspective can also be ours. In chapter 5 of the Song of Solomon, she's going through a crisis, a trial, a dark night of the soul. This time of testing has two aspects to it. First, her bridegroom has withdrawn his presence. He's revealed his heart and captured hers but has distanced himself for time of testing. Second, she's taken some hits by those in authority as she's gone out looking for him.

From this place of desperation, she goes to her companions and tells them if they see her beloved to tell him she is lovesick, she desires his presence. Their response is to ask what is he that she should be so enamored with him. They don't understand how she could be so captured by him. They don't ask who he is. They know this, but they haven't seen anything in him to be so lost in love. So twice they ask 'What is he to you?' This is her magnificent response:

My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,
Outstanding among ten thousand.
His head is like gold, pure gold;
His locks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And reposed in their setting.
His cheeks are like a bed of balsam,
Banks of sweet-scented herbs;
His lips are lilies
Dripping with liquid myrrh.
His hands are rods of gold
Set with beryl;
His abdomen is carved ivory
Inlaid with sapphires.
His legs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like Lebanon
Choice as the cedars.
His mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly desirable.

We don't have time now to do a line-by-line exposition of these 10 characteristics,^[1] but what I do want to observe here, is that within the context of her severe trials, the thing that kept her heart secure was in knowing the beautiful characteristics of her beloved. Knowing his strength, vision, emotions, care of his responsibilities, goals and his ability to achieve what he sets out to do, kept her not just secure, but lovesick. The beauty of who he was and what she means to him kept her confidently unwavering in the face of difficulty. He is both able and willing to save.

In the same way, our hearts are best kept in times of trial by being rooted in Jesus? love for us. It's by knowing what he is, his characteristics, his beauty and his heart, that gives us this same confidence when we face both internal and external difficulties. He may withdraw his manifest presence for a time or we may face physical problems, but in either situation we can seek him and know that he will eventually be found. This is why we're called to worship in spirit and truth. Not because he is some egomaniac that needs to be worshiped, but because as we come before him and he reveals himself to us, we learn what he is and what we mean to him. Discovering the beauty of Jesus is for our benefit, to protect our hearts in the tough times.

This knowledge of Jesus' majestic beauty allowed Paul, facing imprisonment and death, to be able to say to Timothy 'I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep the things I've committed to Him until the day of his glorious return.' (2 Timothy 1:12) Peter, James and John experienced this same reality. Just before the crucifixion, Jesus took them to a mountain and unveiled their eyes. They saw their friend transformed before them, talking with two of the major heroes of the Old Testament. This was unnerving for them at the time. But I think in the long term it served to strengthen them for what was to come. Both for them and us, the revelation of the Lord's beauty serves to anchor our faith in the storms and gives us a glimpse of the joy which will be ours when our faith is finally made complete.

[1] Gary Wiens has a detailed exposition of this passage in a CD series available here.

The Heavenly Husband

How beautiful you are, my love!
How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
...
Everything about you is beautiful, my love,
you are without flaw.
My sister, my bride,
you have carried my heart away!
With just one glance, with one bead of your necklace,
you have carried my heart away.
My sister, my bride,
how sweet is your love!

In this stunning passage, the bridegroom reveals the incredible beauty he sees in the bride and the way his heart is ravished for her. He starts by declaring twice that she is beautiful to him. Starting with her eyes, He then describes eight attributes in detail. He finishes by stating her flawlessness and that she carries away his heart. He's ravished. He's undone.

It's one thing to consider this a nice poetic piece of history but it starts unlocking our hearts when we see it as Jesus heart for His church, for me, for you. This is a dim revelation, written in finite human language, of the love that rages in the eternal heart of Jesus for His bride. It's staggering to think that this is Jesus love for me.

When I read this in the first person and hear Him calling me 'all fair' and 'without flaw,' I stop and reply 'wait, what about that time I did thus and so and what about that failure.' How can this be? Then I remember Ephesians 5:27 where Paul writes that Jesus will cleanse His church with the word and present her to himself 'without spot or wrinkle.' Jesus is relating to me on the basis of the finished product, not the current work in progress. He can make these radical declarations because in His heart, and by His blood, they are already accomplished.

This love however is not a love that is blind. He knows the cost of cleansing. Right in the middle of this declaration of the bride's beauty, He says:

When the day's cool breeze comes up
and the shadows lengthen
I will get myself to the mountain of myrrh
to the hills of frankincense.

The mountain of myrrh and hills of frankincense can refer to Jesus' trials while on earth and the suffering of the cross. This is the cost he paid on my behalf for the cleansing I receive. These declarations of love are the truthful assessments of a ravished-hearted God who's willing to do whatever is necessary to produce the desired result in the object of His affection. He embraced the needed sacrifice before the foundation of the world. He knows that in actuality the work stands accomplished. He doesn't see according to the natural, but according to the spirit and declares truth from His perspective.

This allowed Jesus to see a ragtag group of uneducated men and call them apostles. It's how He could forgive sin and heal the sick. He didn't see them in the ugliness of evil but in the beauty of holiness. He spoke redemptive truth into their lives and called for change. John, one of the sons of thunder, understood this truth. Throughout his gospel, he calls himself 'the disciple Jesus loved.' This is only the epitome of arrogance if it's not true. But it is true. This is how Jesus related to John. When I begin to understand it's how he relates to both me and those around me, things change.

When I stand in the place of prayer, ministering to Him and beholding His beauty, I'm compelled to believe Him and receive His ministry to me. I'm can begin to receive His report, His declaration over me, and agree with Him. I stand in the truth of what He's declaring over me and allow Him to call forth His reality over my life. He calls me beautiful and His heart is ravished over me.

And He declares the same thing over you.

The Glorious Bridegroom

Let's now look at the Bridegroom coming in glorious splendor for his bride.

Song of Solomon 3:6-11
What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like columns of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all scented powders of the merchant?

Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon;
Sixty mighty men around it,
Of the mighty men of Israel.
All of them are wielders of the sword,
Expert in war;
Each man has his sword at his side,
Guarding against the terrors of the night.

King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair
From the timber of Lebanon.
He made its posts of silver,
Its back of gold
And its seat of purple fabric,
With its interior lovingly fitted out
By the daughters of Jerusalem.

Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And gaze on King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
And on the day of his gladness of heart.

In this passage, the king's wedding day is at hand and he's coming to claim his bride. He's visible from a distance because of the dust that his procession is stirring up. As he gets closer, details start coming into view. The king is on a throne surrounded by a mighty guard. It's made of timber from Lebanon which was known for its strength and beauty. It contains silver representing righteousness and gold representing divine character. He is full of joy, wearing a crown that his mother has given him.

I think this contains a two-fold picture of Jesus.

There is yet to come a day when Jesus returns in a glorious appearing. I think this passage is a foreshadowing of his future return. Revelation tells us of many things that will happen prior to his return. There will be signs in society, government and the physical world. Dust will be stirred up to let us know something momentous is about to occur. When He does return, it will be to rule and reign as king on the earth. He will come commanding a mighty army to wage war against His enemies. He will judge in righteousness with strength and according to the Father's perspective. His people will be made fully mature and will co-rule by His side; they will be His wedding crown (Isaiah 62:3). There will be joyous singing and feasting when this day is finally fulfilled.

In addition to this future day, I think this passage also points to His first coming. Angels proclaimed his coming birth to both Mary and Joseph. Angels proclaimed His birth to those nearby while stars moved to proclaimed his birth to those far away. As an infant, Simeon and Anna recognized Him and told others that God was among them. Thirty years later, John went before Him, announcing His imminent ministry. There was lots of dust before His arrival. The gifts of myrrh and frankincense, given at His birth, are burial spices, speaking of his death. When He finally went to Calvary he was escorted by Roman soldiers carrying swords. He carried his own instrument upon which He was lifted up for all to see. He was crowned with thorns by the nation that gave him birth. And finally, he was anointed with gladness over all his brothers as he looked past the cross to the joy that its endurance would bring. It is because of the cross that the four living creatures and 24 elders could sing the new song 'Worthy are you to break the seals', precipitating his next return in unrestrained glory.

The Challenging Leader

Is Jesus a safe God?
Is it safe to obey Him 100%?
Is it safer in the boat or on the water?

Song of Songs 2:8-9a
Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Climbing on the mountains,
Leaping on the hills!
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

There is a time when the Holy Spirit reveals to us that the Lover of our Souls, the One who has placed His banner of love over us and fed us raisin cakes and apples, is also the sovereign King of the universe. In this passage, a new side of the Groom's personality is revealed: His ability to leap over the mountainous problems and hilly adversities found in life. The things that seem large, intimidating and unmovable are nothing under Him. He walks effortlessly over them with grace and authority.

Song of Songs 2:10, 11, 13
My beloved responded and said to me,
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!

Here the Groom comes to his Beloved and calls for her to join Him. There's a new season upon them and He wants her with Him. The cold winter rains are past. The hard work of summer and harvest of autumn are still ahead. But now, the flowers are blooming and there's preparation to be done for the work ahead; it's time to be started. The exhilarating dance of victory over difficulties is to begin.

Song of Songs 2:14
O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your form,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your form is lovely.

In the rocky cliffs, He has a secret cleft for her. He desires her presence. He wants to see her lovely form and hear her sweet voice as they leap and dance over the mountains and hills in her life.

Song of Songs 2:16, 17
My beloved is mine, and I am his;
...
Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle
Or a young stag on the mountains of separation.

And in the first struggle in their relationship she declines the invitation. Fear stops her. She sees the mountains with their lions and tigers and bears and decides to stay in the comfortable place under the apple tree. But even in this denial, she recognizes that they still belong to each other. This isn't a case of rejection out of rebellion, but rather fear overcoming her in her immaturity. She's telling Him to go. She's unable to join Him, but she'll watch from afar with wonder and delight at His grace and majesty. Restoration will come later, but for now they'll be separated.

I think this serves as a prophetic background for the events found starting in Matthew 14:22. In this familiar story, the disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the night in a storm. They had left Jesus on shore many hours earlier and had been struggling all night against the wind. Suddenly, in the dark hours before dawn, the disciples see the figure of someone walking on the water and they're terrified. They cry out and Jesus answers that it's OK, it's Him and there's no reason to be afraid. Peter says if it's really Jesus, for Him to call for him to walk on the water with Him. Jesus calls him and Peter climbs out of the boat. He walks for a ways and then sees where he is, panics, and begins to sink. Jesus takes a hold of him and they walk together through the storm back to the boat.

I think this is a wonderful example of our Groom's sovereign authority. Here the real flesh and blood man, Jesus, is dancing on the waves of a lake in a storm. Walking on water is nothing to Him. The storm doesn't bother Him. And from this place of apparent uncertainty, He calls for His friend to join Him. The question for Peter was: is it safer in the comfortable place without Jesus or out in the middle of the storm on the water with him? I can't imagine what was going on in Peter's mind, the turmoil that must have been going through him, as he puts first one leg and then the other over the side of the boat. But he dared to and succeeds in walking on the water for a bit. But in his inexperience and immaturity, he sees the storm, is overwhelmed and begins to sink. Even though he lost his focus, Jesus was there. And that's the point. When the King calls us out of the comfortable place, we can presume upon His power and strength to save.

The Passionate Suitor

One of our deepest human desires is to give and receive love. I think this is a reflection of being created in God's image. For eternity, love has flowed between members of the Trinity. When He created, He gave us this gift. This desire is met in part as it's expressed in our relationships with others. However, I think the real reason for its existence is to drive us to intimacy with Him. The ultimate fulfillment of this longing is only met by the touch of the infinite Lover of our souls and our fervent response to Him.

In Song of Songs 1:12, we find the maiden sitting at dinner with the shepherd, having accepted his earlier invitation to follow. It's in the context of this desire for a loving relationship that the young maiden says to herself:

While the king is at his table, my perfume fills the air with its fragrance.

She's sitting at the table and notices him noticing her. She's thinking of what he means to her, hoping for some response. And respond he does. In verse 15 he says to her:

Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love!
Look at you! You are so beautiful!

Here she is, still the 'dark but lovely' immature maiden of a few verses earlier. She has weakness and sin in her, but she also has desire for him. When he looks at her, he sees, not only the young shepherdess that has brought her flocks following after his, but also the mature bride which will emerge. He's looking at her through the corridor of time, seeing the effect of his love lavished on her, and the changes it brings. With this vision, from the beginning he relates to her as if she's complete and calls her beautiful.

Remember the Banquet of Wine I talked about ealier? (See the articles here.) This is where, as part of the betrothal process, the groom pours out a glass of wine for his intended. This represents his pouring out of himself for her.

I see this same thing happening in the relationship between Jesus and the disciples. At the last supper, Jesus took the cup and passed it among them saying 'Drink. This is Me, poured out for you.' Further, in the context of the same meal, He told them he was going away to prepare a place in His Father's house and would return for them so they could live with Him. This is more imagery taken directly from Jewish wedding customs.

Yet while He was saying and doing these things, He knew what was going to happen later that very night. He knew the betrayal of Peter. He knew that the rest would forsake Him during the crucifixion. The disciples were very dark, but He saw them as lovely. He too looked through time, past that night's failings, saw their future intimacy and called them to a position of authority.

And by proxy, we were there with them in that room. In love He calls us to a journey wherein we'll be changed by a passionate relationship with Him. He meets us as immature people, dark with sin. He loves us first. Having poured his life out for us, He forgives our sins and calls us before we're cleaned up. It's only then that He starts the cleansing, knowing that eventually, in spite of failings along the way, we will eventually be the mature, radiant bride, lovely in His sight.

The Inviting Shepherd

The first several verses of Song of Songs open with the bride's declaration of her delight in and desire for her betrothed. She has decided that she desires his presence. She doesn't want to be away from him and so asks in verse 7 of chapter 1:

Tell me, O you whom my soul loves,
Where do you pasture your flock,
Where do you make it lie down at noon?
For why should I be like one who veils herself
Beside the flocks of your companions?

She's asking here where she can predictably find him. She wants to know his routine so she can follow it to him. She doesn't want to be veiled next to strangers but unveiled in his presence. To her inquiry the groom responds in verse 8:

If you yourself do not know,
Most beautiful among women,
Go forth on the trail of the flock,
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.

He enjoys her presence. He finds her the most beautiful of women, and so he invites her: if you don't know the way, there are other's who do, follow along after them and the flock, and you'll find me.

One warm afternoon, Jesus was walking along the river bank, enjoying the cool air blowing off the water, when he passed his cousin John, standing in the shade of a tree with two of his disciples. John proclaimed 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' and the two disciples of John started following Jesus. Jesus turned and asked 'What do you seek?' And they said 'Where are you staying?' This is the same heart cry for intimacy which prompted the Shulammite to ask 'where do you pasture your flock?'. They're both questions expressing a desire for closeness. Jesus responded with a simple 'Come and see.' This too parallels the SoS passage with the same inviting response to come to that place of pasture and rest.

One of the two disciples that followed Jesus that day was Andrew. He went and got his brother Peter who also responded to the invitation. Later, many cried out to Peter on the day of Pentecost 'where do we go for this relationship'. Three thousand responded that day to the invitation. Through the centuries, this longing cry for intimacy still reverberates. And likewise, we're still invited to follow all those who've gone before on this path of extravagant, passionate pursuit of the One who loves us.

The Faces of Jesus in the Song of Songs

I recently finished a series of devotional glimpses into the heart of God through the Bridal Paradigm. In that series, I made one glaring, although intentional, omission: I skipped over the Song of Songs. I felt this book is too vast to do it justice in a one-entry, introductory way and so just ignored it. Now, I want to go back and pull a few things from this book.

This isn't a study of the book, but rather it's going to be patterned similarly to the previous series. In each article I'm going to take a small section from the book and use it as a jumping off point to reveal a specific quality of God's heart.

I believe the Songs can be interpreted several ways, all of which are valid. However, for the purposes of this series, I'm going to be looking at it as an allegory for the relationship between believers as the bride and Jesus as the groom.