Someone I spoke to on the street claimed there exists a female member of the Godhead – the Mother Godess. He used Rev. 22:17 and reference to "the Bride" as his evidence. I know this doesn't sound right, but can you please explain?
Clearly, any interpretation of Revelation 22:17 that concludes there is a “female” member of the Godhead is wrong and likely the product of a false teacher. To understand what any reference in Scripture means, we must use Scripture to interpret Scripture. So the question becomes what does the Bible teach concerning a spiritual “bride?”
Here’s what we find:
John 3:27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.
John 3:28 “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’
John 3:29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.
John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.
Eph. 5:24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
Eph. 5:26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Eph. 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Eph. 5:28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;
Eph. 5:29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,
Eph. 5:30 because we are members of His body.
Eph. 5:31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.
Eph. 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
Rev. 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
Rev. 19:8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Rev. 19:9 Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
These cross references demonstrate that the term "Bride of Christ" is a euphemism in the Bible to describe the Church, the body of Christ collectively. It does not refer to a female member of the Godhead. Furthermore, the Groom for this Bride is Christ Himself. Therefore, the Church is “married” to Christ through a covenant. Any teaching to the contrary is false, because the Bible does not support it.
