Audio Download

Rev 21:9-12 Who Shows Us The Bride

 [Study Aired July 18, 2025]

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

Introduction

In today’s study we will discover what this thing called “the new Jerusalem” is, and we will ask and answer why we are being told that the angel showing John the bride, the Lamb’s wife, is “one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues.” The spirit could have just said, ‘An angel showed me the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ Instead the holy spirit wants us to know who that angel is. We are told that the angel who shows John ‘the bride” is “one of the seven angels which had the seven vials.” Today we will see why we need to know that little detail.
We will also see what is meant by the phrase “in the spirit”, and we will notice that this exact same phrase “he carried me away in the spirit” is used earlier in this prophecy in connection with the revelation of another woman, who is in sharp contrast with this woman who is called “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Both are revealed to us “in the spirit” by “one of the seven angels which had the seven vials” (Rev 17:1).

We will also ask what it means to “have the glory of God”, and we will see why the Lamb’s bride is “like a stone most precious… clear as crystal.”

Finally we will see why this city, which is called “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” has a great high wall, twelve gates with twelves angels, and why those gates are named after the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. We will begin with our first verse, verse 9.

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

So why are we given the information that it was ”one of the angels which had the seven vials of the seven last plagues?” When we remember that this is the same angel who showed John the judgment of the great harlot, and he then told John that he, this angel himself, signifies John and John’s fellow servants “and of his brothers”, then we know that we are given this tidbit of information so we can understand that the person who shows us the judgment of the great harlot within us will always be a fellow servant of our brothers who keeps the sayings of this book.

Notice the other contrasting use of this phrase, “He carried me away in the spirit…” ‘In the spirit’ signifies “speech…with … demonstration of the spirit and of power.”

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are [demonstration of the] spirit, and they are life.

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1Co 2:3  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God [demonstration of the spirit].

This angel who showed John both women was speaking “in the demonstration of the spirit and of  [the] power [of God]”, and he was doing so because his words were the ‘signified’ (Rev 1:1) Words of God. Words that “are spirit” are used to signify a meaning which a natural man simply is not equipped to understand. Nevertheless, they are defined by “that which is written” and cannot be made to mean just anything any false prophet wishes to make them to mean.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This angel is not speaking with enticing words of man’s wisdom.

This whole prophecy is written “in the demonstrataion of the spirit and of power.” The great whore of Revelation 17 deceives the whole world with her “pharmacai.”

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Rev 18:22  And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries [‘pharmakeia’, G5331] were all nations deceived.
Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

So let’s examine how “the demonstration of the spirit” works. Let’s place Revelation 17:1-4 beside Revelation 21:9-12 and notice how the spirit demonstrates the differences  between these two ‘women’:

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Now let’s compare these four verses with the four verses we are examining today:

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

Both of these women are revealed to us by our fellow servant who keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book. That is who this angel which has one of the seven vials full of the seven plagues, tells us he signifies:

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

If you are so grateful for what Christ has done for you that you share that gratitude with others then you have “the spirit of prophecy”.

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel [That would be you and me] to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Twice now John has attempted to worship “the angel who showed [him] these things”, and twice the angel which showed him these things forbade him from doing so. This what Paul was speaking of when He said:

Col 2:18  Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:19  And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

We are told twice that it is “one of the seven angels which had the seven plagues” who is showing us both the judgment of the great harlot within us and the bride, the lamb’s wife, within us. All men are held captive to the lure of the great whore before they “come out of her” and become “disciples indeed” by abiding in Christ’s Words.

In other words, the whole experience of mankind is shown to us by our fellow servants, “by the church” (Eph 3:10), who are our own brothers “who have the testimony of Jesus Christ and who keep the sayings of this book” (Rev 22:9).

Let’s make this as clear as we can. What we are being told in these verses is that the revelation of Jesus Christ within us is accomplished only “by the church”, by the various members of His own body, the members of His church are the instruments who the holy spirit uses for  this purpose. Those who are disciples indeed and who abide in the Words of Christ do so only because the spirit has dragged them to do so:

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: helkuo, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Saul of Tarsus, the Christian hunter and slayer, is the perfect example of this Truth. On his way to Damascus to collect some more Christians for punishment and possible death, he was “dragged” by the holy spirit to Christ:

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Saul was later renamed ‘Paul’ after his confrontation with Elymas the sorcerer on the Island of Cyprus (Act 13:8-9). He knew he had done nothing to deserve being used as an apostle. This is his own assessment of who he was in the church of God:

Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;”

Paul typifies everyone of us. All he had ever done was kill Christians, and yet the Lord chose him as a part of His body to show the mysteries of the kingdom of God to his fellow servants. Paul was supported by the church at Antioch and by the Philippians and by others within the body of Christ:

1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

The “Lord gives to every man [in whatever capacity] to make all men… by the church… see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God.” This is why we are told twice that it was “one of the angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues.” These angels signify “the church, which is His body”:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

It is “by the church” that all these “mysteries… of the kingdom of heaven… which from the beginning of the world have been hid in God”, and in His word, are now being “made know to all men.”

That is who you are if you are given eyes to see it. It is you and your “fellow servants who keep the sayings of this book” who have those seven vials full of the wrath of God, which you are given to pour out upon the doctrines of Babylon within yourself first, and upon all to whom you show these things. What this means is the angels with the seven vials of the wrath of God are you and me “speaking often one to another… making known to all men…” that this entire revelation of Jesus Christ is the revelation of Jesus Christ, because this revelation, and all that is revealed within it “is the patience and faith of the saints”, the church, ourselves and our fellowservants who keep the sayings of this book. Here “is the patience and faith of the saints.” Here are you and me:

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: [the seven last plagues]
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here [Verses 9-11] is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

We live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4, Luk 4:4). Therefore, we all must bear a cloak of iniquitous, self-righteous flesh before we will be judged and brought to repentance and then given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God (Mat 13:10-15). ‘The sea’ is the word which the holy spirit uses to signify all the winds of false doctrine into which we are all born:

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

“This is the patience and faith of the saints.” The saints are granted to know that the beast overcomes them while they are in Babylon. This is every one of us. This is the experience of all men. There are no exceptions.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

You and I are “one of the angels with the seven last plagues.” You and I are all those who see and who know that all men will live by every word that is written here in this prophecy.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

What that verse tells us is that all men will be judged according to their works which the Lord causes them to do (Isa 63:17).

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day [of judgment] shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

“Every man” includes you and me. We are blessed to be judged in this age. We are blessed to be the first to die daily with Christ. We are blessed to be the first to have our works made manifest in this present time while judgment is on the house of God first. Living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God means that because we are the first to be ‘crucified with Christ’ and judged in this age, therefore the ‘second’ death has no power over us because we were the first to die to our old man and to live to Christ.

We will pause our study at this point and in our next study we will begin with a few verses which inform us that we are being baptized into the death of Christ.