As in Jeremiah:

"I will take away from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of the millstones, and the voice of the lamp" (xxv. 10).

Again:

"Behold I will cause to cease out of this place the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" (xvi. 9).

And again:

"I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" (vii 34).

In Joel:

"Let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet" (ii 16).

In Jeremiah:

"As yet shall be heard in this place the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, of them that say, confess ye Jehovah Zebaoth" (xxxiii. 10, 11).

In these passages the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride signifies joy and gladness from the conjunction of the Lord with the church, and therefore from the conjunction of good and truth; for the subject there is the state of the church, and it is also said plainly, joy and gladness, joy from good and gladness from truth.

[2] Similarly in Isaiah:

"I will be glad in Jehovah, my soul a shall exult in my God; as the bridegroom putteth on the mitre (eidaris), and as the bride adorneth herself with her vessels (vasis suis)" (lxi. 10).

To put on the mitre is to put on wisdom, and to adorn herself with vessels, means with the knowledges of truth.

Again:

"As the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, thy God shall rejoice over thee" (lxii. 5).

That the Lord is meant in the highest sense by the bridegroom, and the church by the bride, is evident in the Evangelists. When the disciples of John enquired concerning fasting, Jesus said, "So long as the bridegroom is with them, the sons of the nuptials cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then shall they fast" (Matt. ix. 15; Mark ii. 19, 20; Luke v. 34, 35). There the Lord calls Himself the bridegroom, and the men of the church the sons of the nuptials; fasting signifies mourning on account of a deficiency of truth and good. In Matthew: "The kingdom of the heavens is like unto ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, went forth to meet the bridegroom" (xxv. 1, 2, and following verses). There also the bridegroom means the Lord, the virgins mean the church, and the lamps the truths of faith.

In John:

"He who hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice" (iii 29).

John the Baptist spoke these words concerning the Lord, He being meant by the bridegroom, and the church by the bride.

That the church is meant by the bride, is evident from the following passages in the Apocalypse:

"I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (xxi 2).

By the New Jerusalem is meant a new church.

Again:

"Come, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife; and he shewed me the city Jerusalem" (xxi. 9, 10).

And again:

"The Spirit and the bride say Come, and he that heareth, let him say Come" (xxii 17). By the spirit and the bride is signified the church as to good and as to truth.

[3] Continuation.- Since the love of rule and the love of wealth universally prevail in the Christian world, and these loves at the present day are so deeply inrooted, that their power of leading astray is not recognised, it is therefore of importance that their nature should be known. They lead every man astray who does not shun evils because they are sins; for he who does not shun evils on this ground does not fear God, and therefore remains natural. And because the loves proper to the natural man are the love of rule and the love of wealth, therefore he does not see with interior acknowledgment the quality of those loves in himself. He does not see it unless he is reformed, and he is reformed only by combat against evils. It is believed that reformation is effected by means of faith; but the faith of God does not exist in man previous to his combat against evils. When man is reformed in this way, then light enters by influx from the Lord through heaven imparting to him the affection and also the faculty to see what the nature of those loves is, whether they rule in him, or are subservient, thus whether they are in the first place, and form as it were the head, or are in the second place, and form as it were the feet. If they rule and are in the first place, they then lead astray, and become curses; if they are subservient and in the second place, then they do not lead astray, but become blessings.

[4] I can solemnly declare that all those with whom the love of rule occupies the first place, are inwardly devils. This love is known from the gratification that it affords, which surpasses every other in man's life. It is continually breathed forth from hell, and this exhalation appears like the fire of a great furnace, and it inflames the hearts of those men whom the Lord does not protect. The Lord protects all who are reformed. Still the Lord leads even the former, but it is in hell, though it is only by means of outward restraints, such as fear of the penalties of the law, fear for the loss of reputation, of honour, of gain, and of the pleasures which these afford; and also by means of rewards. He cannot lead them out of hell, because the love of rule does not admit of internal restraints, which are the fear of God, and the affections for good and truth, these being the means by which the Lord leads to heaven and in heaven all who follow