It is evident from the following passages that in the Word the Lord is called bridegroom and husband, and the church bride and wife.

He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the bridegroom's friend is he who stands and listens to him, and rejoices with joy at the bridegroom's voice. John 3:29.

This was said about the Lord by John the Baptist.

Jesus said, So long as the bridegroom is with them, the children of the wedding cannot fast.* The days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19, 20; Luke 5:34, 35.

I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev. 21:2.

The New Jerusalem means the Lord's new church (see THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED 880, 881).

The angel said to John, Come and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he showed him the holy city of Jerusalem. Rev. 21:9, 10.

The time of the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has prepared herself. Blessed are those who are summoned to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Rev. 19:7, 9.

The bridegroom, who was met on the way by the five maidens who were ready, and with whom they went into the wedding (Matt. 25:1-10), means the Lord, as is plain from verse 13 where it is said:

Keep awake therefore, because you do not know the day or the hour at which the Son of Man is to come. [Matt. 25:13]

There are besides many passages in the Prophets. * The Greek of Matthew says 'cannot mourn'.