1Ⅰ If we enter into the deep thought of the Bible, we will realize that the Bible is a romance, in a most pure and holy sense (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-9):
3B The female of this couple is a corporate chosen and redeemed people, including all the saints of the Old Testament and the New Testament (Rev. 19:7-9; 21:9-10; 22:17).
4C Throughout the centuries God has had a romance with man; thus, the Bible is a record of how God courts His chosen people and eventually marries them (Gen. 2:21-24; S.S. 1:2-4; Isa. 54:5; 62:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19; Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-10; 22:17):
51 在这联结里,神是祂子民的生命,他们是祂的彰显;这样,神就与祂拣选的人成为宇宙的夫妇—17节:
51 In this union God is His people's life, and they are His expression; in this way God and His chosen people become a universal couple (v. 17):
82 By loving the Lord as our Husband and thereby partaking of His life and nature, we become one with Him as His counterpart, enlargement, and expression (2 Cor. 11:2; 2 Pet. 1:4; John 3:15-16, 29-30).
9D God chose Israel to be His spouse; in typology certain women in the Old Testament reveal that the church is the counterpart of Christ (Hosea 2:19-20; Jer. 2:2; 31:3; Ezek. 16:8; Gen. 24:67; 41:45; Ruth 4:13; 1 Sam. 25:40-42; S.S. 6:13):