[456]In this picture Abraham is a type of Jehovah; his wife Sarah, a type of the Abrahamic covenant, from which the Messiah springs; Isaac, the son, a type of Jesus Christ; while Rebekah is a type of the church, the bride of Christ.  Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, is a type of the holy spirit, whose mission it is to invite the church and to assist her, and ultimately to bring her and her companions to the antitypical Isaac, the Lord Jesus, the Bridegroom.  Before Jesus departed from the earth he said to his disciples:  “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, ... even the spirit of truth....  I will not leave you comfortless:  I will come to you.  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me:  because I live, ye shall live also,” (John 14:15-19) Eliezer here pictures the comforter, the holy spirit, which was given at Pentecost, at which time the way was opened and the invitation was given to men who love the Lord to become followers of the Lord Jesus and be of the bride class.  The ten camels which Eliezer took with him represent the Word of God, the ten strings of the harp.  The golden earring presented to Rebekah represents the blessed and pleasing effect of hearing the call to be the bride of Christ; while the two bracelets picture the happy effect of responding to the divine call and doing with our might what our hands find to do.

[457]The call to become members of this glorious bride class is beautifully pictured by the Psalmist thus:  “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty:  for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him”. (Psalm 45:10,11) Responding to that call, one consecrates his all to the Lord, is begotten of the holy spirit, and henceforth being borne up by the spirit of the Lord through his Word grows in the likeness of his Master and prepares for the coming of the beloved Bridegroom.  The death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, pictures the end of the Sarah-Abrahamic covenant, from which springs the bride of Christ; and Isaac receiving Rebekah and taking her as his wife after his mother’s death foreshadowed the complete union of Christ Jesus the bridegroom and the church his bride at the end of the world.

[458]Throughout the entire gospel age from Pentecost until now the Lord has been preparing his bride, the church.  Many have been called, but few have been chosen, and still fewer will be faithful; but only the faithful ones will he receive.  Just before his departure at the time of his first advent he said:  “In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”—­John 14:2,3.

[459]Here, then, is one of the positive statements that one of the chief purposes of the Lord’s return is to receive unto himself his bride.  Since his appearance, therefore, he has been doing the harvest work, namely, gathering unto himself those who will constitute the bride class.