I find there is no reference to "The Bride Of Christ" anywhere in the bible.
Fourteen times, is the word, "bride," mentioned in the New Testament, only oonce in the Gospel of John, and then 4 more times in Rev. In John, the "bridegroom" is said to be Jesus Christ.
Revelation 21: "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." <---Is this to mean that the Jews are the "bride"? And, Christians will be the "guests" at the wedding supper of the Lamb? After all, the Jew's ARE the chosen of God...and I believe it is a Hebrew custom for the Father to choose the wife of their sons...not sure but, it's what I have heard said.
Any thoughts?
Here are my thoughts.
You are correct that while the church is compared to a bride, it is not identified as the bride. There is a bride however identified, and that is Israel.
Non-dispensationalists will not agree with this I think.
And yet, you cannot find a place where the the gentile church is so identified.
What we do find is that God was wed to Israel, divorced her, but will re-marry, not the gentile church, but Israel.
If we want to stick with Scriptural definitions, then that's it, the church is the body, and Israel is the bride. That's what is written. And other views only introduce confusion requiring convoluted explanations, and a certain amount of conjecture.
In Revelation 19, while the Lamb is in heaven, the bride is making herself ready in the wilderness, nourished by God for 1260 days, as Elijah prepares her to say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.
When the bride is ready, Jesus returns, Israel is gathered, the nations are gathered and judged, and as Israel shares the wedding feast with God, many will be there from the east and west, although many from Israel itself won't be there.
Several places in Revelation tell us the church won't be on earth during those times, one of which is chapter 7, the 144,000 servants of God are sealed on their foreheads, and they are all Israelites. We are also servants of God, though we be not Jews, and we be more than 144,000. But at this time on earth there are only 144,000 servants of God, and they are all Jews.
So where are we? Where did the gentile church go? John saw an innumerable multitude before the throne . . . Hey! I found the church!
Much love!