We are indebted to Dr. Stephen Jones for much of the topic of this post. Read his teaching at http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/COLDFUSION/booklet.cfm?PID=20 Because some of the statements here may be considered controversial, we will try to attribute to each concept the supporting scripture. The groom in the new covenant marriage is Jesus, the long-awaited messiah; his bride is Israel–but do not think that “Israel” the bride is limited to those who are physically descended from Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Likewise, “Israel” does not exclude the physical descendants either. It certainly does not mean the current Jewish state which has unlawfully taken the name from the sons of Joseph, but it does not necessarily exclude individuals living therein. The true identity of this bride will surprise you, dear reader, but that is not for this post. The new covenant is best understood as a marriage covenant. This subject of this post is the telling of a love story and it is the most beautiful love story ever told!
Jesus is YHWH of the Old Testament, the Torah (the “Law”), the songs (“Psalms”), and the Prophets (the “T’fillim”); in fact, the entirety of scripture is about him.
The LORD (YHWH) is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation (Hebrew, “yeshua”, Strong’s Concordance H3444); This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. Exodus 15:2 New American Standard Bible (“NASB”) (nearly all translations use LORD in place of the actual Hebrew word, YHWH)
Moses said it first: YHWH has become my Yeshua, the Hebrew pronunciation of “Jesus”. When Mary called her first-born son to dinner, the name she called was “Yeshua.” This is my God, and I will praise Him! Jesus himself said of Moses, “He wrote about me.” John 5:46 (In Greek, “peri”, Strong’s Concordance G4012–from which we get our words, perimeter, periscope–can you see that a 360-degree view is intended?) In Hebrew, “yeshua” means “salvation,” but that in no way leads to the conclusion that Moses did NOT mean Jesus, for Jesus said Moses wrote about Him!
Isaiah said it again, in Isaiah 12:2-3, thus fulfilling the Law of the Double Witness. Many have said he was merely repeating the statements of Moses; we cannot say that he was not quoting Moses; however, we can definitely say that Isaiah did not attribute his statement to Moses:
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD (Hebrew, “YHWH”) is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation (Hebrew, “yeshua”).” Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation. Isaiah 12:2-3 NASB
In actuality, the above statement is attributed by Isaiah directly to YHWH, as a direct quote that begins all the way back in Chapter 7, verse 11. Therefore, we believe that Isaiah was not quoting Moses, but providing a second witness by which every matter is established. Deuteronomy 19:15. Grasping this very important truth about YHWH is a key to understanding the effect and scope of the new covenant marriage by Jesus at the wedding supper of the Lamb.
YHWH married Israel at Mount Sinai on the first Pentecost, precisely 50 days after leaving Egypt.
If you read carefully, you will see that conditional vows were exchanged between YHWH and the people of Israel. Because these vows were conditional (meaning, if YOU do this and that, then I will do such and such), we can easily see that the marriage was an Old Covenant marriage, the same kind that we all see at every wedding any of us have ever attended. In this kind of marriage, the preacher solemnly intones, “Do you promise to…etc., etc.?” and the groom responds, “I do.” Then the process is repeated for the bride, who also says, “I do.”
See for yourself how the people responded, after the giving of the Ten Commandments and the law: “All the words which the LORD (YHWH) has spoken we will do!” Exodus 24:3 Sadly, as is the case with too many Old Covenant marriages (and this one set the pattern for all that have followed), one party was not able to keep their promises/vows. The problem then, as it is now with such cases, was that Israel had no heart to know YHWH’s love. Deuteronomy 29:4
Israel’s hard heart is personified by Hagar, the Egyptian princess/bride of Abraham. Genesis 16:1
Actually, Hagar and Sarah, the two wives of Abraham are personal, prophetic patterns of the two covenants, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, respectively. Hagar represents the bond, or slave, woman and the old covenant; Sarah represents the free woman and the new covenant. Galatians 4:24 (Sarah’s identification as the free woman is monumentally important, as we shall see below.) Hagar was Pharoah’s daughter by a concubine, according to the historical book of Jasher 15:31-32. Her father was not the pharoah at the time of the Exodus, but one ruling much earlier when Abraham first went to Egypt.
Although scripture does not say so, Hagar’s heart was probably hardened when she realized that her son, Ishmael–the first son born to Abraham, was not going to be the inheritor of the birthright, which instead was going to be given to Isaac who was born much later. Her anger over this situation probably influenced Ishmael to the point that he toyed with killing Isaac by pointing a bow and arrow at him. Ultimately, she and her son were cast out of Abraham’s camp and sent into the wilderness. This iniquity was visited upon “Hagar”/Israel, who also hardened their hearts in the wilderness, contrary to the vows they had made to do all that YHWH had spoken. Hebrews 3:7-9
But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. Galatians 4:23-2 NASB
Paul gives an allegory that is as startling nearly 2000 years later as it was when he first created it: The relationship God created with Israel at Mt. Sinai is as much a master/slave relationship as the relationship between Abraham and Hagar: she was never more than a slave woman, and her children were never more than slaves and were ultimately cast out. In fact those children were born to be slaves. God, like Abraham, intends to “cast out” the Hagar slave relationship. In its place He intends to inaugurate a Sarah-relationship, a second covenant, and one that is free of slavery but instead consists of promise. The children of this relationship will be born ” through the promise” and their mother shall be free and they will also born to be free. How this change takes place has been a great mystery.
At the outset of the marriage, Israel’s heart was hardened during the master/slave old covenant marriage relationship. Before long, Israel was committing adultery, meaning that Israel gave its affections to pagan gods that were really not even gods at all.
Within just a few hundred years of arriving in the land of Canaan, during the reigns of the kings, YHWH sent Israel out of God’s house (the land of Palestine) with a writ of divorce “for all the adulteries” she had committed. 2 Kings 17:7-13 Jeremiah clearly states that YHWH divorced Israel for her adulteries, and even though it was witnessed by Judah, Judah was even MORE treacherous. Jeremiah 3:6-8 (By this time, after the death of Solomon and the split of the nation into two groups (Israel–consisting of 10 northern tribes) and (Judah–consisting of Judah and Benjamin, in the south and in Jerusalem), each group had its own kings.) Even after the divorce, YHWH was willing to take Israel back in marriage, but SHE refused. Jeremiah 3:14 This led to the final pronouncement according to the Law of Divorce:
Contend with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; and let her put away her harlotry from her face and her adultery from between her breasts,… Hosea 2:2 NASB
Although the divorce removed the barriers to adultery and harlotry, it led to an even greater problem: now Israel was free to re-marry any of her false gods, and so she did. Hosea prophesied that Israel would grow tired of the false gods that she followed so passionately, and would want to return. Sure enough, Israel later repented, and decided to return to worship YHWH:
She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, For it was better for me then than now!’ Hosea 2:7 NASB
But once remarried, God’s law prohibited re-marriage to YHWH even if Israel wanted to re-marry YHWH. The God-fearing rabbis knew this, and knew what a pickle Israel was in. But they didn’t know the half of it.
The Problem of the Law of Divorce and Remarriage
According to God’s Law of Divorce and Remarriage found in Deuteronomy 24, once a woman was lawfully divorced she could lawfully remarry another man, but once remarried, she could not return to her first husband. Deuteronomy 24:4 Jeremiah addressed this problem and said if a single woman tries to re-marry her first husband, it would completely pollute the entire land. Jeremiah 3:1 Imagine the pollution of an entire people who tried to return to YHWH!
God says, “If a husband divorces his wife and she goes from him and belongs to another man, will he still return to her?
Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many lovers; yet you turn to Me,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 3:1 NASB
YHWH increases the tension by PROMISING Remarriage!
No sooner did Hosea finish quoting YHWH as saying, “It’s too late, I’m no longer your husband!”, he followed with YHWH’s promise of re-marriage. The rabbis of the day, aware of the law, could not believe it! Here is the quote; read it for yourself:
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her…
16“It will come about in that day,” declares the LORD, “That you will call Me Ishi (my husband) and will no longer call Me Baali (my master)… 19“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion,
20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD. Hosea 2: 14, 16, 19-20 NASB
Isaiah, a more-or-less contemporary of Hosea, compounded the tension by quoting the Lord as saying Israel’s husband was her “Maker”, but not to worry, she (the nation of Israel) would forget her widow-hood. By now the rabbis were in a fit–what? now the Maker is going to die? How does God die, exactly, and why? Do you see, dear reader, that the rabbis did not understand how or why God would die. Even when Jesus ministered on earth, the religious leaders did not understand the scripture that the Son of Man must suffer and be put to death, nor the reason for it. Acts 3:17
Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the LORD of hosts; Isaiah 54:4-5 NASB
But you know how–Jesus, whom Himself was God, did precisely that. You know that He died on the Cross, and you know that it was for the forgiveness of sin. Dear reader, do you see His mighty love at work: you will not be put to shame or feel humiliated? Israel had plenty to be ashamed of (as do we all), and yet the loving husband who has no guilt whatsoever says, “My love will cause you to forget the shame of your youth.” In this case, it can truly be said that the husband has given his life for his beloved spouse. The question is, What does His death have to do with Israel’s re-marriage? Paul explains it in Romans 7:1-3. The death of the first husband releases the woman from the Law of Divorce and Remarriage:
1Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. Romans 7:1-3 NASB
In other words, the death of first husband YHWH/Jesus frees Israel from the laws of divorce and remarriage. She is now the free woman–get it? Now she is free to enter into a marriage covenant, not like the “Hagar” slave-covenant with legal vows she cannot keep, but the “Sarah” free-woman new covenant based upon a promise. So the bride is ready–now all we need is a groom and a promise.
The Resurrection of YHWH/Jesus as a New Creation Allows Remarriage to Israel–But This Time Things Will Be Different!
Yes, this time around, God intends to have a bride for YHWH/Jesus that will love Him from her heart. To assist in that endeavor, He intends to give her a new heart:
19“And I will give them (meaning, Israel) one heart, and put a new spirit within them and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. Ezekiel 11:19 NASB
Hagar and the old covenant she personifies will be cast out. The new covenant will take its place. It is based upon a single promise: I will take out the heart of stone and put in its place a heart of flesh. This means that it will be entirely done by YHWH/Jesus–it is his wedding promise to replace the “stone” heart with one that desires and agrees with Him. In other words, His wish shall become her command.
The new covenant will not be based upon mutual conditional covenants, as was the prior “Hagar” marriage relationship. Instead, it will be based upon a better promise, and one that originates only from the groom’s side. God has given His word; this time, it is not conditional. It is based upon the promise of God, not the promises of men. Here is how it is stated in The Message Bible:
20-22The old priesthood of Aaron perpetuated itself automatically, father to son, without explicit confirmation by God. But then God intervened and called this new, permanent priesthood into being with an added promise: God gave his word; he won’t take it back: “You’re the permanent priest.” This makes Jesus the guarantee of a far better way between us and God—one that really works! A new covenant. Hebrews 7:20-22 The Message Bible
By this means, God will restore all things. Acts 3:21 Jeremiah is the first witness to this promise of a new covenant, one that will hold the marriage together. God will write His law within the hearts of Israel.
33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Jeremiah 31:33
King David is a second witness, affirming that doing God’s will shall be a delight! Not an external duty, a bother, an opportunity for failure or legalistic observance. Instead, it will become an internalized joy and a success! For Israel, so used to failure, it will be a success driven by returning the love of Jesus to Him.
6Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. 7Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:6-8 NASB
Our final witness is the writer of the book of Hebrews, quoting Father that ALL will know Him, and all of their sins will be forgotten!
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah; not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyon his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first (covenant) obsolete, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. Hebrews 8:8-13 NASB
YHWH/Jesus is going to fulfill all the vows–all that remains for the bride to say is, “Amen”, or “let it be so”. At this time, the Ten Commandments will have become the Ten Promises (together with all of His laws):
You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not steal. You shall not carry My name in vain, and you shall love Me with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all of your mind. And, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. It can’t get any plainer than this–He does it all!
And who, exactly, is this woman “Israel”?
We know from Romans 2, that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and neither is circumcision that which is in the flesh. Rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart. In the same way, he is not an Israelite by the flesh and “chosen-ness” is not by being physically descended from Jacob. Rather, he is an Israelite who is “ruled by God”, which is what the name “Israel” means. He is an Israelite according to God who wants God’s laws to be written upon his heart and upon his mind, so that he can be in agreement with the One who gave Himself to set him free. If this is your heart’s desire, dear reader, then hearken and come along–there is room for all, and sooner or later, all will come:
17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come ” And let the one who hears say, “Come ” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. Revelation 22:17 NASB
Even so, let it be, Lord Jesus, and come. Baruch ata.