1) Betrothed. The first part of a Jewish wedding ceremony is the betrothal. We would liken it to an engagement. However, unlike a modern-day engagement that can simply be broken off, a Jewish betrothal could not. In essence the man and woman were married-it’s just that there was a period of time that elapsed before the consummation of the marriage took place.
For us, our ceremony was our baptism. That was where we accepted the proposal and officially betrothed ourselves to Jesus. Rom. 6:3-5, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”
At our baptism we were united with Jesus. At our baptism we became a new creation and we took on a new name. Like in a traditional wedding ceremony where the bride takes on the name of her husband, we too have taken on a new name-the name of our husband-Christ. We are now Christians.
Our baptism is where we clothed ourselves with Christ. Gal. 3:26-27, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” At our baptism we have put on our wedding clothes.
Isaiah 61:10, “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” At our baptism we put on the marriage garments. We are now recognized as betrothed, taken, belonging to our husband-Jesus Christ.
2) What kind of husband is God? The bible talks about God being a jealous God. The first and second commandments talk about not having other gods in our lives and that God is a jealous God. But it’s not jealousy in the way we think. When we think of a jealous husband we think of someone who’s controlling and paranoid. God’s jealousy stems from his holiness and his love. Any husband has this regard for his wife-he doesn’t want her having anyone else but him. He won’t tolerate his wife carrying on relationships with other men. So it is with God. He won’t tolerate us putting anyone or anything else before him. He won’t play second fiddle; nor does he deserve to.
God isn’t jealous of, he’s jealous for. God has no reason to be jealous of any other so-called god. God’s jealousy is for us; he doesn’t want to see us get hurt, he doesn’t want to see us lose out. He loves us; he wants to protect us from harm. God is a loving and forgiving husband.
As you go through the OT you will see many references to Israel and Judah being the bride of God. But, unfortunately, God’s bride was unfaithful. But even in their adultery God wanted them back.
Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. He wept over his people’s infidelity. In chapter two of Jeremiah, God highlights their prior devotion, how at one time they were faithful to him. Then he makes the point that there was no reason for them to leave him for another god but they did anyway. So, they needed to know that they brought upon themselves the consequences of their adultery.
Jeremiah 3:1-14. First God highlights that he is doing what a normal husband wouldn’t do (1-2). Then he reminds them of how they have dishonored their marriage covenant through prostituting themselves and without any shame in doing so. It’s interesting how they seem confused as to why God would be so angry with them (4-5). Sometimes we can be oblivious too. We wonder why there are consequences to our actions and why God is withholding blessings from us when we are going about prostituting ourselves. Then we see that God sent them away-divorced Israel (8). But it wasn’t because he wanted nothing to do with them anymore, it was actually the opposite-it was so they would wake up and return to him with all their heart (12-14).
When we stray away God may have to distance himself from us. He may “divorce” us. But it would only be for the purpose of trying to get us to come to our senses and come back to his loving, waiting arms.
When there was sexual immorality in the Corinthian church, Paul told them to hand the person over to Satan. But his purpose in doing so was so that his sinful nature could be destroyed and his Spirit saved.
God is such a loving husband that he will even go so far as to pursue us when we are unfaithful. This is seen in the account of Hosea and Gomer. Hosea 1:2-3. To show Israel’s infidelity God has his prophet Hosea take a wayward woman as his wife. What a message. God wanted his people to see in a practical way what they were doing to him. In chapter two we see God proclaiming his message through Hosea. He starts out by doing what he did to Israel earlier-sending them away.
But God intervenes and makes it difficult for Israel to chase after her lovers. 2:5-7. God will do whatever he can to get our attention so we will realize the error of our ways and come back to him.
So, in essence we have two suitors-God and Satan; both want us all to themselves. Satan persuaded the Israelites to commit spiritual adultery against God. It’s no different under the new covenant. Satan wants to get us to cheat on God and commit adultery with him. What Satan offers us is alluring, it glitters like gold. He makes promises that the grass is greener on his side. “You’ll have more fun with me”. He wants to have an affair with us.
Just like a literal affair we are lured into thinking it will be better with this one than it is with our current one. Or we decide we don’t want to leave our current one but we want to go and have fun with this other one once in a while. Either way we are being deceived. Once we give in and commit adultery we come to realize that Satan’s promises are lies. Now we look back in regret, wishing we could take it all back.
After God disciplines Israel for her unfaithfulness we see him reaching out again to draw her near. Vs. 14-15, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up out of Egypt.” “Speak tenderly to” means to reassure, encourage and comfort. What a loving picture of a forgiving God.
That is the cycle running through the bible-God’s bride commits adultery, there are consequences and then the offer of restoration and forgiveness. Let’s look at God showing us a picture of his awesome love and forgiveness when he sends Hosea to get his unfaithful wife back. 3:1-3.
We need to pick up on something here. Gomer doesn’t just represent Israel-she represents us. We are Gomer. God didn’t just want Israel to see the severity of their adultery; he wants us to see it for what it is too. We need this picture; we need this scenario in our minds. As we contemplate the unbelievable relationship between Gomer and Hosea we need to understand that this is how it is between us and God. We commit adultery against God all the time yet he is ready to forgive every time. That would never happen in a traditional marriage. If I cheated on my wife as many times as I’ve cheated on God I probably wouldn’t be standing here right now let alone be forgiven and welcomed back. We need to think about how unbelievably forgiving our God is.
The sum that Hosea paid, 15 shekels, was only half of what was normally paid for a slave. This shows how undesirable she had become-no one was willing to pay even a measly slave wage to have her. She had become utterly worthless; except to Hosea. Hosea buying back his wife even though she was not worth much of anything to anyone shows God’s love toward us, even though we are stained and ugly through our sin.
Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic who was paralyzed in a diving accident as a teenager, talks about her wedding day. She says, “I felt awkward as my girlfriends strained to shift my paralyzed body into a cumbersome wedding gown. No amount of corseting and binding my body gave me a perfect shape. The dress just didn’t fit well. Then, as I was wheeling into the church, I glanced down and noticed that I’d accidentally run over the hem of my dress, leaving a greasy tire mark. My paralyzed hands couldn’t hold the bouquet of daisies that lay off-center on my lap. And my chair, though decorated for the wedding, was still a big, clunky gray machine with belts, gears, and ball bearings. I certainly didn’t feel like the picture-perfect bride in a bridal magazine. I inched my chair closer to the last pew to catch a glimpse of Ken in front. There he was, standing tall and stately in his formal attire. I saw him looking for me, craning his neck to look up the aisle. My face flushed, and I suddenly couldn’t wait to be with him. I had seen my beloved. The love in Ken’s face had washed away all my feelings of unworthiness. I was his pure and perfect bride. How easy it is for us to think that we’re utterly unlovely — especially to someone as lovely as Christ. But he loves us with the bright eyes of a Bridegroom’s love and cannot wait for the day we are united with him forever.”
Isaiah 62:5, “As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” As undesirable as we are, God rejoices over us. He is our loving husband.
