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A Warning
A Warning about our Marriage Covenant with Christ: As Seen in the Word
Read Ezekiel 16.
This chapter is laden with imagery and messages from the Lord for His people, namely that God is pursuing His chosen people as a good husband would pursue his lover. Ezekiel depicts the fierce love with which God pursues us, as well as the dire need we have to honor that love He gives us. God sees us thrashing in blood, helpless, miserable, in sin and shame and yet He comes to us! He says we are at the age for love, and covenants Himself to us as a husband does his bride. He washes us and adorns us so we can be a beautiful and prepared Bride.
Church, this is our story. How truly amazing! And it's His splendor that perfects our beauty! We are His Bride: each of us are individual members of His Bride and together we will spend eternity with our most Handsome and Worthy Husband. The covenant, naturally, connotes faithfulness and a two-way relationship. He didn’t make us beautiful for our own sake. He made us beautiful for His sake, that He might be satisfied in us, His bride. He desires us to be wholly devoted and committed to Him as a consecrated, pure bride. God’s people are called to reflect His image in perfection (Genesis 1:26-27; Matthew 5:48; I John 3:2-3).
However, verse 15 in Ezekiel 16 images the sad truth of the Old Testament bride: she often committed adultery against God. In fact, the story of God’s pursuit of His bride, though she was frequently adulterous, is a major theme in the Old Testament (Isaiah 54:5, Isaiah 62:4-5, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hosea, Ezekiel 16). His call to His adulterous bride is always the same: repent! He calls them to cease from their evil ways and turn back to Him.
This same warning applies to the Church: we must remain faithful to our Husband in this life so that our marriage will be consummated in purity when we see Him face to face (Hebrews 3:14). The Lord calls us into an EXCLUSIVE relationship with Him. Adultery against God is having an idol of any kind (anything in which your heart loves/enjoys/finds worth above God) (James 4:4; I John 2:15-17). May we be a people who cry out for the Lord to search us and lead us away from wickedness and into eternal life (Psalm 139:23-24).
A Warning about our Marriage Covenant with Christ: As Seen in Jewish Culture
Investigating how the Jews of Jesus’ time conducted marriage ceremonies can deepen our understanding of Christ’s marriage with the Church. The marriage consisted of two parts: the betrothal and the home-taking. The betrothal is a binding marriage agreement where the bride price is set and the couple is said to belong to one another (a more binding form of modern day engagement). Their marriage is incomplete at this time, but it is still considered a marriage.They are considered married in all legal and religious aspects. The only way a betrothal is dissolved is by a formal divorce. The period between betrothal and the home-taking is when they prepare for their full union: the man in preparing a home for her, and the woman in preparing herself for him. The full consummation of the marriage happens during their wedding celebration when the groom takes his bride home to live with him.
This is the context in which Christ proposes to us. He offers us a cup (just as the Jews did in their proposals): the cup is the new covenant in His blood. When we receive it, we become His betrothed. We belong to Him and the covenant is in effect. We share in the marriage covenant both now and in its fullness in eternity. Yes we await the consummation, but not lightheartedly. We agreed to be a pure bride for Him and this life serves as time for Him to prepare us to be spotless before Him (Ephesisans 5:25-27). The weight Jesus gives this marriage covenant is seen in the fact that He gave us His very presence already: His Spirit is inside of us! We are one with Him now. It is in this very literal oneness that we await the full consummation. Clearly, this does not call for apathy in regards to our chastity to Him, but rather fervor and diligence in this very serious betrothal period. We are His bride now. And we will be His bride in eternity if we are found with oil in our lamps, standing firm to the end (Matt 25:1-13& Heb 10:36-39).
A Warning about our Marriage Covenant with Christ in Light of God’s Fierce Love
It is God’s fierce love, and only that, which grows us in purity and guards us for His wedding day. This is not a work we do. The bride throughout the Song matures from acting like the relationship is based on her strength (Song of Songs 2:16) to boasting in His love and strength (Song of Songs 7:10). Where she once reduced their marriage to dependence on her, the mature bride now rests in Him. This rest is not a passive rest, but rather an active surrender to Him that steadfastly waits on Him in the pastures of His Word/Truth. He is the active Purifier of her soul.
These truths the bride learns are true in our walk with the Lord too. We see in Heb 4 that we are called to enter His rest as we “make every effort” to surrender to His Word actively changing us (Heb 4:9-12). The Song ends with the bride extolling His love and jealousy for her (Song of Songs 8:6). We are again reminded it is God who fiercely protects and desires our purity, holiness and maturity. God predestined us to be conformed to the image of the Son and only His power brings this to reality (Ro 8:29, 1 Pet 1:2, 2 Thess 2:13). The Spirit is the One who conforms us from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18).
Pragmatically, our role in respecting and honoring the marriage covenant is to surrender. We must let Him purify us from all sin through giving ourselves to Him in repentance/returning and belief/rest (Is 30:15). The process of sanctification is painful to our flesh; hence the warning from Heb 12:11. Christ calls us to take up our crosses: this is a call to die to our flesh. God is worthy of this in every way. However, lest we think God has left us sidelined to religious acquiescence with no reward, Galatians reveals the truth turning this warning into pure joy: as we die, we get more of Christ, we get to live only by faith, and we live only in His love (Galatians 2:20-21). What a privilege and what a better trade! May it be with joy that we surrender all to Jesus.
Read Ezekiel 16.
This chapter is laden with imagery and messages from the Lord for His people, namely that God is pursuing His chosen people as a good husband would pursue his lover. Ezekiel depicts the fierce love with which God pursues us, as well as the dire need we have to honor that love He gives us. God sees us thrashing in blood, helpless, miserable, in sin and shame and yet He comes to us! He says we are at the age for love, and covenants Himself to us as a husband does his bride. He washes us and adorns us so we can be a beautiful and prepared Bride.
Church, this is our story. How truly amazing! And it's His splendor that perfects our beauty! We are His Bride: each of us are individual members of His Bride and together we will spend eternity with our most Handsome and Worthy Husband. The covenant, naturally, connotes faithfulness and a two-way relationship. He didn’t make us beautiful for our own sake. He made us beautiful for His sake, that He might be satisfied in us, His bride. He desires us to be wholly devoted and committed to Him as a consecrated, pure bride. God’s people are called to reflect His image in perfection (Genesis 1:26-27; Matthew 5:48; I John 3:2-3).
However, verse 15 in Ezekiel 16 images the sad truth of the Old Testament bride: she often committed adultery against God. In fact, the story of God’s pursuit of His bride, though she was frequently adulterous, is a major theme in the Old Testament (Isaiah 54:5, Isaiah 62:4-5, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hosea, Ezekiel 16). His call to His adulterous bride is always the same: repent! He calls them to cease from their evil ways and turn back to Him.
This same warning applies to the Church: we must remain faithful to our Husband in this life so that our marriage will be consummated in purity when we see Him face to face (Hebrews 3:14). The Lord calls us into an EXCLUSIVE relationship with Him. Adultery against God is having an idol of any kind (anything in which your heart loves/enjoys/finds worth above God) (James 4:4; I John 2:15-17). May we be a people who cry out for the Lord to search us and lead us away from wickedness and into eternal life (Psalm 139:23-24).
A Warning about our Marriage Covenant with Christ: As Seen in Jewish Culture
Investigating how the Jews of Jesus’ time conducted marriage ceremonies can deepen our understanding of Christ’s marriage with the Church. The marriage consisted of two parts: the betrothal and the home-taking. The betrothal is a binding marriage agreement where the bride price is set and the couple is said to belong to one another (a more binding form of modern day engagement). Their marriage is incomplete at this time, but it is still considered a marriage.They are considered married in all legal and religious aspects. The only way a betrothal is dissolved is by a formal divorce. The period between betrothal and the home-taking is when they prepare for their full union: the man in preparing a home for her, and the woman in preparing herself for him. The full consummation of the marriage happens during their wedding celebration when the groom takes his bride home to live with him.
This is the context in which Christ proposes to us. He offers us a cup (just as the Jews did in their proposals): the cup is the new covenant in His blood. When we receive it, we become His betrothed. We belong to Him and the covenant is in effect. We share in the marriage covenant both now and in its fullness in eternity. Yes we await the consummation, but not lightheartedly. We agreed to be a pure bride for Him and this life serves as time for Him to prepare us to be spotless before Him (Ephesisans 5:25-27). The weight Jesus gives this marriage covenant is seen in the fact that He gave us His very presence already: His Spirit is inside of us! We are one with Him now. It is in this very literal oneness that we await the full consummation. Clearly, this does not call for apathy in regards to our chastity to Him, but rather fervor and diligence in this very serious betrothal period. We are His bride now. And we will be His bride in eternity if we are found with oil in our lamps, standing firm to the end (Matt 25:1-13& Heb 10:36-39).
A Warning about our Marriage Covenant with Christ in Light of God’s Fierce Love
It is God’s fierce love, and only that, which grows us in purity and guards us for His wedding day. This is not a work we do. The bride throughout the Song matures from acting like the relationship is based on her strength (Song of Songs 2:16) to boasting in His love and strength (Song of Songs 7:10). Where she once reduced their marriage to dependence on her, the mature bride now rests in Him. This rest is not a passive rest, but rather an active surrender to Him that steadfastly waits on Him in the pastures of His Word/Truth. He is the active Purifier of her soul.
These truths the bride learns are true in our walk with the Lord too. We see in Heb 4 that we are called to enter His rest as we “make every effort” to surrender to His Word actively changing us (Heb 4:9-12). The Song ends with the bride extolling His love and jealousy for her (Song of Songs 8:6). We are again reminded it is God who fiercely protects and desires our purity, holiness and maturity. God predestined us to be conformed to the image of the Son and only His power brings this to reality (Ro 8:29, 1 Pet 1:2, 2 Thess 2:13). The Spirit is the One who conforms us from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18).
Pragmatically, our role in respecting and honoring the marriage covenant is to surrender. We must let Him purify us from all sin through giving ourselves to Him in repentance/returning and belief/rest (Is 30:15). The process of sanctification is painful to our flesh; hence the warning from Heb 12:11. Christ calls us to take up our crosses: this is a call to die to our flesh. God is worthy of this in every way. However, lest we think God has left us sidelined to religious acquiescence with no reward, Galatians reveals the truth turning this warning into pure joy: as we die, we get more of Christ, we get to live only by faith, and we live only in His love (Galatians 2:20-21). What a privilege and what a better trade! May it be with joy that we surrender all to Jesus.