THE MARRIAGE

By Cora Birch

There was a bride in the 15th century BC who made a marriage covenant, for we are told in Exodus 24:7,

And he took the book  of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath  said will we do, and be obedient.

Married life had its ups and downs with the birth of the Nation and  the training  that it underwent and fluctuations between obedience and disobedience. The real crisis came  in the 8th Century BC when  Israel this time had gone beyond the point of no return and proved unfaithful to her husband. The whole life of Israel from this point on was portrayed in the real life drama of the Prophet Hosea, whose name means salvation.  He was from the Southern House of Judah and his marriage to Gomer, her name  meaning consuming; she was from the Northern House of Israel. Hosea had a most unusual assignment to  carry out  and   it is  important  to understand that this literally took place.   His very marriage and family life yet to come  was an identical portrayal of the marriage at this stage and in the future between Jehovah the  husband and  Israel  the  wife. Hosea was instructed to take a wife of whoredoms from amongst  the women of the Northern House, (what an undertaking!)   Here was  a married  couple  with two different belief systems  which must have come  to the attention  of the King and  the people  of the Northern House.

All the women of the Northern House were involved in profane temple  worship  to appease the Canaanite god  Baal;  this  had  been introduced into  Israel  by wicked Queen Jezebel.

As in most marriages, along came offspring, but this did  not  bode well,   as  the  names of  each  child represented a further deterioration in the Nation. The first of three children  was a boy named Jezreel  which meant,  God will scatter  and  God will sow,  this was indicative of the deportation but also, at a future date, the regathering. The name had further significance for it was in the Valley of Jezreel that the wicked King Ahab of the Northern House was slaughtered by his successor Jehu, thus ending his family dynasty ruling. This account can be found in 2 Kings 10. The scattering  was to take on even further consequences when King Jehu, having cleansed  Israel of her idols, then fell to worshipping the golden calves at Dan and Bethel. His family dynasty was to rule only for another four generations, which led to subsequent judgements on the House of Israel.

A girl was next to be delivered  and  her name was Loruhamah which meant, not beloved.  Here we start to see  the tragedy  of the family breakdown and  it was finalised  in the last child, a boy named Lo ammi, meaning, not my people.  This did not bode well for the nation, for Israel in the 8th century persisting in her evil ways  was  to bring  upon  herself  the  five aspects of judgement given in symbolic terms, as told to us in Hosea 2:3,

Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that  she was born, and make  her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

Here we have the prophet  referring to the coming desolation of the land if the people refused to heed the call to repentance. Her punishment would take place in stages,  for being naked  would  mean  divesting the land and people of their wealth so that she would have nothing, the same as a new  born baby arriving in the world.  Already the reference to the wilderness in this passage of Scripture is alluding to Israel’s wanderings after deportation.

Leading up to Israel’s divorce the rain was withheld, so the land would  be literally dry, and  the people,  no doubt, were thirsty, but this is spiritually symbolic as well. Today, we are in a spiritual wilderness; a famine of the word not a famine of bread as mentioned in Amos 8:11.

There is not a 21st century physical deportation, but we  are  becoming a dry  land  as  our  resources are dwindling in  the  present economic climate and foreigners are taking our assets.  From this time forward Israel was under the curse of the Law; what was this to mean  for her?  Deuteronomy 24:1 states  very clearly that the wife had been issued with a bill of divorcement and  was  thrown  out  of the  marital  home and  not allowed  to return,

When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to  pass that  she  find no  favour in his eyes, because  he hath  found some  uncleanness in her: then  let him  write  her a bill of divorcement, and  give it in her hand, and  send  her  out  of  his house.

In a literal marriage, the offending spouse is thrown out of the marital home, and so was the Northern House. Because of her idolatrous practices and trusting in other Nations she was divorced and sent out of the land into captivity in Assyria, unable to return in her sinful state. Eventually, the House of Israel escaped when the Assyrian Empire broke  up and  so  they moved  northand  west,  thus  beginning  the many  days when  they were without king and prince.  Hosea tells of the beginning of the Divine pressure,  the purpose of which would  be  to compel  Israel  to move  westward , thus bringing about the fulfilment  of His word  and  the awakening of His people to acknowledgement of their identity and  responsibility as His Kingdom people,  so that they might keep the terms of His Covenant.

These were the years during which they wandered in the wilderness of central  and southern Europe until they  took  up  their  long  trek  westward toward   the ‘appointed place.’  It has already been pointed out that a woman  was bound  under  the marriage  law so long as her husband lived. God had entered into a symbolic relationship  of marriage  with His people,  so the only way the House of Israel could escape the penalty of the law under which she had been divorced from God, was to have the bill of divorcement blotted out by the death of Him who had written it. In the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, redemption was brought to His people and salvation to all who accept Him as Saviour.

Israel was to come out  of her  seven times punishment and was to engage in colonial expansion on a scale never before known.   It was during the Protestant  Reformation  of the 16th and  17th centuries, with the publication and distribution of the Bible in the language  of the people, that the building of a new civilisation began, based upon equity and righteousness of the Divine Law.  Israel spread  to the west with the Pilgrim Fathers  sailing  in 1620 AD to Cape  Cod  in America,  and  the  first settlers arriving  in Australia between 1788 and  1850 AD.   In the  18th and  19th centuries, great revivals took place in Great Britain and America, with the Wesleys, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, Dr. Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finney and D.L. Moody amongst others.  The great missionary societies were formed from the 17th century onwards; we think of William Carey, the first missionary  to India, David Livingstone  in sub-Saharan Africa,  Mary Slessor  in Nigeria, Hudson Taylor in China and  others.  The Agricultural and  Industrial Revolutions in the 18th century  brought  great  prosperity  to Israel.  However, these blessings were conditional and dependent on our being obedient, as outlined in Deuteronomy 28.

Israel started to hear the voices of Europe as far back as  the  early  18th century, with  the  dawning of the Enlightenment movement, that didn’t need a god. She did not learn the lessons  of the past and so today we are reaping what we have sown. What are some of the grievances  that  our  God  has  against  us?   Hosea  4:1 speaks for itself,

Hear the word  of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there  is not  truth, nor  mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

However, the final rebetrothal of God to His people is soon to take place, as is the restitution of all things for Hosea 2:16 and 17 tells us,

And it shall  be at that day,  saith the  Lord  that thou shalt  call me  Ishi; and  shalt call me  no more Baali

For I will take  away the names of Baalim out  of her mouth, and they  shall no more be remembered by their  name.

The  phrase,  at that  day  refers  to a specific  time period which will be the Kingdom age yet to come.  The name Ishi means, my man, husband.  Isaiah  54:5 declares of Israel, Thy maker  is thine husband, which signified the close relationship existing between Israel and  her God, and so this will be the case  once  again. Also in Isaiah 44:2 we see the reverse, as it shows us an intimate  name  that Jehovah  has for His own  people Israel, it reads,

Thus  saith the Lord that made thee, and  formed thee  from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my  servant; and  thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.

There has been a gradual  preparation of Israel, but the final part will come as a result of the Nation waking up from  her slumber when  the enemy strikes.   As a result she goes on her knees in repentance as Joel 2:15-18 highlights. We all know the scripture, when a solemn assembly will be called and the priests, the ministers of the Lord will weep between the porch  and  the altar; imagine the reaction!  It is repentance that unlocks and releases the Lord’s blessings  and  healing  upon  His people, for 2 Chronicles  7:14 is the verse that gives the key to the restitution of the Nation,

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and  pray,  and  seek  my   face, and  turn from their  wicked ways; then  will  I hear from heaven, and will  forgive their sin, and will heal their  land.

This will be the beginning  of the setting  up of the Kingdom Rule, when  Israel will recognise who she is, the Wife of Jehovah  the God of Israel.  No longer will she seek alliances with all of her lovers, that is, the other nations,  Egypt and Assyria, as in days past and Europe today,  nor  serve other  Lords or  Baals such  as communism, fascism, republicanism,  secularism, humanism, transhumanism, atheism, devolutionism and finally evolutionism. We are so familiar with the Abrahamic Covenant  and  the Davidic Covenant,  but what about  the Peace Covenant as told to us in Hosea 2:18?

And in that day will I make a covenant for them with  the  beasts of the   field, and  with the   fowls of heaven, and with  the creeping things of the ground: and  I will  break  the  bow  and  the  sword  and  the battle out  of the  earth, and  will  make them to  lie down safely.

Here, the Peace Covenant is not like the feeble peace treaties that man makes.  We still remember the ‘road map to peace’ that Mr. Tony Blair made a few years back with regard to the Middle East; they are still travelling on that one. We have another well known and much loved passage  of the Bible in Isaiah 11:6-9 which  describes the peace even further,

The wolf also  shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard  shall  lie down with the  kid;  and  the  calf and the young  lion  and  the  fatling together; and  a little child  shall lead them.

And the cow and the bear shall  feed; their young ones  shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

And the  sucking child  shall  play on  the  hole  of the asp, and the weaned child shall  put his hand  on the cockatrice den.

They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy in  all my  holy mountain: for the earth shall be  full  of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

One of the most amazing points about this scripture is the reason  for the perfect  harmony  between man and  beast;  it is the powerful  effect of the earth  being filled with the knowledge of both the natural  and spiritual Laws of the Lord. This is a twofold Covenant as the first brings harmony with nature and the second part will bring peace to Israel, as there will be no more wars waged  throughout  the earth, Psalm 46:9 tells us,

He maketh wars to  cease  unto the  end  of the earth; he breaketh the  bow, and  cutteth the  spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the  fire.

However, Hosea declared that God would betroth Israel to Him forever.  As His people had lost all knowledge of their identity,  they will awaken to the realisation of who  they are.  We find some very important  instructions in Isaiah 51:1-2,

Hearken to me, ye  that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the  Lord: look  unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the  pit whence ye are digged.

Look unto Abraham your  father, and unto Sarah that bare  you:  for I called  him  alone, and  blessed him, and increased him.

Few, however, recognise the responsibilities assigned to the House of Israel; nevertheless, their awakening to what is required of them as God’s people is next on the agenda.  It is in this connection that Hosea  declares that, in the process  of restoring  Israel to God’s favour again, He will  betroth  them unto Himself in righteousness.  Once  their  origin  has  been acknowledged and their identity established, the next step is to proclaim their responsibility to God under the terms of the Marriage Covenant He made with them.  At that time, the people affirmed  their intention to be obedient and observe  the requirements of the Law of the  Lord.   It is these  Laws that  modern Israel  must restore and obey in fulfilment of the oath taken by their forefathers.  When  this finally becomes a reality, the betrothal in  righteousness will become a  fact  and Ezekiel’s prediction  in 36:27 will come  to pass:

And  I will  put  my  spirit  within you, and  cause you  to  walk  in my  statutes, and  ye shall  keep  my judgements, and  do them.

Then judgement, loving-kindness and mercies will be major attributes of a righteous people.  When God’s people  have become all righteous God will move in a marvellous  manner to restore  harmony  in nature  for their sake for Isaiah 60:21 tells us,

Thy people  also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land  forever, the branch of my  planting, the  work  of my hands, that I may  be glorified.

This  denotes that  there will  be a perfect synchronization in nature,  for the willing compliance with the Divine Will sets those Laws in motion that will bring the earth  in tune with the infinite purpose.  The result  will be  that  the  earth  will yield her  increase, fulfilling the law as stated in Leviticus 26:4-5,

Then  I will give you rain in due season, and  the land  shall  yield  her  increase, and  the  trees  of the field shall  yield their fruit.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and  the  vintage shall  reach  unto the  sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread  to the  full, and dwell in your  land  safely.

In the time to come there will be a sowing and not a scattering, for this was the meaning of the name Jezreel, Hosea and  Gomer’s first child, who was  a boy. Remember the  scattering was the  result of the deportation and subsequent migration of the House of Israel but now  there  is a sowing  yet to come;  this is explained  in Jeremiah 31:31-34,

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with  the house of Judah:

Not according to the covenant that I made with their  fathers in the day that I took  them by the hand to bring them  out  of the land of Egypt; which  my covenant they brake,  although I was  an husband unto them, saith the Lord:

But this  shall be the covenant that  I will make with the house of Israel; After those  days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward  parts, and write it in their hearts;  and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know  me,  from the least of them  unto  the greatest of them, saith  the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Here we have the answer in verse 31 , for under the New Covenant at the appointed time, the reuniting of Israel will take place.   There is also the harvest of resurrected ones as told to us in Revelation 20:6,

Blessed and holy is he that hath  part in the  first resurrection: on  such  the  second  death  hath  no power, but they shall be priests of God and‘ of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This is the new Israel of God, a select  planting that will ensure a harvest of righteousness in the new age. It will be impossible for the  restoration of the administration of the  perfect  Law of the  Lord to be complete until those  who  are  to rule in the restored Kingdom have been summoned and have arisen from their  graves to  take   their   assigned   places.    The assumption of office  of these  rulers  will bring  into complete harmony  the administration of the affairs of the Kingdom of God on earth with that of heaven.  Hosea began  his message with  the  pronouncement of no mercy  upon  the House of Israel, who was to become Lo Ammi, not my people, as a result of their turning away from God to serve  Baal.  Now he declares that when God has accomplished the completion of the betrothal to Himself of His people,  named Lo Ruhammah, who had previously not obtained mercy, they will become Ammi, thou art my people.  In that day Hosea depicts the whole nation with one voice as saying to the Lord thou art my God. Then will come  to pass Revelation 19:7-9,

Let us be glad and rejoice, and  give honour to him:  for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath  made herself ready.

And  to  her  was  granted that she  should  be arrayed in  fine linen, clean and white:  for the  fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

And he saith  unto  me, Write,  Blessed  are they which  are called unto  the marriage  supper  of the Lamb.

And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.                                                             Amen