Isaiah 54:5 (NIV): “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name.”
Jeremiah 3:14: “‘Return, faithless people,'” declares the Lord, “‘for I am your husband.'”
You may wonder, when did the Lord become Israel’s husband? From ancient times, rabbis have taught that the Lord formalized a marriage between Himself and Israel at Mt. Sinai after their departure from Egypt. The Lord gave Israel the old covenant as a marriage covenant.
In the book of Exodus, the Jewish people left slavery in Egypt and marched to Sinai where the Lord initiated the marriage covenant. God sent Moses back and forth, explaining His love to the people of Israel. Exodus shows Moses performing as a matchmaker between them. Moses repeated the Lord’s proposal to Israel (His bride), “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” Then he brought them forward to the Lord, “Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain” (Exod. 19:5; 19:17).
Some see every Jewish wedding ceremony as a celebration in miniature of their national marriage to God at Mt. Sinai. For this reason, a marriage covenant is read at many Jewish weddings to symbolically commemorate the union of Israel and Yahweh. Exodus and the entire Torah can be viewed as a marriage contract. Whenever the Torah is read publicly, many Jewish people believe they are hearing the love language of the Lord.
For Christians, Jesus is our bridegroom and the church is the bride of Christ. The new covenant is our marriage contract. Many New Testament references speak of this, including the following, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7).
The Bible reveals what Jesus expects from us and tells us what we can expect from Him. Every important right and responsibility is laid out for both parties. It also gives us key details about our intended marriage-like relationship in our present and future lives together. As a waiting bridal company, the church should rejoice that nothing is left out of this all important document.
Under the new (marriage) covenant, faithful Israel and the church of Jesus Christ will together make up the bride of Christ and be married to our God. We will live eternally with the Lord in the city known as New Jerusalem. “One of the seven angels…said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb,’ and he … showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:9-10). Jesus loves you and wants to spend eternity with you in a marriage covenant relationship. Please respond and tell Him that you love Him too. {eoa}
Pitts and Mary Evans met at the University of South Carolina and have been married since 1981. They have three adult children, a daughter in-law, a son in-law and eight grandchildren. Pitts first attended Whole Word Fellowship with his parents in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was later called to full-time ministry and currently serves as the senior pastor of WWF and the Northern Virginia House of Prayer. He is the voice of our weekday The Whole Word Podcast. Pastor Pitts also directs our international ministry, overseeing humanitarian efforts, combating human trafficking, ministering in pastor’s conferences, Bible schools and seminaries in other nations. His primary calling is for recruiting and equipping the bride of Christ through Bible teaching and preaching. His new book, The Wife of God, is available from Amazon.
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