By: Matthew Dyer
If you have ever attended a Church you have heard something said about “the gospel”, but did you know the Gospel is the greatest love story ever told? It truly is! Many people do not realize this because they rarely read the first 2/3 of the Bible, and miss a huge part of the Gospel which means good news.
When most people think of God, they probably never think about Him as a married man, and sadly a divorcee. But He is both! The covenant that God made with the Israel people at Mt. Sinai through Moses was not unlike a marriage covenant that a man makes with his wife. The God of all the universe loved a group of people so much that He wanted to bind Himself to them in love, bless them, and keep them as a special treasure.
“For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” —Deuteronomy 14:2
The Marriage Covenant
“And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.” – Exodus 19:3-8
This covenant is not to be confused with the Abrahamic Covenant which was unconditional, as this one was conditional. At this time they were pronounced Husband and Wife. When Israel said “I do” and promised to love, honor, and obey her Husband, sadly we can’t say they lived happily ever after. It wasn’t long before Israel betrayed her vows, and went whoring after other gods. It truly broke His heart just like if one had a spouse cheat in a marriage. In 1 Samuel chapter 8 the Israelites chose to reject God Almighty their Husband by wanting an earthly king like all the other nations.
“Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” – 1 Samuel 8:4-7
The people rejected God, and He gave them an earthly king. They still were His covenant people and bound by the covenant made at Mount Sinai. They rejected the rule of their HUSBAND/KING. Their first earthly king was Saul. The second was David. When David died, Solomon became king. After Solomon died Israel went into deep sin, and split into two nations: the northern nation of Israel, and the southern nation of Judah. Due to their sin God divorced the nation of Israel in 721 B.C.
God Divorces Israel
“And I saw, that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel I had sent her away, and given her a writ of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she went and was a harlot also.” – Jeremiah 3:8
God could have divorced Judah also but tolerated her because He had a plan for redemption. The nation of Israel went into Assyrian captivity about 700 years before Christ, and then dispersed through Europe and went by many different names during their divorcement and were cut off from God.
The Remarriage Covenant
In Hosea, God had the prophet marry a harlot. What a weird command from God. God wanted Hosea to learn how to preach from the heart and to get across to the people how God felt about His people whoring after other gods. In Hosea 1:8-10 God speaks of the state of Israel, and her future.
“Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” – Hosea 1:8-10
Those who believe the northern house of Israel ceased to exist must ignore the words of Hosea. They did not cease to exist. God divorced them. They were cast off because of their sins, but God in His truly infinite mercy had a plan to redeem these wicked people He loved so much and to make them clean again. How could it be done, because if God remarried Israel He would be breaking His own law, and be made a liar? In Deuteronomy 24:1-4 God’s law says that if a women is married and divorced and goes to be with another man, and her second husband divorces her or dies, she can never go back to her first husband.
So let me ask! What would happen if a women’s first husband died? Not the second but the first, the one who divorced her. Would she then be released from the law of her first marriage? Of course, because he would be dead.
“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” – Romans 7:1-4
Do you know who truly died on the cross of Calvary? The Husband of lost Israel!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. “ – John 1:1
(Check out our Youtube Channel Playlist on the Deity of Jesus if you want to learn more about this.)
Jesus, who is the same God in the Old Testament died to redeem, which means to buy back, His bride Israel from her sins of adultery because of His love for her. When the husband died, she was freed from that law that kept her from ever coming back to Him. When Jesus resurrected from the grave, and Israel realized that she had killed the only one who had ever loved her, she then had to die through repentance. The Bible likens repentance to dying to our wicked ways. When we become Christians, we are like a dead person, who dies to our old ways, and are resurrected to walk in newness of life as a pure virgin before Christ.
When we become a Christian, we are even buried in baptism (immersed) for the remission of sins symbolizing the death of that old wicked person, and then the resurrection of the new person into Christ Jesus. This is how He corrects ancient Israel’s sin of desiring to have another king over them. Jesus Christ has taken our sins upon Himself so that we may be joined to Him as a people once again. This is the gospel message! A beautiful love story between God
Almighty and His love for His people.
So I urge you today, believe the Gospel! The good news of our redemption at the hands of a loving God! REPENT! Be BAPTIZED! Kill the old man inside you, and be raised up a new man. Don’t be like our ancestors and choose to serve an earthly king like all the other nations, serve the King of kings, Jesus the Christ.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. “ – Romans 5:8
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” – Hebrews 9:12
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. “ – Ephesians 2:8-9
“…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” – Acts 2:38
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