The Ketubah and the Heart of God*

Tonight begins Shavuot on the Jewish Calendar, also known as Pentecost in the Greek. The Jewish people associate Shavuot with the giving of the Torah, and the Christians associate Pentecost with the giving of the Holy Spirit. In the giving of the Torah to His people, God was establishing a marriage covenant, or ketubah, with them. It is especially important to be aware of God's marriage covenant with Israel at this time. Many are reporting that war is imminent between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. Rocket attacks are being exchanged daily. God's Word has been prophetic regarding the attacks of the surrounding nations upon Israel, especially Jerusalem, and His promise to Israel: "And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it...The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah." (Zech. 12:3, 7). Judah is "the people of praise". Who is Judah but all of the people who praise God. The Church does not replace Israel in this meaning, but the Church joins together with Israel. Israel, the Jew, is not defined by the outward appearance, or outward circumcision, but by the inward circumcision of the heart (Rom. 2:28-29). God's promise to Israel, to Judah, to Jerusalem is a marriage promise. This promise includes the marriage of His Son. In Zechariah 12, the LORD promises that the house of David and Jerusalem, in a spirit of grace and supplications "...shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" (v. 10). The LORD promises to refine them through the fire, and "...they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." (Zech. 13:9). This is the essence of the marriage covenant between God and His people. This is God's covenant promise: "...blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." (Rom. 11:25-27). The LORD states His marriage to Israel clearly:"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you...and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors (shepherds) according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowldege and understanding." (Jer. 3:14-15). The LORD promises that He will restore the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride to the land. Those voices will cry, "Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever...I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness (Messiah) to grow up unto David...In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness." (Jer. 33:11-16). When the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride are removed from the land, the land becomes desolate, but when those voices are restored, the land is again inhabited. The new covenant is also a marriage covenant: "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...which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them...But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel...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." (Jer. 31:31-33). Revelation prophesies of the Marriage of the Lamb, and His wife that has made herself ready (Rev. 19:7-9). The New Jerusalem will come down from God out of heaven "like a bride adorned for her husband". When it comes down, the cry goes out, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God." (Rev. 21:1-3). Here again is repeated part of that marriage promise we read in Zechariah. It was also part of the same marriage promise of God when Jesus said, "And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Lk. 24:49). This promise from God was fulfilled on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon those who waited in the Upper Room (Acts 2). The marriage covenant of God includes the Holy Swpirit dwelling within each believer, rather than playing "church as usual". Our marriage to Christ has a purpose: "...ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Rom. 7:3-4). In her marriage to Christ, the Church brings for fruit unto God. Fruitfulness is the purpose and product of our marriage to Christ. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/16/21 message to the church. To contact: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and at Endtimeschool.com