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Who entered into a marriage covenant with Israel? Was it GOD or was it the Son of GOD?
by Robert Schmid, January 2006

“Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’ …..So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:18:25)

This was the beginning of the institution of marriage, established and ordained by GOD for the welfare and personal fulfillment of man and for the increase of the human race. (1)

In Gen. 32 we find Jacob wrestling with “a man” but, “When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ And he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he said, ‘Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but ISRAEL,’ for you have striven with GOD and with men, and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Tell me, I pray, your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him.”

Here we see that just as God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, he now changes Jacob’s name to ISRAEL, by which the Hebrews are henceforth to be known. It is a name for the people and for an individual. (1)

In Exodus chapters 19 thru 24 we find God speaking to Moses, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of ISRAEL: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all people; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of ISRAEL. So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

GOD then gives ISRAEL the laws of the covenant. “Then he (Moses) took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, ‘All the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, ‘Behold the blood of the (marriage) covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

ISRAEL here accepts the (marriage) covenant proposed by GOD. Oftentimes this relationship has been denominated as God’s theocratic rule over ISRAEL. Two things are quite clear: (1) this covenant may be regarded as a fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham; and (2) this covenant was similar in form to a suzerainty treaty in which fealty is acknowledged to a superior lord. The covenant was conditioned upon two things: (1) faith, and (2) obedience. The terms clearly stated that unbelief and disobedience would break the covenant, and as a result, the promised blessings flowing from faith and obedience would be withdrawn. (1)

However, considering that ISRAEL was burdened with the knowledge of good AND evil, she soon succumbed to harlotry and adultery and became unfaithful to her husband the LORD God. The Prophet Hosea describes in graphic language Israel’s whoredoms. “Plead with your mother, plead – for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband – that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a parched land, and slay her with thirst.”

The Prophet Isaiah adds, “Thus says the LORD: ’Where is your mother’s bill of divorce, with which I put her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your transgressions your mother was put away.”

Both, Hosea and Isaiah prophesied the judgment of GOD upon faithless ISRAEL but, with the eye of faith, he looked forward to the day when Israel would be restored to a place of honor and blessing. (1)

Let’s now move forward to the most important event in human history, to the “fullness of time”, the birth of Jesus, the SON of GOD Almighty. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” Mary was impregnated by GOD, through the power of the Spirit of God, and the WORD of GOD (God’s sperm and or seed) became flesh, became a human being, became the firstborn SON of GOD named JESUS by God His Father.

Let’s be clear about who the parents of the LORD Jesus Christ are? There can be no doubt that a Spirit Being, the GOD of the Old Testament, Jehovah Elohim is the Father of Jesus. Neither can there be any doubt that a human being, the virgin Mary was the Mother of Jesus. The question we need to ask is: Who was Mary?

Mary was an obscure peasant girl living in Nazareth when the angel Gabriel, who was sent by God, came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the LORD is with you!”…. “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with GOD.” The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible describes Mary’s character as: “The Mary of the New Testament represents all that was finest in Jewish womanhood and motherhood. Her deep spiritual sensitivity; her purity, faith, and obedience to the divine will; her scrupulous attention to the training of her son in the religious traditions of his people; her loyalty to him, as evidenced by her presence at the Cross, even when she did not fully understand him – all mark her as a person of remarkable qualities.”

Even though the Bible is not specific about Mary’s background, she was a devout Jewess and there is circumstantial evidence that she belonged to the Davidic line. Now, the critical and all important questions is this: What was the relationship between God and Mary? Did God commit fornication with a woman that was betrothed to another man? Not at all, for the answer to this question is given by the fact that GOD was the Father of Jesus, and MARY was the Mother of Jesus, therefore, Mary MUST be the WIFE of GOD! Mary was an ISRAELIT woman and as such represented all of ISRAEL and was chosen by God to carry and give birth to His firstborn Son.

Mary, on behave of all Israel, fulfilled the original marriage covenant that required obedience, when she answered the angel Gabriel, i.e., God her husband: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the LORD; let it be to me according to your word.” God in His own time will take back His wayward wife – Israel, when she repents and returns to her husband in the attitude and submission displayed by Mary.

Mary’s relationship to Joseph was based on a physical marital covenant. Her relationship to God was based on a spiritual marital covenant.

Let’s pick up the story of Jesus, the only (so) begotten Son of God. Shortly after His birth, shepherds from the fields, and wise men from the east, representing Jews and Gentiles, came to look for and to worship the Christ-child that was born king of the Jews.

At age 12, Jesus was found by His mother Mary and His step-father Joseph “in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” No wonder, for it was the WORD (of God) that became the SON (of God) who was about His Father’s business!

At age 30 Jesus was baptized by John, not because He needed to repent of sin, but to be our example and to convey that baptism is necessary to receive God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. His Father acknowledged His obedience when the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God was descending like a dove, and God spoke for all to hear: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” This then was the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

Shortly thereafter, Jesus, now full of the Holy Spirit, was confronted with the supreme test and temptation by Satan with the three critical “if” questions that He answered with “it is written,” perfectly fulfilling the law and the will of God and thereby becoming the Savior of mankind.

Then, on the day of Pentecost, Jesus began to raise up a people for Himself, out of the spiritual wilderness of His day, the Church of God, and entered into a marriage covenant with spiritual Israel consisting of Jews and Gentiles.

God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator of heaven and earth, was and still is married to the twelve tribes of national Israel under the old covenant. Separated from His Wife yes, but, His love for her is unwavering and forever. Eventually, Israel, His Wife, will repent and recognize her own Son, the Messiah, and return to her husband who will receive her with open arms. God has not forgotten His people Israel: “a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, and so all Israel will be saved.”

So, who entered into a marriage covenant with Israel? Was it GOD or was it the Son of GOD? Answer: Both entered into a marriage covenant with Israel!

Jehovah Elohim, God Almighty, entered into a marriage covenant with the physical Church of God, Israel/Mary, and as husband and wife they had their firstborn son whom they named Jesus, in the fullness of time, 2000 years ago.

Jesus, the Son of God, entered into a marriage covenant with the spiritual Church of God, Israel/Jews & Gentiles, and as husband and wife they will have their first children after the marriage is consummated during the Kingdom age.

God the Father did not have a son WITHOUT a wife! Jesus Christ did not die so He could marry a SECOND time! The WORD of God became the SON of God who lived, suffered and died paying the penalty of our sins. He was resurrected from the dead by His Father and assented to heaven from where He will return “for the marriage of the LAMB has come, and His BRIDE has made herself ready.”

Come quickly LORD Jesus. Amen.

Scripture Verses from Revised Standard Version
(1) Includes Commentaries from Harper Study Bible

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