As we have seen all through the journey thus far, YHVH has been
consistently giving His instructions to the ‘wondering wanderers’ through
Moses. At the present juncture He uses His mouthpiece to communicate remarkable
promises of being a kingdom of priests and a “segulah” people. Moses being YHVH’s singled out messenger
hears the following: "Behold, I come to you [Moses] in
the thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you, and
believe you forever" (Exodus 19:9 emphases added). It is as if YHVH is saying “obviously they
are not going to listen to Me Moses, so maybe they will listen to you
and believe you”. The condition
of the uncircumcised human heart was obviously not concealed from the
Almighty, as later on in Israel’s
journey He makes the following pronouncement: "Yet YHVH has not given
you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day”
(Deuteronomy 29:40). Here, under the
present circumstances and spiritual condition of those standing at the foot of
Mount Sinai there was not a chance that anyone would venture close or ‘take a
peak’ at Elohim. As a matter of fact,
Moses brought back a warning from the Creator of Heaven and Earth that no one
was to even touch the mountain, lest they would perish. Additionally, further precaution was taken, and
that was the boundary that the people were instructed to put around the
mountain.
Hence, the experience by the foot of Mount Sinai was not designed for the
Israelites to embark on an intimate relationship with their fathers’
Elohim. And if we deem that we
can get to know Elohim through this Sinai Covenant, we will be sorely disappointed. Yet
this Covenant does teach us a great deal about Him. This agreement was given to prepare the way
and the people for a future day when the Spirit of Elohim will take up
residence in their circumcised hearts, as promised through the prophets of old
(see Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 35:11, in the Hebrew).
As a matrimonial bond, the Sinai Covenant is certainly extraordinary. For one thing, sin was part and parcel of
the Israelites’ nature, meaning that rebellion with its pride and
self-righteousness was rife among them. Our forefathers’ failure to keep their
side of the bargain, right from the start, was very evident. How could they, then, be joined as a bride to
a Holy and Righteous Husband? Were they not forbidden to come close, nor look
upon their Spouse? YHVH, for His part,
did not address them directly, using all along Moses as a mediator. This bride’s nature did not allow her to keep
the statutes, laws and ordinances to which she had committed herself. In fact, the Ketuba-marriage contract would
prove to be very problematic for Israel. Yet at the same time, once the
promised New Covenant makes its appearance, the Torah will become very
beneficial. “Behold, the days are
coming, says YHVH ‘when 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 lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke,
though I was a husband to them’ says YHVH’” (Jeremiah 31:31-32 emphasis added). It is through
this New Covenant that Elohim will reveal Himself to His Sinai bride in an
intimate way: “I will betroth you to
Me in faithfulness, and you shall know YHVH” (Hosea 2:20).
But at this point the fledging wilderness people are only just embarking
upon their future history with this ‘strange’ Husband who took them out of
bondage on eagles’ wings, and brought them to Himself here at camp Sinai. He
will remind them and their seed, over and over through all their future
journeys, of His sovereign work for His Name’s sake and on their behalf, especially
how He had dealt with the Egyptians and then with the Canaanite nations.
In some way Israel’s journey parallels our own; those of us who have ‘come
out of our Egypt’ but are still in the ‘wilderness of the peoples’, living as
we do, being foreigners/strangers in other nations. YHVH is causing us too to
pass under His disciplinary rod (see Ezekiel 20:35-37). As was stated in previous chapters, one of
the purposes of the commandments of Sinai was to bring to light the horror of
Sin and its consequences in our lives personally and corporately. “The sting of death is sin, and the power
of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56).
This is why the “commandment is holy, good and spiritual”. “So
did that which is good cause death in me, absolutely not, it was Sin working
death in me” that is the culprit, and not the Law (see Romans
7:13). But without the spiritual light
and power of this desert agreement, we would have no knowledge of what it is
that causes us, and all of creation, to groan under Sin’s rule and its consequences
of “death and decay” (see Romans 3:20).
The Torah was given on what we call today Shavuot or Pentecost, a feast and
a time which is celebrated by the Jewish nation for the giving of the
Torah. Christianity, on the other hand,
basically celebrates only the giving of the Holy Spirit to the “church”. But those who have received the New Covenant circumcision,
the Spirit and the restored identity should also incorporate the giving of the
Torah to the celebration of this feast.
Unfortunately, many are and were taught that the “Law was nailed to the
cross” (Colossians 2:14), and therefore once embracing the New Covenant it has
no effect upon their lives. This is a false notion and demonstrates a gross
misunderstanding of the apostle’s writing. Hence a study of Romans chapters 3
through 7 should be very beneficial in that regard. As you are well aware, it was not YHVH’s Word
(His Torah) that was done away with on that execution stake. “Therefore, my
brethren, you were made dead to the law through the body of Messiah,
that you might be joined/married to another, to Him who was
raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for Elohim” (Romans
7:40 emphases added). Yes, we have been
crucified with our Messiah - when He died we died and have been raised with Him
into newness of life (see Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5: 14-15). For what
purpose? In order to be married to another so that we will bear the fruit of
righteousness to Elohim.
What does it mean “married to another”? Who were we married to in the past? Was it
not the One who thundered and shook the mountain, whose voice sounded like a
shofar and whose appearance was accompanied by fire and smoke? Was it not YHVH the Husband who accused Israel
and Judah of adultery? "Then I
saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed
adultery, I [YHVH] had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce;
yet her treacherous/unfaithful sister Judah did not fear, but went and played
the harlot also” (Jeremiah 3:8 emphases added). Thus the whole house of Jacob attested to humanity’s
bondage to Sin. As King David penned in
Psalm 14 and 53, words that are quoted in Romans 3: “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is
none who understands; There is none who seeks after Elohim. They have all
turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; There is none who does
good, no, not one’" (Romans
3:10-12).
The scriptural usage of the two words, “adultery” and “divorce” certainly indicates what Israel’s relationship had
been with YHVH. As pointed out by the prophet Hosea, YHVH also
accused Israel of harlotry. But in spite
of this behavior and the divorce, YHVH was still watching over Israel to do
what He had promised: “I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven”
(Exodus 32:13). Today some believe that YHVH replaced Israel with a highbred
seed and thus the promised multitudes do not originate from Sarah’s and
Rebekah’s wombs, compromising greatly the Creator’s integrity and credibility
as the Elohim of Israel. There are also
those who go so far as to postulate that when Abraham was one hundred years old
he was partially blind, like his son Isaac whose eye sight failed him later on
in life, so that when he looked up at the heavens he only saw a few thousand of
the brightest stars. This only proves
that the “…foolishness of Elohim is wiser
than men, and the weakness of Elohim is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
In order to stay faithful to His promise of multiplicity, Elohim hid the
seed/life of Israel, the seed of faith, in earthen jars of human flesh and
buried them under the laws of sin and death. Yet just as He multiplied our ancestors
profusely in Egypt, He also continued to do so throughout the generations. His
plans and purposes are immutable, regardless of what Israel does or doesn’t do. Even if we are in unbelief and are unfaithful,
“He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
Today, we are in this wilderness together as one people, one nation, as
were our forefathers. For generations we
have found “grace” (Jeremiah 31:2), but as this wilderness age draws to a close
Ezekiel’s 20th chapter, along with many others, are being fulfilled at an
increasing pace and we do not want to be found lagging behind our Shepherd and Leader
Messiah Yeshua.
More on Israel’s marriage to her Elohim in the next segment.
