Hosea 2:19-20 "I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall KNOW THE LORD”.
We saw in the last post that the word “betroth” from Hebrew “arash” means “a mutual promise or covenant for a future marriage”. So, when God said, “I betroth you to Me forever”, He means, I have made a covenant to bring you back into ME, into where you came from; to bring you into Me in righteousness, justice, lovingkiness, mercy and faithfulness. You were in Me in eternity past and in eternity to come you will be with Me forever.
In the above verses, two events where mention – Verse 19 speaks of The Betrothal (I will betroth you to Me) and Verse 20 speaks of The Marriage (And you shall KNOW the Lord). A betrothal usually lasted for one year. During that year the couple were known as husband and wife, although they did not have the right to be united sexually.
In response to the divine love showered on her, the bride will only KNOW the bridegroom after marriage.
As a bridegroom, you are mandated to follow the footsteps of Christ - the heavenly bridegroom to get your bride. Since God betrothed her in Righteousness, He expect every Bridegroom to do the same. If you are laying with the bride during the betrothal period, you are not betrothing her to YOU in righteousness, mercy, justice, lovingkiness and faithfulness.
The Hebrew word for "sex" is yada meaning, "known, recognized, understood, respected". This has to do with emotional, soulish and spiritual connection. Yada is not the only word the Bible uses for sex. In Genesis 19:33 we find that in desperation to carry on the family name, Lot’s "older daughter went in and LAY with [her dad]." The Hebrew word for "lay" in this instance is sakab. It means "to exchange bodily emissions." It’s a mere physical exchange.
Throughout the scripture, when a man had sex outside marriage it was said, “He lay with”, but if it was done inside marriage, the word “KNOW”was used. The word “to know” yada is used both in reference to a man and wife having sexual intercourse and in reference to a person being in deep fellowship with God. The book of Ephesians calls God’s comparison of His relationship with us to marriage a great mystery. When our betrothals are pure and free from “sakab” – exchanging bodily emissions, they have so much intense passion in them that they are the closest thing on this earth that God can find to help us understand His passion for us. That’s pretty heady stuff!
Where are the faithful bridegrooms? Let’s not stop short with sakab, but betroth our brides in righteousness, mercy, steadfast love, justice and faithfulness. Let’s give this world a picture of our God’s Wedding Toast —"to know, to be known, to be deeply respected” after our wedding.
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