by Douglas Goodin
I've been married long enough that it requires some mental effort to remember what it was like before marriage. And I can foresee a time when I will question whether there ever was a pre-marital stage of my existence. A similar mindset can easily take root in our thinking regarding God's relationship with the nation of Israel in which we simply assume that the Jews have always existed as a people and have always enjoyed a special affection with God. This assumption is buttressed by the fact that the Old Testament—the largest portion of the Bible—is almost entirely occupied with God and Israel. However, that assumption is wrong. Like the day, many years ago on the foregrounds under the St. Louis Arch, when a beautiful young woman accepted my marriage proposal, the bond between Yahweh and Jacob's descendants had a very clear and important point of origin.
In order to have an accurate understanding of Israel's relationship with God, one must become familiar with the beginning and structure of her covenant with Him. It is the charter and defining document for their union.
Many people also suppose that God married Israel “till death do us part," just as I pledged to my bride on our wedding day. But here again we must carefully observe what the Bible clearly reveals regarding this relationship. When I said, “I do!” there were no performance conditions built into the contract suggesting that I would take her as my wife as long as she always cooked exemplary meals, folded the laundry with perfect corners and creases, cleaned every speck of dust the moment it touched down on the furniture, and produced enough exceptional children to comprise a football team. Nor did I declare that if she failed to fulfill any of my requirements precisely as I prescribed she would be punished and sent away. These are, however, the kinds of terms laid down when God betrothed Israel. God was very specific in expressing what Israel must do if she and He were to remain united. And again, an accurate understanding of the relationship between God and Israel depends on getting this right.
Israel’s Engagement Day
“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. (Exodus 19:3-6)
When Yahweh invited the Jewish people into a unique relationship with Him, He included three wonderful vows—They alone would be “My own possession,” “a kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation.” Let’s consider these.
My Own Possession. As the Creator, God owns everything and everyone. Therefore, He does not need to acquire Israel as if she did not already belong to Him. He speaks this way to describe a distinct, extraordinary relationship, similar to when I say to my daughter, "That's my girl!" Although I employ a possessive pronoun, it is not for the purpose of expressing ownership, but approval and affection. Or like the rooms in my house. The whole house is mine, and therefore every room is mine. But my children each have their own bedrooms. Strictly speaking, their rooms belong to me, but I allow them to use the space and refer to it as theirs. However, the area on the lower level which holds my desk, my books, and my guitars is my room. Now again, every room in the house is my room, but this one is special to me, it is set apart from all the others as my personal favorite. That’s what I emphasize when I call it “my room.” By promising Israel that she would be His own possession, God was calling the Jewish people to such a favored relationship.
Kingdom of Priests. You may be familiar with the well-known distinction between the prophets and priests of antiquity. Prophets brought the words of God to the people; priests brought the words of the people to God.
A priest ministered in the manifest presence of God, thus enjoying a proximity to the Holy One that was forbidden to an ordinary man. He was like a king's courtiers who had access to the throne. Here at the beginning of the covenant, God promised Israel that she would consist of an entire kingdom made up of priests. All Jews would minister in the presence of the Lord. They would all enjoy a privileged position, speaking to God and offering sacrifices in His inner sanctum. The other nations would be far off, but Israel would be near to the Divine One.
Holy nation. Holy means “to be set apart” or “to be different.” By virtue of their unique relation to God, the Jews would become unlike any other nation on earth. They alone would belong to God and minister in His presence. Just as I chose Krista, not Jenny or Sarah or Mary, to be my wife, God chose Israel and not the Greeks or the Babylonians or the Persians or the Philistines or the Canaanites.
When we read the promises of prosperity and protection laid out before her, it is clear that Israel held a position with God utterly unlike that of any other people group in the history of the world. He would bless her with money, power, land, health, dominion, and much more because of His covenant with her.
The Most Important Word in the Covenant
The biggest word in this wonderful covenant made by God with Israel has only two letters, and missing it is like a fuse missing from the breaker box. In Hebrew, it is the word im, which in English translates to if. It is impossible to overstate the significance of that little word.
God's promises to Israel depended upon the “if” clause which began the covenant. If Israel would obey Him and keep His covenant, they would be divinely blessed. But if they did not obey Him—if they broke His covenant—He promised to destroy them and unleash the curses of the covenant upon them (we will consider these in more detail in a subsequent article). If Israel failed to obey God and keep His covenant, they would not be special to Him, they would not minister in His presence, and they would not be any different from other nations.
The if of the covenant was repeated over and over again to Israel. Here are some of the occurrences (emphasis added):
If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit...if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments...I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that shall waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you shall sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies shall eat it up. (Leviticus 26:3, 4, 14)
Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the LORD your God... all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you...if you will not obey the LORD your God...all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy. 28:1-2; 15)
Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; if you obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. (Deuteronomy. 30:9-10)
And more could be cited.
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29), but the Old Covenant was not. It was conditional, conditioned on obedience to the commands of the Law. And how did Israel do? Is she still married to God? Did she keep the covenant? This is taken up in the article God Divorced Israel.