Whenever I get several questions on the same subject within a few days, I assume someone is trying to give me a topic for the feature article.  This is especially true if it’s unrelated to anything I’ve recently written about, as was the case this week.

The questions this time concerned a view taught by some that Israel is the bride of God and the Church is the bride of Christ. In the Bible, God often describes our relationship with Him in terms of a marriage.  He does this for our edification, to help us understand Him better.  For example, when Paul said he wanted to present us to the Lord as a pure virgin (2 Cor. 11:2), he meant that just as a virgin bride has never been defiled by any sexual relationships before being joined to her husband in marriage, he didn’t want us to be defiled by any false doctrine or idolatry before being presented to the Lord at the rapture.

As for Israel, one of the most intimate portrayals of the way God felt toward His people can be found in Ezekiel 16.

The Bride Of God
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.  No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. ( Ezekiel 16:3-5)

When God called Abraham, He was creating the Israelites out of the idol worshiping Gentile world. Right from the beginning the world seemed to be at odds with them.

” ‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”  I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels.  Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare.

” ‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. (Ezekiel 16:6-8)

This is reminiscent of the night Ruth came to the threshing floor and asked Boaz to spread the corner of his garment over her (Ruth 3:9).  It’s a sign of promise and protection. You could say this was the point at which Israel became the bride of God.

” ‘I bathed  you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you.  I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments.  I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck,  and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.  So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.  And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD. (Ezekiel 16:9-14)

God treated Israel like a king treats his queen, lavishing her with blessings the likes of which the world had never seen. But as the rest of the chapter shows, Israel became unfaithful and used these blessings to court the surrounding nations with their pagan gods, showering the gifts God had given her upon them to win their favor.  Finally He had enough.

” ‘You adulterous wife!” He shouted,  “You prefer strangers to your own husband!  Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.  So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.” (Ezekiel 16:32-34)

In His anger God gave Israel over to the nations to be stripped and cut to pieces, but promised that after they were done with her, “Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.”(Ezekiel 16:42, 60, 62)

And so Israel went from being an innocent bride to becoming an adulterous wife.  About 150 years before Ezekiel wrote this, the prophet Hosea had been raised up to act this story out in his own life, a live action parable of God’s relationship with Israel. At God’s direction he married a prostitute, and when she left him and returned to her former profession, Hosea provided her lovers with gifts.  When she was no longer desirable and was sent to the slave auction, Hosea bought her back and took her home. It’s the story of Israel’s rebellion and redemption.

At the End of the Age, one like Hosea will purchase Israel out of slavery with His own blood, the price of redemption.  (Hosea and Yeshua, the Lord’s name in Hebrew, are both derived from yasha, which means to save.) And so, the adulterous wife will yet be reconciled to her husband, and he’ll renew His  vows with her.  The Old Covenant will be replaced by the Everlasting Covenant (Jer. 31:31-32).  Isaiah described it for us.

In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.  Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.  The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit  of judgment and a spirit  of fire.  Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy.  It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. (Isaiah 4:2-6)

The word for branch is tsemach, and refers to the Messiah, who made the reconciliation possible.   With the curse gone the land will flourish  like never before.  After the end times judgments that follow the 2nd Coming, only believers will remain on Earth, and everyone left in Jerusalem will be holy. The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night remind us of when the Lord sheltered the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21). The Hebrew word for the canopy is chuppah, the wedding canopy, and the one for shelter is sukkah, the booth each Israelite builds on the feast of Tabernacles to commemorate the time the Lord spent with them in the wilderness. The entire creation will rejoice at this long overdue reconciliation.

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.  Like the crocus,  it will burst into bloom;  it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:1-2)  You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.(Isaiah 55:12)

The Bride Of Christ
During the time of Israel’s rebellion, the Lord turned to the Gentiles once again to take a people from among them for Himself (Acts 15:13) called the Church. He loves the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word to present her to Himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephes. 5:25-28)

Right from the beginning the Lord determined to do everything necessary so that the Church’s exalted position could never be lost.  Before the Church was ever born, the Lord compiled a list of every one of our sins and carried it to the cross with Him where He forgave all of them in advance (Colossians 2:13-14). This allowed Him  to always look upon us as if we’ve never sinned at all (2 Cor. 5:17), as if we’re just as righteous as He is (2 Cor. 5:21) having been made perfect forever by His once-for-all-time sacrifice (Hebrews 10:12-14). God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even while we were still dead in our transgressions and has already seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephes. 2:4-6).

Having prepared the way, the Lord went to His Father’s house to make a home for us, promising to return and take us there to be where He is (John14:2-3). On a day no one could have predicted in advance He’ll meet us in the clouds and in a flash we’ll be gone, our old sin infested bodies replaced with new immortal ones, specially designed for eternal life with Him.  The place He’s preparing for us will be enormous and made entirely of gold and precious gems, its radiance such that it will light the world (Rev. 21:24). The Kings of the Earth will bring their splendor into it and we will take our place in the Royal household of God, the place He’s seen us in since before the foundations of Earth were laid.

What’s It All About?
Of course all this marriage terminology is metaphorical.  God doesn’t marry humans in the sense that we think of marriage.  And how could God marry Israel and Jesus marry the Church when God and Jesus are one and the same? Jesus is what God looks like when he wants to take on a physical appearance. (Hebrews 1:3)

I believe the sense in which we’ll be married comes from the closeness we’ll feel, the intimacy that can only by achieved through a long term committed relationship.  It’s really how two become one.  Our hearts are knit together.  In our present fallen state this is difficult to achieve even in marriage.  Untold numbers of husbands and wives can speak of the loneliness they feel because instead of growing closer they’ve drifted apart.

New believers often experience a closeness with the Lord they’ve never felt with another human, and those who no longer conform to the pattern of this world but allow themselves to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2) can retain much of that closeness.  Yet even then we come to understand how our sin nature prevents us from becoming as close to the Lord as we’d like to be.

We can only imagine how it will feel when that barrier to intimacy is finally removed.  During the entire beating and crucifixion ordeal the only suffering that was too great for the Lord to bear in silence was when He took our sins upon Himself and the Father had to turn away, unable to look upon Him (Habakkuk 1:13). We’ve never had His kind of intimacy with the Father, but He had never been deprived of it and when He was it caused Him more pain than anything else they (we) did to Him. Paul said when the barrier comes down we’ll know as we’re known (1 Cor. 13:12), and John promised that when the Lord appears we’ll be like Him because we’ll see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). We’ll finally have the kind of intimacy with Him we’ve always craved.

The comparison of the adulterous wife to the virgin bride is meant to symbolize the difference between Law and Grace. The former shows what we can make of our selves, an adulterous wife, and the latter shows what God can make of us, a virgin bride.  Speaking of this in Ephesians 5:32 Paul said it’s a profound mystery, and believe me that was not an understatement.

The truth is that the Church has been no better behaved than Israel. Before the first Century had ended the Lord was complaining of neglect.

“Yet I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first.”(Rev. 2:4-5)

And from the 4th Century until the 16th the Church was worse than dead, it was a force for evil in the world.  There have been several major revivals since then, yet only a small percentage of born again believers holds to a Biblical world view today.   Even so, because of God’s grace, Jesus continues to see us as His radiant bride, holy and blameless.

At the End of the Age the Lord will pour out His Spirit of Grace on the people of Israel like He has on the Church (Zechariah 12:10).  As they realize that Jesus also died for their sins, they too will experience the immense benefits of His Grace.  The blood guilt they’ve borne since the crucifixion (Matt. 27:25) will be finally pardoned (Joel 3:21) and they’ll truly be one with the Lord.

Both Israel and the Church will have amazing, not-to-be-believed relationships with the Lord in the age to come.  They will be of a different nature and in a different location, at least for the first 1000 years, but neither group will envy the other.   The adulterous wife will be reconciled with her husband, her sins forgiven and forgotten, just like ours.  The bride will be among those rejoicing, and they’ll both be looking with heartfelt gratitude to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

For some time now, I’ve  been puzzled about the time between the resurrection and the ascension. What was the Lord doing during that time?  It certainly was something different from His Earthly Ministry  up to that point.  He had already accomplished everything He came to do. It seems like He would have been more anxious to return home.

Lack Of Specificity In The Olivet Discourse
My curiosity was first aroused during a review of the Olivet Discourse.  To show you what I mean we’ll have to do a quick review of the first 34 verses of Matt. 24. I’m particularly interested in the way the Lord answered the disciples’ questions about the signs of His coming and the End of the age. In Matt. 24:4-14 He began by mentioning a handful of general signs that don’t appear to have any clear relevance to time.

First He warned them that many false messiahs would come claiming to be Him.  Next came wars and rumors of wars, but He said not to be alarmed by such things, they wouldn’t be signs of the end. Then He gave the “birth pang” signs, famines, earthquakes and, in Luke’s account, pestilence.  These are signature signs of God’s judgment that Jesus said would lead up to the end.

He said Jews would be persecuted and put to death, hated by all nations.  This would cause many to turn away from the (Jewish) faith to hate and betray each other.  False prophets would also appear and deceive many people.  The love of most would grow cold but he who stood firm to the end would be saved. I believe the love He was talking about here is the love of God, because this is the love that saves us.

I wonder what the disciples  thought about all of this so far.  Remember they were under the impression that Israel was 483 years into a 490 year period that would see the culmination of God’s plan for mankind (Daniel 9:24).  A few hours earlier they had assumed that the magnificent Temple King Herod was building was part of the preparation for restoring their Kingdom to its former glory. Then Jesus had told them it was all going to be torn down.  Now He was giving them vague and general answers to their specific questions.

Finally, in Matt. 24:15, He gave them the first clear sign.  An abomination that causes desolation would be set up in the Holy Place.  They had heard about one of these.  Antiochus Epiphanes had set one up almost 200 years earlier as part of his demand that they worship him as God. It’s the only time it had ever happened. Jesus said when they saw that happen again, they should immediately flee into the mountains.

Then he told them about the Great Tribulation that would bring a terrible time of judgment, the worst the world had ever seen or would ever see.  He said if he didn’t bring it to an end at the appointed time no one on Earth would survive, but for the sake of the elect He would bring it to an end.  He said when He did the sun and moon would stop shining and the stars would fall out of the sky (Matt. 24:29).  Then they’d see His sign, the only source of light in the dark sky, and finally they’ see Him coming in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30).

In all this He never mentioned the Church.  ( In fact in His entire earthly ministry, He only mentioned the Church twice, in Matt. 16:18 and Matt.18:17.)  He didn’t even hint at the fact that there would be a 2,000 year gap of time between their time and the first specific sign.  He spoke of everything as if it was going to happen to them, and in fact everything He said could have happened within what they believed was the remaining 7 years.  It’s clear he was addressing them as representatives of Israel.

Looking back through history we can see He had a number of opportunities to be more specific with earlier signs. One of the best examples is the prophecy He had James give at the Council of Jerusalem 20 years later.  “Israel is being set aside until the Lord takes from among the Gentiles a people for Himself.  Then He’ll return to rebuild David’s fallen tabernacle” (Acts 15:13-18)  But He made no mention of any span of time between the Disciples’ day and ours.

What Was He Waiting For?
Then there’s the issue of the apparent dead time between the resurrection and the ascension.  What was that all about? He didn’t do any public teaching or healing, and there were no other miracles either.  After His meeting with the disciples on Resurrection Sunday there were only 6 more recorded appearances.  4 were to the disciples (John 20:26-31, John 21:1-23, Matt. 28:16-20, Acts 1:3-8), one was to James (1 Cor. 15:7)  and one was to  about 500 others, his only public appearance (1 Cor. 15:6) between the resurrection and the ascension.

Otherwise the Bible is silent about how He spent His time. There’s no account of discussions on how to launch the Church, and He didn’t fill in any of the blanks from the Olivet Discourse.  We know why He didn’t go back to the Temple.  He told the leaders there they wouldn’t see Him again until they said, “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39).

The Unmistakable Sign
Before the cross they had asked the Lord for a sign to prove He was the messiah.  He told them the only sign He would give them was the sign of the prophet Jonah.  He said He’d spend 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the Earth (Matt. 12:40) and then He did just that.  Surely they knew of His resurrection, but none of the officials sought Him out.  What do you suppose they were thinking?  We overlook this, but here is the most unmistakably miraculous sign He could have given them.  It didn’t take any faith to interpret, and it couldn’t have been fabricated.  It’s as if He had looked them in the eye and said, “I know you’re going to kill me.  But after three days I’m going to rise again, and that’s how you’ll know I’m your Messiah.  That sign will prove it to you beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Acts 1:3 confirms that He appeared to the disciples from time to time over a 40 day period as we saw above, and says He told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. Then He ascended into Heaven.  I believe those 40 days were Israel’s time of testing.  Jesus had given them the sign He promised, one that no one else could ever give them, and they didn’t respond.  Even so, I think His offer of the Kingdom was still on the table.  He was waiting for them to accept, knowing they wouldn’t, but waiting just the same.

And consider this.  The three day-three night sign may not have been the Lord’s only reason for comparing Himself to Jonah.  Remember how the Lord sent Jonah to preach destruction to the Ninevites but Jonah went the opposite direction instead.

Running away to sea, Jonah was thrown overboard in a storm and swallowed by a whale.  After three days and three nights in the whale’s belly,  Jonah returned and preached a simple but devastating message to Nineveh.  “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” (Jonah 3:4)

Jesus had repeatedly warned Israel of the consequences for rejecting Him.  In Matt. 21:43 He said,  “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

And remember that first Palm Sunday?  “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41-44) (Note that He called Himself God.)

As it had been with Jonah, this was a straight forward pronouncement of judgment. There was no indication they could change things.  But in Nineveh the people repented anyway, from the lowest to the highest.  When God saw this He had compassion on them and did not bring the destruction He had threatened (Jonah 3:10)

Could the judgment on Israel have been avoided too?  What if after Jesus had given them the “sign of Jonah” they had repented like the Ninevites had? Could they also have stayed the hand of God?

Obviously, God knew the Ninevites would repent.  Jonah even accused Him of knowing this and said that was why he ran away instead of warning them of the coming judgment (Jonah 4:1-2).

Just as obviously He knew the Israelites would not. But as I’ve said before, knowing the future is not the same as controlling it.  God has given man free will, after all.  Had the Ninevites not repented they would have been judged, but when they did God demonstrated His mercy and stood down.  (About 100 years later Nineveh reversed its spiritual course again and was judged after all.)

Like wise had the Israelites repented, perhaps they could have avoided the judgment that sent them into exile for 2000 years.  After all, God will forgive them as soon as they ask Him, and will restore their Kingdom as well.  I just wonder if it was His decision to wait 2000 years.  Maybe it could have happened within that 40 days of testing after the Resurrection.

Let Me Make This Perfectly Clear
Please don’t misunderstand me.  Jesus had to die.  Right from the Garden it’s been known that it would take the Messiah’s death to redeem us from our bondage to sin, so I’m not talking about that.  Neither am I talking about the judgment of the nations for those who would have rejected God’s remedy for their sins regardless of Israel’s response. That is also a certainty. I’m just thinking that Israel could have made the last 2000 years of national suffering unnecessary.

But at this point all that is just speculation.  The fact is that after the 40 days had expired, Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophet Hosea. “I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt.  And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” (Hosea 5:15)

Zechariah 12:10 says the time will come when they will admit their guilt, and according to Joel 3:21, when they do God will pardon them.  After all He’s been waiting 2000 years to do it. There’s more to come, but think about this.