THE LORD’S BRIDE:

1. THE LORD’S BRIDE: ISRAEL

2. HABIRU • Abraham called Gen 12

3. Gen 12:1 The LORD said to Abram: Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. • Gen 12:2 I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. • Gen 12:3 I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you. • Phys. Descr. Of Land • Cov’t

4. COVENANT • Gen 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. • Gen 17:9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. • Gen 17:10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. • Gen 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. • bride

5. EZE 16 1-9 • Describes Israel’s beginnings in parabolic form. • God : brought them out of Egypt • Led them and fed them through the wilderness • gave them a land • Chased out their enemies

6. BETROTHED • “When I passed by you again and looked on you, behold you were at the age for love; and I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness: yea, I plighted my troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine.” EZE.16:8 (RSV) • beauty

7. Eze 16:10 I gave you the finest clothes and the most expensive robes, as well as sandals made from the best leather. • Eze 16:11 I gave you bracelets, a necklace, • Eze 16:12 a ring for your nose, some earrings, and a beautiful crown. • Eze 16:13 Your jewelry was gold and silver, and your clothes were made of only the finest material and embroidered linen. Your bread was baked from fine flour, and you ate honey and olive oil. You were as beautiful as a queen, • Eze 16:14 and everyone on earth knew it. I, the LORD God, had helped you become a lovely young woman. • God wanted a bride

8. God Wanted a Bride • Not forced labour • Labour of love • Suitable mate (EVE)

9. Emotions • Anger / pleasure • Grieving / joy • Compassion / detachment • Jealousy, Hurt / loved, valued • The good times

10. The Good Times • Jer 2:2 …When you were my young bride, you loved me and followed me through the barren desert. • Jer 2:3 You belonged to me alone, like the first part of the harvest, and I severely punished those who mistreated you. • What went wrong?

11. WHAT WENT WRONG? • In word picture: • Eze 16:15 You learned that you were attractive enough to have any man you wanted, so you offered yourself to every passerby. • Blessings misused

12. God’s blessings misused • Garments into shrines • Jewels of gold and silver into images for harlotry • Oil and incense offered to idols • Food – fine flour and oil offered to idols • Sons and daughters “whom you had born to me” – sacrificed to idols • Israel in riches

13. Israel in Riches • Solomon’s era: • Silver and gold in the streets as stones • Cedar trees like sycamores of the valley for number • International trade: horses, chariots, ivory, apes, peacocks • Peace from their enemies • Carried away

14. Getting carried away • Involvement with the nations around • Marriage with nations around • Mixing in their religious rites • All this a Word picture but refers directly to the goings on of idol worship • Our outward appearances tell what’s important to us

15. Signs of the inward person • Isa 3:16 The LORD says: The women of Jerusalem are proud and strut around, winking shamelessly. They wear anklets that jingle and call attention to the way they walk • God’s view

16. Isa 3:17 But I, the LORD, will cover their heads with sores, and I will uncover their private parts. • Isa 3:18 When that day comes, I will take away from those women all the fine jewelry they wear on their ankles, heads, necks, ears, arms, noses, fingers, and on their clothes. I will remove their veils, their belts, their perfume, their magic charms, their royal robes, and all their fancy dresses, hats, and purses. • Isa 3:24 In place of perfume, there will be a stink; in place of belts, there will be ropes; in place of fancy hairdos, they will have bald heads. Instead of expensive clothes, they will wear sackcloth; instead of beauty, they will have ugly scars. • Isa 3:25 The fighting men of Jerusalem will be killed in battle. • Isa 3:26 The city will mourn and sit in the dirt, emptied of its people. • trappings

17. Trappings of Modern Life • Draw attention to self • Idolatry? • Creature rather than creator?

18. Desires? • Maybe God will give them to us! • Distract us from God • Replace him • Threaten our relationship with him • Become trusted in God’s place • Snare- headgate

19. Snares • Trapped by our own momentum • Found that perfect job • Found that beautiful house • Found that macho truck • Found that charming guy • That attractive girl • LIFE IS GOOD • MOMENTUM • Lets see what they do when the whole story plays out • Different to Israel?

20. God’s Adulterous Bride • Eze 16:28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. • Eze 16:29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

21. Poetic Justice • Eze 16:37 Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. • Eze 16:38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. • Aholah

22. Times of the kings • BAAL said to be God of Fertility • Crops • Cattle • Food • Let Baal Provide them then- famine, death • Elijah’s contest

23. EZE 23 • Aholah /Aholibah • Sister brides = Israel and Judah • Unfaithful • Similar story: Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldeans • See Ez 16:24 • Vaulted chambers

24. VAULTED CHAMBERS • Eze 16:25 Thou hast built thy high place (Vaulted Chamber – RSV) at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

25. The NamesAHOLA AHOLIBAH • ROOT: OHEL- tent • AHOLA = Samaria (Israel) “HER TENT” (Idolatrous sanctuary) • AHOLIBAH = Jerusalem (Judah) “My tent is in her”! • What tent?

26. AHOLIAB • The tabernacle • Temple in Jerusalem

28. Esau’s Wife • Aholibamah = Tent Of Height • High places? • Grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah • Divorce

29. Jer 3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. • Jer 3:2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. • Jer 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. • The end of Israel?

30. The END OF Israel? • Hosea CH 1 • Hosea to marry a harlot • 3 Children: • Son “Jezreel” – forecast of punishment on house of Jehu • Daughter “Not Pitied” • Son “Not My People” • Desired result

31. Hos 2:6 I, the LORD, will build a fence of thorns to block her path. • Hos 2:7 She will run after her lovers, but not catch them; she will search, but not find them. Then she will say, "I'll return to my first husband. Life was better then."

32. Hos 2:16 I promise that from that day on, you will call me your husband instead of your master. Hos 2:19 I will accept you as my wife forever, and instead of a bride price I will give you justice, fairness, love, kindness, and faithfulness • Hos 2:20. Then you will truly know who I am. • Hos 2:21 I will command the sky to send rain on the earth, • Hos 2:22 and it will produce grain, grapes, and olives in Jezreel Valley. • Now Isaiah

33. RESTORATION • Isa 62:1 Jerusalem, I will speak up for your good. I will never be silent till you are safe and secure, sparkling like a flame. • Isa 62:2 Your great victory will be seen by every nation and king; the LORD will even give you a new name. • Isa 62:3 You will be a glorious crown, a royal headband, for the LORD your God. • Isa 62:4 Your name will no longer be "Deserted and Childless," but "Happily Married." You will please the LORD; your country will be his bride. • Isa 62:5 Your people will take the land, just as a young man takes a bride. The LORD will be pleased because of you, just as a husband is pleased with his bride.

34. Hos 2:19 I will accept you as my wife forever, and instead of a bride price I will give you justice, fairness, love, kindness, • Hos 2:20 and faithfulness. Then you will truly know who I am. • Hos 2:21 I will command the sky to send rain on the earth, • Hos 2:22 and it will produce grain, grapes, and olives in Jezreel Valley.

35. THE GENTILE BELIEVER • Paul’s word picture: Ro. 11Rom 11:1 Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? Certainly not! I am one of the people of Israel, and I myself am a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. • Rom 11:2 God did not turn his back on his chosen people • God’s motive

36. Rom 11:11 Do I mean that the people of Israel fell, never to get up again? Certainly not! Their failure made it possible for the Gentiles to be saved, and this will make the people of Israel jealous.

37. IF ISRAEL’S DOWNFALL MEANT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GENTILE, HOW MUCH BETTER WILL IT BE IF ISRAEL IS RESTORED!!

38. WORD PICTURE • Rom 11:17 You Gentiles are like branches of a wild olive tree that were made to be part of a cultivated olive tree. You have taken the place of some branches that were cut away from it. And because of this, you enjoy the blessings that come from being part of that cultivated tree. • Rom 11:18 But don't think you are better than the branches that were cut away. Just remember that you are not supporting the roots of that tree. Its roots are supporting you.

39. WORD PICTURE • Rom 11:19 Maybe you think those branches were cut away, so that you could be put in their place. • Rom 11:20 That's true enough. But they were cut away because they did not have faith, and you are where you are because you do have faith. So don't be proud, but be afraid. • Rom 11:21 If God cut away those natural branches, couldn't he do the same to you?

40. Grafting Process • Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

41. Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. • Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.