Shavu’ot: The Biblical Betrothal Contract and Marriage of G-d (Yahshua) to Israel

Beth Elohim Messianic Synagogue
Special Message for Shavu’ot
Shavu’ot: The Biblical Betrothal Contract and Marriage of G-d to Israel
The main focus of Shavu’ot as one of G-d’s mandated festivals was His presentation of the betrothal contract (the 10 Commandments) to Israel. Israel at this time in history meant two things: the biological Israelites living at the time, and Israel (all true believers, Jew and Gentile) from that point on. We learn early on that the Bride of Yahshua who was G-d incarnate is not the Church. The Bride will be the repentant Jew and Gentile who have trusted in the faithfulness of Yahshua’s sacrifice for past sins (Rom. 3:25, 2 Peter 1:9) and who guard (obey) the commands of G-d (Seven-fold witness in the Book of Revelation). For further exploration of the definition of a true believer, I refer you to our website at https://www.rabdavis.org. Click the link for “Teachings” and scroll down the menu to “The definition of a true believer.” You will see the specific scriptures.
There are several stages in a biblical Jewish wedding, each with a prophetic meaning.( Rom. 9:4;Heb. 9:1;1 Chron. 28:11-12). This stage is the betrothal called erusin in Hebrew. This first stage begins as soon as the betrothal contract called a shitre erusin is made by both parties. The written contract is called a ketubah. Right away we can see a glimpse of the Living and Written Torah of G-d.
The betrothal contract is binding but the bride and groom do not physically live together as this point. Similarly, when we repent and consecrate ourselves to lovingly follow the commands of G-d, we are spiritually “bound” to him as true believers but are not yet physically in heaven with Him yet. The betrothal carries much more significance than a modern-day engagement. The betrothal is legally binding and cannot be reversed without a divorce decree called a get in Hebrew. We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 6:20 that “Ye are bought with a price.” This reflects the bride price a groom was required to pay for his betrothed, demonstrating his love and commitment.
I consistently emphasize that by understanding the Hebrew we can obtain a richer, more complete understanding of G-d’s Torah because Hebrew is a pure language; it is dynamic (Zeph. 3:9). So let us look at how a betrothal is more than a modern-day engagement by the fact that it is legally binding. The word erusin in Hebrew comes from the Hebrew verb aras which is related to the word asar, (to bind). So we can see that through the Hebrew we learn the seriousness of a betrothal.
In the B’rit Chadashah (Refreshed, renewed Covenant; “New” testament), we read that Yosef was betrothed to Mary when the angel Gavriel announced to Mary that she was going to become pregnant by the Ruach HaKodesh ( Holy Spirit) and have a son whose name was to be Yahshua. More than that, she was told this son would be the Messiah(Luke 1:26-35).When Yosef learned that Mary, who was legally bound to him (betrothed), was pregnant, he planned on getting a divorce until the angel of the L-rd changed his mind through a vision in a dream (Matt. 1:18-20). Now we know the rest of the story and why Yosef was so distraught. His initial plan to divorce Mary, whom he dearly loved had more implications than simply breaking off an engagement as in our modern society.
Betrothal is also mentioned in Exodus 21:8; Leviticus 19:20; Deuteronomy 20:7;22-23; and Hosea 2:19-20). The last of these references is beautifully written to the point we may almost feel the love G-d has for His people “ I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the L-rd.” Note that this is a progressive tense that describes how G-d will be working in our lives before we leave this earth to spend eternity with Him as true believers.
We may also see an association between the fourth cup of wine in the Pesach Seder (the I will take you); the final cup of wine and the betrothal phase of the wedding. What the fourth cup adds to the picture of the first three being the cup of sanctification, the cup of deliverance, and the cup of redemption is that redemption, while securing the safety and freedom of Israel, does not immediately place her in the realm of eternal peace; just as the betrothed bride must wait for her groom to come for her and take her to his father’s house to live.
G-d betrothed himself to Israel and she to Him on that day (Shavu’ot) on Mt. Sinai. The betrothal/ marriage contract was the 10 Commandments(Ex. 20:1-21;Jer. 2:2). The contract also called “the book of the covenant” spelled out mutual obligations as between a husband and wife. In Exodus 19:8, Israel accepted G-d’s marriage proposal and answered, “ All that the L-rd hath spoken we will do (Na’aseh V’Nishma) we agree to do before we have listened”(Exodus 19:8). This order of verbiage indicates that the Israelites promised to be obedient to G-d’s Word even before they understood its full meaning. This is a lesson for us today if we want to be included as the Bride of Yahshua/G-d. We must choose to prayerfully and diligently study G-d’s Word: “study to show thyself approved unto G-d, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
Another requirement for a successful marriage is that the two shall become as one flesh (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5; Mark 10:8; Eph. 5:31). This means the couple shall become one in focus and purpose. This also dictates believing in and following one G-d. In Exodus 19:2, Israel camped before the L-rd. The word camp in Hebrew is chanah which is singular in this case, while Israel is pleural. This implies that all Israel became one, similar to a bride with her betrothed.
After the betrothal, the groom would leave the home of his future bride and return to his father’s house to prepare a place for her. The length of this phase was unknown. It could me months and the bride trusted in her betrothed that his return would be soon.
Yahshua used the marriage process again to describe our relationship with Him, and how He will come for His Bride (all true believers according to G-d’s definition (John 14:2-3; Rom.3; Seven-fold witness in the Book of Revelation). Yahshua said ‘ In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” This plan parallels the groom working to prepare a place in the father’s house for the married couple to live. Remember that Yahshua is the “Bridegroom” and His Bride is all true believers, Jew and Gentile who repented, love and follow His Torah/instructions.
According to the biblical wedding ceremony, the event must take place under a wedding canopy called a chupah. In Exodus 19:17, Moshe brought the people out of the camp to meet G-d. According to the Hebrew word for where he brought them out, the nether part of Mount Sinai, we can see through the Hebrew that the people actually stood “under” the mountain. In essence, the mountain had become the chupah, the wedding canopy for the people who became betrothed to G-d.
When the father of the groom declared that all of the preparations for the dwelling were completed, the groom happily and enthusiastically went for his bride blowing a shofar. This usually happened during the night. Looking at the scriptural prophetic parallel, 1 Thessalonians 4;16 states “ For the L-rd himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of G-d.” Yahshua is in the process of preparing a place for His Bride and when He is finished, He will return for us, to meet Him in the air at the Rapture.
Every wedding requires two witnesses who are the friends of the bridegroom with one assigned to the bride and one to the groom. According to exodus 19:17, Moshe accounts for one of the witnesses who fulfilled the role of escorting the bride to meet the groom under the wedding canopy. To legally validate the ketubah (wedding contract) it must be signed by the two witnesses . According to rabbinic Judaism, Moshe as one of the witnesses had to sign the contract to make it legally valid. But this did not happen. When Moshe returned from the mountain with the ketubah which was in reality G-d’s Torah, he broke the tablets which were in his right hand in two (Ex. 32:19). Therefore he did not “allow” Israel to enter into the full marriage because he saw that Israel was worshiping the golden calf, which made her unfaithful to the marriage.
As Messianic Jewish believers who study the Tanach and the B’rit Chadashah as one Torah, we know that the marriage to Israel was indeed valid because G-d divorced Israel for a time for the very reason rabbinic Judaism referred to with the incident of the golden calf; idolatry. When G-d divorced Israel, it was because of her heinous sins and turning away from her obligations required of a bride to her husband(Jer. 3:8-11; Ezek. 16:51). So what does this mean for true believers today?
G-d tells us that he is going to one day “’allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up and out of Egypt.”
Furthermore G-d tells us in the Book of Revelation 19:7, “ Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen. Bright and clean (repented) was given her to wear.” This stands for the true believers repentance and the good deeds of G-d’s holy people.
Those who are aware of the fact that G-d does not allow a man to marry the same woman twice (Deut. 24:4)need not worry. G-d as Father is not invalidating His laws regarding marriage. It is Rather it is G-d incarnate, Yahshua, who will take Israel as His bride. This is a complex issue that warrants an independent study, but the fact remains that G-d divorced Israel for her idolatry for a time, but she and Gentiles who repent and follow the G-d of Israel’s commands/instructions who will be the Bride of Yahshua, not the Church.
When Yahshua came to earth over two thousand years ago, He came to teach us how to live his Torah/Word/instructions with heart and intent. He taught that whoever repents and places their trust (an action verb meaning to emulate, worship, follow), would be wedded to Him. This includes Jews and Gentiles ( John 3:16). The word “believe” in this reference means trusting Him completely with confidence. Trusting also has a deeper meaning that what the English language portrays. Trusting in the context of trusting G-d means believing in the promises of G-d no matter our circumstances, even those that seem contrary to what we “think” are right and logical. It is G-d in whom we are to trust and not ourselves,, friends, family, the world.
Because Yashua’s first appearance was as the suffering servant, Messiah ben Yosef, He ascended to heaven to be with the Father aspect of himself until he returns during his second coming as Messiah ben David. For now, Yahshua does not physically live with those who love and trust Him. For now we must believe and hold to the hope of things we cannot see(Heb. 11;1; John 20;29;2 Cor. 5:7;Rom. 8:24-5; 1 Pet. 8-9; 2 Cor. 4:18). However, we are spiritually betrothed to Him. We will finally enter into the full-fledged marriage and physically dwell with Him during the Messianic Age, the Millennium. But before we can physically dwell with Him in the Millennial Age and beyond, we must have a proper honeymoon. Now , keep in mind that the marriage relationship we will have with Yahshua does not involve physical intimacy as we humans experience in earthly marriage. Our marriage to Yashua will be a complex unity, the scope of which we cannot yet understand. Let it suffice to say that we will not understand the full blessings of being taken as Yahshua’s bride until the ceremony and the honeymoon after.
Speaking of honeymoons, in a Hebrew/Jewish wedding, the honeymoon is known as the seven days of the chupah. Seven days , a full week. In the Hebrew seven days can mean 24 hour days or seven years according to Daniel 9:24-27 and Genesis 29:27. Joel 2:16 describes the marriage of true believers in Yahshua (bride) and Yahshua, the bridegroom going forth from a chamber and the bride coming out of her closet. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for the word closet is chupah. In the context of this event, the word chupah means Heaven. So, after the honeymoon whether it be seven days or seven years in heaven before He and his bride return to earth is not certain. Let us explore this issue from a couple of many different theological perspectives.
According to the Pre-Tribulation view, the rapture is a sudden, supernatural and global event. Most Pre-Tribulation teachers maintain that once the “Bride’ who is erroneously described as the “Church” but is in fact all true believers, is removed, the seven-year tribulation ensues quickly. This period is described in Rev. 6-18 as a time of G-d’s wrath pours out on an antinomian world. The Anti-Messiah is thought to emerge at this time.
Some scholars posit there will be a short pause between the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation where the world sinks into chaos, governmental collapse, and the reorganization of global leaders. Eventually, the Anti-Messiah will embrace false promises and a false delusion that the Anti-Messiah is a man of peace. Paul warned that “ And for this reason G-d will send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” (2 Thess. 2:11). Is this not happening in our time before the Rapture? Think about it.
So what happens to the Bride of Yahshua after the Rapture? According to those who subscribe to a Pre-Tribulation scenario, believers will be rewarded for faithful service and the Bride of Yahshua will already have been united with her Groom in celebration (Rev. 19:7-9). According to this perspective, the Rapture is the wedding day when Yahshua takes his Bride to be with Him forever.
The length of the wedding feast is a subject of continued debate. In the typical Jewish wedding, a great feast would follow, often lasting seven days representing joy, perfection, and celebration. “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9).
Consistent with many other opinions by biblical scholars and others, there will be a great and wonderful celebration in Heaven following the Rapture while the world below experiences the seven-year Tribulation. But what does this celebration of Yahshua and His bride look like?
In the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:11-13, the father(symbolizing G-d) invites many guests. However, only those who are properly clothed in a wedding garment are allowed to stay. What does being improperly clothed mean? It symbolizes unrepentance and a continued lifestyle that conflicts, disregards, and ignores G-d’s Torah/instructions. The one who was not dressed properly was cast out. This parallels the parable of the 10 virgins, five of whom were prepared to go out and meet the bridegroom with oil in their lamps and extra jars, providing light, and the five who were not prepared when He arrived and had to go out and look for oil. When the bridegroom arrived, only those who were prepared went with him to the wedding banquet and the door was shut just as when G-d shut the ark door behind Noach when the flood ensued. Only those who are clothed in righteousness alluded to in Revelation 19:6-9 will be lifted up in the Rapture with the exception of those 144,000 from the Tribes of Israel who will be marked for G-d to witness to Judah before the final judgement.
So what will happen during the wedding celebration, the wedding supper? The Seven-Day Feast indicates that this is a parallel to the Seven-Year Tribulation. The seven-days of a typical Jewish wedding celebration seem to perfectly reflect the seven-year period of Daniel’s 70th week (Daniel 9:27). A prophetic scripture in Isaiah 26:20-21 supports this idea “Come my people, enter thou unto thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the L-rd cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.’ It follows that the: “hiding in chambers” describes a situation in which the Bride is now safely with her Bridegroom while G-d’s judgement falls upon the earth.
What else may be happening during the seven-year wedding feast in Heaven? There are two judgements, one for believers and one for unbelievers. According to Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Yahshua.” The other judgement will result in eternal separation from G-d /condemnation (Rev. 20:15). Believers will be judged at the judgement seat of Yahshua (Rom. 14:10-12). Again, this judgement is thought to occur in heaven while the seven-year tribulation occurs on earth. We will all stand before the L-rd as we give our personal accounts before Him. This judgment does not determine our salvation as we will have already been determined to be good and faithful servants if we are in heaven by this time. It is a time when we will be given any rewards based on our works and our faithfulness to YHVH/Yahshua (1 Cor. 9:24-7).
The second judgement of which believers will not be involved is that for unbelievers. This will occur at the end of the Millennial reign and Satan’s final rebellion on earth. This event is called the “great white throne judgement (Rev. 20;11-15). Again, this judgement does not determine salvation status. That one is present for the great white throne judgement means that they have rejected G-d’s Word/instructions.
The unbelieving will also be judged for what they have done (Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20;11-15). Everyone who has ever lived will be judged by Yahshua one day. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from G-d’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:13).
True believers will at this point have been taken as Yahshua’s Bride, caught up(raptured), taken into a special place in heaven in the Father’s house dressed in the wedding garment described in Revelation 19:7-9 that reads “ Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready [repented and followed G-d’s Torah); it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”-for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “ These are the true words of G-d.”
Following the Rapture, those who believed in Yahshua will stand before Him, being judged according to their deeds (Rev. 20:11-15). This judgement is called the Judgement Seat of Yahshua (2 Cor. 5:10) which will be a judgement not of condemnation, but of rewards. Crowns of Glory will be given as the works of true believers are tested for rewards. At the marriage supper, these crowns will not be worn as prideful trophies. Rather they will be laid before Yashua’s throne in worship and gratitude. Every crown represents a testimony to Yahshua’s grace working through true believers for His glory. After all, He is G-d and to G-d be the glory.
As we complete the process of the biblical Jewish wedding, we can see that Yahshua followed this pattern beginning with the presentation of the marriage /betrothal contract at Mt. Sinai at Shavu’ot. Until He returns to take His Bride to the place He has prepared for her, all true believers must now wait for Him faithfully and expectantly (Matt. 24:42) as did the five faithful virgins in parable of the ten virgins described in Matthew 25:1-13. Just as a future bride must exercise continual faith, and purity for her betrothed, true believers must keep their lamps trimmed and filled with oil, as they know not when the Bridegroom will come to take them to their new home for an eternity.
Shalom v’brachas,
Rabbi Tamah Davis-Hart