Exploring The Mind of God (Hebrew Word Study)نموونە

Betrothed to Jesus

And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. (Hosea 2:19 KJV)

There is much talk among Christians about being the “bride of Christ” and “married to Christ.” This is, of course, a very biblical picture of our spiritual union with Jesus. Marital love is such a strong and beautiful image of our relationship with God that the enemy seeks to strike at the very heart and core of the marriage relationship to distort it with the many sexual perversions that exist today. He seeks to corrupt the sanctity of marriage with selfishness, unfaithfulness, and abuse—turning marriage into something that becomes almost a mockery in order to warp the very picture God has given us to understand our relationship with Him.

A Growing Passion

However, note that the Bible seems to speak mainly of our “betrothal” to God, such as in Hosea and Song of Solomon. The only time it references being “married” to God is when it talks about Jesus coming to take us to heaven. Apparently, the picture that Scripture gives us is that, while on earth, we are merely in a betrothal period. 

What exactly is meant by this “betrothal”? The Hebrew word translated “betroth” in Hosea 2:19 is ’aras. If you look the word up in your lexicon, it will simply say that it means “to betroth.” Strong’s definition is “to engage for matrimony.” We really need to look into Jewish literature and the Talmud to understand what is meant by “betrothal” if we are to make the proper comparison to our relationship with God. The word ’aras comes from a Semitic root, found in the Sumerian language, meaning “to desire.” Hence, the whole idea behind a betrothal is to build desire between a man and woman.

In ancient times, marriages were arranged, and sometimes the bride and groom would meet for the first time on their wedding day. Thus, it was understood that there must be a period of time for the couple to learn to love one another before the marriage was consummated. This would be the time of the betrothal. The length of the betrothal would vary. Generally, it was one year, but it could be more or even less. The idea was that during this time, the couple would begin to learn about each other and come to understand each other’s minds and hearts. A sexual relationship was forbidden during this period, and if they wanted to call off the betrothal, they were to get a divorce. Otherwise, they would use this time to learn to love each other, that is, fall in love such that their desire and passion for each other would build to the point that the man would one day come to carry away his bride and become intimate with her. 

A Love Consummated

The betrothal could be a very romantic time, a period when two lovers dreamed together, had the joy of learning to commit to one another, and experienced the thrill of the nearness and touch of the one to whom they would one day become intimate in the deepest way. During the betrothal period, a bridegroom would also build a new room or addition to his father’s house, where he would later move in with his bride. Usually, after a year of betrothal, the bridegroom would become so ’aras, or desirous of being intimate with this woman with whom he has shared his heart, that he would one night slip out of his house and take his bride away from her father’s home and bring her to his father’s home, where they would consummate their relationship in the room he had built onto his father’s house. At that time, they would be married in the full sense.

No one, not even the bride, knew when the bridegroom would reach the point of such desire that he would snatch his bride away. Everyone in the village would excitedly await that day, watching for the signs that the bridegroom was getting ready. Although the bride did not know the exact time, she had a good enough idea and would be dressed and ready when the bridegroom came knocking on her door.

Is that not a picture of our lives here on earth? When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become betrothed to Him. We live the remaining days of our life in a period of engagement to Jesus, learning to love Him, spending time alone with Him, and growing deeper in love with Him until, one day, He can wait no longer and comes to take us to His Father’s house to consummate this marriage.

In John 14:2, Jesus gives us a beautiful Semitic picture of being betrothed to us by saying He is building a room onto His father’s house, and when it is finished, He will come and take us, His bride, away from our present world to live in His world.