Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

So far it’s pretty dry. Becki and I did a walk/jog up the hill about 8am.

I guess I became disoriented surrounding my sending the devotional of yesterday. Other things going on apparently caused me to click the SEND button before I should have. I didn’t send any typical personal comments, like I’m doing now. And I noticed an irritating typo that should have read, “That sure sounds like hell—with or without fire!” Oh well. If you read it, you probably already figured out the mistake my little fat finger made.

Now what? I need to figure out what I should do for the rest of the day. Blessings on yours.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Relax. I don’t intend to get all sexy as a spinoff from this launching. Instead, I’d like to the process some ideas in a different direction by picking up on the metaphor of marriage found in Scripture as it relates to the relationship Sovereign God seeks to establish and maintain between Himself and His human creatures—imprinting them with His own image and likeness (i.e., the gifting of objective intelligence and free will). After all, there is no evidence that He seeks the same relationship with stars, planets, plants, or animals. Humans are His focus. And He intends that our relationship with Him should develop into being on a par with a binding and faithful marriage relationship—where, metaphorically, He is the Groom/Husband and you and I are the Bride/Wife. (Here are a few Bible references where this metaphor of marriage is addressed: Hosea 1:2; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:1; Ezekiel 6:9; 16:32; 23:45; 2 Chronicles 21:11; Ephesians 5:25-32.)

Consider again the premiere, central, and pivotal requirement that God prescribes for His human creatures. “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). How can we fail to glean from this standard that the purpose of our very existence is to passionately and faithfully love the Biblical God—to honor Him, serve Him, and live to please Him? It’s kind of like being married to our Maker.

In ancient times it would seem that the major violations of this standard were in the form of God’s people being seduced by other the cultures, idols, and deities from pagan nations, with whom Israel allowed dangerous coexistence. But there is not a lot of difference between then and now. We face seductions from every side—beautiful people and voices representing all kinds of nice-sounding attractive ideologies.

We don’t have to wonder very hard on how a spouse will naturally respond to the discovery that his or her marriage partner has been unfaithful—found to be engaging in an extra-marital affair. Deep emotional hurt, anger, shame, confrontation, and some form of painful consequence are all to be expected. It doesn’t call for a lot of effort, therefore, to imagine how God must feel as He watches His beloved ones, in whom He has vested so much to redeem, succumb to adulterous attractions, ideologies, affections, values, and behaviors.

David presents in Psalms 65 a masterpiece of praise and adoration as from the metaphorical Bride/Wife (as “a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle—washed in the blood of the Lamb”) to the Heavenly Groom/Husband. “Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled” (v. 1). “Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple” (v.4).