In the foregoing message we pointed out that both the Old and New Covenants were espousal covenants, covenants of engagement.
As a whole, the Old Testament was spoken in the way of a covenant of engagement. This is the reason that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea all refer to God’s people as His wife. Even though His people wanted to divorce Him, the Lord would bring them back to Himself. He would betroth them to Him again. Consider how the word betroth is used in Hosea 2:19 and 20: “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. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah” (Heb.). In these verses the Lord uses the word betroth three times. The future tense indicates that this refers to the second betrothal of God’s people to Him, the betrothal in which the divorced wife is brought back to the Lord as her Husband. This indicates that the Old Covenant was a matter of espousal, of engagement.
As we have indicated, the law was given in the way of an engagement paper, of an engagement contract. When God gave the law to His people on the mountain, He was betrothing them to Himself. In giving them the law, He was seeking to stir them up to love Him and not to have any other beloved in addition to Him.
The entire New Testament was written in the way of romance and courtship. The Gospel of Matthew speaks of Christ as a Bridegroom, and the book of Revelation refers to the marriage of the Lamb and concludes with a revelation of the New Jerusalem as the Lamb’s wife. Furthermore, in 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul expresses the same concept when he says, “For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one Husband, to present a pure virgin to Christ.” Here we see that Paul realized that he had espoused the church to Christ, her Husband. Then in Ephesians Paul refers to Christ’s love for the church, charging husbands to love their wives “even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). Hence, the whole New Testament was written in an atmosphere of romance. The Lord is the One courting us, and we are His love, His spouse. Eventually, at the end of the New Testament, we have the marriage of Christ and His people.
The entire Bible is God’s courting word. In the Bible we see that God is seeking our love. When the Lord asked Peter if he loved Him, He was courting Peter, seeking his affectionate love. As a whole, the Bible is a word of such divine courtship.
If we would keep God’s courting word, we need a responsive, affectionate love for Him. Peter was asked to love the Lord in this way, and Paul was constrained to love the Lord with such a love (2 Cor. 5:14-15). All believers need to love the Lord in this way (John 14:21, 23). As we have seen, this kind of responsive, affectionate love is depicted in Song of Songs, where we have a portrait of the love between the Beloved and His love (S. S. 1:2-4).