Some believe that Israel is YHVH’s bride/wife, others believe Israel is being prepared to be Yeshua’s bride; Some believe Israel is both, others believe Israel is neither. In this post I’d like to share what I see the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), in particular, is saying regarding Israel’s relationship to YHVH.
Who Is YHVH in Relation to Mankind?
YHVH: Maker of Heaven and Earth
Gen 2:4-7
(4) These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created (H1254), in the day that the LORD (H3068) God made (H6213) the earth and the heavens.
(5) When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up–for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,
(6) and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground–
(7) then the LORD God formed the man (H120) of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
This is the first mention of YHVH in Scripture. He is identified as the One who made the heaven and the earth and formed mankind of dust and breathed life into him.
H3068 יהוה yehôvâh
BDB Definition: Jehovah = “the existing One” 1) the proper name of the one true God
H1254 בּרא bârâ’
BDB Definition: 1) to create, shape, form
H6213 עשׂה ‛âśâh
BDB Definition: 1) to do, fashion, accomplish, make
H120 אדם ‘âdâm
BDB Definition: 1) man, mankind
I believe our primary relationship to YHVH is that He is the Creator and we are His creation.
What is YHVH’s Relationship to Abraham & His Offspring?
YHVH: The God of Abraham and His Offspring
Gen 12:1-3
(1) Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
(2) And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
(3) I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Gen 12:7
(7) Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Gen 13:14-17
(14) The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
(15) for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
(16) I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
(17) Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
YHVH calls Abram out from his country and kindred. YHVH promises to give land to Abram’s offspring and to multiply Abram’s offspring.
Servitude is Prophesied
YHVH tells Abram that his offspring will be afflicted as servants for 400 years in a foreign land, but He will bring judgment on the nation that they serve and his offspring will come out with great possessions.
Gen 15:13-16
(13) Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants (H5647) there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
(14) But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve (H5647), and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
(15) As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.
(16) And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
H5647 עבד ‛âbad
BDB Definition: 1) to work, serve
A Covenant Is Established
YHVH changes Abram’s name to Abraham, promising he will be the father of many nations; he will be exceedingly fruitful and kings would come from him.
It is here where YHVH establishes his covenant between He and Abraham and his offspring: YHVH will be their God. The sign of this covenant is circumcision. And He promises to give them all the land of Canaan.
Gen 17:1-14
(1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
(2) that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”
(3) Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,
(4) “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
(5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
(6) I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
(7) And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
(8) And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
(9) And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
(10) This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
(11) You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
(12) He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
(13) both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
(14) Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
YHVH tells Isaac that He is YHVH, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. He promises to give him and his offspring the land he is standing on; his offspring will be numerous and spread abroad; all the families of the earth will be blessed by him. YHVH promises to be with him and keep him wherever he goes and will bring him back to that land.
Gen 28:13-15
(13) And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
(14) Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
(15) Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Jacob vows to have YHVH be his God if He takes care of him and brings him back to Abraham’s house in peace, and Jacob vows to give Him a tenth of all that He gives him.
Gen 28:20-22
(20) Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,
(21) so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God,
(22) and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
Abraham’s Offspring Goes to Egypt
Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob, is brought down to Egypt and YHVH was with him.
Gen 39:1-4
(1) Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
(2) The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
(3) His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
(4) So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
Ultimately Joseph’s father and brothers joined him in Egypt. Before he died, he told his brothers that God would bring them out of Egypt and to the land that he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Gen 50:24
(24) And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Exo 1:8-14
(8) Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
(9) And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
(10) Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
(11) Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
(12) But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
(13) So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves
(14) and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
After many years the children of Israel (Jacob) experienced hard labor in the land of Egypt, and YHVH spoke to Moses saying He has come down to deliver His people, the children of Israel, out of the land, and He was going to use Moses to do it.
Exo 3:1-10
(1) Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
(2) And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
(3) And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
(4) When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
(5) Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
(6) And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
(7) Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
(8) and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
(9) And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
(10) Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
YHVH reveals to Moses His name, “YHVH”.
Exo 3:11-15
(11) But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
(12) He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
(13) Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
(14) God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”
(15) God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
Israel Is My Firstborn Son…Let My Son Go That He May Serve Me.
YHVH: The Father and Master of Israel
YHVH tells Moses to tell Pharoah, “Israel is my firstborn son.” And to let him go so that he may serve Him.
Exo 4:21-23
(21) And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
(22) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son,
(23) and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve (H5647) me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'”
H5647 עבד ‛âbad
BDB Definition: 1) to work, serve
YHVH: The Deliverer and Redeemer of Israel
YHVH tells Moses to tell the people of Israel that He will deliver them from slavery and will redeem them. He will take them to be his people, and He will be their God.
Exo 6:2-8
(2) God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD.
(3) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
(4) I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.
(5) Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
(6) Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver (H5337) you from slavery to them, and I will redeem (H1350) you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
(7) I will take you (H3947) to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
(8) I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'”
H5337 נצל nâtsal
BDB Definition: 1) to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder
H1350 גּאל gâ’al
BDB Definition: 1) to redeem,
H3947 לקח lâqach
BDB Definition: 1) to take,
After many plagues, including the death of the firstborn, YHVH delivered Israel from slavery and brought them out of Egypt.
Exo 12:40-41
(40) The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years.
(41) At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
Exo 13:11-16
(11) “When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,
(12) you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD’s.
(13) Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
(14) And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
(15) For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
(16) It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”
YHVH: The Savior of Israel
Exo 14:13-31
(13) And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation (H3444) of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
(14) The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
(15) The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
(16) Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
(17) And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
(18) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
(19) Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
(20) coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
(21) Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
(22) And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
(23) The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
(24) And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
(25) clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”
(26) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”
(27) So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
(28) The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.
(29) But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
(30) Thus the LORD saved (H3467) Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
(31) Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
H3444 ישׁוּעה yeshû‛âh
BDB Definition: 1) salvation, deliverance
H3467 ישׁע yâsha‛
BDB Definition: 1) to save, be saved, be delivered
In Conclusion
It seems clear to me that YHVH has established Himself to be the Maker of heaven and earth; He is the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob and the children of Israel and they are His people; He is the Father and Master of Israel and Israel is His firstborn son and servant.
What is not established in Torah, that I have found, is a relationship of Husband and Wife between YHVH and Israel.
