The Unexpected Bride

By Malcolm Hedding

24 Jul 2008

A number of Bible passages picture the unique phenomenon that we witness today of Christians from all over the world standing with and praying for Israel. This love for the people of Israel is ‘fueled’ by God’s Word, which contains many beautiful and humorous pictures of this reality. All of them constitute a surprise for Israel in that she never really expected to ‘win’ a family from the nations. This is an unexpected bride especially since this bride is committed to the God of Israel through one of Israel’s sons who has become the most famous Jew of all time - Jesus of Nazareth!

Jacob’s unexpected bride (Genesis29:21-30)
Jacob, after cheating his brother Esau, goes into exile and works for his uncle Laban, who has one beautiful daughter Rachel and one not so beautiful daughter Leah. He serves seven years for the former, asks for her hand in marriage, and supposedly marries her but finds out the morning after the ceremony that he has been married off to Leah! In his eyes, she is something of an ‘ugly duckling’ but she does bear him many children. No doubt for Israel the gentile church has been something of an ugly duckling but today from all over the world this ‘bride’ has arrived in the tents of Jacob declaring a genuine and sincere love for him.

Joseph’s unexpected bride (Genesis45:1-8)
The story of Joseph is well known. He is betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of a crime that he didn’t commit, sent to jail and then elevated to Pharaoh’s right hand of power. In the end, because of a famine in the land of Canaan, his Jewish brothers come seeking food and do not recognize him because he looks like an Egyptian. Joseph has saved Egypt from disaster and is revered throughout the land. He has ‘won’ a family by His suffering. Today in every corner of the world because of the suffering of Jesus there is a family from every tribe and tongue (Egypt) that worships a Jewish savior and loves His people. This too is a picture of Israel’s unexpected bride.

Naomi’s unexpected bride (Ruth1:15-18)
The story of Ruth the Moabitess is a romantic and beautiful one. Having gone to Moab, Naomi’s two sons marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. As time goes by their husbands die and Naomi desires to return to Bethlehem in Judea. Orpah, meaning “happy go lucky”, stays in Moab but Ruth, meaning friendship, returns with Naomi to Israel and stands beside her embittered mother-in-law. Her love and commitment to Naomi and her people brings them new joy and hope and she ends up marrying into the royal family. Today there are two streams of the church. The one like Orpah is unconcerned about Israel and happily goes on her way never responding to the great things that God is doing in Israel. The other is an ‘unexpected bride’ as she, like Ruth, is determined to go with Israel and be her friend. This amazes Naomi, who initially urges Ruth to return to Moab.

Today as well, Christian love and concern for Israel is considered strange and abnormal by some Jews but many have come to see that these Christians are true friends and they will stick by Israel through ‘thick and thin.’ In the end, we will all gain something in that Christians will understand their faith and Israel better and Israel will be made joyful by her new friends from ‘Moab!’

These three unique pictures of gentile love for Israel are special because they remind us that our engagement with Israel ,while doctrinal and vouched for in the pages of Scripture, is also loving ,kind, genuine, forged in distrust and drama and permeated with emotion and joy. After all, our knowledge of God is based on a living relationship with Him and not merely on dogma; a relationship that teaches us that we are also Israel’s unexpected bride.

Rev. Hedding is executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem; www.icej.org

This commentary was also published in the August 2008 issue of The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition: www.jpost.com/ce

Print    Tell a friend