When a boy and girl meet, sparks fly and butterflies begin to form in their tummies, the boy will often, after a period, find himself on bended knee asking for the girl’s hand in marriage. This has now become quite the production, second only to the wedding itself, with the advent of social media. However, with the proposal comes so much excitement and preparation. They are hoping to create the wedding of their dreams and they become swept up in the business of it all. The big day arrives, and with all the décor, pomp, circumstance, and ceremony, comes the vows. In the twenty first century, couples want to ditch the original vows found in the ‘Book of Common Prayer,’ which contains marriage vow samples as well, written in 1549 by Thomas Cranmer, of the Medieval Church of England. This in and of itself is not a problem, however, often, the words that they decide to exchange, calling them vows, are only fluff without substance, or cute cliches without promise. What they do not realize in their youth is that marriage gets real, quickly and the commitments you have made to one another are what you need to sustain you for the duration. No commitment equals no marriage. I say this only from my own experience of forty-one years of married bliss.
God chose the Israelites to be His people; however, their hearts were wicked. God wanted to be their shepherd, and they, his sheep. He wanted them to be His bride and he would be their groom, but they were so often rebellious, having a mind of their own, which caused them to stray from Him and the path He was trying to lead them down. This attitude of course started in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and this was what God was trying to rectify throughout the Old Testament. God takes words, vows, and directives very seriously. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 states, “When thou vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” God always gives second chances and more. He sent a messenger to show them the error of their ways. He was constantly urging them to come back to him.
In Zechariah 11:4-17 from the English Standard Version, God lets his people know through the prophet that they are a doomed flock, yet even in that warning, he presents them with a second chance. “Thus said the Lord my God: ‘Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.’ So, I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staves, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep.”
“In one month, I destroyed the three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So, I said, ‘I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.’ And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the people. So, it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.”
“Then I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.’ And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So, I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs. Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!’”
God was not pleased with the people of Israel but gave them a chance to repent and turn back to Him. Firstly, he sent the shepherd forth with the staff called, ‘Favor,’ however, but because they refuse to change, he breaks the first staff. God always follows through on His word because He is Holy and cannot lie. Numbers 23:19 states, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
The dictionary definition of favor is friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior, approving consideration or attention, an act of gracious kindness. This is what was extended freely to the Israelites as the people of God. However, they rejected it repeatedly. John 1:14 tells us, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” However, verses 11 and 12 state, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We know from the Word of God, that because of their rejection of Him, we, the Gentiles, had a chance of salvation and redemption. Not anything that we deserved or earned, but grace extended to us. The dictionary definition of grace is, approval, favor, unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification, a special favor of mercy and pardon, a disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency. Titus 2:11-13 says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” I am so glad that the Good Shepherd extended his staff called ‘Favor’ to us. Annullment of the first covenant came when Favor was rejected. This opened the door for the New Testament church to become the Bride of Christ.
Let us look for a moment at what annulment is. This is one definition as found on an internet source:
“Annulment: A legal ruling that erases a marriage by declaring the marriage null and void and that the union was never legally valid. However, the marriage records remain on file even if the marriage is erased. An annulment does not mean that the marriage never happened; it means that the marriage was never legally valid.
An annulment ends a marriage that at least one of the parties believes should never have occurred. The legal grounds for obtaining an annulment vary from state to state. In most cases, to qualify for an annulment, one or more of the following must be present:
One or both spouses were forced or tricked into the marriage.
One or both spouses were not able to make a decision to marry due to a mental disability, drugs, or alcohol.
One or both spouses were already married at the time of the marriage (bigamy).
One or both spouses were not of legal age to marry.
The marriage was incestuous.
One spouse concealed a major issue, such as substance use, a criminal history, a child, or an illness from the other.
The biggest difference between a divorce and an annulment is that a divorce ends a legally valid marriage, while an annulment formally declares a marriage to have been legally invalid. Because one of these conditions must be met and proven in court for an annulment to be granted, annulments are much less common than divorces.”
Secondly, God sent the shepherd out with the staff called, ‘Union’ in his hand. However, the Israelites did not see any value in the relationship they had with the shepherd, insulting him by offering him the price of a mere slave. Exodus 21:32 says, “If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.” Therefore, God directs them to throw the money into the potter’s field, and any unity, relationship, brotherhood, camaraderie, or togetherness that they thought they had, was broken, between them and others, which was shown by the breaking of the second staff. The kingdom of Israel and Judah were divided, and their bonds severed, which meant decades of hardship ensued for them that were of their own making. Their stubbornness and haughty attitudes cost them dearly. God indicates that because they have rejected Him, they were not going to like the next shepherd that was going to rule over them. Everyone needs a shepherd, and everyone will have a shepherd, it just depends on who we are following and aligning ourselves with, as to whom it will be. Again, the breaking of the second staff was an indication of annulment, and separation.
Subsequently, we see the Romans ruling over the Jews at the time of Christ, and it was not a pretty sight. Notice what happens in Matthew 26:14-16, “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, what will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him.” Judas was very money conscious and knew the price offered to betray Jesus was the price of a slave, yet because of his greed, he did not even negotiate a higher price. In contrast, the precious ointment that was poured on Jesus’ feet by the little woman, is said to have been worth three hundred denarii, a full year’s wage. Shortly thereafter, we see in Matthew 27:3-8 “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, ‘What is that to us? see thou to that.’ And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, it is not lawful for us to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.”
In a separation of marriage, or even business partnerships, when one of the participants decides they want to go their own way and be free from the other and seek an annulment or divorce, there is still a history, a record of that union, and consequences to their actions. Everything that was once a part of the union and shared equally within the partnership, now must be brought to the table, and divided. There may be children involved, who of course cannot be divided, but their time and attention must now be split, which also puts a chasm in their feeling of love, security, and wellbeing. Finances and properties are pulled apart, with precious memories often being ripped into shreds. The flock aka, the family or union is doomed. However, when we see this happening, we can turn to the shepherd who is always extending his staffs called ‘favor’ and ‘union’ to us. There is always hope, and second chances to be had, but we must make the right choices and see the value of our relationships with one another and with the Lord. We must stop and consider what the union has meant to us, ponder what the future is going to look like without our loved ones or friends and realize that reconciliation may be the preferred option. All the effort you have put into your life will be null and void, by the hasty decision to just sell everything out for the proverbial, ‘thirty pieces of silver.’
Let us not be too quick to sever ourselves from others just because there are issues that arise here and there. People are so hasty and may quit their jobs because they do not like a co-worker or walk out on their marriages because they can’t get along with their spouses or dissolve friendships that took years to build for a momentary disagreement or leave their church of many years because the pastor stepped on their toes on Sunday. We should stop and contemplate, and have a soul-searching moment, day, or week, before making these life altering decisions. Any decision we make to annul relationships in our lives will not only affect us, but everyone around us, which can include children, whether physical or spiritual. Someone is depending on you and watching your life. Being ‘footloose and fancy free’ is not all it is chalked up to be. Think back to what your life would have been like without the beautiful, meaningful relationships you have had, and reconsider.
These principles can apply to our relationship with the Lord as well. Because the Israelites cried foul, and did not want a union with God, their relationship was severed and annulled, allowing each party to go free. We as a part of the New Testament era, have a wonderful opportunity to become a part of the Bride of Christ, because God so love the world as stated in John 3:16, that he has given ‘whosoever’ will, that chance, including those of his chosen people who will accept his proposal. He reaches out to us daily offering us a chance to ‘come unto Him,’ and build a lasting relationship with him, that will bring us everlasting life. We are no longer a ‘doomed flock,’ we are favored once again through Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary, grace is once again extended to all men. By taking His name in baptism as demonstrated in Acts 2:38, we become His Bride. However, we must keep in mind that each day we still have a choice to remain or separate, just as in our marriages, and we must take our vows seriously, keeping our commitment to Him daily.
In the Jewish customs, traditionally the bride and groom will not see each other for at least a week before the marriage ceremony, while final preparations are being made for the big day. Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us, while we are waiting and preparing our hearts for His return and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Jesus said in John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Revelation 19:9, “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God.” We are the bride and have an appointment with the bridegroom. Now is not the time to get ‘cold feet.’ We must not second guess ourselves, this is the best decision we will ever make.