“Your Wedding Covenant” by Rabbi Ariel Ehrmantrout

This Weeks Torah Portion is YITRO

Exodus 18:1-20:20

The Haftarah is Isaiah 6:1-7:6 and 9:5-6

Malki-Tzadekian Torah is Acts 24-28

1. The Arrival of Yitro–the Father-in Law of Moses–Background………..

a.  He comes as a mentor to Moses and Moses submits to His mentorship; You will learn lessons through two mediums–Mentors and Mistakes–please CHOOSE MENTORS

b.  He watches Moses sit as Magistrate of the People of Israel

c.  He notes that what Moses is doing is something “WRONG.”  Please note Moses response–he does not get offended–he does not call the paper exposing Yitro of taking the Manna–He does not start a blog back in Midian slandering Moses meeting style for the “Good of the Body”–and He does not tell the Aharon–that He should take over leadership because Moses is a Wolf!

d.  He tells Moses that He–Moses–is hurting the people by trying to do everything himself.  So many leaders today fall by this “Suffering Hero Trip” and it is not Scriptural!

e.  Lastly, after Moses makes the Correction, His Mentor Yitro leaves Him.  A mentor will leave you better off than when they met you.

2. Let’s Get Married Exodus 20:2 Ha’D’Varim—Your Kettubah Marriage Contract

a. In Traditional Hebrew Weddings the Bride goes through a ritual washing called a “Mikvah” before going to meet her bridegroom, signifying a change of Status-symbolically cleansing the Bride and Groom from all impurities.
b. The Journey of the people of Israel through the Sea of Reeds was the act of Mikvah in preparation of their upcoming wedding
c. The next phase of the Hebrew Wedding is coming under the Wedding Canopy—called a “Chuppah” This is usually made up of the Bridegrooms “Tallit” which is upheld by the friends of the Bridegroom forming a “Marriage Tent”
d. In Exodus 19:17 the Torah tells us that when Moshe brought the people out to hear the thunderous voice of God, that they stood at the “base” of the mountain. The Hebrew words translated as “base of the mountain”, support a translation that curiously would read: “underneath the mountain”

3. The Kettubah: Hebrew Wedding Contract

a. In traditional Hebrew thought the marriage is sealed by the “KET-TOO-BAH” which spells out the rights and responsibilities of the Marriage Covenant
b. In Exodus 19:3-8 Torah tells us that God called the children of Israel out for a special purpose: God was wedding Himself to the people of Israel
c. The Children of Israel were to adhere to God’s covenant and God would be a Husband to them and what was their response in 19:8? They Respond, “All the people answered as one, “Everything ADONAI has said, we will do.”
d. But what was the “Marriage Contract” what was the “Kettubah?” Well the answer is obvious: THE TORAH is the marriage contract between the groom (God) and his unified bride (Israel).

4. Your Marriage Contract #1 Exodus 20:1-2

a. Verse 1-“I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery.”
b. This correctly identifies the one who did the delivering, in respect to the ones who were delivered, as well as, establishes the location of the delivery.
c. Authority is clearly the key here. In other words, there is no one else BUT ADONAI, and it is indeed HE who has freed YOU from Egypt.

5. Your Marriage Contract # 2 verses 3-6

a. Exodus 20:3-6 ­
b. We are expressly forbidden from allowing another god to occupy this place in our lives
c. Any man-made form or likeness of the creation of God, used for the purpose of adoration or worship, was to be counted as an idol, and thus, forbidden.
d. Such disobedience warranted the punishment of God, even down to the children of the parents committing the idolatrous act, but this was not judgment. We must be careful not to confuse the two. God is interested in restoration and blessing, which is why he only visited the iniquity to the 3rd and 4th generation, yet, graciously granted his favor to the thousandth generation of those whose hearts remained pure!

6. Your Marriage Contract #3 Exodus 20:7

a. The Hebrew word translated as “lightly” is “shahv”, and comes from a root word meaning “desolate”, “empty”, “false”, or “worthless”.
b. Upon examination of this word, we can deduce that it is not referring to what we call in modern language “swearing” or “cussing”. Rather, the understanding is that the Holy Name of God is to be used with all of the reverence and respect that it is due.
c. For, as it has remained fundamentally true in Messianic thought, the name is not just a title, but also an embodiment of the character of an individual. To make God’s name desolate, or empty, is an affront on God himself.

7. Your marriage contract #4 Exodus 20:8-11

a. This commandment cannot be emphasized enough in it’s importance—it is the wedding ring of this marriage (Exodus 31:16)
b. Spiritually, this speaks to our position as sons and daughters in Messiah. Before we came to be sons and daughters, we “labored” to become acceptable in the sight of God. But once we placed our trusting faithfulness in Messiah Yeshua’s atonement, we “ceased” to labor! We now “rest” in the finished work that he freely accomplished on our behalf!

8. Your Marriage Contract #5 Exodus 20:12

a. Honor your Mother and Father!
b. This is the first mitzvah that carries a promise along with it
c. Your Father is to teach you how to receive God the Father and your Mother is to teach you how to receive the Holy Spirit

9. Your Marriage Contract #6 Exodus 20:13

a. This command is to be taken literally. Blatant disregard for human—or animal—life was to be considered murder!
b. War, self-defense, accidental death, or ritual slaughter is not to be counted in this same category.
c. This mitzvah could also be understood figuratively, when the topic is our everyday speech! The tongue can just as easily and effectively “murder” an individual, as the sword can.
d. YOUR WORDS CREATE LIFE –OR—DEATH! Don’t be a Murderer!  The Rabbi’s taught that if you publicly shame your neighbor–causing the “blood to run from their face” then you have murdered them.  In today’s society with the anonymity of blogging and email–many people true hearts are exposing them as murderers.  Be assured that NO murderer will enter the Kingdom of Heaven according to Yeshua.  We are saved to bring life–not death–no matter what the person has done; otherwise we become the servant that strangles the man who owed him 5 dollars and he had just been forgiven of a million dollar debt!!

10. Your Marriage Contract #7 Exodus 20:14

a. This mitzvah speaks first to the literal sexual act of joining to one who is not your spouse by marriage. Spiritually, it speaks of the act of following another god!
b. As such, it once again emphasizes the command given in Verse 2 of this chapter “You shall have no gods before me…..”
c. It is fitting that as the 7th commandment—this is the One ALL Israel has struggled with the most! What are the other gods you worship? (i.e. success, prosperity, sex, cigarettes, jealousy?)
d. The violation of this command severs a viable relationship between a husband and his wife. Israel’s (OUR) adultery today– serves to have the same effect between she and her husband God!

11. Your Marriage Contract #8 Exodus 20:15

a. Self explanatory. If it doesn’t belong to you, don’t take it as your personal possession.
b. Your Husband wants to be your SOLE provider!
c. Do you rob other people of blessings by not receiving—by rejecting love—by running away when teaching gets too hard to handle?
d. Do you fail to tithe—so that the POOR, WIDOW and ORPHAN can be cared for?

12. Your Marriage Contract #9 Exodus 20:16

a. Don’t lie; don’t be misleading.
b. Establishing a system of justice and honesty has always been a priority with God. Giving false reports degrades that judicial system!
c. As such, our honesty one with another is to be a direct reflection of the pure character and honest nature of the Unique God that we serve

13. Your Marriage Contract #10 Exodus 20:17

a. Actually, this could serve as a precursor to the 9th commandment against stealing.
b. If you do not harbor covetousness in your heart, you will not be prone to steal that which is not yours, in an effort to satisfy your lust!
c. The delineation of possessions shows that from the greatest to the smallest of these things, your neighbor owns them, and you are not to desire them as your own
d. This includes spiritual blessing—the anointing—and the calling on the lives of others! Your husband wishes to be mighty on your behalf!

14. Acts Chapter 2 and Exodus 19

a. Torah was given on Shavuot—the same day as Pentecost in Acts Chapter 2
b. Now the display of the tongues of fire and the presence of great sounds is reminiscent of the Sinai encounter. The rabbis also teach that when God presented the Torah to the people, that it went forth in a multiple of fiery substance, inviting each individual Jew to accept the command to follow the whole of the Torah. The account in Acts describes the tongues of fire alighting themselves upon each person. In the Sinai delivery of the Torah, the account says “thunders and lightning’s…” (KJV).
c. he actual Hebrew word rendered lightning’s is “voices”! This strengthens the connection to the Acts account, with each man able to recognize the preaching in his native “voice”—or language!
d. God could remarry ALL ISRAEL (both Judah and Christianity) because Yeshua–the Living Marriage Contract had died–allowing for this marriage in Acts 2 to take place!

15. The Goal of Torah Romans 10:4

a. Our sin nature makes us prone to disobedience
b. Torah reminds us of how we do not measure up to our wifely status—married to the King of the Universe
c. Perfection is not required—or our Husband would not have made the sacrifices for Sin available
d. Only struggling to capture being the BEST WIFE we can possibly be
e. “For the goal at which the Torah aims is the Messiah, who offers righteousness to everyone who trusts.” (Romans 10:4)

1Corinthians 10: 1-1-4