THE TEN COMMANDMENTS – A MARRIAGE CONTRACT

And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Exodus 20:1, 2

Dr Bill Bright, founder of “Campus Crusade for Christ”, formulated a simple way of witnessing to people about Jesus. It is called the Four Spiritual Laws and begins with “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”. Unfortunately, what follows is a very narrow view of God’s plan.

What is God’s plan for His people? It began with one man, Abraham, who became a family which became a large group of people during their stay in Egypt. Pharaoh was afraid that the Israelites would join Egypt’s enemies and attack them, so he made them slaves. When they were demoralised and helpless, God stepped in and, through Moses, led them out of slavery into freedom.

God’s plan was to “marry” them and to teach them how to live with Him and with each other in a marriage bond. He told them His plan through Moses, in the language of courtship and marriage to show them how He wanted to relate to them and them to Him.

There were 5 stages in the Hebrew courtship and marriage protocol. During their courtship, when the man was sure he wanted to marry the woman, he would tell her “lachah” which meant “I want to make you mine”. God told the Israelites through Moses before He rescued them from slavery: “I will free you from being slaves to them …I will take you as my own people and I will be your God.” Exodus 6:6,7.

The next step was to confirm his choice, telling her “segulah” which meant “I want to make you my treasured possess.” In Exodus 19:5, God told Israel, at the foot of Mount Sinai, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession.” This is wedding talk!

The third step took place three days before the man’s formal proposal of marriage. He would tell her to prepare herself by washing – “mikvah” – to make herself ready. In Exodus 19:10 God instructs Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day…” Again, wedding talk!

The fourth step was to draw up a marriage contract, called a “ketubah”, setting up the boundaries within which they would relate to each other in a way acceptable to both of them The ketubah dealt with all the aspects of living together and was witnessed and signed by the couple’s fathers. The “Ten Commandments” is a 10-word ketubah setting out God’s requirements for living with His people in the intimacy of a marriage relationship.

The final step was the marriage ceremony under a canopy called the “chuppah” which represented the presence of God, and the consummation of their marriage in the bridal chamber prepared by the bridegroom.

The ketubah forms the heart of this relationship.