Ishi / Husband

For July, each post examines an Old Testament name of God.

Ishi / Husband
(prounounced: "eesh-ee")


"You will call Me 'My Husband,'
And no longer call Me 'My Master.' "
~ Hosea 2:16 (NKJV)

For your Maker is your husband,
The LORD of hosts is His name.
Isaiah 54:5 (NKJV)

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved [His bride] the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish... This is a great mystery ...
~ Ephesians 5:25-27,32 (NKJV)

Most Christians are aware that the church is called the bride of Christ, and He is called the Bridegroom. The relationship Paul calls a mystery is first observed in the Old Testament, where God speaks of Himself as a Husband to His people.

In doing so, the Lord intimates Himself as more than Creator, Master, Lord. He holds out a relationship more precious and meaningful than every other human relationship. If I might be so bold to make the suggestion, I believe the great love the Creator puts between a man and his wife moves us so powerfully simply because its purpose is to magnify the love and relationship the Lord offers those who are His.

Our response? Here's a place to start. A wife in love with her husband seeks to please him. She’ll learn to cook his favorite foods. She’ll dress and style herself in the manner he likes to look at. She’ll learn what pleases him and not only offer it as part of her love for him, but she'll conform herself to being what He favors. She becomes uniquely his.

God tells us what He finds desirable. As any Bridegroom, Christ wants a glorious bride. His Word tells us, "Be holy, for I AM holy" (1 Peter 1:16). And because we're unable to do it for ourselves, Christ puts His Spirit in us to prepare us for the day we meet Him. The Holy Spirit acts as a divine valet, washing us and teaching us and conforming us into the bride Christ waits to return for.

Yesterday's post described "holy" as set apart from all that is ordinary. Over at the blog What I Learned Today, Billy Coffey rightly said one of the devil's greatest lies is "that we are all ordinary." Peter not only reminds us to be holy, but goes on to counter the devil's lie with this:
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV)

The King James translates "special people" as "peculiar people." The Greek peripoiesis combines peri (around, for oneself) with poieo (to make or do), and the combination describes something uniquely acquired, with which to surround oneself.

As a man acquires a wife.

By dwelling inside of us, God surrounds Himself with us. As He makes us holy, we are set apart with him, not from Him, both unique and uniquely His.

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