We should not Forsake God as our Husband but Live in the Organic Union of God and Man

As believers in Christ, we need to remain in the organic union of God with His people, realizing that He is our Husband and we are His wife, therefore depending on Him about everything by living in the organic union of God and man.

If we don’t do this, degradation, failure, and rottenness ensue, just as we see in the book of Judges.

This week in our Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, we come to the book of Judges, and the topic for this week is, The Intrinsic Significance of the Book of Judges and the Apostasy of Israel in the Worshipping of God.

The book of Joshua was so positive and glorious, with many wonderful victories and excellent spiritual principles.

There is so much to learn, enjoy, and pray over from the book of Joshua.

However, when we come to the book of Judges we see a different story; actually, we see a cycle of Israel worshipping idols and thus failing God, God coming in to discipline and chastise them, them repenting, God raising up a judge to deliver them, and then the people of Israel fails again.

A judge, in Hebrew, has the root of the word meaning “ruling” or “command”, someone who rules or gives the command.

A judge in the book of Judges doesn’t refer to someone who administers judgement or issues out a sentence; it is more as a ruler, a commander.

After Joshua passed away, and after the generation of Israel who knew God also passed away, the children of Israel forsook God. They worshipped idols, the idols of those who lived around them, and God allowed them to be delivered in the hands of the plunderers, their enemies.

Then, after the situation became really bad, even insupportable, they repented and turned to God, so God sent them some tribal leaders, whom the Bible calls judges, to deliver them and turn them to God.

There are twelve such judges covered in the book of Judges, beginning from Othniel, and the last judge was Samson.

It may be easy and pleasant and encouraging for us to read the book of Joshua, but it may not be so easy or encouraging to read the book of Judges.

This book is one of the darkest books in the Bible, for it is filled with stories about Israel’s dark history, corruption, and rottenness.

But the Lord in His sovereignty has allowed such a book to be in the Bible, so there has to be an intrinsic meaning to it, an intrinsic significance, even though it is mostly negative.

It is like a black background, a “blackground” to bring out the brightness, that is, to bring out something that is on the positive side.

May the Lord shine on us and enlighten us concerning the intrinsic significance of the book of Judges, and may we learn before the Lord the lessons that we need to learn so that we may not forsake Him as our Husband but rather, remain in the organic union of God and His people, so that we may live and prosper in the land.

God is our Husband, we are His Wife, and we should Live in the Organic Union of God and Man

In Judges 1:1-20 we see a beautiful scene of Israel’s trusting in God; this marvellous picture of oneness with the Lord is a continuation of the oneness in the book of Joshua when the people of Israel first entered into the good land as described in Joshua 6 (Num. 27:21; 1 Sam. 22:10; 23:9-10; 2 Sam. 2:1).

This scene prefigures the organic union of God with His people, into which we have been brought and in which we should live today.

In Joshua 6 we see a record of the defeat of Jericho, where a wonderful relationship between God and His people is displayed, and victory was carried out against the enemies.

The first twenty verses of the book of Judges was a continuation of this beautiful scene of God’s people trusting in God, particularly with Judah and Caleb going up to defeat and subdue the enemies there.

If we read on, however, after Joshua and the generation who knew Jehovah passed away, we realize that the people of Israel did not continue to dispossess the enemies, so God allowed them to live among them, and much trouble happened.

Because they did not dispossess these people completely, they remained among them, they mixed up with them, they were degraded and corrupted, they were led away from God, and they became idolatrous.

In God’s eyes, according to the full scope of the Old Testament, at Mount Sinai, God married Israel (Exo. 20:6).

We need to have the view of God’s eternal economy before us whenever we try to interpret something in the Bible.

After God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Mount Sinai, and there He gave them the law, the Ten Commandments.

Many think that these Ten Commandments are God’s commandments, warning His people to keep so that they do well, but there’s a deeper meaning to the law.

God is the One who shows lovingkindness to thousands of generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

In giving them the law, God expressed to the people that His lovingkindness would be shown to thousands of generations of those who love Him; God desires to gain a people who loves Him. Not only to keep His commandments but to love Him.

The mentioning of this word love here indicates that God’s intention in giving the law to His chosen people was that they become His lovers.

He delivered them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness, and gave His law to them; this was to court them, woo them, and seek to win their affection.

In Jer. 31 and Ezek. 16 show that the covenant enacted at the mountain of God through the giving of the law was an engagement contract in which God betrothed the children of Israel to Himself.

The law with the Ten Commandments was an “engagement certificate”, an engagement contract between God and His people, where God is the Husband and His people are the wife.

The highest function of the law and of the Bible is to bring God’s chosen people into oneness with Him, into an organic union with God, just as a wife is brought into oneness with her husband.

In order for God and His people to be one, there must be mutual love between them; this love is primarily like the affectionate love between a man and a woman.

As we spend time with God, love Him, and fellowship with Him, God infuses us with His divine element, making us one with Him to be His wife, and Him being the Husband.

For us to understand the significance of the book of Judges, we have to realize that God’s heart’s desire is to enter into a love relationship with His people where God is the Husband, His people are His wife, and they live in the organic union of God and man. God loves man, and He expects and desires that His people would love Him in return as His wife.

As believers in Christ, we need to realize that God is our Husband and we are His wife, and we should live in the organic union of God and man.

If we do not love the Lord and do not live in the organic union with God, all kinds of problems may come in, rottenness and corruption may come in, for we forsake our position as a wife who loves the husband. Oh, Lord!

The entire Bible is a divine romance – God’s economy is an economy of a love story between God and man being united and joined together in oneness, and eventually becoming a loving pair.

This is what we see at the end of the Bible – a loving pair, God and man, the New Jerusalem, the consummation of the love relationship. In His concept and desire, God wanted to be a Husband to Israel, and He wanted Israel to be a wife to Him, living in the most intimate contact with Him in this marvelous marriage union.

Amen, may we realize the heart’s desire of God and take Him as our Husband, us being His wife, and may we live in the organic union of God and man day by day.

Lord Jesus, we love You. You are our Husband, and we are Your wife. We come to You again and again to enjoy You, fellowship with You, and be infused with You! Keep us in the organic union of God and man in our spirit. Thank You for courting us, wooing us, and betrothing us to Yourself so that we may be Your counterpart, Your spouse, Your wife. May our living today be in the most intimate contact with You in our marvellous marriage union. Keep us in the divine romance between God and man; keep us in the union of God and man. Save us from forsaking You as our Husband. Save us from not living in the organic union with You!

Forsaking the Lord as our Husband leads to Worshipping Idols, Rottenness and Corruption

In His concept and His heart’s desire, God wanted to be a Husband to Israel, and He wanted that His chosen people would be His wife; however, this is not what happened in the book of Judges.

After the record of victory and triumph in the book of Joshua, we have a dark history of rottenness and corruption of the people of Israel in the book of Judges.

This is a warning to us, for we may also have some victorious experiences with God, but we may take it for granted, and we may not remain in the organic union with Him.

Even after such a time of victory against God’s enemy, we may think we are OK, but we may not remain in the organic union of God and man.

So we may drift away, and we may end up worshipping idols (having things that replace Christ in our life), rottenness, and corruption.

Being victorious with God toward the enemy is one thing, but to be faithful in love, in oneness with God, is another thing.

As unveiled in Judges, Israel did not have a heart to be the wife of Jehovah; rather, she forsook God as her Husband and went about as a harlot after other gods and worshipped them (Judges 2:11-13, 17; 3:7; 8:33; 10:6; cf. Jer. 11:13; Ezek. 16:25-26; Hosea 1:2; 2:2).

It all begins with God’s people departing from their love toward God, that is, forsaking the Lord as our Husband.

This is what the church in Ephesus also did, as seen in Rev. 2-3; they left their first love, which brought in the degradation of the church.

When we depart from loving the Lord with our first love, when we forsake the Lord as our Husband, degradation, corruption, and rottenness come in.

After the account of Judah and Caleb in Judges 1:1-20, Israel’s history as recorded in this book is full of the rottenness and corruption of a harlot.

The book of Joshua is the book of Israel’s history full of marvellous victories over the inhabitants of Canaan in the presence of Jehovah.

Judges, on the other hand, is the book of Israel’s history full of miserable defeats under their enemies in the forsaking of Jehovah; this is the intrinsic significance of the book of Judges.

The content of the book of Judges consists of the children of Israel trusting in God, forsaking God, being defeated by their enemies, repenting to God in their misery, being delivered through the judges, and again being corrupted; this became a cycle repeated seven times in Judges (Judges 1:1-2; 2:11-3:11).

We may think that this is so sad, but it is their history, having nothing to do with us; however, this is our history as well.

The Lord can use such a dark situation to speak to us, to warn us, and cause us to beware of the danger of forsaking God as our Husband and not living in the organic union of God and man.

May we not take our experiences with the Lord for granted but rather, always seek to remain in the close and intimate fellowship with the Lord.

May we allow the Lord to speak to us and shine on us for us to live in this sweet, intimate contact and love with the Lord, living daily in the divine romance to remain in the organic union with God.

Lord Jesus, save us from forsaking You as our Husband. Keep us in the close and intimate fellowship with You. We don’t want to take our experiences of God for granted. Keep us open to You, enjoying You and loving You. Shine on us, dear Lord, and keep us in the organic union of God and man. Save us from forsaking You or departing from our love toward You. Keep us loving You with the best love. Oh Lord Jesus, we return to You from anything else. We take You as our Husband and our Head. We just love You, Lord Jesus!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Judges (msgs. 1, 3, 9-10), by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 6, The Intrinsic Significance of the Book of Judges and the Apostasy of Israel in the Worshipping of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The Bible is a romance / In the most holy sense: / God and His chosen people / In love it so presents. / This Universal Couple / Throughout it is displayed; / God in Christ is the Bridegroom, / His saints, the Bride, portrayed. (Song on, The Bible is a romance)
  – To Ephesus, the word is clear: / “To your first love you’re not so near; / You’ve left to work so far away; / Repent, return to Him today.” / Thus, we must all turn back to Him, / Leave other loves, for these are sin. / Oh, let us hearken to His call— / If we miss this, we’ve missed it all! (Hymns #1274)
  – Overcomers Christ will take, / Those who all for Him forsake, / Those who of first love partake— / Win in time! / All the deadness overcome, / With the living Christ be one, / Toward the goal now swiftly run— / Win in time! (Hymns #1304)