In this article we will see that as a man is a ba’al, a husband to His woman, so also is Yehovah a baal, a husband to His sons.
I have always liked the song by Bob Dylan called “Gotta Serve Somebody;” in it he sings,
“But you gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the LORD [Yehovah], but you gotta serve somebody.”
If these lyrics were written to only men they would be dead-on, but unfortunately that is not the case, and thus the reason I do not like practically all “Christian” and “Messianic” music. But that is a story for another day.
[Note: If you have not yet read part 1 of this series, please read it first. It has some very important foundational material.]
Who we choose to serve, who we submit our lives to, means everything if we want to dwell in a way that is pleasing to the Creator and then live with Him for all eternity. If we will not dwell now according to His created purposes for a man and a woman, we have no hope at all.
In part 1 of this series we saw that a woman’s (אשׁה, ish-shah) “man” is her only master (בעל, baal), the only true covering for her life. It is the man in a woman’s life (her father, husband, brother, uncle or other near of kin, even a literal master) who has the ability to countermand what she wants to do and who is her only place of safety. There are so many uncovered women these days who tell me “Yeshua (Jesus) is my covering.” Augh! Yeshua is not anybody’s covering. If he is, then Yehovah DOES change and His word DOES NOT endure forever. A woman’s covering can only be a living, breathing man.
But this blog is not about who women serve, it is about who men are supposed to serve.
Eh’-ved [עבד] is the Hebrew word for a male servant; it is never used in relation to a woman. My NKJV is very good about translating this word as “servant” or “male servant,” though sometimes it does translate this word arbitrarily to “slave.” THE man (ha a-dam) was created to serve only Yehovah, and He was to be our only Elohim, our only lawmaker and judge.
A lawmaker makes statutes and ordinances, and a judge makes judgments. If we are His servants we are to follow only His statutes, judgments and ordinances; not those that come from the governments of this world. Few people understand that Yehovah gave men (His son, Israel) all His commandments after we had left the jurisdictional authority of Egypt and its king.
Yehovah spoke to Moses saying:
“Then thou shall say to Pharaoh; ‘Thus says Yehovah: Israel [spiritually born men] is My son [בנ , ben], My firstborn [בכר, bik-ore’, first-born males]. So I say to thee, let My son [בנ , ben] go that he may serve [עבד, aw-ved – same spelling as eh’-ved but used as a verb here] Me. But if thou refuses to let him go, indeed I will kill thy son [בנ , ben], thy firstborn [בכר, bik-ore’, first-born males].’ ” (Exo 4:22-23)
Israel did not come out of Egypt until the day we became Yehovah’s spiritually born son on Passover. These precious בכר [bik-ore’, firstborn males] are the men who have experienced the second birth, Israel’s Ezrach, native-born men. Yehovah’s son [Israel] serves only one master and follows only the statutes, ordinances and judgment that come from Him.
Abraham, Isaac and Israel served only Yehovah.
“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants [עבדים, e-va-dim’ – plural of עבד, eh’-ved] to whom Thou swore by thy own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply thy descendants [זרע, zeh’·rah a masculine plural noun meaning “seed“] as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to thee descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” (Exo 32:13)
The only way to become a spiritually born son (Israel), a son and seed of father Abraham (ha – who has many sons) is the second birth which happens at the “Time of Life,” which is what Passover was called before it was called Passover.
But now things start to get very interesting. Remember in part one of this series we saw that the “husband” of a woman [אשׁה, ish-shah] is her master, her baal. In it I said;
To understand the relationship between a husband and his woman we must learn yet another Hebrew word; and that word is בעל [pronounced baal]. בעל is often translated as the noun “husband“, “master” or “lord” but can also be used as a verb as well; usually it is translated as “marries“.
H1166
בעל
baal: A verb meaning to marry, have dominion, or to rule over. In relation to marriage, it refers to marrying a woman (Deu 24:1); or a woman to be married (Pro 30:23). (Strong’s)
Yehovah Is a Husband / Baal To His Sons
As a man [אישׁ, eesh] marries [בעל, baal s] a woman [אשׁה, ish-shah] and becomes her only baal. In the same way Yehovah marries His sons and becomes their only baal, their husband.
“For as a young man marries (בעל – Baal / masters) a virgin [בתולה, be-too-lah’], so shall Thou marry (בעל – Baal / master) Thy sons [בנים, benim] and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy Elohim rejoice over thee.” (Isa_62:5)
For thy Maker is thy husband (בעל – Baal / master), Yehovah of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel [if a man is redeemed – so are all who follow him]. He is called Elohim of the whole earth. For Yehovah has called you like women [E·shet, but we are not women – we are men] forsaken and grieved in spirit, like youthful women when thou were refused,” Says thy Elohim. “For a mere moment I have forsaken thee, but with great mercies I will gather thee.” (Isa 54:5-7)
The parable about the 10 virgins is all about men. But we (men) are not virgins, we are whores who all have covenants with and serve the elohim of the land which we were born into.
in contrast, only Israel’s seed wears tzitzit/tassels to remind them to not follow the harlotry to which our heart and eyes are inclined.
“Speak to Israel’s seed [perversely known as “the children of Israel”]: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of Yehovah and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry [whoredom] to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined”. (Num 15:38-39)
And this is why we (and our families) got kicked out of Israel in the first place. As Yehovah said to His sons through Ezekiel:
“You are the adulterous woman [אשׁה, ish-shah], who takes strangers [זרים, za-rim – plural form of zoor, outsiders] instead of her Man [אישׁ, eesh [eesh in this case, refers to Yehovah]. Men make payment to all harlots, but you made your payments to all your lovers [your lawmakers and judges – presidents, senator, representatives, governors, mayors, attorneys, etc.] and hired them to come to you from all around for your harlotry. You are the opposite of a women [אשׁה, ish-shah] in your harlotry, because no one solicited you to be a harlot. In that you gave payment but no payment was given you, therefore you are the opposite.” (Eze 16:32-34)
As a woman [אשׁה, ish-shah] goes to another man [אישׁ, eesh] and commits adultery, so a man [אישׁ, eesh] who makes covenants with other elohim commits adultery against Yehovah.
This is why Yehovah, through Isaiah, says He will not “hear and decide” or “meet” a wicked man [אדם, a-dam’, the man of the flesh].
“Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter [בתולה, be-too-lah’] of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, take off the skirt, uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance and I will not arbitrate with a man [אדם, a-dam’].” (Isa 47:1-3)
What is Yehovah saying? We (men) were never His! We have always been the daughters of Babylon. Shame on us!
But there is a remedy for our whoredom. We are to repent, leave the kingdom and elohim of our birth, and join ourselves to a new Elohim and people, to Israel (His spiritually born men). When we (men) do this, we become a Ger and part of Yehovah’s set-apart people (along with everyone who follows us).
Now compare the verse above with this one to find Yehovah’s remedy to our whoredom:
“Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise, and sit down [on your throne], O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! For thus says Yehovah: ‘You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.’ ” (Isa 52:1-3)
Jerusalem, the holy city and Zion are all Yehovah’s spiritually born men and the allegorical woman whom He marries, masters over. Yehovah’s servant [עבד – eh’-ved] is His firstborn [בכר, bik-ore’ – first-born males] spiritual sons [בנים, benim] who have a covenant with Him and serve [עבד, aw-ved – same spelling as eh’-ved but used as a verb here] only Him. Joshua, speaking to Israel’s seed, said:
“Now therefore, fear Yehovah, serve [עבד, aw-ved] Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the elohim [lawmakers and judges] which your fathers served [עבד, aw-ved] on the other side of the River [back in Ur] and in Egypt. Serve [עבד, aw-ved] Yehovah! And if it seems evil to you to serve [עבד, aw-ved] Yehovah, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve [עבד, aw-ved], whether the elohim which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the elohim of the Amorites [put your own country here], in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve [עבד, aw-bed] Yehovah.” Jos 24:14-15
Yehovah will marry [בעל – baals] those men who will leave the kingdom of their birth, serve [עבד, aw-ved] only Him and then come into covenant with Him at Passover.
“And it shall be, in that day,” Says Yehovah, “You will call Me ‘my eesh,’ and no longer call Me ‘my baal.’ For I will take from her mouth the names of the baals [these are the masters which we previously served in fear], and they shall be remembered by their name no more. In that day I will make a covenant [a cutting, done at Passover] with them, with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely. “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In loving-kindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know Yehovah. (Hos 2:16-20)