“And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, ‘Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’
“But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.
“‘Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.'” (Rth 1:14-17)
Journal,
This Sunday was a very unique service at Christian Challenge. We celebrated Nathan’s and Lori’s 25th wedding anniversary. It was my privilege to officiate and to share from the Scriptures God’s story of love. In my sharing I also brought out a mystery that some believers are little acquainted with. It had to do with the covenant of salt.
Let me begin by sharing on …
The Story of Love
Two of the most beautiful stories in the Bible about love is the story of Ruth and the story of Isaac and Rebekah. What makes
these stories so marvelous is that woven through each story is the eternal covenant of God’s Son. Both stories reflect on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Isaac and Rebekah story is about the Father finding a wife for His Son. Abraham speaks to God the Father. Isaac speaks to Jesus Christ. Rebekah is the church or the bride of the Son. And the servant of Abraham, speaks to the Holy Spirit.
Then you have the beautiful story of Ruth. The story of Ruth is read in the synagogues each year at the festival of Shavuot. (Pentecost) For the Jewish people, Ruth represents the people of the world coming to be joined to the God of Israel.
But there is much more to the festival of Shavuot. To the Jewish people, Shavuot also represents the giving of the Law of Moses at Mount Sinai. To the Hebrews, the giving of the Law was a marriage contract, where the Lord God married Israel. Thus the Law became their marriage contract.
Actually there is more to this story than meets the eye. On the day of Pentecost, 33 a.d., the Lord Jesus was crowned as King Messiah and the Lord of Glory. On that day the Lord Jesus received His kingdom in the spiritual form that we now know it. The visible form will take place at His second coming.
And so, in 33 a.d., the bride of Christ received her spiritual clothing when the Holy Spirit was poured out in the hearts of God’s new covenant children. Thus we have the ancient marriage covenant fulfilled in Christ Jesus and His new covenant bride.
Here is where some fail to make a connection.
The Woven Story
The Bible opens with the marriage of Adam and Eve. The apostle said that the story of Adam and Eve carries in it the divine mystery of Jesus and His bride.
The motif of a divine marriage becomes an underflow throughout all the Scriptures.
When Jesus was comforting the disciples about His soon departure, He spoke to them in the language of the ancient Hebrew wedding. The ancient wedding had two parts. Kiddushim was the engagement part, where the bridegroom sanctifies the wife to himself.
Then you had nisuin, which spoke of the bridegroom coming to take his bride to his father’s house.
Listen:
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (Joh 14:1-3)
Then we come to the closure of the sacred writings. Once again we hear the marriage motif –
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” (Rev 22:16-17)
This brings us to …
The Love Story of Ruth
Recall how the Bible closes – “I am the root and the descendant of David.”
Jesus was saying that He was not only the promised Son of David, who sits on the throne of David, but He is also David’s 
Lord.
Where does Ruth fit in the picture? Keep in mind that Ruth was not an Israelite. She was a Gentile from the lineage of Lot. Remember Lot? Lot was the nephew of Abraham.
With this in mind, once again it can be said that Ruth represents God’s love for all the world. But even with that, there is another truth to be realized.
Through Ruth would come God’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth was the great-grandmother of David.
And this brings us to a wonderful Messiah mystery called…
The Covenant of Salt
The covenant of salt is little spoken of in the former testament. What few times it is seen has to do with the sacrifices. But there is one exception. There was only one person spoken of in the Scriptures as partaking of the covenant of salt with the Lord God of Israel.
Listen:
“Do you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?“ (2Ch 13:5)
What did the covenant of salt signify between the Lord God and David?
First – It signified that David’s life was identified with God’s life. To touch David was to touch God. The Covenant of Salt was a covenant of oneness or sameness.
Secondly – The Covenant of Salt would be fulfilled in the Messiah. It was a Messianic covenant. One of David’s descendants would be the Messiah of Israel. This is why you often hear the people call Jesus, ‘Son of David.’
We hear the fulfilling of this covenant of oneness when a man named Saul began persecuting Christians –
“As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“’Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’” (Act 9:3-5)
Do you see the connection? When Saul persecuted believers he was persecuting Jesus. When Saul became the apostle Paul, he wrote about this mystery when he said –
“But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” (1Co 6:17)
Jesus had also shared with the disciples earlier when He said, “You are the salt of the earth.” (Mt5:13)
The Ancient Marriage Tradition
The covenant of salt was carried over into the ancient Hebrew marriage tradition. Both Jews and Christians have often incorporated the salt covenant into their wedding ceremony.
The salt beccomes symbol of purity and preservation.
Each couple was to pour their vessel of salt into a common vessel. From this it was stated that the only way the marriage could be broken is if each person could remove only his or her granules from the common vessel.
Would you like to see this short study enacted in a marriage ceremony? Take time to view this video of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Nathan and Lori Martin.
Note: You may need pause the video at times to let it catch up with itself.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/47816542[/vimeo]
In Christ always,
Buddy
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