Knowing the Lord as a Lover No Longer Call Me Baali But Ishi

Knowing the Lord as a Lover No Longer Call Me Baali But Ishi Hos 2:16-17 NASB "It will come about in that day," declares the LORD, "That you will call Me Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali. (17) "For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be mentioned by their names no more. The Hebrew says you shall call me "Ishi" (my personal man - which means a Lover), and no more "my Baal" (my husband, one who lords over, one who forces, one who makes you, who demands from you, a master). This is our wonderful Jesus full of grace love and truth. He wants to be your Lover, no longer your Master. It's a Lover-Wife relationship of being equal, not a Master-Slave relationship as one is less than the other. He formed a Lover-Beloved relationship. Lording over the wife is a curse that Eve put herself under. It was never the Lord's intention for His Beloved who is as He is to live in an inferior design, or relate to her as lording over her. They were created Ish and Isha, not Husband (Baal) and Wife. Why is that? Because only AFTER eating the wrong fruit Eve submitted herself to the curses of the law and one of them was “your husband will rule over you.” Your Ishi will govern you, be a master to you, own you, lord over you. Meaning “her desire will be for her Ishi and she is the one chasing after him, trying to please him and earn his love. At the same time he will lord over her. This is a curse. A man and a woman who live together in a relationship and he rules over her, lords over her or treats her like a master, coming with demands… such couple live under the system of the law unable to celebrate one another. A marriage relationship can either be one of celebration or of toleration. We need to celebrate one another, not tolerate one another. But how can they do it if all they see is how each one is falling short? How can they do it if they do not see how equal they are and the same? How can they do it if one believes he is more than the other and she feels she can never measure up to his standard and expectations? A love relationship can never be established on such a foundation of separation. Jesus established a New Covenant – a new relationship system founded on love, equality, sharing, being blind to nakedness but clothed with Christ. God was a Husband (Baal in Hebrew) to Israel under the old system. They did not know Him as their Lover (Ishi). I want you to imagine a relationship between a man and a woman who are about to get married. He wants to marry a woman and He tells her what conditions she needs to fill in order to be suitable for Him. He was telling her how to pursue Him, reconcile to Him and meet the standard: “Listen, I want you to build Me a House (Tabernacle) and I will come and live in the house that you built for me. Then I want you to give Me gifts every day (offerings) and sacrifice you all for Me. I will tell you what gifts to bring Me and if I’m pleased with them”. Then He opens this huge scroll and lets her know that she HAS to love Him with all her heart, might and soul and if she breaks one of these commandments…. She cannot be with Him and has to kicked out of the house she herself built. It she doesn’t love Him with all her might and meets all His demands, she is filthy, defiled, unclean, not worthy to be with Him and she is immediately removed from Him. He tells her she has to take a shower (cleansing) to keep herself pure for Him and reconcile with Him if she wants to be with Him. Imagine how she daily has to check if she is clean enugh for Him. Imagine this woman bowing down to such a husband saying O.K, I’ll live with You in this relationship. I will do all that You’ve asked and I will obey. What woman would marry a man like this? What woman in her right mind want to be in such an abusive relationship? Only a prostitute who does not know her worth and her value would sell herself for a relationship with such a pimp who takes from her all that she has. This is what Israel said to God “We will hear and obey”. The minute they said it in their pride, thinking they could fulfill the law, God said to Moses “tell them not to come near Me and stay away from the Mountain”. After they received that law and thought they could live with God under such a marriage covenant, all they experienced was the wrath of God for EVERY failure to keep that law or meet those standards. They were never good enough. Why was that? Because God is THE Giver of ALL things. In the New Covenant it’s Him who built you a House; It’s Him who gave you gifts; It’s Him who sacrificed His life for you and gave His all for you; It’s Him who cleansed and purified you; It’s Him who reconciled you to Himself; It’s Him who came to you and pursued you; It’s Him who loved you; Jesus is a Lover. In the new marriage covenant we know God as a Lover, but in the old system man can only know Him as a Master – a distorted image of who He really is. Act 17:24-25 NASB "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; (25) nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;… (26) and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist,… Act 17:29-30 NASB "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. (30) "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent (think differently). Our Father wants us to know Him for who He truly is – Love and a Lover. He even created man in His image and all males in the earthly are the ones who pursue their females. We all know how a man feels about a woman when she is the one pursuing him, giving to him, trying to win him, trying to persuade him to love her or be with her. Such a woman has no worth in a man’s eyes. It’s the same with us and the Lord. He wants us to rest in all that He has done and given to us not on what we can do for Him. He wants us to be established in His love for us and not be shaken on how much we can love Him with all our might and effort. He is pleased with us, we don’t need to win His love or attention. Jesus knew Peter needed to think differently (repent) about Him. “Peter, you thought you loved Me with all your heart and you would die for Me. You thought you could love Me with all your heart. But Peter, it’s Me who gave My life for you and died for you. “Peter, do you love Me (agapeo) God’s love?” “No, Lord. I love you (Phileo) human love”. “Peter, do you love Me (agapeo) they way I love you?” “Lord, You know everything; I love you (Phileo) human love”. “Peter, do you love Me (agapeo) God’s love?” Peter was weeping…. Lord; I love you (Phileo) human love. Peter got it. He knew how much he was bound to the law thinking he could fulfill it and love God, give God, be for God, fight for God, and by his performance he could please God and be loved by God. This is a relationship under the old system of the law. Let the Lord reveal to you His love for you, who He is for you, what He has done for you and show you that it’s not about how much you love Him; but how much He loves you with all His heart, might and soul. Jer 32:41 NASB "I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. Come out from under such system because Jesus died to set you free from it and it’s curses. Living with God through DEMAND mentality means you’re living under the law. The Law demands righteousness from man, but grace gives righteousness to man. Righteousness is NOT right doing in the New Covenant. It’s your position with God and your new identity in Christ. It’s who you have become as Christ imputed to you His righteousness. It’s a GIFT you receive not something you DO. Righteousness is not earned, bought, paid for, given based on your works or how good you are. It’s a freely given gift to those who believe – by faith, not by your performance (works). The Lord said to me one day: “Elana, if you build your relationship with Me based on how much you love Me, you’re on a shaky ground. One day you love Me, the next you’re upset and no longer faithful to Me.” I said to Him “I now Lord, it’s true. If I say to You I love You with all my heart, I am a liar and a hypocrite. How do I live with You?” He said to me, “Let me build your relationship with Me on how much I love you. That will never be shaken. My love for you will never change or be removed.” “Lord, I want that relationship with You”, I said. And this is my walk with Him ever since. I’m learning to RECEIVE His love and less focus on what I need to give Him or be for Him or do for God. He did it all for me. He built me as a Temple, took away all my sins, He purified, cleansed and perfected me by His blood; He made me holy and made me complete in Him, He gave me His righteousness and made me a new creation, He gave me a new identity – now it’s Him living in me, He gave me a new address and brought me to my new Home in Heaven, He seated me in heavenly places in Him who sits at the right hand of God, All that’s left is the wedding – that’s my hope and my confident expectation for good. He already gave me the wedding gown – His most expensive robe of righteousness. There is nothing for me to do because He did it all. My part is to believe (receive). So, be loved and let Him show you and reveal Himself to you as your Lover. The Lord is awakening love because it’s time for love. Much love Elana