covenant |ˈkəvənənt|
noun
an agreement.
• Law a contract drawn up by deed.
- Law a clause in a contract.
I hear it all the time, “That does not apply, it’s Old Testament, we are under a New Covenant”. More times than not, the statement is being made by an individual who refuses to believe, or does not want to do, a task commanded in Holy Scripture.
A covenant is a contract or agreement. All contracts have conditions set for both parties; works to be done by both parties and the reacting results based on the completion of the agreed task. Yet, those who use the “we are in a New Covenant” phrase, actually refuse to believe there is anything to do on our part; other than believing Christ is real. James says,
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead”
(James 2:19-20).
He continues to say,
“You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only”
(James 2:24).
What James is essentially saying is, if you only sign the Covenant, but don’t perform the conditions of your side of the Covenant, what you have done is useless. It’s useless because the other party, does not have to keep His side when we are breaching the Covenant on our side.
Yes, there is a passage which reads we are not saved by our works (Eph 2:8). In the way taught, this causes a contradiction in Scripture; yet, what Scripture is saying as a whole is that none of us are deserving of salvation, because we’ve all sinned, salvation is a gift of God, a gift that teaches us to live godly and righteously, doing good works for God because we understand the gravity of this gift (Titus 2:11-14).
By some mistranslations of words, the attempt to add words to the Hebrew language, and a mis-teaching of Scripture due to a lack of true study; people are believing a lie. Yet, this is not hard to discover if one would enter into an unadulterated study of Holy Scripture.
The point of Old Covenant verses New, Salvation, and a Christian walk are vastly mis-taught. This is not a purpose deception in most cases, it’s actually due to laziness of the things of God. As our lives are filled with new time wasters, the things of God are typically the first things that must go. A person has to work, this is required or one will not eat, then theres the children’s ball games, dinner out, the movies, boats, television series, sports games, motorcycles, Jeeps, and the many other distractions. My wife was listening to a Christian radio station called the FISH, when a caller called and said he had playoff tickets but had already committed himself to a revival type service at church. He wanted to cancel the church, but did not know how right it would be. Surprisingly, the host of FISH told him “God would understand”
1 John 2:15-17
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever”
The actions and condition of the church, and professing Christians today, is that which is warned about in 2 Timothy chapter 3, “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God... ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:4, 7).
I’ve done a series on Salvation already, in this series, we are going to look at the Covenant’s - Old and New.
When I ask Christians, “If I talk about ‘Law’ according to the Bible, what do you think I’m talking about?”, their response is, “The Ten Commandments”. The answer is not all wrong, but it’s not all right either. There are several Laws in the Bible and knowing the difference in these laws will greatly improve the understanding of what is going on. Not understanding these different Law will cause a contraction in ones belief verses Holy Scripture. I want to use this section to concentrate on the subject of the different Laws. This is important, as “we are in a New Covenant” advocates generalize “Law” into the Ten Commandments and the modern teachings of the Old Covenant. It’s also important because once one starts to get the basics on the different laws, they start to see the webbing and unity of Holy Scripture in a more fulfilling way.
No one has a full grasps on what we are looking at in this section, and in this series; and I am just a young student under the Spirit of God. So, I’m going to try and do my best to explain the different Laws in this section; and the relationship of the Old and New Covenant in this series.
The problem in understanding these two principles, is in the translation. One Hebrew or Greek word may have multiple meanings in our language; like, chadash which we will be looking at later in the series. Sometimes there are several words that translate to one English word. A good example is in Hebrews 4:1-10. The English word “rest”, in this section of Holy Scripture, came from three different Greek words for rest. One must study each word and look at their context, in other portions of Scripture, to determine what kind of “rest” was being discussed with each use in that section of Scripture. One rest means an eternal rest, one is a physical rest, and one is a Sabbath rest. The error on the translators is that they should have established this WITHIN the translation. This is the problem we are having with the translated word “Law”.
TEN COMMANDMENTS
Romans 3:21
“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets...”
When we look at Romans 3:21, we see two law’s listed; and they contradict one another; because, Paul is saying ASIDE from the “Law”, God righteousness is revealed BY the “Law”. The first “Law” is talking about the Ten Commandment and Statutes of God. We know this because the context is Righteousness, and Righteousness is gained by obedience to what God has commanded (Rom 1:16).
The Ten Commandment Law is the Moral Law, or what is the morality of man. Since the coming of the Promise, which is Christ, the Moral Law is written within the hearts of man. We forsake that law, through the traditions of our fathers (1 Peter 1:18) and sear the conscience (1 Tim 4:2), this then makes wicked actions of men. Think about the time before the Promise came; when the Moral Law of God was not in the heart. This would mean that men had no morality within them, it was nothing to murder, steal, and the likes. They did not feel the remorse, as one would today. When “Law” is referring to the Ten Commandment, it’s usually joined with a characteristic of God.
God is love - 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16
The Law is love - Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14
God is perfect - Matthew 5:48
The Law is perfect - James 1:25, Psalms 19:7
God is Holy - 1 Peter 1:15, Psalms 99:9
The Law is holy -Romans 7:12, 2 Peter 2:21
God is eternal - Romans 16:26, Deuteronomy 33:27
the Law is eternal - Psalms 111:7-8, Luke 16:17
... and this could go on and on. There is actually 32 links, in Holy Scripture, between the character of God and the character of the Ten Commandments. It’s by these character traits, added to the word “Law” that we can determine which “Law” is being talked about in that particular passage.
The Ten Commandment, Moral Law, existed before Mount Sinai; they are what tells us what morality is. We will look more at their time of existence later in this section.
We will return to Romans 3:21, later in this section also, to talk about the other “Law”
STATUTES
Religion has divided Holy Scriptures into two parts, Old and New Testament. Later in this series, we will look at how and why this has happened. With the dividing of Scripture came the dividing of two covenant’s, while this is the subject of this series, we are going to concentrate on the different Covenants right now.
I’ve heard people refer to the Levitical Law, putting it all under an Old Covenant, but there are actually two “Law’s” within this Levitical Law reference: the one we are going to look at first is the Statute Laws.
Because the Levitical Law is put in one lump sum, many write off all the Levitical Law’s as past; or null and void. Let’s look at a few of the Statutes of God, located in the Levitical Law. While we are concentrating on the Statutes within Leviticus, the Statutes of God are spread throughout Holy Scripture; and even these, we will be discussing here, are just a fraction of the Statutes found in Leviticus.
Lev 13:46
“All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.”
We see that we are told to quarantine those who are sick.
All Leviticus 18 talks about the need for moral living in our lives.
Lev 3:17
“It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”
Perpetual means everlasting, and it’s interesting that this vastly overlooked Statutes lies within the New Testament teachings as well (Acts 15:19-21, 27-29).
Lev 19:17-18
“You will not hate your brother in your heart: you will in any wise rebuke your neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. You will not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you will love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 19:29
“'Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.”
Leviticus 19:31
“'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 19:32
“'You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD. “
Now, considering that these are just a few of the Statutes given, it seems they are pretty important for us to maintain.
Deuteronomy 28 has blessings and curses for the keeping or not keeping of God’s Moral Laws and His Statutes. While these blessings and curses were given, by God, after the establishment of the ceremonial tabernacle system, the blessings and curses do not pertain to whether or not one does the ceremonial laws of the Tabernacle system; but only include the Statues and Ten Commandments: these curses we are seeing today; because of the non-keeping of either of these “Laws”.
I do want to answer a question of debate, and ridicule of Scripture, in which the death penalty, or banishment from the people, are ordered for those who break these Statutes. Hebrews says that these things were a shadow and example of what was to come (Hebrews 8:5). From the ceremonial law’s to the Statutes, these are examples of what is, or is going to be. While we will look at the ceremonial law in a moment, the Statutes provided a look at what will be in the very end. Those who live in disobedience to the will of God will be separated from the people, they will die the second death.
Like the Ten Commandments, the Statutes of God were existent before the children of Israel were freed from Egypt, before they were reminded of the “Laws” through Moses. And while we will look at this fact in a moment, there is no way, with the importance of these “Laws”, that the Statutes of God are gone; or we would not be seeing the curses for not keeping them.
CEREMONIAL LAW
The other “Law” that lies in the Old Testament, and considered to be Levitical Laws as well, is the Ceremonial Laws. When one reads through Exodus and Leviticus, they will see commands of God which He uses the term “ceremonial”. These are associated with the workings around the tabernacle system, and aside from the obedience of His Moral Laws and Statutes, had to be preformed by the High Priest’s and people in order to be saved from death. The ceremonial laws were a shadow and example of what is today, which is Christ; our High Priest, our Lamb, in the Tabernacle which is in Heaven. These Ceremonial Laws are those which include some of the feast’s and festivals, the killing of the lambs, the washings and offerings to be ceremonial made clean, and the likes. We see reference to such ceremonial works in Hebrews 9:10
Heb 9:10
“concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation”
In the New Testament, any time “Law” is referring to the ceremonial laws, there will be references of the ceremonial works preformed; such as, circumcision, meats, foods, drinks, days, moons, and sabbath (which is referring to the annual sabbath days of Israel, and not the weekly Sabbath days located within the Moral Law).
Gal 3:2
“This only I want to learn from you:Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith”
Anytime you see, “works of the Law” or just “works”, the author is talking about the ceremonial laws, for it was by the works of the ceremonial laws that one was saved. The Moral Law’s and Statutes did not save, never did. The Moral Laws tells us what sin is and the Statutes are the commands of God so that we have a good life. Through time, the term “works” has gone from the ceremonial rituals that one had to do to be saved into anything that is in obedience to God; which in turn makes the Christian religion look foolish, hypocritical, and contradictory to it’s own teachings and beliefs.
TORAH
When talking of the Ten Commandment and Statute Laws, I said that they were around BEFORE Mount Sinai.
Genesis 26:5
“because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
Abraham was 430 years before Mount Sinai, yet we see God’s Statutes and Laws talked about, and it was because of this great Faith, in obedience, that it was accounted to Abraham for righteousness (Romans 4:3; James 2:21-22). All through the book of Genesis, from Abraham, to Cain, to Jacob, we see the Statutes and Moral Law’s of God listed as sin for not observing; yet this was BEFORE Mount Sinai.
Romans 3:21
“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets...”
In the passage of Romans 3:21, we see the Righteousness of God is WITNESSED by the Law and the Prophets. The definition of witness is evidence or proof, so the evidence or proof of getting the Righteousness of God is through the Law and the Prophets. Yet, we’ve already established that this can not be talking about the Ten Commandment Law; it does not list any works, so it’s not the ceremonial law.
Acts 13:15
15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."
The Law and the Prophets is the term used to describe what we know as much of the Old Testament writings. The Tanakh, which is the Jewish Bible that we know as the Old Testament, consist of the Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. The Torah and Nevi’im is the Law and the Prophets. The Law, or Torah, is the Covenant and promise made to Abraham. While the book of the Torah includes the works of the Law, which was given on Mount Sinai, there is a division between the covenant of Abraham and that which was given on Sinai: we will be looking at this more in this series. The Prophets, or Nevi’im, is the prophecies of Israel and the Messiah to come.
The Covenant was made with Abraham because of his faithfulness to God, his obedience, and it was given to him as Righteousness; which is what we are talking about in Romans 3:21: the Righteousness of God.
Romans 3:22
“even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference”
When we continue reading the passage in Romans 3, we see the the Righteousness of God is witness by the Original Covenant with Abraham (Torah), and the prophecies of the coming Messiah (Nevi’im). AND, it’s even witnessed through the faith in Messiah Y’shua, in all that believe in Him. BECAUSE, there is no difference in the witness of the Law and the Prophets and of Y’shua; because He is the fulfillment of them.
We are going to look at the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets more, as we look deeper into the Covenants - Old and New.
CONCLUSION
While people tend to associate the “Law” with the Ten Commandments, we see, by the use of Holy Scripture, that the word “Law” refers to The Ten Commandments, the Statutes of God, the works of the Law required for salvation before Christ, and the Original Covenant made with Abraham. The differences in these “Laws” in writings, can usually be determined by the characteristic that is associated with them, or the lack of characteristic.
There is much confusion in the church, and among it's people, on the covenants: "old" and "new". Sometimes it's divided between Old and New Testaments, sometimes "old" and "new" covenants. They don’t know there’s a confusion. In fact, virtually all religions agree on this subject; yet they don’t agree with Holy Scripture. What is the difference in the two, and is it enough that we should even refer to them separately? That we are going to look at in the remainder of this series.
Many of us think we have a grasp on the “New Covenant” compared to the “Old”. While we did not study Scripture to find our belief’s, we have faith in our pastor, our church, our denomination, or that evangelist who seems to be so knowledgable. When I talk to people, I receive several statements to separate the two Covenants.
The Ten Commandments is the Old Covenant, we are under the New
We are under the New Covenant, we are saved by Grace
We are covered by the blood
We are covered in righteousness
Jesus gave us new laws, love God and love our neighbor
In reading Scripture, there are little clues, golden flakes that lead to gold nuggets of revelation of truth. When I see color in Scripture: color is a term used by gold panner’s who find a few flakes, they then know there is gold in the area that awaits discovery; when I see color in Scripture, I like to dig deeper for the nugget.
Romans 3:21-22
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Messiah Y’shua, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
Looking at Romans 3:21-22, understanding what is being said, I seen some color pointing towards nuggets of the truth of the Covenant system. So, let’s break this down real quick to reveal that color, then we are going to dig for gold.
The subject of this passage is the righteousness of God. We know righteousness to be given for the obedience of the things of God (Romans 1:16). Paul is saying here, apart from the Law. We know the Law of God, or Ten Commandments, to be the definition of sin and a Law we are to obey; but apart from this law, there is still righteousness which is revealed. This is even revealed through the faith in Messiah Y’shua, as we understand from John 6:28-29.
The Law and the Prophets is the term used to describe what we know as much of the Old Testament writings. The Tanakh, which is the Jewish Bible that we know as the Old Testament, consist of the Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. The Torah and Nevi’im is the Law and the Prophets. The Law, or Torah, is the Covenant and promise made to Abraham. While the book of the Torah includes the works of the Law, which was given on Mount Sinai, there is a division between the covenant of Abraham and that which was given on Sinai: we will be looking at this more in this series. The Prophets, or Nevi’im, is the prophecies of Israel and the Messiah to come.
Acts 13:15
15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."
Understanding this, we then see the color in this passage. The righteousness of God, which is obedience besides the Ten Commandments, is witness through the Old Testament Covenant instructions of God and the prophecies of the Messiah. This is interesting to me, being the statement is written in, what is considered to be, the New Covenant writings.
But this is not all. In talking about Y’shua as our High Priest, and comparing with the high priest of the Old Covenant, the author of Hebrews said this:
Hebrews 8:5
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, said God, that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you in the mount.
Hebrews called the Old Covenant, tabernacle system, an example and shadow. We also see it was designed after a pattern. Again, in context, Paul was comparing the high priest of the earthly tabernacle with Christ, our now High Priest. We read in Hebrews:
Hebrews 9:11
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
Hebrews 9:24
For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
The pattern of the tabernacle, which was shown to Moses, was set off of the Heavenly Tabernacle. The author of Hebrews then called this old system an example and shadow.
When we look at a shadow, is it the real thing or just an image of the real thing? When we look at an example, is the example the real thing or just something to show us what the real thing is like? There’s our color: if the real thing is the Tabernacle in Heaven, and the one on earth is according to it’s pattern; and Paul called the earthly system and example and shadow, there is some large gold nuggets we can learn from this truth. A shadow is not different from the real thing. If we see our shadow, it will not look like a dog; it will be similar to our look. When we see an example of something, it is a useless example if it is vastly different from the real thing which it’s to be an example of.
I want to show you one more piece of color before we start digging.
Matthew 5:17-18
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Religion teaches that the Old Testament, or Old Covenant, system is gone. When we understand that the Law is the Old Covenant system instructions of God, and the Prophets is the prophecies of the coming Messiah; now we look at the statement made by Y’shua and must ask the question, “What is suppose to be gone?”
Through these pieces of color in Holy Scripture, I am seeing a much different teaching than we are being taught by religion. While religion teaches that the Old Covenant is gone, and we are in a New Covenant; which has unique characteristics aside from the Old Covenant; it’s appearing that Holy Scripture is saying the Old Covenant is NOT gone in the manner religion teaches. But what about the passages in Hebrews chapter 8?
Hebrews 8:13
“13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Question, if I was having a large wedding, and we needed to practice so that everyone knew their cue’s, is there a point in which the practice has to stop: does the practice sessions need to pass away so that we can have the REAL wedding?
Hebrews 9:8
...the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
I wanted to start the look at the two Covenants by using Scripture to show, we don’t know as much about any differences in the Covenants as we may think. Please, don’t turn this off because this teaching appears to be in disagreement with what you’ve been taught or believe. We can already see there is substantial evidence in Scripture, and a question that must be asked. Do you want to know what the Bible says? Do we not understand that our salvation lies in the words written within that wonderful book and NOT within what our pastor or church has taught us? These subjects are really nothing to play with. There are those who follow man, and when trying to debate Scripture with me, I can be a real nightmare to them; because, I can prove wrong most every false doctrine offered in almost every church in this country, simply by Holy Scripture which they profess to follow. If a man, who knows only a minuet fraction of what Scripture has to offer, can do this now, how big of a nightmare will it be, when we stand before Christ, crying Lord, Lord and He says, I don’t know you?
There are many characteristics, of the Old and New Covenants, that are taught and believed to be unique to each Covenant; and, we are going to look at these “unique” characteristics. While there are many passages for several of these characteristics, to keep the video short, we are going to look at only one or two passages for each.
In the New Covenant, we are to live by Faith. So is it in the Old:
Hebrews 10:38
38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
Habakkuk 2:4
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just will live by his faith.
All we have to do in the New Covenant is believe:
Romans 3:22
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ,
Genesis 15:6
6 And he believed in YHWH; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
We are taught that the Ten Commandments was only for the Old Covenant; yet, we see in the Book of Revelation; the last book of the Bible, covering Christ’s return, which is after this time we live and is in the New Covenant:
Revelation 22:14
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Yes, but Jesus had His own Commandments which are part of the New Covenant; these are love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Yet, we see these two laws written in the Old Covenant as well:
Deuteronomy 6:5
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Leviticus 19:18
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
In the New Covenant, God gives us Mercy; as if He did not have Mercy in the Old:
Romans 9:16
16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
Genesis 19:19
19 Behold now, your servant has found grace in your sight, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have showed unto me in saving my life;
And, in the New Covenant, we no longer have to do works, we have Grace under the New Covenant; Yet, the Old says:
Ephesians 2:8
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Zechariah 12:10
10 And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication;
In the New Covenant, we just have to repent of our sins:
Luke 13:3
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
1 Kings 8:47
47 yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, 'We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness';
We are covered by the blood in the New Covenant. So were they in the Old:
Leviticus 17:11
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'
Exodus 24:8
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which YHWH has made with you concerning all these words.
Though our sins be as crimson, the blood washes us white as snow. This was actually never made in regards to the New Covenant, but was a statement made to Sodom and Gomorrah in a warning by God. In context, we see it was obedience to God that would wash their sins:
Isaiah 1:18
18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
In the New Covenant, God wants to have a relationship with us:
1 John 3:1
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Exodus 33:11
11 And YHWH spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto his friend.
In the New Covenant, we are to be a peculiar people:
1 Peter 2:9
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
Deuteronomy 26:18
And YHWH has avouched you this day to be his peculiar people, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;
In the New Covenant, we have salvation because we are covered in the righteousness of Christ:
Romans 3:22
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
Isaiah 61:10
10 ...For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
While the Old Covenant people had to bring a lamb each time they sinned, Christ’s righteousness, in the New Covenant, covers all sins which are past, present, and future. Actually, that New Covenant teaching is a complete deception of Scripture:
Romans 3:25
25 Whom YHWH has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.
Hebrews 6:4-6
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of YHWH, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of YHWH afresh, and put him to an open shame.
This one may be more in action than teaching, but by our actions the heart is known. While in the Old Testament system one must stop sinning, but in the New Testament, Christ righteousness covers us so God does not see the sin. We already seen that Christ’s righteousness covers only our past sins but what does the New Covenant say of our continuing to sin?
Psalm 4:4
Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
1 John 5:18
18 We know that whosoever is born of God sins not; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not.
Now, in this New Covenant, we have forgiveness of sin:
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 103:2-3
Bless God, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities;...
In the New Covenant, we are healed by the stripes of Christ
Isaiah 53:5
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Psalm 103:2-3
Bless God, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;
Ok, so we are seeing that we don’t know as much about the differences in the Covenant’s as we thought. In fact, we are seeing very little differences. In this study, we are going to dig for the gold nuggets and see why religion has separated the two; but Holy Scripture shows us the two work together, which is why we are seeing strong similarities between them. We are going to look at the history of the Old and New Testament division, the terms and conditions of the covenants, and the relationship of the two Covenants. By this, the salvation message and Christian walk becomes more evident.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
The Hebrew word “brit” means Covenant. The Hebrew "chadash" (ka-dash) can mean either new OR to renew. The use of the word is dependent upon the context of the subject.
The Strongs has separated the translated “new” from the translated “renew” by adding vowel points. The adding of vowel points was done after the fact based on how they wanted to translate the word; typically within the context of the passage. The original Hebrew language and writings did not include these vowel points and translations was dependent upon the context of the word usage.
Let's look at chadash in a few Scripture passages, to show the different uses according to context.
Let’s start with some examples of “new”:
Exodus 1:8
8 Now there arose a chadash (new) king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
Deuteronomy 24:5
5 "When a man has taken a chadash (new) wife,
Judges 16:12
12 Therefore Delilah took chadesh (new) ropes and bound him with them,
Job 32:19
19 Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent; It is ready to burst like chadash (new) wineskins.
Now let’s take a look at some examples for “renew”:
"Turn us unto you, O YHWH, and we will be turned; chadash (renew) our days as of old"
(Lam 5:21)
"Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is chadash (renewed) like the eagle's"
(Psalm 103:4)
"Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim; and chadash (renew) a right spirit within me"
(Psalm 51:10)
"You chadash (renew) your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation upon me: changes and war are against me"
(Job 10:17)
We can see that the meaning of chadash is dependent upon the context of passages. What about in context to the Covenant?
In order to understand the context of the Covenant, one must look at the Bible as a whole: it's dependent upon the context of the entire Bible. We looked at this in the last video, but we are going to review it again for the basis of the subject of this section.
Romans 3:21-22
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Messiah Y’shua, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
The subject of Romans 3:21-22 is the righteousness of God. We know righteousness to be given for the obedience of the things of God (Romans 1:16). Paul is saying here, apart from the Law. We know the Law of God, or Ten Commandments, to be the definition of sin and a Law we are to obey; but apart from this law, there is still righteousness which is revealed. In other words, the Righteousness of God, which is to dwell in our lives, is revealed, through us, by more than obedience to the Ten Commandments: there's more to do than keep His Laws. This passage states that it is even revealed through the faith in Messiah Y’shua, as we understand from John 6:28-29. This is obvious to us, for believing in Messiah Y'shua is the first obedient act we must obtain. We are also seeing that the Righteousness of God is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. This may confuse some people because the passage first says apart from the Law then witnessed by the Law.
There are several Laws and this causes confusion among religion. There is the Law of God: it’s the Moral Law in the Old Testament written in stone and placed in the Ark; in the New Testament it is written on our hearts. There is the law of Moses, these are known as the works of the law, or simply works, which was written on parchment and placed beside the Ark. There is the Statutes of God, which were given for our spiritual and physical health. There is the Mosaic Law, which encompasses all the Laws into one; and this sometimes included the Talmud Law, which is a religious law establish by the religion of the Jews. This is the law that Messiah Y'shua came against the pharisees for so many times. There is one other Law in the Bible, this is called the Torah today.
This is the reason I like to reference the Christian Aramaic Bible as reference to what is being talked about. Hebrew is merely a different dialect off of Aramaic; and Aramaic is what Y’shua and the disciples spoke. Like we seen earlier, in Jeremiah 31:33, religion believes the “Law”, that Scripture is talking about, is the Ten Commandments. Of course, if we lived our lives as if that were true, we would do much better than we are today. Yet, the Aramaic Bible says the word for “Law”, in Romans 3:21, is the Torah.
Acts 13:15
15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."
Before the canonization of the Old Testament books, they were not known as "Old Testament" or even Torah, etc. The Law and the Prophets was the term used to describe what we now know as many of the Old Testament writings. The Tanakh, which is the Jewish Bible that we know as the Old Testament, consist of the Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. The Torah and Nevi’im is the Law and the Prophets. The Law, or Torah, is the Covenant made with Abraham (this is aside from the works of the law given 430 years later on Sinai; and we will be covering this in an upcoming section); while the Prophets, or Nevi’im, is the prophecies of Israel and the Messiah to come.
Understanding this, we then see the righteousness of God, which is obedience besides the Ten Commandments, is witness through the Covenant with Abraham and the prophecies of the Messiah. A witness is something that gives testimony, or is evidence or proof of what is. This would mean that the Covenant with Abraham and prophecies of Christ are evidence or a testimony of the righteousness of God. So, moving the Ten Commandments aside, we know how to obtain the Righteousness of God by both Messiah Y’shua and by the Covenant made with Abraham. This is interesting to me, being the statement is written in, what is considered to be, the New Covenant writings.
In talking about Y’shua as our High Priest, and comparing with the high priest of the Old Covenant, the author of Hebrews says this:
Hebrews 8:5
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, said God, that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you in the mount.
Hebrews called the Old Covenant, tabernacle system, an example and shadow. We also see it was designed after a pattern. Again, in context, Hebrews is comparing the high priest of the earthly tabernacle with Christ, our now High Priest. We read in Hebrews:
Hebrews 9:11
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
Hebrews 9:24
For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
The pattern of the tabernacle, which was shown to Moses, was set off of the Heavenly Tabernacle. Hebrews then called this old system an example and shadow.
When we look at a shadow, is it the real thing or just an image of the real thing? When we look at an example, is the example the real thing or something to show us what the real thing is like? If the real thing is the Tabernacle in Heaven, and the one on earth is according to it’s pattern; and Hebrews called the earthly system and example and shadow, there is some large gold nuggets we can learn from this truth. A shadow is not different from the real thing. If we see our shadow, it will not look like a dog; it will be similar to our look. When we see an example of something, it is a useless example if it is vastly different from the real thing which it’s to be an example to.
Let’s take a look at another piece of context.
Matthew 5:17-18
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Religion teaches that the Old Testament, or Old Covenant, system is gone. When we understand that the Law is the Covenant made with Abraham, and the Prophets is the prophecies of the coming Messiah; now we look at the statement made by Y’shua and must ask the question, “What is suppose to be gone?”
It appears, within the context of Scripture, that brit chadash means “Renewed Covenant”.
The word "chadash" is so instrumental to "replacement theology" that James Stong's concordance chose to add vowel points and term two different reference numbers: #2318 - renew and #2319 - new. Theologians have long used this term to steer "the church" away from the Old Testament teachings. As we will learn, a man by the name of Marcion coined the terms "Old Testament" and "New Testament" suggesting, in effect, that the "old" was replaced by the "new".
It is a small debate on whether or not chadash means “new” or “renewed”. I’ve read both sides of the “New” or “Renewed” argument and see the support for both side. The ones who say it’s “new”, and who are honest with Scripture, give the reasonings, being the differences from of the “New” to the “Old”, which, when looked at in context, we see are merely a change from a shadow explaining the real. I’ll explain this more later and we will look at Scripture to show these changes.
On which ever side you support, it does not change what Scripture says about the “New” / “Renewed” Covenant. The Old Covenant was an example (Heb 8:5) for the New, and is a witness to the Righteousness of God within the “New”. Y’shua said He did not come to destroy the “Covenant with Abraham”, Law or Torah, but He came to fulfill it. The definition of “Fulfill” is “bring to completion or reality; achieve or realize”. Since He did not come to destroy, which would be to bring to completion, we then understand He came to bring to reality and realization the shadow and example. In looking at these truths, we see the current Covenant has much of the same Covenant Terms and Conditions as the Old Covenant. The Bible teaches neither a full identity of the Old Covenant with the New, nor a total disconnect between them either.
I’m about to show you the largest and most integrated marketing strategy every devised, and this one was devised by God. Before I get started, I want to say this: many people, when they here something said that they disagree with, they turn off the video, calling it a lie, without ever listening and seeing the evidence to support claims made. While I understand that some people don’t use evidence, anyone who has ever looked at my research knows I like to use extensive amounts of Holy Scripture and any history, linguistic studies, or any other vital piece of information that I have acquired: so much that I’ve had people complain that I use too much. Yet, I use so much because the multitude that have been indoctrinated with denominational theology need it for me to even try and break them from that indoctrination and let them see what Holy Scripture has to say.
I said all that because, in this video, I’m going to show you what Holy Scripture has to say about the timing of the establishment of the two Covenants, and flip popular denominational theology on it’s head.
In the middle of the study of this series on the two Covenants, The Holy Spirit showed me, written very clearly in Scripture, the Covenant which we call “New” was established 430 years prior to the Covenant we call “Old”. DON’T TURN ME OFF JUST YET!, I’m going to show you easy to understand Scripture that shows this fact.
I spent two days in a study of Galatians chapter three, because the Spirit of Elohim was trying to show me something but I was having problems understanding it because my mind was clouded by the indoctrination of when the Covenants were established. Finally, late in the evening of the second day, when my brain was too tired and was open to what the Spirit was showing me in Scripture, the light bulb came on.
Before we get started in the video, it’s important to open the mind to knowledge, in regards to the term "Law" in Scripture. Because denominational teaching throws the term Law straight at the Ten Commandments, people are confused when it comes to what is being talked about in Scripture, when the term “Law” is used.
There are several “Laws” in Scripture. There is the Ten Commandment Laws and the Statute Laws; but these Laws are not laws of works, they are Laws of obedience. The works of the Law were the works required for salvation of sin.
Romans 3:21-22
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Messiah Y’shua, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
In Romans 3:21-22, we see the term “Law” used twice, consecutively; yet, in the manner taught by religion, it seems as if they cancel each other out: it’s contradictory. This contradiction would come because of a lack of understanding of the term “Law” and the many different “laws”.
Since righteousness is gained by obedience (Rom 6:16), and the Ten Commandments, and Statutes, are a Law of obedience, the first Law listed is definitely talking about the Ten Commandments, saying, “aside from obedience to the Ten Commandments, the righteousness of God is witnessed by...”. We then see that God’s righteousness is “witnessed” by a "Law"; and prophets. Here we clearly see a different “law” used, other than the Laws of obedience.
Any time you see “Law and Prophets” this is the term used for the writings of the Bible which encompass most of the Old Testament Scriptures as we know them. Law is the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible. The term Law, or Torah, in Scripture refers to the Covenant promises and conditions; but, even though they are within the Torah, they DO NOT refer to the “works of the Law”; which is the ceremonial workings of the Old Testament. This may sound a bit confusing but will become clearer by the end of the video. If it is not, then leave a comment and I will either try to answer or compile the questions into a new video.
I said the Torah Law does not include the ceremonial Laws, the ceremonials laws are often described as “works of the Law”. In Galatians 3 verse 5 we read:
Galatians 3:5
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
In Galatians chapter three, Paul is condemning the Galatians for going back to the “works of the Law” (Gal 3:5). When we look at this in context, we understand Paul talking about the ceremonial workings because he’s condemning them for getting circumcised (Gal 5:2) and keeping the ceremonial festivals (Gal 4:10). Understand that there is nothing wrong with circumcision or even practicing the ceremonial festivals, as long as one does not do it in thinking they can gain any type of Salvation, or special attention from God, for it.
To get to the meat of this video, I said earlier that the Torah Law was the Covenant Law but DID NOT consist of the ceremonial workings of the Law. We’ve been taught that the Torah Law is the Old Covenant, but Galatians 3 is telling us otherwise.
Galatians 3:16
16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.
Paul is talking about the Covenant made to Abraham, and that the promise was made to his seed. Paul then explains that the seed, to which the promise was made, was Messiah Y’shua.
Understanding the subject of this letter, in condemning the Galatians for returning to the ceremonial system we know today as the Old Covenant, Paul gives a very clear timeline of when this "works" of the ceremonial law was establish: 430 years AFTER the promise made to Abraham. Then in Galatians chapter four, Paul then confirms what he is saying:
Galatians 4:22-26
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-- 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-- 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
In the symbolic imagery of the two woman, the bondwoman represents the bondage of the Old Covenant ceremonial workings. He then explains when this woman of bondage came to the children of Israel: on Mt Sinai. Mt Sinai was 430 years after the covenant with Abraham.
Galatians 3:19
19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made;
Since Paul is telling us that the Covenant of Christ (which is by faith) was made with Abraham, he is then compelled to explain why the “workings of the law”, that given on Mt Sinai, what we call the ceremonial laws, were establish: they were established because of transgression of that time. There had to be something to cover transgression until the Seed of the promise to Abraham came; which is Messiah Y’shua.
So, here’s what we are seeing: The Covenant we are in today, through Christ, is by faith; which is the Covenant that was made to Abraham: by faith (Gal 3:6-7). The “workings of the Law”, that came 430 years later (Gal 4:17), and given on Mt Sinai (Gal 5:25) is not by faith (Gal 3:12). This means, the Covenant, which we call “New” is actually the Covenant that was established with Abraham. Until the seed of that promise came, which is Y’shua, God brought in a “working of the Law” for the transgression of sin.
Understanding the context of Scripture on the Law, the Law given on Mt Sinai was not any different than the one we are in today; as it was given from the pattern in Heaven, and is an example and shadow of Christ (Heb 8:4-5).This is to say, system, and works, of the Tabernacle is not an example of the works WE must do, in that ceremonial system, but an example of salvation, and the work which our Lamb and High Priest does; which is Y’shua.
Matthew 5:17
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah Covenant (Law) or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Now we can understand why brit chadash means “Renewed Covenant”; not that it is renewed from an old but that it was the Covenant establish with Abraham, to his seed which is Christ. We were given a “temporary” workings of the Covenant, until the Covenant with Abraham would be "fulfilled" through Christ. The Covenant with Abraham was “Renewed” and the temporary example passed away. The Covenant with Abraham, based upon faith, had better promises than the temporary Covenant given on Sinai. Understanding also, with knowledge we have learned about the different “Laws” and their origin, the Covenant made with Abraham was built upon the obedience to God’s Moral Law (or Ten Commandments), God’s Statutes, His Charge for our lives as a whole (being His), and His Commands in the guidance of what we do, where we go, and what we say.
Why wouldn’t God just go ahead and bring the Covenant and promise to Abraham at the point it was made? Like I said in the beginning of the video, it was the largest marketing strategy ever devised. If I had a brand new video game that I wanted to market, would I go to the elderly home or to the skate board park? God wanted to bring a Messiah, but only Abraham followed Him with faith; all others followed paganism. How can God sell Himself and the Messiah to people who did not even believe in Him? So, He made a Covenant with Abraham to raise his children honoring the Creator. Then, after the land was full of people who not only believed in the Creator, but had heard prophecies of a coming Messiah, He could bring that Covenant to fulfillment. This is why we read that Christ came for the Jew first. It’s not that the Jew was any better, or that God was any respecter of persons, but it was the Jew who believed in the God of Abraham, and who were expecting this Messiah. Once the Jew knew the truth of Christ, they spread the gospel to the world, to the gentile.
A Covenant is a type of contract made between two parties. This is the reason why, when God put the Ten Commandments on stone, He wrote on both sides of the tablets: one side was our promises; the other His. If we want to understand the conditions of the Covenant, which is Christ the Seed, we must understand the conditions of the Covenant fulfilled by Christ, made with Abraham. The simplistic, and easy going, system of “salvation” that was built by the whore church, and her harlots, has been surrounded by bad teachings. When we understand what a Covenant is, and we understand the truth of the Covenant system, we understand why Christ said the road to salvation is narrow and difficult, and few will find it (Matt 7:14); and why He said that many more will be looking for it, and will THINK they found it, but they didn’t find it (Matt 7:21-23). It’s why Y’shua said we should weigh the cost of following after Him (Luke 14:28-30); because a following of Christ means a forsaking all the things of this world (Luke 14:15-27). It’s why we work out our Salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12-13). The modern teaching of the two Covenants is a deception to make people think that everything that is in, what we call, the Old Testament is gone; and everything in, what we call, the New Testament is now easier, requiring less. Yet, we see, within the New Testament, that punishment will be greater for us, for the disobedience to God, than it was for those under the Law given on Mt Sinai (Heb 10:28-29).
I did a series on Biblical Salvation verses the Salvation of Religion, you can see that series by clicking this link.
In this series, we see that the teachings of the church, in regards to the two Covenant’s, is not what Holy Scripture is telling us in a whole. How did the teachings of the church get so mixed up on this subject?
"Old" and "New" Testament phrasing was coined just after 144 AD by a man by the name of Marcion of Sinope. Marcion was a son of a bishop and was a wealthy ship-owner who made large contributions to the Roman churches. In 144AD, Marcion was in a hearing before the christian leadership, which ended with some of Marcion's theories receiving the "thumbs down". Therefore, he aggressively went out on his own to promote his new concepts of Christianity; and they rapidly took root throughout the Roman Empire. Marcion’s teachings closely resembled Gnosticism of a good god and a bad god. Marcion believed that Paul was the only Apostle who understood the teaching of Y'shua, so he twisted the teachings of Paul to free the Christian church from "false Jewish doctrines" of a bad god. By the end of the second century, Marcion was rapidly pushing mainstream Christian Churches into the background with his own popular all-Gentile gospel.
The all-Gentile gospel is a major part of the major belief of most denominational doctrine and professing christians today. I have heard much of these beliefs in my talking with people: the Jew is forsaken, the Sabbath is for the Jew, the Ten Commandments is for the Jew, that's the "old" covenant God made a "new" covenant with the gentile, the "old" testament is gone, and so forth.
In every major and important city, Marcionites set up their own churches in competition against the "other christians" and they flourished right into the tenth century. Like most Christian leaders, Marcion was very ignorant of basic Old Testament principles. Some of these principles are purposely looked over, as they are easily seen within Scripture today; yet no one cares to take the time to research the false teaching they've been taught.
Many of Marcion’s beliefs, and teachings, have heavily influenced christian theology today. While not all denominations embrace all of his beliefs, most embrace a portion.
Marcion taught that God broke His own commands because He instructed Moses to fashion a bronze serpent on a pole. He was ignorant to the fact that the bronze serpent on the pole was a visible antidote to the venom of the snake; and a symbol representing Y'shua who would die on the pole.
Marcion taught that the God of the Old Testament could not have been omniscient, otherwise He would not have asked Adam, "Adam, where are you?" (Genesis 3:9) He failed to see the Mercy of God and how He’s a loving Father who gave Adam and Eve a few moments to compose themselves before having to approach Him.
Marcion's accusations towards YHWH, in most of his teachings, showed a brazen hatred towards the Creator of this Earth. Marcion and pagio-christianity invented a false religious belief from which they fashioned their own god for themselves and named him Je-Zeus.
Marcion taught Moses enforced the Jewish Sabbath and Law, but Y’shua freed believers from both. Yet, it is written in the Old Testament that Sabbath was given by God in the beginning, at the creation of the world. In the book if Isaiah, in chapters 56, 58, and 66, it tells of gentiles observing the seventh day Sabbath, through the light of the Messiah. It is written in the "New" Testament that Y'shua and the disciples observed Sabbath, and that Paul even brought gentiles into synagogues on Sabbath to learn about the Kingdom of Elohim. It is clear from history that it was the joining of paganism and gentile christianity that changed the worship day from Sabbath, dedicated to worship of the Creator, to a day dedicated to sun worship. When the Messiah proclaimed that He was "Lord also of the Sabbath"; which is to say "Master of the Sabbath", He was proclaiming His authority regarding the way Sabbath was to be observed; He demonstrated this by His life in keeping it, by doing good for all man on this day. He did not do away with the Sabbath but rather resurrected the Sabbath from the clutches of dead religious traditions: He magnified Sabbath (Isaiah 42:21).
Marcion taught the Elohim of the Old Testament was a ruthless God of vengeance, cruelty and wrath, but Y’shua was full of grace and compassion. He believed and taught this while ignoring that Y'shua and YHWH are one. YHWH sent His Word to become flesh to save all man-kind that will accept the covenant made. The "Old" Covenant was shown to be an "example and shadow" of the "New" Covenant. It was a physical practice of what would be spiritually happening. The physical results of obedience and disobedience, in the "Old" Testament, was an example and shadow of the spiritual results of obedience and disobedience in the "New" Testament, through to the end. Marcion's theology divided the "Godhead" against itself, following a very common pagan mindset that the god’s are at war with each other. Marcion, and the gentile culture, viewed the Hebrew (One God) as old and passe'. Marcion's carnal perspective of God left a permanent mark within Christianity that is commonplace; to this very day.
Polycarp, who was a devout follower of the Scriptures, and understood the Scriptures as a whole, referred to Marcion as "the firstborn of the devil". Marcion's Jewish-free, all-gentile, churches became very popular among early gentile christians. Marcion was the major contributor to dispensationalism, supercessionism, and replacement theology - all of which are extremely popular among the vast majority of christians today, and preached in nearly every church.
By replacing the word "Covenant" with "Testament"; Marcion, and other pagan theologians, wrestled Jeremiah 31:31-34 away from the foundational teachings of Y'shua and the disciples. Most Christians had no access to the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) and would not known that Brit Chadasha means "RENEWED Covenant" and that the Messiah would come to write the Torah (Ten Commandment, Law, Covenant) upon the hearts of those who were sincere about following Him. By replacing the word covenant with testament, Marcion theologically divided Y’shua and his followers away from God the Father and turned him into a self sustained deity that opposed the "Old Testament". Everyone who has ever used the terms "Old" and "New Testament" can thank Marcion, the heretic, for implanting such contrary values against the Unified and Eternal Word of the Living God.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to put a caboose on this study. I wanted to end it with the Covenant Terms and Conditions. Now that we understand that the Covenant we are in, is the Renewed Covenant made with Abraham, wouldn’t it be easy to just look at the terms and conditions of the Covenant with Abraham and say, “that’s it”. But we don’t really find anything specific, other than to raise his son to follow YHWH the Creator.
The reason we don’t see any terms and conditions listed with Abraham, is because he was the first. And, if his offspring were to have followed God the way Abraham did, we would not have even seen what happened in Sinai. Yet, as we read in Galatians, 430 years later, the children were still choosing sin over God, and God had to bring in the works for two reasons - one, it was a prophecy of Christ and His work; and two, it was to provide a mental understanding of what sin does and the ultimate end.
Those who study Scripture understand that the Laws and Statutes of God existed before He wrote them in stone, and had Moses write them in a book at Sinai. Abraham, once called Abram, was a follower of pagan gods who left those fake gods to follow YHWH. In following YHWH, he built a relationship which was proven by the obedience to YHWH’s Commands, Statutes, Law, and charge.
Genesis 26:5
5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
It was the great faith of Abraham, that he obeyed God, even though God’s commands had no rhyme or reason, at the current time, that compelled God to make a Covenant with Abraham, to bring about a people who would know YHWH and be able to believe and accept a coming of a Messiah.
In the third video of this series, we looked how the popular belief of the differences of the two Covenants are actually false; and there is actually not much difference between the two. One such belief is that the “Old Covenant” was full of works in order to be saved; that God had His people “jumping through hoops”; but in the “New Covenant” God wants to be a Father to us. This is another misconception based on a lack of study and understand of Scripture. It has never been about works, it’s been about a relationship. From the start, all God wanted, and wants, is a relationship with us - that relationship is only proven by the obedience.
1 Samuel 15:22
"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
We see Y’shua saying,
John 14:15
"If you love Me, keep My commandments.
See, nothing has changed.
In Jeremiah - “Old Testament” we read:
Jeremiah 2:1-3
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “This is what the Lord says: “‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,’”
Because we can’t physically see Him, many treat God like He’s some kind of machine up there that gives all these orders and wants to punish us when we mess up. God is not a machine, and in this statement, from God, we see emotion in reminiscence. He’s telling Israel, I remember when you were young. I remember how devoted you were to me. You were like a bride. Do you remember those days when you loved me? And I loved you. And if anyone tried to hurt you, I would destroy them - because we were in love.
When we go down to verse 5 we see:
Jeremiah 2:5
“What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me?They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
God’s asking, “So, why did you leave me?”, “What fault did you find in me that was so bad that you would walk away?”, “I thought we had this thing together.” Listen to the compassion and want: this is Old Testament.
He continues on in verse 11:
Jeremiah 2:11-13
Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord. “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
So He says, “Why would you trade me?”, “Why would you leave me, the spring of living water? To make your own cisterns? And they’re not even good cisterns; they wont even hold water - they have holes in them” He saying, “be appalled at this, you heavens”. The angels are looking down in astonishment saying, “They would leave God for that? You’ve got to be kidding”
When we move on to chapter 3, starting with verse 19:
Jeremiah 3:19-20
“I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father‘ and not turn away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord.
He says, “I offered you an inheritance. A land far better than all the lands. And because of this, I thought you would call me Father. I thought you would call me Dad”
From His children created in the garden, to the Israel of old, to today, all YHWH wants is a relationship - one so close that we would be like children to Him and He a Father to us. All God wants is a relationship, a reconciliation. Yet from the beginning, there have been only a few who actually desire that relationship and many who turned away toward sin - usually, we place something before God; we make our own idols.
All of Scripture explains that in a choice of sin, it’s not just that we do what God forbids, but we CHOOSE the sin over God. This Christian walk, this walk with God, It’s not just about resisting, it’s about choosing God over the temptation. But we get tempted and we choose that sin over God, and the angels are saying, “Really, you’d choose that temporary moment of pleasure over the flow if living water?”
God is a black and white God; religion has placed color on Him. But, He wants all or nothing. You can’t ride the fence: satan owns the fence. But, we’ve conditioned ourselves to hear sermons and not respond. Oh, we say good sermon, but we don’t respond with action. Sermons have become Christian entertainment - I often call church (as it is today) a sunday morning reality show. We go to church to “get our praise on” and hear a well-developed sermon and a convicting thought. We’ve become satisfied with the thought of being convicted, then apparently feel the job is done. Yet, Scripture tells us if we are hearing the Word and not doing something with it, we deceive ourselves.
Think about what it would look like if we actually took the Bible, and what Y’shua had to say, serious. In Luke 6, Y’shua says to “do good to those who hate you”. Think about someone who hates you, are you willing to go do something good for them? Will you do that? Think about that and serously answer, and be truthful - yes or no? Now, in most cases the answer would be “no” - if we are honest with ourselves. If your answer was “yes” than I challenge you to do that good thing within the next week. If you can’t do it, your answers “no”. Now, tell God right now, “No, I will not do that”. We are not willing to make the statement, but if we don’t follow through on what He tells us to do, we are telling God that every day.
We don’t think it through because we’ve formed a habit of listening to the Word of God and not obeying it. If we actually took Scripture literally, and actually applied it, we wouldn’t have what our flesh desires. So, we walk away sad, or we run to the church where no one else is doing it, but seem ok with that fact. Yet, when we choose to follow our own desires, we choose ourselves, and the things WE want, over God - and God says, “Why would you trade Me? What did I do?”
In this Grand Privilege we have, to live in the very Covenant formed from the foundations of the earth, yet how do we repay Him. God want’s our first, and He wants our best. If you think it does not matter, if you think you can give Him the leftovers of your time and money, your fooling yourself. Recall why Cain killed Able (Gen 4:5), recall Malachi 1:8, and if that doesn’t do enough, stop watching TV and recall the gospels.
It’s easy to fill ourselves up with the things of this world and give God what is left. Hosea 13:6 says, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” If we are honest with ourselves, we stay so busy in the worldly things we usually forget God. We throw Him a scrap or two, but only really because we feel guilty if we gave Him absolutely nothing. A mumbled three-minute prayer over a meal, or at the end of the day, when we are already half asleep. Two crumpled-up dollar bills thrown as an after-thought into the church’s fund - Fetch, God!!!
From God's perspective (which is the only that matters), leftovers are not merely inadequate - they are evil. Let's stop calling it a "busy schedule" or "bills" or "forgetfulness" - it's called evil.
In God’s Covenant with Abraham, with His Covenant with us, it’s about a relationship that is proven by the obedience of children to a Creator that wants to be our Dad; and when we are in that love relationship with Him, there’s nothing He wont do for us. Nothings changed from the “Old Testament”; including our ability to turn our backs on God and go after our own desires. Why is it that the majority of the church knows more about their own sports team, a specific vehicle, a reality show, what’s happening on Facebook more than they know about God.
I hear it all the time, “I don’t know what God wants me to do. I’m just patiently waiting for instruction from God.” Meanwhile, they continue in the purchasing of large homes, nice cars, lots of toys and trinkets. Honestly, I use to be guilty of this myself. We know that we are the Temple of God, but we are allowing it to remain in ruins while we build our own pleasures. Look at the book of Haggai chapter 1:
Haggai 1:2-4
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Through history of the Old Testament, we see where the children of Israel were taken into captivity. But then there was a decree to which Jerusalem and the Temple were to be rebuilt. While Jerusalem was being rebuilt, the Temple was not being touched. The “paneled houses” is a sign of very nice homes. The people were saying that they have not heard a clear word from God to rebuild the Temple, so they continued in the building of their own pleasures. Here we see some sarcasm with God: “So, you say you haven’t heard a clear word from me, but who told you to build your paneled houses? Who’s word was it to provide for your own desires while you leave my house in ruin?”
Then we continue on:
Haggai 1:5-6
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
So God says, “Take a careful look at what you have done. You’ve worked hard, but have not got anything to show for it. You’ve planted much but got little yield. You eat but are never satisfied. Your clothes are of little use and you don’t seem to know where your money had gone.
Then He says:
Haggai 1:7-11
“Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
God says, “You thought you were doing good by not worrying about my work and doing your own pleasures but look what it’s brought you. I caused it to blow away. I brought the drought on you. Stop worrying about your own lives and worry about my desires. Build MY house.”
Haggai 1:12-13
Then... the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.
Notice what happened here. When God spoke, the people didn’t stand around and study what it would look like if they did what God desired. They didn’t memorize what He said, nor did they learn the Greek. It says they obeyed and they feared the Lord.
Today, the church is too busy building the pleasures of their lives, and they are forsaking the work of the Temple of God - our body and the body of Christ. Because of a false teaching of salvation and a Christian walk; which is founded on the false teaching of the Covenant system, the church believes that all one has to do to be saved is believe Christ is real and say a prayer asking Him into their heart. Then, and I’ve heard this with my own ears, they persecute those who work heavily for the Kingdom of God; saying, “They think they can work for their Salvation”. Because, the church has made “works” a dirty word because they don’t understand the difference in the Laws of Scripture, nor do they know what “works” is being talked about in Scripture. Therefore, we must sit back and let God do all the work.
Yet, when we read that these people feared God and started working on the Temple, what did God say - “I am with you”. That phrase, “I am with you” is a familiar phrase we find in the New Testament. Can you think of where that is found?
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
God made a Covenant with Abraham, because of his obedience to what God commanded. The Seed of that Covenant could not be fulfilled until a people were started, the first fruits of God, to which would understand who YHWH was and the coming Messiah. Because of transgression of sin, God had to bring in the works of the Covenant, 430 years after the Covenant made with Abraham, until the promise could come. Now that the promise come, being Y’shua, He fulfilled, which is brought into reality the prophecies of the Messiah and the Covenant made with Abraham based on his obedience. We then look at New Testament Scripture, and there is absolutely NO WAY that anyone can truly study these books and letters and get anything other than a relationship with God, built upon a reconciliation with Him, by a renewing of our mind from the sinful mind we had before and living in full obedience to God’s will, not only in the stopping of sinning that we know but also in the works that He has appointed for us in that we go and make disciples of all nations and teaching them to OBEY EVERYTHING God has commanded. The Terms and Conditions are very clear, stop making excuses for your lack of obedience, and working on your own desires and start seeing God as the black and white God He is; obey Him and do the work He has commanded of us. Then, “He will be with us always”
God Bless