COVENANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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 that 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 understanding 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 the 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 won't 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 Israel of old and 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 the 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 seriously 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” then 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 won't 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 the 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 words to it. 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 the 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 came, 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 be 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
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