The New Covenant Wine Is All of God’s Word

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It's great to examine the scriptures regarding the different covenants. When most hear the word "covenant," it's usually assumed that it's legalistic and it all applies to the "dreaded law"..., Even though it's all part of God's instruction. I personally hadn't examined all of the different covenants between men and God and it's refreshing to read through these and to see that God has always worked with/and through covenants/agreements.

Without being in agreement with HIM and upholding HIS word, and our word, (as God ALWAYS upholds HIS Word) we would only be walking contrary to HIM and HIS truth.

I was reading Romans Ch. 1, and it made me think of what you shared here, Just us two. It even speaks of covenant breakers in the example of those who, "did not like to retain God in their knowledge."

Thank you for sharing your studies on the covenants.

 

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Studying the Marriage Covenant, the last of the four types of covenants God made, answered a big question in my mind. Many times I thought about the “bride of Christ” and wondered, if the church is the bride of Christ why is the church so ineffective and so wrapped up in itself and its own good deeds, and its frequent pot-luck dinners, retreats, seminars, etc. today.

The Marriage Covenant consists of all of the prior covenants which are satisfied to the fullest extent all merged into this final pledge. As with the other three covenants, and just about everything else in the Bible, learning about the Hebrew culture and idioms used greatly expanded my own understanding of God’s Word. I tried to consolidate the information concerning the Marriage Covenant and the culture involved but every time I tried, it seemed like something important to good understanding was missing. So, I used copy and paste so you can read the whole explanation written by someone far more knowledgeable than myself – John Klein and Adam Spears.

“Once the prospective bridegroom made his first official move, he brought his father to the intended bride’s house. They carried a betrothal cup, wine and the anticipated price in a pouch. When they got there, they knocked. The prospective brides’ father would be on the other side of the door, but before he opened, he would peek through a little window, identify the visitors, then look to his daughter to confirm what, in most cases, she had long since settled in her own mind. Should he open the door? If she said yes, for all practical purposes the commitment to work through the betrothal process and arrive at a fully functioning marriage was made at that moment. Therefore, hers was not a lightly made decision for the issue was not, “Can we have a wedding?” Once the door was opened the only remaining question was, “We can have a marriage if we can work out the terms … so what will they be?” In other words, opening the door was the first major step toward making a marriage, which is precisely what Yeshua is saying in the verse. You open the door, He comes in, and the restoration process begins. At that point, you have salvation. But beyond that, He is asking you if you will enter into the covenant of betrothal with Him. Will you walk in a loving relationship with your bridegroom? But that’s not the only significant parallel here. The choice is “ours” exactly as the choice was always that of the ancient Hebrew bride. If she refused to open the door the groom would make a u-turn and head for home. And even after the bride opened the door, she could end the whole process at any stage. In fact, once the initial agreement to be married was “darashed out” (ie, worked out through intense, animated discussion) and formalized in a written contract, the bride was the only one who could still back out, right up to the very instant of marriage consummation. She could stop the whole process at any moment, and she didn’t even need any special reason.

The Betrothal
The betrothal was binding and could only be undone by a divorce with proper grounds, such as the bride being found not to be a virgin, (see Joseph and Mary - Matt 1 v18-19 ) The young man prepared a Ketubah, or marriage contract (or covenant) which he presented to the intended bride and her father. Included in this was the “Bride Price,” which was appropriate in that society to compensate the young woman’s parents for the cost of raising her, as well as being an expression of his love for her.

Acceptance
To see if the proposal was accepted, the young man would pour a cup of wine for his beloved and wait to see if she drank it. This cup represents a blood covenant. If she drank the cup she would have accepted the proposal and they would be betrothed. The young man would then give gifts to his beloved, and then take his leave. The young woman would have to wait for him to return and collect her.

The wedding chamber and the Chuppah
Before leaving the young man would announce, “I am going to prepare a place for you,” and “I will return for you when it is ready.” The usual practice was for the young man to return to his father’s house and build a honeymoon room there. This is what is symbolized by the chuppah or canopy which is characteristic of Jewish weddings. He was not allowed to skimp on the work and had to get his father’s approval before he could consider it ready for his bride. If asked the date of his wedding he would have to reply, “Only my father knows.” Meanwhile the bride would be making herself ready so that she would be pure and beautiful for her bridegroom. During this time she would wear a veil when she went, out to show she was spoken for (she has been bought with a price)

The Wedding
When the wedding chamber was ready the bridegroom could collect his bride. He could do this at any time so the bride would make special arrangements. It was the custom for a bride to keep a lamp, her veil and her other things beside her bed. Her bridesmaids were also waiting and had to have oil ready for their lamps. When the groom and his friends got close to the bride’s house they would give a shout and blow a shofar to let her know to be ready. When the wedding party arrived at father’s house the newlyweds went into the wedding chamber for a seven day honeymoon and the groom’s best friend stood outside waiting for the groom to tell him that the marriage had been consummated. The proof of this was the bed-sheet bearing the blood shed by the bride as a result of her first sexual intercourse. This is notable for two reasons. It speaks of purity before marriage, but it also shows a blood covenant (the most solemn and binding kind) such as God’s covenant with his people. Then all the friends really started celebrating for the seven days that the couple were honeymooning. When the couple emerged there would be much congratulation and the Marriage Supper could begin. Gives a whole new meaning to Jesus preparing a place for us as well as taking the cup unworthily.
At the same time, once his initial proposal had been made and accepted, the groom was utterly and totally committed. Only by a writ of divorce, on extremely limited grounds, could he ever back out. Ok, this is what really hit me.......this completely lines up with my studies that we can walk away from our salvation .......having said that, I don’t want this to turn into a OSAS thread.....Also, my studies of body of Christ/Bride of Christ.....please just look at what is offered here and take to the Lord each individually..... You are invited to compare the above to the betrothal covenant between ourselves and Yeshua. Opening the door is the same as accepting Him as our redeemer and forming a lasting relationship. It’s the first step in the process.
On the other hand, we can accept eternal salvation and even avail ourselves of all the benefits of a servant covenant with Him, including heaven itself, without ever moving beyond that to betrothal. In fact, if we decide to go a little further than simply opening the door, we might even be able to establish and maintain the servant covenant, then the friendship covenant, and perhaps even the inheritance covenant without ever moving beyond that last point. Becoming the actual bride of Yeshua requires a committed, intimate relationship with Him that goes well beyond all the preliminaries. How many of us are willing to separate or distance ourselves from those things that are not created, designed by, or pleasing to God? Even so, if we do desire to take the betrothal step, we can still back out at any time, and many of us do. Yet the invitation to be part of the bride is always there, except for those times when we give back the free gift of salvation. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NIV).

The four cups of wine
Think once again in terms of the four types of covenant. Remember, they are progressive in nature, meaning that you must enter into the first three covenants - in order - before you can enter into number four. Remember also the names and the implications of each one, for you’re about to see how the servant, friendship and inheritance covenants are woven into covenant number 4. Each one helps to establish, to support and to reinforce the ancient Hebrew betrothal contact, In turn, the progression of commitments about to take place during the betrothal process, beginning on the evening when the groom comes and knocks, mirrors the sequence of commitments in the 4 covenants.
In his capacity as the Ultimate Master of Symbolism, God established 4 cups of wine as milestones, or “markers,” to signify exactly where the betrothal parties were in their negotiations. Each cup corresponded to a covenant, but it also represented something that all the participants had to physically grasp, to physically consume and make part of themselves. It goes without saying that each person would also have to participate mentally and spiritually at each step of the way, or the process would break down.
Now, refer back to the reference to “sup with him” from Revelation 3:20, for it has to do with what traditionally happened next. Once the prospective groom and his father were inside the prospective brides home, as they worked out all the details of the wedding they would eat dinner together with the prospective bride’s family. In this instance, the visiting father and son represented their entire family.

The rest of this article will be put into the next post.

 

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Members of the two families would also drink 3 of the 4 betrothal cups of wine, one cup each at certain well-established points throughout the negotiating process.
Cup number 1.
The first cup was the cup of Sanctification (Barry and Steffi Rubin, The Messianic Passover Haggadah - Baltimore: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 1989, page 7) which equated to a servant (blood) covenant between the two families. This cup was consumed almost as soon as the door closed. The groom, his father, and every member of the bride’s family above the age of accountability participated, for each member of each family was agreeing to serve the other family.
Sanctification embodies the idea of setting ourselves apart for God. Just as God sanctified the Nation of Israel, these two families were doing the same with respect to each other. In effect they were making a sacred commitment to become one giant family, each person to unilaterally serve all the new members. That’s partly why the support structure underlying ancient Jewish marriages was so strong.
Cup number 2.
The second cup was the Cup of Betrothal, Cup of Plagues (Ibid.) Cup of Bargaining, or the Cup of Dedication (Marvin R. Wilson, Our Father Abraham), which presented a salt covenant between the families. This cup was consumed by the bride and groom and their two fathers only. The two families, represented here by the fathers, were covenanting to become eternal friends with their joint son and daughter, and with each other.
As they ate, the members of both families haggled over the details of the marriage contract. This is usually where the negotiations would break down if they were ever going to. But if they managed to surmount all the difficulties, the families entered into a friendship covenant even as they established the terms of the upcoming marriage. In similar fashion, we are admonished to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” Philippians 2:12) when we accept the Lord’s offer of servant hood, which then matures into friendship.
The issues the families established were straightforward and direct, just as the ancient Hebrews themselves were. How much would the groom’s family contribute to the wedding feast? Where would they hold it? What skills would the bride need to acquire to become a Proverbs 31 wife? What possessions would she bring with her? Did she fully understand her responsibility to remain pure?
The bride’s family would also want to know how the groom intended to support her. Just as it was the bride’s primary responsibility purify and prepare herself, the groom’s chief responsibility was to go away and prepare a place for her to live. Many times her new quarters would be no more than a room, built on the side of his father’s house. This would hardly equal what Yeshua promises us in John 14:2, yet the whole process certainly corresponds to the reference in that verse.
Ok, a little side note here…there is no advocating of “works” or any doctrine thereof. They are simply pointing out how the sacred betrothal system works, a system set up by God himself to reclaim the bride who divorced Him back in the Garden of Eden. (I thought it was the nation of Israel)…….to review that system in the light of what is talked about so far, salvation occurs when you open the door of your heart and ask the Savior to come in. the first reciprocal commitment you can make occurs when you drink the first two cups of wine. But you don’t have to drink ANY cups, or perform ANY works to be saved.

Cup number 3.
The third cup was the Cup of Redemption. (Wilson). Or the Cup of Inheritance. Which represented a sandal covenant and signified the shared inheritance of the marriage partners. This cup was drunk at the end of the meal, by the bride and groom only, to symbolize their exclusive commitment to each other, along with their increasing level of intimacy.
It also officially “sealed” the marriage agreement between them. Once the bargaining was over, the families brought in a scribe who wrote out all the terms of the marriage covenant in a formal agreement, called a Ketubah.
At that point the young men of the family would hit the streets and blow their rams horn trumpets (shofars), announcing to all the world that the marriage contract had been signed. For all intents and purposes the bride and groom were now officially married, even though neither the ceremony nor the consummation had yet occurred. Nevertheless, from that moment onward, if either one died, the survivor would fully inherit the deceased partner’s possessions.
The third cup also corresponded to the cup Yeshua shared with His disciples during the Passover feast, or the Last supper, when he washed their feet and thus transferred His inheritance to them (sandal covenant). He also made further reference to His coming marriage to His kalah, His “called out ones,” knowing that it was customary for the groom not to drink wine again until the wedding ceremony. That explains why He said he would not touch the fruit of the vine again until He could do so with them in the Kingdome of Heaven. He even maintained his vow as He hung on the cross when He refused the pain numbing wine that the Roman soldiers offered.

The meaning of communion......
None of this can be modified by our opinion or interpretation. We don’t get a list of options, except for choosing whether we’ll participate in the first place. Once we’re in a covenant with Yeshua we don’t get the option of restructuring that relationship to suit ourselves. Yet sadly, the modern Church has altered the very fabric of the Hebraic relationship that God began with Adam and Eve. We have literally thrown away our understanding in favor of doing it our own way. Yet God has shown us very clearly how He wants to be approached. It’s not our option to say that we, on the contrary, have a better idea. God says, “This is how you go about mending and restoring your relationship with Me.”
Given that dynamic, it’s totally presumptuous and futile of us to try to alter our relationship and our approach to God. From God’s perspective, neither is the meaning and import of any of the four covenant types up for discussion. God offered mankind a betrothal contract starting 6,000 years ago, and sealed the terms 2,000 years ago. It’s also not accidental that the cups of wine of the betrothal covenant overlay - and thus reinforce - the individual covenants in the sequence. All this happens on purpose, for God was building a seamless mosaic of concepts that has, at its foundation, a commitment to establish and maintain a relationship leading to marriage, and this is the ultimate responsibility. Hence it requires the ultimate covenant.

Cup number 4.
The fourth cup of wine was the Cup of Praise (Rubin). Shared between the bride and groom only during the wedding ceremony itself. This fourth cup also awaits all those who are chosen to be the bride by Yeshua. It will be taken on the wedding day and will forever seal Yeshua’s union with His beloved.
We become eligible for the fourth covenant only after we’ve met all the previous requirements by entering into the first three. The decisions to do so are ours alone. However, Yeshua chooses His own bride, to whom He promised the crown of life in Revelation 2:10.

What is a Ketubah?
Ketubah is the Hebrew word for marriage contract. As talked about above, the terms of the contract were worked out between the two families during the meal they shared together. When both sides were satisfied they brought in a scribe or a rabbi to write the actual document itself, which had five parts.
1) First came a combined family history of the bride and groom, which included detailed family trees and anecdotes.
2) Second came a personal and family history of the bride, with a detailed family tree and anecdotes.
3) Third came a personal and family history of the groom, also with a family tree and anecdotes.
4) Fourth came the story of how the bride and groom met, with related anecdotes.
5) Fifth came a final section detailing both the bride’s and the groom’s responsibilities before and after the wedding. Look at the significant parallels to the marriage contract itself, one from the beginning of scripture and one from the very end.
The first five books of the Bible correspond to the five parts of the ancient Hebrew ketubah.
1) Genesis provides the combined family history of the bride and groom.
2) Exodus gives the personal and family history of the bride.
3) Leviticus provides the history of God’s family, the Levites.
4) Numbers tells of god’s love affair with His people in the wilderness and records His joys and sorrows as He reaches out to His bride.
5) Deuteronomy specifies the responsibilities that both bride and groom must fulfill.
What is this saying? That the first five books of the Bible are written as a marriage contract between God and His people. This is not analogy….It this is what it is.

 

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I go to prepare…
By the time the happy couple had drunk the third cup of wine, only three more “milestones” remained.
1) First, the groom had to pay the bride price (which he’d brought with him), equaling 30 pieces of silver in Yeshua’s time. It was 100% refundable if the bride turned out be impure. This specific amount was also the price of a male bondservant (Exodus 21:32) and came to symbolize the redemption price of a bride (Leviticus 27:4)
2) Second, the groom now had the sole responsibility to go and prepare a home. … In this enterprise the groom was under the ironclad rule of his father, who was the only person empowered to judge when the groom’s bridal preparation (as per the Ketubah ) were sufficient and complete.
3) Third, the groom finalized his preparations he would let the word slip out that the wedding day was near………….
The groom could come anytime between 6 and midnight, on the second thought the 4th day of the week. When he did so he had to see his bride’s welcoming light in her window. If she let it burn out he would take it that as a sign that she had either changed her mind or simply didn’t care anymore, and he would turn away and leave her in darkness.
After the ceremony itself came the moment of yachid, or physical unity. The parents of the bride would invite the guests to enjoy the feast. The music would swell, the dancing would begin and the wine would flow for the first of seven days.
Meanwhile the bride and groom would slip away to a private room, set apart from the noise and provided especially for them. Soon their marriage would be complete in every sense.
On the other hand, if the groom discovered that his bride was not a virgin, or worse pregnant, the whole situation would immediately change. Within the ancient Hebrew culture, the groom had four choices:
1) He could let her pay the price for her unfaithfulness, which was death.
2) He could quietly give her a writ of divorce and walk away, which is what Joseph started to do with Mary before the angel intervened. But this approach was risky for her; later on, if other witnesses came forward to accuse her of adultery, the law would still require her to pay the death penalty (Matthew 1:19).
3) He could pretend the child was his. If he discovered the truth before the wedding, he could forfeit the ceremony and simply begin living with his new wife, who was already married to him anyway from a legal point of view. This is essentially what Joseph did with Mary
4) He could choose to be her goel (redeemer) and take her punishment upon himself. In the case of sexual impurity, he would pay her fee … death. The groom could also redeem his bride \for violating Torah in other ways as well, whatever her violations might be involved including monetary debts of all kinds. The biggest drawback I n this approach was that the groom could never again refuse to pay for any “required redemption” as long as they stayed married. He’d established a potentially harsh precedent; once he’d redeemed her even one time he had to pay the same price every time she violated torah after that, as long as she was his wife.

What does this all mean?
This is the introduction of the fundamental concepts that underlie B’rit Hadassah and the book of Revelation. This will aid in understanding Revelation as never before. Right now the message is still quite simple. Each of us has both the obligation and the privilege of choosing the relationship we will have with God. We can be His servant, his friend, His son, or his daughter.
Beyond that, we can purify ourselves, accept each of the covenants He offers and accept the ultimate union. We can be part of His bride.
But becoming part of the bride doesn’t happen automatically. This is probably the most important point of this whole chapter. Many assume that salvation alone is all they need to become “one with Christ,” now and forever united with Him as His Chosen One, His bride dressed in white.
It isn’t that simple. Salvation equals … salvation! Nothing less, but also nothing more. Salvation / covenant / betrothal is not a three-for-one sale. Salvation means you can come to the wedding, which is quite an invitation all by itself, but you can’t be a guest and a bride at the same time.

One more example.......
Matthew 23:37
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
Most of us understand this verse on the simplest level, as saying that He loved them and still loves us, as a mother loves her chicks. But from a Hebrew perspective this verse means much more. Remember, Hebrew scripture works on four levels! The Hebrew word translated as “wings” is kanaf and can mean wings, but here it is also used to describe the corners of Yeshua’s prayer shawl, His talit. Hanging from the corners of the talit are the tzit-tzit, what most people call “fringes” but which are actually four cords doubled over and knotted in a distinct pattern, numerically spelling out the name of god.
Yeshua Himself provided the “hen” metaphor, but in addition He was referring to what a loving groom would do for his wife. At the end of a Hebrew marriage ceremony he would spread his arms around her and wrap her up in his talit, thus protecting her but also making them as one, even as he “covered” both of them with the name and the word of God.
Thus He was also saying how much he yearned to be in a marriage relationship with His people. †”

 

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On the other hand, we can accept eternal salvation and even avail ourselves of all the benefits of a servant covenant with Him, including heaven itself, without ever moving beyond that to betrothal. In fact, if we decide to go a little further than simply opening the door, we might even be able to establish and maintain the servant covenant, then the friendship covenant, and perhaps even the inheritance covenant without ever moving beyond that last point. Becoming the actual bride of Yeshua requires a committed, intimate relationship with Him that goes well beyond all the preliminaries. How many of us are willing to separate or distance ourselves from those things that are not created, designed by, or pleasing to God? Even so, if we do desire to take the betrothal step, we can still back out at any time, and many of us do. Yet the invitation to be part of the bride is always there, except for those times when we give back the free gift of salvation. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NIV).[/FONT]

The four cups of wine
Think once again in terms of the four types of covenant. Remember, they are progressive in nature, meaning that you must enter into the first three covenants - in order - before you can enter into number four. Remember also the names and the implications of each one, for you’re about to see how the servant, friendship and inheritance covenants are woven into covenant number 4. Each one helps to establish, to support and to reinforce the ancient Hebrew betrothal contact, In turn, the progression of commitments about to take place during the betrothal process, beginning on the evening when the groom comes and knocks, mirrors the sequence of commitments in the 4 covenants.
In his capacity as the Ultimate Master of Symbolism, God established 4 cups of wine as milestones, or “markers,” to signify exactly where the betrothal parties were in their negotiations. Each cup corresponded to a covenant, but it also represented something that all the participants had to physically grasp, to physically consume and make part of themselves. It goes without saying that each person would also have to participate mentally and spiritually at each step of the way, or the process would break down.
Now, refer back to the reference to “sup with him” from Revelation 3:20, for it has to do with what traditionally happened next. Once the prospective groom and his father were inside the prospective brides home, as they worked out all the details of the wedding they would eat dinner together with the prospective bride’s family. In this instance, the visiting father and son represented their entire family.

The rest of this article will be put into the next post.

That is just awesome! Even in the example of marriage there is an entire pattern. It's awesome learning about the way that a marriage took place in Israel.

This definitely shows the relationship involved in our walk with Christ, and even our own desires and our own will can affect that relationship, whether we will desire what He has for us, or our own things. Very very nicely put together.

This is great!!!

Glory to God for allowing you to share this!

Have to finish the second half of what you posted today.

 

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My parents gave me instruction as all good parents do and many times I or my brothers would say, “Yeah, but…” and they always replied with, “No yeah-buts. Just do it.” My heavenly Father, however, more graciously answered my “yeah but” that I told you about in the op where I said, “But I thought You were leading me in the direction of studying the “Bride of Christ” because so many people don’t have a clue who that is or are misled thinking they are part of this blessed body of believers,” to which He replied, “They are related to each other.” Now I know how they are related.

A few thoughts about the “Bride of Christ” –
I know it was a long time ago, forty-three years ago next month to be more precise, that I was a new bride but even though my memory lets me down a bit now and then, I can still recall how I thought and acted when we were engaged and when we were newlyweds. One thing I distinctly remember is that everything I did was geared toward making my fiance`/husband happy with me. I wanted so much to please him that he didn’t even see me without makeup on until after we were married. And shortly before we got married, I developed a sudden interest in washing and waxing the car – not just any car – his car. And I hated raw onions, but he loved them and it took only one mention by him that they were a vital part of a taco to make me suddenly decide that I must put onion on my tacos from then on also. You get the idea. I have since backed off a little bit from the “must please my husband in all I do” but very little. I still listen to everything he says to pick up any hint regarding what he would want. My point is that I see nobody who even appears to live with an attitude like that toward God – including myself…and I hang my head in shame.

 

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Then there is the scripture that uses the term “New Covenant” which those who prefer to disregard the Old Testament as being anything more than mere history like to point out. They claim this entirely nullifies the “Old Covenant” or the “Law” and they teach others to ignore what God requires of us, which is to keep the covenants which began with God and Adam. It is always a challenge to think about something we have some degree of familiarity with in a different aspect because we are used to thinking about it a certain way. We are creatures of habit, after all. However, to study for the purpose of learning the truth, this is what must be done. This is contrary to the normal so-called study which has the purpose of using whatever portions of scripture a person can find to support his/her own thoughts on a given subject.

Obviously, it is of the utmost importance to let scripture speak for itself and to always compare scripture with scripture, taking context into account. Another thing often forgotten is that there are words that have been added that were not in the original text when the KJV was written, and they are the italicized words. The KJV is not my favorite translation but it does clearly show these italicized words which makes it a beneficial version to use when studying alongside other versions or translations.

There exists a school of thought that says it isn’t a new covenant and should correctly be labelled as a “renewed” covenant. The first thing I had to do was to identify or define the New/Renewed Covenant? There isn’t much in the Scriptures regarding the “new covenant.” The first verse that refers to this covenant is found in what we call the Old Testament - Tanakh in Hebrew - in a prophecy made by the prophet Jeremiah around 588-587 B.C.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (KJV)
[SUP]31 [/SUP]Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
[SUP]32 [/SUP]Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
[SUP]33 [/SUP]But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
[SUP]34 [/SUP]And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

This is the only time the phrase “new covenant” is used in the Old Testament and is the scripture referred to in Hebrews 8:6-12 (KJV)
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
[SUP]9 [/SUP]Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
[SUP]11 [/SUP]And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

A word study can be helpful so looking at the key words in this passage from the book of Hebrews we find: Starting from the word that is translated as “new” we find the word חֲדָשָֽׁה in the Hebrew “haDasah”. The dictionary form of the word is חָדָשׁ (“hadas” or “chadash”) which is Strong’s #2319. When used as an adjective, it is “chadash” but when it is used as a noun it is the word “chodesh”, meaning “new moon” or month. The verb of the word (chadash) is translated as “to renew” (as seen in 1 Samuel 11:14) or “restored” (as can be seen in 2 Chronicles 15:8). When looking up the adjective form of the word (as is the use here) in the lexicons it shows that has two related meanings:
· That what is recent (not old) – young or new
· That what was not previously known
This is a case where we must rely on context to derive the proper meaning. The covenant being referred to here, can either be a renewal of the existing covenant, or it can be a covenant that did not previously exist. What we learn about the “new” covenant from this phrase in Hebrews 8 is that it is not like the previous and that “this is the covenant” tells us the content that will be contained in the covenant. Taken together we can surmise that these two clues let us know that this covenant does not exist independent of the previous two. Looking into the content of this new/renewed covenant, the connection to the earlier two covenants can easily been seen in “I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people” and “My law.” This is a clear link to the Sinai covenant. I see where this connection, in my opinion, makes the choice of “renewed” better for this specific term.

 

[just-us-2]

Hebrews 8 starts out talking about the tabernacle.

[When God gave Moses the law, after leading the Israelites out of Egypt, he gave instructions for building the Tabernacle. It was to be the centerpiece of Israel and would move wherever they camped in their journey to the Promised Land. The Tabernacle was not like churches today in that it was not merely a place where people worshiped. Instead, it was a place where God visited the people and made his glory known. Exodus 40:34-35 (KJV) [SUP]34 [/SUP]Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. [SUP]35 [/SUP]And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Once Israel settled in the Promised Land, the tabernacle no longer needed to be mobile and when David became king, he made plans to build a permanent temple where God could dwell. Those plans were completed by his son, Solomon. (1 Kings 6)]

Then the third paragraph of Hebrews 8 refers back to the work of the high priests concerning the tabernacle bringing Jesus into the picture by saying, “But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior to theirs, just as the covenant he mediates is better. For this covenant has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises.” Hebrews 8:6 (CJB)

The way this passage in Hebrews is worded, it is easy to read as a new, completely separate from the old, covenant if a person neglects to study (something relatively few people like to do) as the Bible exhorts us to do. Obviously, that would lead to misinterpretation. I found it interesting that this particular weakness in human nature, also known as having a carnal mind or thought process, was the very thing God was talking about in Hebrews 8:7 (KJV) when he said, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” I didn’t see where adding “covenant” in that verse did any damage to the understanding of the verse, but I also looked at the Complete Jewish Bible which says, “Indeed, if the first covenant had not given ground for faultfinding, there would have been no need for a second one.” That makes it much clearer that it wasn’t a faulty covenant that God had initiated with man – it was man’s weak human nature, his carnal mind – that made it necessary for the final level of the four covenants to be made available to us. Then God uses verses 8 and 9 to expound on how the failure of man to keep covenant occurred and how He reacted. Verses 10, 11, and 12 outline the substance of the renewed covenant.

Is it just me or are there a LOT of similarities between the substance of this new/renewed covenant and the “old” covenant?

 

[just-us-2]

Let’s see now…I have been a Christian since 1972… over forty years…and it wasn’t until a short time ago that I understood what is meant in the last verse of Hebrews 8, right after all of this discussion in that chapter about a “new covenant”…
Hebrews 8:13 (KJV)“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away”
…and then the next verse, Hebrews 9:1 (KJV) “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary,” where “covenant” is an added word.

It didn’t make sense to me that our perfect, all-knowing, all-wise God would make a mistake and have to come up with another plan after Adam sinned; it didn’t make sense to me that our unchanging God would change His mind and decide He wanted to make “new” covenant with man that would nullify and totally depart from the pattern of the earlier covenants when He says He does not change in Malachi 3:6 (KJV) “For I am the LORD, I change not;” Believe me, I spent a lot of time meditating on and praying for wisdom to discern this correctly!

In the process of “helping” my husband with something he was writing, I learned that the word “covenant” in Hebrews 8 and 9 is terribly misunderstood. (I hope I can explain this the way it is so clear to me in my head!)
First, I looked back at Hebrews 8:2 (KJV): “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” The key phrase here is, “of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, [MUST be Spiritual!] and not man,” which leads into a description of the high priest and his duties in the physical tabernacle. Then in verse 7, it had seemed to me before that adding the word “covenant” there didn’t do any real damage to the understanding, but the more I thought about it and looked at the larger context, it became apparent that it limits understanding of what is really being said. But as it says without the added word, “For if that first had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second,” it seems clear to me that it is speaking of the physical tabernacle and how the duties of the physical high priests are being done better by Jesus as our High Priest in the temple which we are supposed to be spiritually. As Romans 12:1 KJV tells us, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” In all honesty, that verse really came to life for me when I read it in the Complete Jewish Bible taken directly from the original where it says it this way: “I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical "Temple worship" for you.” The comparison between the physical and spiritual became much clearer with those words, “logical Temple worship.”

All of a sudden the words Jesus said after clearing the temple of moneychangers when He was questioned by the church leaders, “… Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” became so obvious that I felt foolish for not ever understanding before that He was saying that His resurrection after three days and taking over as our High Priest who will never die, was moving the covenant from the physical to the SPIRITUAL, just as the physical temple sacrifices etc. are no longer required.

In several passages of scripture we are told that it is our ‘heart condition’ that matters to God, a theme reiterated literally innumerable times as evangelism takes place all over the world using the New Testament as a basis. Often neglected though, are the many times the same message appears in the Old Testament. For example, David speaks of it in Psalm 66:13-18 where he says he did all of the right things required for temple sacrifice and so on – physical requirements - but when he gets to verse 18 he says that God would not have even heard him if there had been iniquity in his heart - Spiritual. And God speaks through His prophet, Isaiah, and tells us exactly what He thinks of correct sacrifices and temple worship (physical) minus the heart (spiritual) to match in Isaiah 1:11-14.

The physical was given so that we could understand the Spiritual !

 

[just-us-2]

The physical was given so that we could understand the Spiritual !

An illustration of this entire concept of the “old” and the “new/renewed” covenants and how the new is not a separate unconnected entity which made the “old” obsolete, of no value, null and void, can be seen when doing a word study on the various key words, such as: “faultless” in Hebrews 8:7: “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” According to Strong’s Concordance, the word “faultless” in this verse is the Greek word # 278 ametameletos am-et-am-el'-ay-tos from 1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed derivative of 3338; irrevocable:--without repentance, not to be repented of. Since it was derived from # 3338, I had to follow that back to see how it is described. And on it went but it got quite involved so I am going to skip the long Greek definitions for everything I was led to as I studied and consolidate things.

One thing I noticed was that the Greek word “meta” is part of all of these derivative words and that led me to the word we still use today – metamorphosis. (Strong’s #3339 = metamorphoo met-am-or-fo'-o from 3326 and 3445; to transform (literally or figuratively, "metamorphose"):--change, transfigure, transform) Consider the lowly caterpillar for a moment. The caterpillar hatches from the egg a butterfly laid on a leaf and lives out its life happily munching on the plant where it hatched. It can only eat certain varieties of leaves – a comparison in my own mind of the food of God’s Word that we need to consume to be spiritually nourished. Once it has eaten all it needs to grow as big as it is supposed to (compared to God’s timing for each level of His covenant to be accomplished, step-by-step), the caterpillar forms a chrysalis or pupa. I used to think that a caterpillar spun a chrysalis and then emerged, like a spider spins a web, but the caterpillar actually becomes the chrysalis and this is where the transformation we call metamorphosis occurs. While the caterpillar is in the form of the chrysalis, its body is changing – not dying! When all of the forming and changing is complete, the caterpillar emerges as a beautiful butterfly. The butterfly should be seen as a completion of the old, not because the caterpillar was faulty, but because it had its purpose to fulfill just like the levels of God’s covenant have to each be fulfilled so the next stage can be built upon it. The New/Renewed Covenant must be seen as COMPLETION OF THE OLD...NOT FAULTY – just incomplete, which is why Jesus said He came to “FULFILL” and not destroy what God had already set in place.

If one thinks about it, we can’t be born again if we have never been born so that too is based upon something “old” or in existence before the new birth. That reminded me of way back when our kids were young and we had a record of Barry McGuire singing Bullfrogs and Butterflies. And since everything God created has a spiritual application, if one rejects this concept, what does that say about him rejecting God’s perfect creation of which the butterfly is a part? Kill the caterpillar and see if a butterfly is ever produced. Break the cycle and both new and old cease to exist.

Face it, the dynamics are lost if the “old” is discarded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm3C-ALx7ao

 

[just-us-2]

One more thing came to mind as I ruminated upon this whole panorama of events and promises and covenants, etc. I have heard numerous sermons over the years about how God loves us unconditionally and recently read a short article debunking the same thing. Imagine that. So, I have come to a conclusion about that, too.

God does love us unconditionally – as in no matter what we do He does not cease to love us. And that is the realm in which many people exist. However, He cannot interact with us if we are not abiding in covenant with Him. The very first book of the Bible tells us how God relates to humanity, and that is through covenants, which are simply “religious” contracts. And we know that there is no such thing as a contract without terms and conditions. All contracts/covenants consist of certain elements -
· exchange of valuable benefits...
· terms binding on both parties...
· a penalty for default...
When Adam and Eve defaulted on their part of the covenant God had no choice but to invoke the penalty clause, because He had had chosen to bind Himself in that covenant. The very nature of covenants dictates that God had no choice. Granted, God has the power to do anything so He could have said, “Oh well, maybe that is a little harsh – how about if I just ground you two for a week and call it good enough to fulfill the penalty.” But God’s nature dictates that a lighter sentence for disobedience was not an option.

Take a look for a moment, at the difficulties in churches today. False teaching abounds and members are severely malnourished. Character issues like adultery and other sex-based scandals are labelled psychological in nature. Most likely the thief who made off with $600,000 from Joel Osteen’s church safe recently would be considered as having a psychological problem too. The fundamental problem is religious, for lack of a better word. The problems exist because covenants with God are in default. Now consider and just meditate upon the necessity of a penalty to be invoked by God for defaulting on the covenant with Him, and how serious that is. I would guess that I just blew away any fun in your day with that, didn’t I?

It is a very serious matter to have inherited the covenants God made starting with Adam, Abraham, etc. Then we as Christians acknowledge being in covenant with God when we accept His gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus. When we allow our wants, or even what we might consider “needs,” to override our obedience to the Word of God; when we just don’t think about what we are doing or planning to do, and whether it pleases God, we are breaking covenant with Him. God wants that precious relationship restored to His original design which allows us to walk with Him and be His people, and He will be our God. We don’t think of it this way, but in essence, when we are not obedient yet claim to be Christians, we are tugging at God trying to drag Him down to walk in OUR disgusting state. Of course, we don’t accomplish that but we sure do give God a bad name in the eyes of any observers when we say we are Christians and followers of Christ, and even unthinkingly do things or harbor attitudes which are abominable to God.

‘Nuff said. Point made. Now, on to seeing how the title of this thread blends in with all of this covenant discussion.

 

[just-me]

While in my man cave, chewing my cud, I stopped at the word “ruminated” in your article, and selah’d on my rheumatism because of my self-centeredness. After catching the mouse, which I clutched in my right hand, Thessorious came to mind, and I became quite disgusted with his literartical skills. The mouse wiggled loose for a moment, and in the process of trying to catch it again, I found on my monitor (thinking it was a lizard for an instant), the words contemplate, meditate, calculate and hesitate appearing before my varying eyes. I was then able to finish reading your very well put together article.

All kidding aside, it is really good.

 

[just-us-2]

Jeremiah 31:31-33 (NAS) "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

The New Covenant wine is ALL of God’s Word; it is defined by the Word of God…because the God-initiated covenant system where one is built upon and extends the one before it only grows and gets better for mankind as we journey toward the restoration of our intended relationship with God.
Even in the secular world we use exactly the same process every day of our lives…case in point: I was taught the alphabet as a child – and then I learned to put those letters of the alphabet together in certain combinations and make words, etc. I could not make a single word if I had not learned the alphabet first. We dare not think the covenant God made is useless, worn out, abolished, negated, or in any other way trashed just because He told us through the prophet Jeremiah that He would make a “new” covenant with us.
Psalm 105:8 - He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
1 Chronicles 16:15 - Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations
Deuteronomy 30:11 - For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.

The “old” was physical and the “new/renewed” is Spiritual. The physical was given so that we could understand the Spiritual! Without the old, the dynamics of the new would be lost.

Another one of the popular topics of preaching/teaching these days that seeks to nullify the value of the old covenant of God is the wineskin parable. It is taught that the new wineskin is all that matters.
Luke 5:37-39 "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. "But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough."
Consider this. Wine is representative, and an acceptable substitute for, blood in the covenant of God. 1 Corinthians 11:25 (NAS) In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
The wine/blood of the old covenant and the necessity of the physical sacrifices, etc. to keep man’s part of it can be compared to the old wine in old wineskins. When Jesus fulfills the part of restoration of the relationship with mankind that God had planned by being the final physical sacrifice, the transition from physical to Spiritual can be compared to the new. It is still covenant with God (wine) but the format (wineskin) is now spiritual. I couldn’t find a place where it said we should throw away the wine from the old wineskin or that old wine could not be put in a new wineskin. And to me, it seems just one more piece of evidence that proves that the physical was given so that we could understand the Spiritual.

And another thing – speaking of learning, when Paul wrote in Galatians 3:24-25 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster,” he was not saying to forget about the law/schoolmaster. It is helpful to know that in biblical times a schoolmaster was the person who escorted the child to school so he could be taught, not the teacher as we think of it today. This escort had the same place as the law does to us now in that it shows us our need for Christ. To remember the route the schoolmaster taught the child to get to school is equivalent to faith for us. To negate the law is to forget the route. It was up to the child to learn after the schoolmaster dropped him off at school just as it is up to us to learn what God desires of us after we are shown how far we fall short of God’s standards by looking in the mirror the law provides for us.

 

[Least]

Amen Just-us-two,

When when we read the bible from cover to cover, it's undeniable that God has been making the way right from the time that sin entered into the world. Even the prophets make the comparison throughout the word of the "watered garden."

Isaiah 58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Isaiah 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Isaiah 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Isaiah 58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
Isaiah 58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Jeremiah 31:11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
Jeremiah 31:12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
Jeremiah 31:13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

Even the account where the people were brought into the Promised Land gives a picture of this.

Deuteronomy 11:10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
Deuteronomy 11:11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
Deuteronomy 11:12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

God's word witness's of itself, as Paul said, "scripture interprets scripture."

His word keeps us from going to the right or to the left and on the straight and narrow road.

Deuteronomy 28:14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Proverbs 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Numbers 20:16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
Numbers 20:17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.



Wonderful study! Thank you for continuing to share.

 

[just-me]

God's word witness's of itself, as Paul said, "scripture interprets scripture."

His word keeps us from going to the right or to the left and on the straight and narrow road.

Deuteronomy 28:14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Proverbs 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Numbers 20:16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
Numbers 20:17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

Wonderful study! Thank you for continuing to share.

"ALL" of what He has revealed of Himself to us is faithful and true. He is true to His word. He has always held true to His promises/covenants. Without having it confirmed from Israelite Biblical history, and personally experiencing it in our lives, what hope would we have? Thanks sis.

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
[SUP]1 [/SUP]Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

History is evidence. Convocation is for learning the evidence, and that builds faith, giving us hope because of what's evident.


Romans 8:24 (KJV)
[SUP]24 [/SUP]For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

and my favorite scripture as follows;

Romans 5:1-5 (KJV)
[SUP]1 [/SUP]Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
[SUP]2 [/SUP]By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
[SUP]4 [/SUP]And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
[SUP]5 [/SUP]And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 

[Karraster]

The more one studies God's Word, the more beautiful and perfect, like His Creation before the fall of man. From Genesis to Revelation, it all ties together! If a verse here or there doesn't seem to fit, keep at it, we find the fault is in us, not the Word.

Some would have it, that God changed His mind, that somehow He was caught off guard by His creation and had to resort to "plan B". Not so, as we find the end was known from the beginning, there was not "plan A" and "plan B", there was one plan, to create a people who would be friends with God, heirs, sons and daughters! Wow!

Just-us-2 I really like your thread! Much food for thought, and lined up with the Word. I like the butterfly comparison, that it's so simple a child could understand. (In fact, I want to borrow it to share with my grand kids).

Looking at the circumstances surrounding Messiah making the "old wine/ new wine" comment, I've wondered too, if it had something to do with his disciples and how He was teaching them pure God's instructions without the added rabbinical laws? I hope to look into that more.

Great study! Thanks!

 

[just-me]

I looked up on the internet about this principle of making wine, and this is what I found.

Quote: “A new wineskin is strong, stretchable and will contain the fermenting wine, allowing containment so the pressure can be let out when the wineskin owner realizes it needs to be out-gassed. An old wine skin will not allow for this. It will crack and the wine will be lost. Another beautiful analogy. Jesus' new covenant can't be contained by the old covenant.”

I find a flaw in the last sentence that leads to misdirection when most people minister about the covenants. He should have said that the blood of Jesus is not like the blood of animals that are in the Old Covenant, but that old covenant shows us that the shedding of blood is for the remission of sins, and the new is the finishing point of a divine, and complete plan.

Look closely at what this person says in the last sentence of this quote. He is actually saying that the old wineskin can’t contain a new wineskin, and there is no mention of the wine anymore. With this analogy the wine is gone, both the old and the new. All you have left is empty containers, and neither one holds anything.

The answer to me is simple. Once a person drinks the wine of the Old Covenant that is still good, the wineskin that held it is empty, but what it contained is nourishment just the same. It is such a waste for God to have made an agreement with the Israelites, and blame His words that the covenant contained as the cause of failure. That frame of mind is a degradation of God’s character. It isn’t the wine that is no good after it gets old; it’s the wineskin that can’t be used in the fermentation process of the new wine as it swells.

 

[just-me]

The old and new are relevant, and of equal importance for us to know the whole truth of Christ.

Jesus prayed in John 12:27-28 "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."

The glory of God was before Jesus sacrifice, and also included His sacrifice. If we don't esteem the old as relevant we are taking the Lord's name in vain.

Exodus 20:7 (KJV)
[SUP]7 [/SUP]Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

 

[just-us-2]

Ecclesiastes 12:13 (CEB) So this is the end of the matter; all has been heard. Worship God and keep God's commandments because this is what everyone must do.
14 God will definitely bring every deed to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or bad.

Psalm 89:28 (CEB) 28 I will always guard my loyal love toward him.My covenant with him will last forever. 29 I will establish his dynasty for all time. His throne will last as long as heaven does.
30 But if his children ever abandon my Instruction, stop following my rules—
31 if they treat my statutes like dirt, stop keeping my commandments—
32 then I will punish their sin with a stick, and I will punish their wrongdoing with a severe beating.
33 But even then I won't withdraw my loyal love from him. I won't betray my faithfulness.
34I won't break my covenant. I won't renege on what crossed my lips.

Malachi 3:6 (CEB) I am the LORD, and I do not change; and you, children of Jacob, have not perished.

 

[just-us-2]

[h=2]Summary[/h] It has become abundantly clear to me that living outside the requirements of Covenant with Almighty God is equivalent to “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” 2 Timothy 3:5 (NAS). We have no excuse for failing to fulfill our part of the Covenant because “[FONT=&quot]The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.” [/FONT]Psalm 25:14 (NAS) and [FONT=&quot]"Therefore[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.” [/FONT]Acts 17:30 (NAS)

Think about how far the obligations of being a party to Covenant reach, even in secular history, let alone what God requires – we are bound by the nature of Covenant to bless one another because we are not in Covenant with God alone. The other parties are all other Christians everywhere. I don’t know about you, but I have just been convicted of being critical of others…and not just the unbelievers….

[FONT=&quot]“So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.“ [/FONT]Deuteronomy 29:9 (NAS)