Finally, the truth about the NEW Covenant.
·
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: JEREMIAH 31:31
Now this chapter and the verse above
are very special to me. We have all heard that the Old Testament gives us
prophecies concerning the New Covenant.
In Christianity, we have all
held steadfast to the notion that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment
of the New Covenant.
This subject has been debated for centuries with no true
definitive biblical answers to the question. Well, that is until now.
In this chapter we are going to once
and for all study the prophecies of Jeremiah in depth and see if the Christian
interpretation of the verse is correct.
Before we start, the one criterion
we will use is comparison scriptures.
What I mean is, we
will see what differences there are if any between the Old and New Covenants,
and we will see if there are any other scriptural verses from other writers who
may have written about the New Covenant as well.
So grab your bibles and let’s go
forth into study together…
First let us clarify what the true
definition of the word covenant is. Webster’s Dictionary gives us the
following definition for the word covenant as:
The English word "covenant" means:
"a written agreement
or promise . . . between two or more parties, esp. for the performance of some
action" (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary).
So as you can see in this case, a
covenant was a promised agreement between God and certain individuals in the
bible. So what was the original covenant God made with mankind?
To understand the true meaning of
the New Covenant we have to first understand the original covenant and see what
was said in it. To get that answer we have to go all the way back to a few of
the beginning chapters of the bible.
The Original “OLD” Covenant
A quick history lesson:
In the beginning book of Genesis,
God made a special agreement or covenant with Abram/Abraham because he showed
his righteousness and obedience in following God’s word.
God places His special covering on
Abram/Abraham and promises to finally bless Abraham with children. It is during
this time when the original covenant begins.
- In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. GENESIS 15:18
- And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
- And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. GENESIS 17:7-8
Folks, pay close attention to each
verse above especially the words in red. For you must understand what the
covenant agreement promises were from God.
As you can see,
- God makes an agreement with Abram that He would protect him.
- That YHWH would be his and his children's God and protector.
- YHWH/GOD would give Abram/Abraham and all of his children a land of their own.
- The land of Canaan would be theirs to possess unopposed forever .
This was the original covenant
in the Old Testament folks. Now doesn't it seem to you that Abram and his future
children are really receiving a great deal here? Yes it does!
- Now I want you to remember these points because this information is vital for us to understand what the New Covenant terms also will be.
You also need to know that although
God is making this covenant with Abram, the total fulfillment of the covenant
will not happen until a time after Moses delivers the Hebrews
from Egypt and the advent of Joshua Moses’ successor.
Until then Abraham’s children will
be nomads and eventual slaves in the land of Egypt (see Genesis 15:13)
In Genesis 17:10-27.
Now just like we may complete an
agreement with a handshake, Abraham is told to institute
the circumcision ritual
for himself and his children as proof that he
and his seed/children will honor the terms of the everlasting agreement.
Now we can fast-forward to Moses and the book of Exodus so we
can see the fulfillment of the original covenant:
- And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name YHWH/JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
- And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
- And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. EXODUS 6:3-5
As you can see chapter 6 recaps what
was said back in the book of Genesis. In this chapter God is
doing the speaking and even says he "remembered" his covenant that he
made with Abram/Abraham years ago.
Which as we all now know was that
they would be a free people in a land given to them forever by their God.
God’s warning of the punishment for
breaking the covenant
After God delivered the Hebrews from
the hands of the Egyptians, God consoles and confirms His original promises
with Abraham’s children:
- For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. LEVITICUS 26:9
I’m sure you have noticed that God
is truly upholding His part of the covenant agreement deal.
So now it’s time for Abraham’s
children to live up to their side of the bargain.
God sends the commandments and the
stipulations of the agreement to the people through Moses.
As long as the people obey the laws and statutes of God, they will
always be a fruitful nation and live in prosperity forever!
Again, all God wants is for the
people to show their obedience to Him by
obeying his laws and statutes.You and I see this as
being very fair terms.
But like all contracts have penalty
clauses, God's penalty for breaking his covenant agreement is more severe and
terrifying than most!
- Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by “no means” clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the “fathers” upon the “children” and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. EXODUS 34:7
- The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. NUMBERS 14:18
Wow! This verse has so much crucial
information for us to learn. First of all God is very fair. God knows that we
may at times sin but we are not to stay in that sin. We are to recognize our
failings and repent.
God says that He is a merciful God
and that He will forgive the penitent man of his
iniquity, transgressions and sins.
God warns us that for those who
refuse to obey His laws and statutes there is no forgiveness for the
guilty.
Now for the shocker of
this verse! God says that He will even punish the children and grandchildren of
the man that sins for up to four generations!
Now could you imagine being a slave
or starving because of something your great-great grandfather did over 200
years ago? Amazing isn’t it?
Wow,
and you thought that having a bankruptcy on your credit report for seven years was bad! YIKES!
Now here me clearly this is by far the most
important point of this chapter!
It is this point that is the basis
of the New Covenant.
- So please, please bookmark this verse because this verse leads us to the new covenant's true purpose.
Now if you have read the story of
the exodus, then you already know that the Hebrew people broke this agreement
and sinned against God. When this happened they all faced God’s terrible
wrath!
Because of their disobedience God's
severe penalty clause became effective which denied the Hebrews access to the
promised land of Canaan and made them suffer in the vast wilderness for
more than forty years!
Yes that’s right, a "generational
curse" folks!
God punished these sinners and even punished
their children and their children’s children to the third
generation!
As you can see YHWH is a God of His
word. When God tells us to obey Him, then we must obey Him without
question.
Obedience;
it is that plain and simple, there
are no shades of grey. Everything is clearly black & white when it comes to
obeying God’s word.
Remember now in Exodus 34:7, God
says that He is a God of mercy and forgiveness to those who repent of their
sins.
Even though Christianity claims that
we were separated from God until the
advent of Jesus, the book of Leviticus shows us that there was always
a way to reconnect with God long before the stories of Jesus allegedly
dying for our sins.
All we have to do is merely repent
and turn from wickedness:
- If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
- And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity. LEVITICUS 26:40-41
Notice God says the children have to
confess their sins and also confess and repent for the sins of their
fathers too! Yes, that’s right!
They have to repent for the sins of
their fathers, grandfathers and even their great grandfathers too. Amazing
isn’t it?
No
Jesus' blood required here for
forgiveness folks!
My brothers and sisters, here is yet
another scripture that you have to keep in remembrance when we start to learn
about the New Covenant.
So all God requires for redemption
is for us to:
- Recognize our faults and repent and He will forgive our sins.
You should be shouting now that
you know the truth!
Let’s read the next verse:
- Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. LEVITICUS 26:40-42
Here in this verse God clearly says
that if the children simply repent and stop their sinful ways He will re-establish His covenant agreement.
Again think about what is said
here!
- If you repent, then a re-establishment of the original agreement will occur!
Don't forget this point folks!
Now after the forty year punishment, God again agrees to fulfill the promise He made to Abraham and give the Israelites the land of Canaan.
In the first chapter of Joshua, God
tells Joshua that the Hebrews may finally cross over into their own land. All
praises to YHWH!
All is now right in the Hebrew
world.
The Old or original covenant
was that God would be the protector of the Hebrew nation and if they would obey
Him then they would live in total health, wealth and prosperity and He would
forever be their God.
My brothers and sisters this is the Old
Covenant. Now that you know this we can now move on to find out about the
truth concerning the New Covenant.
The real truth about
the “NEW” COVENANT
I hope that the last chapter was
very informative for your understanding of what the Old Covenant was. As you
see it had nothing to do with animal sacrifices or any such rituals period.
We are now about to learn what the
bible says about the New Covenant. But before we move on let’s recap
the (10) crucial things we have learned about the Old
Testament.
1) God promises Abraham
that He would be his God and a God to his children.
2) God made a promise to
Abram/Abraham that his children will possess a land of their own.
3) God promises great
prosperity and safety for Abraham’s children if they will obey His
commandments.
4) The Hebrews disobeyed
the commandments and God punished them harshly.
5) The original captives
delivered from Egypt were denied access to the Promised Land because of
their sins.
6) Because of the sins
of the original Hebrews the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren had
to also pay for the sins of their fathers up to the
third and fourth generation.
7) The children
eventually repent for their sins and the sins of their forefathers.
8) God hears the prayers
of the children and God pardons all of their sins transgressions
and iniquity and all without Jesus’ help.
9) God once again re-establishes
the original covenant with the New Hebrew children.
10) God allows Joshua and the Hebrew people
to possess the land of Canaan which finally fulfills the everlasting covenant
that God made with Abraham.
Now that we have a better
understanding of all of the components of the Old Covenant we can now move on
and learn about the New Covenant.
The new covenant is based on the
prophecies of the prophet Jeremiah.
It is here where we will begin to
learn the truth.
- 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: JEREMIAH 31:31
I’m sure you might ask the
question:
“Why
is there a need for a new covenant?”
The reason there is a new covenant
is because the Hebrews once again disobeyed God’s laws and statutes and they
broke the old original covenant.
The
Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, hast thou seen that
which backsliding Israel hath
done?
- She/Israel is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot/whore. JEREMIAH 3:6
And I said after she had done all these
things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not.
And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
- And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of Divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot/whore also. JEREMIAH 3:7-8
Israel and Judah became sinful
whoring nations.
So both Israel and Judah sinned
greatly and this caused separation or
divorcement from God.
Once again the disobedient Hebrew
people i.e. Israel and Judah caused the original punishment penalty clauses to
take effect:
- But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: LEVITICUS 26:14-15
Oh my! What do you think God will do
because of their sinful acts? Let’s see:
- I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
- And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. LEVITICUS 26:16-17
Goodness! Well I think we now have
our answers don’t you?
When the Hebrew nation sinned
against God He punished them severely and let their enemies conquer them and
take them as slaves.
The people were beaten, tortured,
starved and also killed by their oppressors.
I know what you are thinking; you
are probably thinking that something is terribly wrong with these foolish
Hebrews/Israelites huh?
I mean it didn’t take that much
faith to obey God like we have to today because God's spirit literally lived in
the midst of them as their protector.
All throughout the Old and New
Testament bible the Jews kept sinning and God would punish and kill most of
them off.
God sent the nation of Assyria to defeat Judah and Israel and they
repented and once again God pardoned their iniquity.
As time went on another generation
of Israelites/Hebrews disobeyed God and God punished these people by letting
King Nebuchadnezzar and the nation of Babylon defeat
them and to take them into captivity for seventy years;
- And this whole land shall be desolate and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. JEREMIAH 25:11-12
The children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren of this generation of sinners have to also pay the
price for the sins of their fathers, grandfathers and their great-grandfathers
as slaves in captivity.Yep folks another "Generational Curse!"
Wow! Seventy years is almost double
the amount of punishment that the original Hebrew people faced during Moses’
time.
So surely the people would be quick
to repent of their sins right? Wrong!
The people still would not repent
and turn from their sinful ways. This act of defiance brought about another
even greater stipulation punishment penalty clause into effect that God
once warned Moses about:
- And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me… then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. LEVITICUS 26:14-18
The bible says that if the people
haven’t repented of their sins after serving the allotted punishment issued by
God, then He would punish them seven times more for their sins!
Wow!
That means for every year that God
punishes you, you would receive:
- seven additional years of punishment!
Do you know what this means?
This means that the Hebrews had to
suffer
- seven times the seventy years of punishment!
That adds up to a whopping:
- four hundred and ninety years of captivity!
If you check the historical records
this is approximately the length of time that the nation of Israel was in
slavery during the Babylonian captivity.
However, Christians loyal to the
Roman pagan's way of thinking have somehow made these four hundred years come
up to Daniel prophesying about how many years that added up to Jesus dying?
Huh?
Daniel knew that Israel had not
repented during the first seventy year period.
- I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. DANIEL 9:2
So as you can see, a Jesus concept
wasn't on Daniel's mind at all.
After adding up the years of their
captivity, Daniel knew something was terribly wrong. Daniel wrote about this
calamity and attempted to intercede on behalf of Israel:
- Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice;
- therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
- 13. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. DANIEL 9:11 & 13
Do you get it now folks? Daniel knew
about every penalty clause of God. So when the prophetic time line for
returning home to their land didn't occur as it had in the past when the people
repented, Daniel knew something was wrong and that the next phase of penalties
may occur.
Daniel receives an answer from God
but sadly it was not the answer that He wanted to hear:
The
Lord has commanded 490 years of further punishment
upon Jerusalem and your people.
- Then at last they will learn to stay away from sin, and their guilt will be cleansed; then the kingdom of everlasting righteousness will begin, and the Most Holy Place (in the Temple) will be rededicated, as the prophets have declared. DANIEL 9:24 Living Bible
The Old Covenant
has once again been terminated because of the sins of the Hebrew nations.
However my brothers and sisters
there is good news on the way.
Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah tell us
that once if Israel simply repents and turns from their wicked ways, God is
going to ransom His people back from the hands of their enemies. Sounds
familiar right?
God is going to redeem Israel and make them a flourishing nation once again and re-establish a new covenant with them!
Isaiah confirms the New Re-established Covenant
- Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
- 4.Behold, I have given him/(David) for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
- 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ISAIAH 55:3-4, 7
So as you can see Isaiah prophesied
about the redemption of Israel from Babylon and also about the everlasting New
re-established Covenant once again!
Folks, just like before notice did you notice that Isaiah also says, that all we have to do is:
- Forsake all "wickedness."
- Give up evil thoughts of "unrighteousness"
- "Return" back unto the Lord.
Then once again God would uphold his promises and re-establish his original covenant agreement? That is all it is! Not some promise of a messiah to die for us!
The agreement was that they would once again return home and live forever in their own lands.
Now Isaiah has much more to say on
the subject concerning the New Covenant:
- For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
- For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
- And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. ISAIAH 61:7-9
As you can see Isaiah gives us the
very same prophecy as did all of the other writers.
Isaiah writes of the New Covenant
agreement that God is going to re-establish with the nation of Israel.
Before I move on, I have to address
a matter of importance concerning the word "forever."
Now many people believe have been
led to believe that this word means throughout all eternity like it is when we
are finally in heaven for all eternity. No, no no! This is not what each writer
means.
Now as we have read, God promised that Abram's children would always dwell in Canaan forever right? Well we know that did not happen and they all were cast out of Canaan over and over again. Why?
- Because this agreement was always "conditional" to their obedience!
Did you get that? It was conditional.
Therefore, you must not think the "everlasting" word means eternally forever and ever throughout millions of years type of everlasting.
- Please don't forget the proof of this that you have read in all of the earlier scriptures above which proves this point without question.
Now, let's get back to our subject.
I want you to pay close attention to
Isaiah’s timeline in these two chapters.
Isaiah is letting us know that
all of these events are going to take place right after the Babylonian
captivity.
This information is necessary to
know when we compare these scriptures with the prophecies of Jeremiah.
Now I purposely skipped over another
chapter of Isaiah because I wanted to save it for last because it matches
Jeremiah 31:31 almost verbatim:
So let's read it together and see
how both prophets are on one accord with God:
- And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord
- My spirit that is upon thee/Israel, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy/Israel’s seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. ISAIAH 59:20-21
Again Isaiah says the exact same
thing as the other prophets. Notice the word "forever" spoken of
again folks? This again proves that this word in context is not saying that
Israel will never forget God's word unto all eternity. Now I think you have it!
I want you to remember this verse
and all of the promises of God within it. In the above verse, God's promise is
to re-establish the covenant only to them which "TURN"
from transgression in Jacob/Israel and for their children and their children's
children i.e. forever in this
contextual sense of the word.
The promises in these verses are
very important and informative and we will use them in comparison to Jeremiah’s
words shortly.
Ezekiel confirms the
New Covenant
First Ezekiel tells us of Israel’s
eventual capture by Babylon:
- My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. EZEKIEL 12:13
- Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; EZEKIEL 17:12
Now for Ezekiel’s prophecy of the New Covenant:
- And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David;
- he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.
- And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they(ISRAEL) shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. EZEKIEL 34:23-25
Aren't you just loving how each of
these prophets, though they are using their own words, are saying absolutely
the same thing about God's covenant and His promises?
Ezekiel is in agreement with Isaiah
that God is going to establish the new covenant of peace.
Now some of you may think this verse
is a little vague. So I will let Ezekiel repeat his words a
little clearer from yet a later chapter:
- And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
- And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob/Israel my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever:
- ...and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. EZEKIEL 37:24-26
Do you see the constant
reoccurring pattern here yet folks?
Same words and definition in red appears over and over again as the foundation of the covenant and re-establishment of it.
- Keep my statues and commandments, you shall have the land forever, you and your children and your children's children forever!
How
much clearer can the scriptures get How this has nothing to do with a New
Covenant in Jesus?
Notice God tells Ezekiel about the
same everlasting new covenant agreement
that He is going to re-establish with the
nation of Israel/Jacob and their children’s children forever.
Just like in the book of Isaiah, all
of this is to take place soon after Israel has "REPENTED" and then
they have been delivered from the Babylonian Empire.
Every single Old Testament prophet
is in total agreement with each other concerning the New Covenant, why not
Roman-ized Christians?
- Now none of this is relevant if we cannot tie this all together in true context with the verses in the book of Jeremiah right?
Well I agree with you totally. So
let’s now move on to the words of Jeremiah and compare his prophetic words with
the prophetic words of Isaiah and Ezekiel…
Jeremiah confirms the New Covenant
As I sit here writing this part of
this chapter I am all smiles at this point.
I am just so excited to show you
what the so-called educated theologians apparently cannot see.
Even though I have shown you the
prophecies of the New Covenant in the book of Isaiah and Ezekiel, the truth is
that Jeremiah gives us a detailed account as to what the New Covenant actually
is…
Now for us to understand Jeremiah
31:31 we first have to understand what God is saying in verses that lead up to
it; that way we will understand the context.
So let’s go back one chapter and
see what God tell Jeremiah to say to the people about God has accepted their forgiveness
for their sins:
- Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord:
- and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. JEREMIAH 30:2-3
Again same old song here folks!
There sins are forgiven and God promises to honor the original covenant again
which was to:
- Return home to their lands and possess it forever!
You do see this now right? Good!
Notice another key piece of information! Israel and Judah are both two
different nations during the establishment of the New Covenant! So this removes
Jesus totally from the New Covenant equation totally! Amen!
Now we see the context of what God
is trying to tell us in these verses.
God says in the second sentence of
the above verse that the days are coming that both Israel and Judah
will return and possess the land
that God promised Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
Yes that’s right we are talking
about another exodus back to Jerusalem from captivity!
As you can see here once again
Israel repents and God has heard their cries.
So that we couldn’t make any
mistakes about His interpretation notice in the first sentence above God tells
Jeremiah to make sure he records His Holy words for all generations
to come.
Now let’s continue and see the rest
of Jeremiah’s words:
- But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob/Israel, saith the Lord;
- neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob/Israel shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. JEREMIAH 30:9-10
I call this the "broken
record" of repetitive same valid point scriptures folks!
Wow! If the theologians would have
just went back and read Jeremiah 30 maybe these debates would have been over
centuries ago.
Now when you compare the prophetic
words of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah’s you will notice that they all center on
King David and Judah being joined together with Israel now as one singular
nation:
ISAIAH
- Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. ISAIAH 55:3
EZEKIEL
- And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
- And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, EZEKIEL 34:23
JEREMIAH
- But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob/Israel, saith the Lord;
- neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob/Israel shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. JEREMIAH 30:9-10
Are you beginning to see the
connection yet?
After reading all three writer’s
words in context we now can move on and understand the prophetic words of
Jeremiah 31:31. Let’s go to this verse and the conclusion of this chapter:
- 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: JEREMIAH 31:31
Now we already know that the
Original covenant agreement consisted of the following:
- God promises Abraham that He would be his God and a God to his children.
- God made a promise to Abram/Abraham that his children will possess a land of their own.
- God promises great prosperity and safety for Abraham’s children if they will obey His commandments.
So now God is promising to
re-establish the Old/Original Covenant again but with a slight twist!
- 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:: JEREMIAH 31:32
Now to the naysayers they will say:
“Ah Ha! See you are wrong!” God says the new covenant is not like the old covenant
that He promised Abraham.”
Okay, theologians stop giving
each other “high-fives” and patting each other on the back.
This is very easy to explain if we
will just continue reading the next verses
folks:
- But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel… JEREMIAH 31:33
Get ready, here it comes!
- …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.: JEREMIAH 31:33
So do you understand the difference
now? No?
Then let me clearly explain the new
stipulations of the New Covenant.
The people will now be able to read
and study God’s laws and statutes on their own!
Before hand, there was the
"oral" and "written" law that only the Priests could
understand and interpret to the people. However, according to the scriptures
the Priests and Prophets began teaching lie to the people which caused God to
punish the entire lot of them. So much so that everyone, even those who weren't
born up to the fourth generation were apart of the "generational
curse!"
This is over now! God re-establishes his Covenant to be their God and return them to their own lands forever once again.
But now the people will have such a
love for God that His word will always be in their inward souls and in their
hearts. If they sin now, they will no longer be able to blame the priests or
prophets; they are responsible for their own sins now!
The other prophets confirm my
explanation of Jeremiah’s words because they too say the exact same
thing.
- Pay close attention to each word in red. Because once again they prove that although each person is responsible for their "own" sins now, the covenant promise is exactly the same as before:
ISAIAH
- And the Redeemer shall come to Zion/Israel, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.
- As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord;
- My spirit that is upon thee/Israel, and my words which I have put in thy(ISRAEL'S mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy/Israel’s seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. ISAIAH 59:20-21
EZEKIEL
- 17. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
- 19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:
- 20. That they may walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. EZEKIEL 11:17, 19-20
JEREMIAH
- …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.: JEREMIAH 31:33
Are you seeing the truth yet? As you
can see, all three prophets are saying the exact same thing.
There is no possible way that any
theologian could read any of these scriptures word for word from each
collaborating prophet above and claim the New Covenant has anything to do with
Jesus unless they had a satanic agenda to
turn us away from the Most High God YHWH, to serve someone else instead!
I pray God is revealing these
truths to you and not me persuading you!
So what characteristics do all three prophecies have in common? Let’s see:
1. Israel will possess
the land again.
2. Every one of them
will know who God is on their own.
3. God is going to place
his spirit/zeal in the hearts of the
people.
4. All of them will know
the commandments and statutes of God.
5. All of them will
finally obey God.
6. God will dwell in the
midst of Israel with them and He will be their God.
Now since you and I have read the
verses together and have comprehended the context of the verses aren’t you
wondering:
- Why the theologians have never understood this concept?
Well don’t necessarily blame them;
remember our theology comes from the Pagan Greco-Roman Catholic Church, i.e.
the sons of Satan!
It is they who have twisted God’s words so that we will be led astray.
Now before I end this chapter there is one more criteria of the new covenant that is different from the Old Testament and guess what?
It is they who have twisted God’s words so that we will be led astray.
Now before I end this chapter there is one more criteria of the new covenant that is different from the Old Testament and guess what?
This criterion is one of the most
important parts of the New Covenant.
Before I show you this verse first I
have to go back to the scriptures where God tells us what will happen when we
disobey His commandments and statutes:
·
…and
that will by “no means” clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the “fathers”
upon the “children” and upon the children’s children, unto
the third and to the fourth generation. EXODUS
34:7
·
…and
by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation. NUMBERS
14:18
Now as you can see, when the Hebrew
nation disobeyed God’s words and committed transgression and sin, God would not
only punish them for their sins but God would also hold their children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren personally responsible for the sins of
their father.
Now here is the amazing difference
between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. God says that He is abolishing
that stipulation. God says that He will no longer hold the children responsible
for the sins of their fathers!
In
those days they shall say no more, the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. JEREMIAH
31:29
TRANSLATION: In those days they will no longer say that because our
fathers have sinned against God we the children have to suffer sour
grapes/punishment for their sins!
- But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. JEREMIAH 31:30
TRANSLATION: Self-explanatory isn’t it?
Now tell me why no one else
has mentioned these two verses that are just two verses before verse 31? Does
that make any sense to you?
Also, tell me, does it seem like God
is sending some Messiah to take away all of our sins or does it sound like God
is going to make us all responsible for our own sins?
Sorry folks, No matter what the New
Testament says, the New Covenant is not about Jesus in any ways!
So as you have now learned by
reading the verses on your own, each person that decides to commit sin and
transgression will die for his or her own sins because you chose to!
No longer will you be able to blame
your sins on ignorance or on your preachers, prophets or Tel-evangelist! That’s
right!
You won’t be able to blame Jimmy
Swaggart, Jim Baker, Peter Popoff, Benny Hinn and the other alleged false
preachers because you decided to listen to their false prosperity messages and
marvel over their false healings.
God has blessed us to be in a free
society that allows us to read God’s words on our own! It’s up to you to study
and gain a true understanding of the scriptures.
You now know once again that Jesus
is not the fulfillment of the New Covenant and there are no prophecies in the
Old Testament that would lead any of us to believe so, except if we listen to
the false money hungry preachers…
I hope these chapters have been a
blessing to you and to your walk with YHWH the God of Abraham Isaac Jacob,
Jesus and the other prophets.
I say again Fast, Pray,
and Study. Read to find the truth that God has for each and
every one of us. Do not rely on the "Ghostwriters"
or me for your understanding of God for we are only men. God will show
you the truth if you diligently seek Him...Shalom/Salaam/Selah…
So, what happened to Israel? After awhile, all we hear about is King David and the Jews; no one tells us what happened to the Israelites and why they never returned, but we are told about the captivity of the Jews and their return from Babylon. One could be led to believe that the Jews wrote the whole 9 yards while in Babylon.
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't understand why the Israelites were banished forever, whereas the Jews, who YHWH said were even worse, are pardoned time and time again.
So, if you are right, how come no one has heard from YHWH in over 2,400 years? What happened in A.D. 70? If the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom were sent away permanently, what makes us think the Jews weren't permanently sent away as well? In my mind, the Northern Kingdom, which belonged to the seed of Abraham, vanished...disappeared...without a trace and no one talks about them anymore. Though YHWH is said to have made a covenant with Abraham, it only looks like the Jews were the beneficiaries of that promise, as if YHWH loved the Jews more than Jacob's other sons. I just don't get it and I just don't believe it.
John Higgins GREAT QUESTIONS The Israelites did return to Jerusalem. Cyrus and Darius the Mede Returned them to Israel. Cyrus was the prophesied Messiah that would save the Israelites. See Isaiah 44 and 45... He was God's Messiah at that time not Jesus. remember Messiah only means an ANOINTED ONE, not someone to DIE for any sins.. just ANOINTED...Romans translated Messiah into something bigger than the definition and we in Christendom ran with it... N
DeleteNow as far as your question of why no one has heard from God in 2400 years. The Old Testament has always been complete John what else do you want God to say. He gave a life plan for all humanity to live by and it is man or should I say the VICTOR of wars that always RE-WRITE history
Now after Jesus tried to warn them about the prophecy of Daniel 9:26&27 and about the rise of a NEW religion and NEW PRINCE who would CUT OFF the messiah of the JEWS, I.E. CYRUS and his nation Persia. Jesus and Daniel both tried to warn the JEWS that a new FALSE GOSPEL would arise that would claim a MAN-god religion will cause the JEWS to be hated by all nations.. See Matthew 24,, There, people do not understand what Jesus told the Jews, He said many will come in HIS name claiming HE was the MESSIAH. and would DECEIVE MILLIONS! OR MANY.. We in Christianity thinks that some OTHER man WILL COME claiming that HE is the Messiah.. that's the LIE ROME told us and we believed.. But Jesus is not saying that because it's been over 2000 years. and ask yourself JOHN, do you even remotely believe another man can TRICK us into believing they are the Messiah and then fool BILLIONS OF PEOPLE into believing? OF COURSE not, Why? Because we are more skeptical than ever so it could never happen
HOWEVER JOHN,, it ALREADY HAPPENED with the invention of ROMAN CHRISTIANITY and PAUL'S false gospels. and what do they teach,??hmm? that a man-god is GOD and our SAVIOR and Paul, Rome, Satan and his new gospels have turned the WORLD and BILLIONS away from God to FOLLOW ANOTHER. Just like JESUS/YESHUA told us.. Notice Jesus said only YHWH should be worshiped in spirit and in truth but we worship JESUS instead and won't even call on the name of God.. Lastly, you are right the seed of Abraham has vanished but not liked you think.
The seed of ABRAHAM. i.e. ISHMAEL AND ISAAC are being destroyed by AMERICA & THE EUROPEAN UNION under the lie that they are TERRORISTS... jESUS SAID, IN Matthew 24, that this NEW GOSPEL i.e. false one must be preached to every nation and once it is ACCEPTED then the END TIMES will happen and the dreaded DAY OF THE LORD will occur. because the MUSLIM NATIONS i.e. THE MUSLIMS and the SLAVES OF AMERICA AND EUROPE. i.e. the BLACK RACE. i.e. ISAAC will have been defeated and will serve the man god instead of YHWH and we will all perish... I hope this helps.. check out my other topics John in the blog, just CLICK ON THE DATES and many topics will open up God bless your walk..