When we hear the word "covenant," we might think of the "new covenant," which Jesus brought to us, thus removing us from the burden/protection of the "old covenant." We probably don't even consider what the "old covenant" was about, as we warm ourselves with the "new covenant," provided by Christ.
Hebrews 9:15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
Do we know what a "covenant" really is? That may sound like a stupid question, but it might not be so stupid. For example, the first place the word shows up in the Bible is in regard to a promise, or covenant that God made with humanity after the flood. Is that covenant still valid?
Sure it is, right?
Another way of expressing what Jesus did with the "new covenant," was take away the burden of the "old law," and provided us with a "new law." Does anyone know what that really means? To most Christians, it simply means to disregard everything in the Old Testament if it conflicts with their beliefs of what is in the New Testament.
Does anyone know that the "law" being discussed is short for the "Messianic Law," which is another term for a more correct one; "Messianic Instruction." It comes from an understanding of the written Word of God, by the Messiah. If you are a Christian, then you are probably content in knowing that that is exactly what Jesus did, in spite of the warning we received from Isaiah.
Isaiah 24:5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Perhaps the word "everlasting" was a typo on Isaiah's part?
There is a "new covenant" that is promised, but it doesn't sound anything like what Christianity promises.
Jeremiah 31
31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32Not 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:
33But 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.
34And 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.
That's the "new covenant," and that is what Christ was supposed to provide. So why are we still not "talking to God" ourselves?
Does anyone know what else the "old covenant" that we threw away was about? It's instructions about how to deal with our world when it goes zonkers. Here's some highlights from just one book, Isaiah.
1:7 - Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields --strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.
1:9 - Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.
2:19 - Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the LORD And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.
8:22 - Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.
9:19 - By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.
10:22 - For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
10:23 - For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.
13:5 - They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land.
13:6 - Wail, for the day of the LORD is near ! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
13:7 - Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt.
13:8 - They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.
13:9 - Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
13:10 - For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.
13:11 - Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
13:12 - I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13:13 - Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.
19:5 - The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.
19:6 - The canals will emit a stench, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away.
19:7 - The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
19:8 - And the fishermen will lament, And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.
24:1 - Behold, the LORD lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.
24:2 - And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.
24:3 - The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the LORD has spoken this word.
24:4 - The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.
24:5 - The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.
24:6 - Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
24:19 - The earth is broken asunder, The earth is split through, The earth is shaken violently.
24:20 - The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.
24:21 - So it will happen in that day, That the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth.
28:22 - And now do not carry on as scoffers, Or your fetters will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
30:26 - The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.
30:27 - Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
30:28 - His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.
33:12 - "The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.
33:14 - Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. "Who among us can live with the consuming fire ? Who among us can live with continual burning ?"
If you read all of that, and you understand some things about science, you might draw the conclusion that there is a huge catastrophe being predicted.
Is it possible that the Messiah is actually supposed to help some of us live through it?
Oh yeah, that's right......Jesus is coming back with his "new covenant" and everyone that believes it gets a ticket out of here.
Funny thing though......there's no mention of that happening. Instead it talks about this other guy, who was going to have a hard time getting people to listen to him, resulting in a lot of people's suffering.
Hebrews 9:15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
Do we know what a "covenant" really is? That may sound like a stupid question, but it might not be so stupid. For example, the first place the word shows up in the Bible is in regard to a promise, or covenant that God made with humanity after the flood. Is that covenant still valid?
Sure it is, right?
Another way of expressing what Jesus did with the "new covenant," was take away the burden of the "old law," and provided us with a "new law." Does anyone know what that really means? To most Christians, it simply means to disregard everything in the Old Testament if it conflicts with their beliefs of what is in the New Testament.
Does anyone know that the "law" being discussed is short for the "Messianic Law," which is another term for a more correct one; "Messianic Instruction." It comes from an understanding of the written Word of God, by the Messiah. If you are a Christian, then you are probably content in knowing that that is exactly what Jesus did, in spite of the warning we received from Isaiah.
Isaiah 24:5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Perhaps the word "everlasting" was a typo on Isaiah's part?
There is a "new covenant" that is promised, but it doesn't sound anything like what Christianity promises.
Jeremiah 31
31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32Not 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:
33But 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.
34And 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.
That's the "new covenant," and that is what Christ was supposed to provide. So why are we still not "talking to God" ourselves?
Does anyone know what else the "old covenant" that we threw away was about? It's instructions about how to deal with our world when it goes zonkers. Here's some highlights from just one book, Isaiah.
1:7 - Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields --strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.
1:9 - Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.
2:19 - Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the LORD And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.
8:22 - Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.
9:19 - By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.
10:22 - For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
10:23 - For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.
13:5 - They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land.
13:6 - Wail, for the day of the LORD is near ! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
13:7 - Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt.
13:8 - They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.
13:9 - Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
13:10 - For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.
13:11 - Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
13:12 - I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13:13 - Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.
19:5 - The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.
19:6 - The canals will emit a stench, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away.
19:7 - The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
19:8 - And the fishermen will lament, And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.
24:1 - Behold, the LORD lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.
24:2 - And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.
24:3 - The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the LORD has spoken this word.
24:4 - The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.
24:5 - The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.
24:6 - Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
24:19 - The earth is broken asunder, The earth is split through, The earth is shaken violently.
24:20 - The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.
24:21 - So it will happen in that day, That the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth.
28:22 - And now do not carry on as scoffers, Or your fetters will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
30:26 - The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.
30:27 - Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
30:28 - His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.
33:12 - "The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.
33:14 - Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. "Who among us can live with the consuming fire ? Who among us can live with continual burning ?"
If you read all of that, and you understand some things about science, you might draw the conclusion that there is a huge catastrophe being predicted.
Is it possible that the Messiah is actually supposed to help some of us live through it?
Oh yeah, that's right......Jesus is coming back with his "new covenant" and everyone that believes it gets a ticket out of here.
Funny thing though......there's no mention of that happening. Instead it talks about this other guy, who was going to have a hard time getting people to listen to him, resulting in a lot of people's suffering.
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