- “… our sufficiency is from God,
- who also made us sufficient as ministers
of the new covenant…”
- - 2Corrinthins 3:5-6
Oftentimes in the discourse of
mid-east politics you will hear Israel make claims of a Covenant
(Heb. Berit) right to their land.
Do you know what they are referring to?
There are covenants between men, and there are Covenants
between GOD/YHWH and man. What
they are referring to is the Land Covenant YHWH (YAHWEH) made with
ancient Israel. What is rarely mentioned is that YHWH made in all eight
Covenants with HIS human creation - not with just the Israelites,
but with a-l-l HIS human creation.
Teaching about them is called “Covenant Theology.”
In the above
quote, the Apostle Paul wrote that Messiah Yahshua
appointed His Apostles to be ministers of the New Covenant.
Subsequently, all the Christian / Messianic ministers that
follow in the footsteps of the Apostles are also ministers of the
New Covenant. It also
stands to reason, that before one can teach about a new Covenant,
the people must also be familiar with the previous Covenant, or
Covenants. I always wondered if Covenant Theology is the basis of
Christian ministry, then why is it that we do not hear much about
them? The problem is
that much of the faithful hero-worship the Man (Messiah), and forget
or ignore what He was pointing to.
Sadly the
Christians, with their lack of Hebrew (Old) Testament
understanding, aren’t much good at teaching ‘true’ Covenant
Theology. They’ll go
on and on about the Covenant of Redemption, the Covenant of Works,
and the Covenant of Grace, but technically speaking, the Bible does
not teach these types of covenants, they are just human inventions.
As my regular readers know when the mishegoss of
‘theology’ (GOD-talk) gets so confusing I like to look past the
traditions of men and start at the beginning.
- “But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting
- on
those who fear Him,
- and
His righteousness to children’s children,
- to
such as keep His Covenant,
- and
to those who remember His commandments to do them
- the
Lord has established His throne in heaven,
- and
His kingdom rules over all.”
- - Psalm 103:17-19
To a thinking person the above verse
raises a few questions. For
example, one would wonder, if GOD is all-powerful then why does HE
need Covenants? If He
wants to save us then why not just save us and be done with it?
Many would also question, why do we have to keep the
commandments? Didn’t
‘Jesus’ forgive our sins and save us?
Another question is one I often like to ask people, “just
exactly, what do you think YHWH’s Kingdom is like?”
Yes it is based on love, kindness, and peace, but what is
life like in the kingdom. Do
we all just float around on the clouds with the Angels and sing
praises to YHWH and Yahshua for eternity?
YHWH’s
Throne in Heaven
Nobody just beamed in,
humanity is here today via a logical sequence of events, for a
little background let’s take the last question first.
What is YHWH’s Kingdom like?
YHWH’s Kingdom is an active kingdom with trade, commerce,
and purposeful activity based on YHWH’s Kingdom Laws.
The Laws of the Kingdom are designed to be fair to all and to
ensure that the Kingdom is everlasting.
The
first verse of the Bible describes the original physical creation in
its entirety. Our whole
galaxy including our planet Earth was created uncounted millions of
years ago, as a perfect creation.
Beautiful and perfect, the creation was a finished, completed
work. What YAHWEH created, HE
created for purposeful activity, to be used, developed, preserved,
and maintained, and YAHWEH’S Government regulates its use.
As we know, Angels
are one segment of the population of heavenly beings in YAHWEH’s
interstellar government. The
Bible clearly says, at the creation of the Earth all the angels
shouted for joy (Job 38:7). Angels
are immortal personal spirit beings with far reaching powers.
Each is created with a superior mind capable of attitudes,
purposes and intentions, with the power to think and reason.
They have the ability to make choices, decisions, and have
self-will. Their Holy
righteous character must be developed by the free choice and intent
of the one in whom it comes to exist.
(This is an important vital truism that one must understand
about all of YAHWEH’s
created beings. HE
will not create a being instantly with a perfect, holy, and
righteous character by fiat - if HE
did, then they would be no better then a boring race of robots, with
no individual identities and character.)
The righteous character is defined and instilled by yielding
to the education and guidance of YAHWEH’s Government.
This is a government based upon the principles of love and
grace, of giving, of outgoing concern for the good of all,
and it is the only everlasting government that equally
benefits all members of the community.
Angels were given charge of
the Earth before the creation of humans. Some have made the analogy that the Earth was like an
unfinished cake, like a cake just out of the oven, which needs
icing, and finishing, or like furniture in the raw which needs
finishing and decoration. The
finishing would be in harmony with YAHWEH’s
creation, and would involve the building of homes, cities, and
infrastructure for the community of the angels.
There were three angels of higher rank,
Archangel Lucifer, Gabriel, and Michael.
Archangel Lucifer, whose name means light-bringer, was
given the charge of this solar system, including the Earth and the
society of angels living here, to establish and administer the
Kingdom/Government of YHWH.
In the Kingdom of YHWH
there was happiness, peace, joy, and profitable trading (a form of
honest capitalism - not predatory capitalism).
The society of the angels ruling this solar system continued
for untold years, perhaps thousands, hundreds of thousands, or
millions of years, under the Government of YAHWEH.
The government included laws to live by regarding the
protocol of respect and loyalty to the CREATOR,
and to the head of the local government.
There are also laws regarding social responsibilities,
personal improvement, community interaction, intergalactic trading,
record keeping, etc. The
angels had daily work (mundane tasks are rotated and shared by all
in the community), with rank and special duties delegated according
to individual talents.
Why
does YHWH need Covenants?
In this part of the Kingdom,
business, and life, was good under Lucifer’s management.
All the angels prospered, and magnificent cities were built.
But after some time, Lucifer became so filled with pride and
vanity, he thought himself to be as knowledgeable and powerful as YAHWEH.
Lucifer became envious of YAHWEH’s
position and sought to overthrow HIM.
Lucifer planned an interstellar governmental coup d’etat.
He convinced a third of the angels to follow him in a sinful
rebellion against the Government of YAHWEH
(Eze.28:12-17; Luk.10:18; Jud.6).
With Lucifer’s ambitious plans begins the titanic spiritual
war of the Heavenly Powers for the control of the universe,
including this part of the galaxy.
Lucifer’s plan was to invade
YAHWEH’s Heaven, capture YAHWEH’s
Great White Throne Room (the seat of power for the entire universe),
and remove YAHWEH from the Throne of the Universe.
He would then rule the whole universe including all the
interstellar societies.
The Prophet Isaiah calls Lucifer
the “Son of the Morning” and describes this event in 14:12-14
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! How you are
cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have
said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the
congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”
The Prophet Ezekiel in chapter 28 calls Lucifer the “Prince
of Tyre.” Tyre might
have been the political/commercial headquarters of the trading-rich
metropolis of the angels.
When angels fall, trouble follows….
The result from this war of the Angels was the destruction of
the surface of the planets that they inhabited - Earth
included.
YAHWEH’s loyal angels defeated
the rebellious angels, but they were not destroyed. In the court of the Heavenly beings, Lucifer was called to
appear and give account of his actions.
Court is held in YHWH’s Great White Throne Room, which is
the most miraculous and wondrous place in the entire universe.
The spiritual appreciation of the sweet sound of the music
emanating from the Throne Room, greets ones ears even before the
awesome beauty of the Room reveals itself.
The Throne Room is not ornate; its supreme power is reflected
in its simple majesty. The
floor of the Throne Room is like a sea of glass glowing like a
crystal charged by the sun. Around the Throne Room shining with their immutable beauty
are many varieties and countless number of angels and strange
beings.
The greatest angels of wisdom and knowledge
who oversee the clockwork of the universe are the Archangels.
Troops of angels who guard the Throne are called the Cherubim
and the Seraphim. YAHWEH
is not a dictator and HE does not use HIS
authority as a club, but HIS word is final; and for HIS council HE
is surrounded by “four and twenty elders” all dressed in white
(Rev.4:2-11; Book of Enoch, from the Lost Books of the Bible).
The Power of Light emanating from the Throne
seems brighter than the sun and creates a rainbow around it.
The voice of YAHWEH
is like the thunder of the heavens and any mortal witness to such a
spectacle would naturally become afraid and tremble with great
terror. But Lucifer is
no mortal and he has been here many times before in his long career
of service to the Kingdom.
An eerie silence falls over the Throne Room,
as all are attentive to the proceedings.
We can only imagine the presentation Lucifer made in his own
defense (I would not attempt to describe what was said, in my
current state of ignorance my feeble human version would only offend
him - and I am cautious not to do that).
His argument must have been brilliant and compelling, after
all, he did convince a third of the angels to follow him and now he
explains his point of view for all in the Kingdom to hear.
The Bible does not state that the angels ever
repented after their rebellion. Possibly, once changed to evil characters, they cannot be
changed back. Listening
to the proceedings YAHWEH
is not swayed, HE knows Lucifer’s
approach to a different form of government will not work.
But some lessons can’t be taught, they have to be lived,
and there must have been some discussion by the Council of the
Elders to allow Lucifer a limited time and limited area to
test-market his program.
YAHWEH agrees and sets the
ground rules, HE
renamed Lucifer “Satan,” pronounced Saw-tawn, which means adversary
(Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary #7854), and removes
his bright and glorious nature.
YAHWEH
then ordains that Satan and his fallen dark angels still have
limited powers and limited access to the heavenlies.
Satan cannot create life of any kind or foretell the future;
he can only twist YAHWEH’s creation into something
dark and sinful. The
Bible teaches their characteristics are based on: self-centeredness,
vanity, pride, lust, hate, greed, envy, vengeance, violence,
destruction, and rebel against any form of Divine authority.
Now YAHWEH
has to clean up the mess left from the planetary war of the angels.
The Bible, from verse 2, of Genesis 1, on through the
remainder of the chapter, does not describe the original creation of
the Earth, it describes a renewing of the face of the Earth - after
the war of the angels.
The first word in Genesis 1:2 (NJB),
“‘Now’ the earth was a formless void,” speaks
of a different time period then in the first verse.
The Earth had become waste and empty.
The second phrase “without form/formless, and void” is
translated from the Hebrew tohu and bohu.
A better translation is “waste, destruction and empty” or
“chaotic, in confusion and in state of decay.”
Tohu and bohu are used often
in the Hebrew Bible (Jer.4:23 and Isa.34:11), in every case the
condition of decay is the result of transgression of YAHWEH’s
Laws. YAHWEH
did not create the Earth as waste and empty, or in a state of decay
(Isa.45:18). YAHWEH
is not the author of confusion (1Cor.14:33); YAHWEH
is the author of peace, order, and law.
The creation Psalm
104 in verse 30 (NJB) states: “Send out your breath and life
begins; you renew the face of the earth.” A
time sequence of human evolution is given in 2Peter 2:4-6, first in
time order “ . . . angels that sinned . . .”; next in
time, verse 5, “ . . . the ancient time from Adam to Noah . .
.”; after that in verse 6, “ . . . the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah . . ..” YAHWEH renews the surface of
the Earth (again, like a cake that needs the icing), and creates new
being of the Earth - humans, who will now rule the creation .
. .
>Read more: http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c3_recreation_of_the_earth.htm
YAHWEH’s plan was to
reproduce HIMSELF through humans,
made in HIS image and likeness.
Because the angels who became evil could not be changed, the
first human was made from the Earth, with a free moral character
(the freedom of choice) to exercise self-discipline, and is subject
to death if there is sin unrepented of. Humans - sometime in the future - have the possibility of
being born into the Divine spiritual family begotten by YAHWEH
the FATHER.
YAHWEH created “Adam”
the first human male (1Cor.15:45), whose name means earth
creature or earthling, because he was made from the
earth. After a time, YAHWEH created a companion for
Adam who was called “Woman,” which means taken out of man,
because she was created from Adam’s flesh and by taking one of his
ribs (Gen.ch.2).
YAHWEH created them with
a human spirit, and within them a superior mind capable of
attitudes, purposes, and intentions, with the power to think,
reason, and the ability to make choices and decisions.
Human’s Holy righteous character must be developed, by the
choice and the intent of the one it comes to exist in.
Humans seduced by Satan’s ways could be changed back, or if
they refused, their life would be blotted out.
As we all know, the home of Adam and Woman
was the Garden of Eden, and there were two symbolic trees placed
there. They were the
“Tree of Life” through which YAHWEH
offered immortal life, and the forbidden “Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil,” and they should not eat of its fruit (meaning do
not adopt its sinful ways).
The first battle of the spiritual war
with YAHWEH’s new creation was when Woman was deceived
into adopting a new method of getting into Heaven, by the wily and
cunning Satan. He
cleverly put vanity into her mind and deceived her into believing
that YAHWEH
had been unfair and selfish by holding back a great power from her.
He convinced her that it was YAHWEH
who lied, and there was no penalty for sin.
He told her that she would not die, and to become a god like
YHWH,
you must eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, then you should also
give it to Adam to eat, and she did (Gen.3:4-5).
Contrary to the instructions from YAHWEH,
Adam ate of the fruit.
Satan won the first battle.
Adam was the head of the household and deliberate in
his disobedience of YAHWEH’s teaching.
If Adam had not eaten of it, even if the Woman had, the story
of humankind would have been very very different.
Until now Adam and Woman knew the presence of YAHWEH.
YAHWEH
walked on the Earth amongst HIS creation and everything
was under HIS authority.
However, this failure caused a separation between the
creation and the CREATOR called the Curse of Sin.
Now our CREATOR
dwells in an unapproachable light, whom no human has seen or can see
(1Tim.6:16). To
“redeem” HIS
Creation, HE has a plan, and that
plan manifests itself via HIS series of Covenants.
The
Sacred Covenants of YHWH
YHWH could easily just destroy Satan
and the rebellious angels but then that would make YHWH just a
simple dictator. The
key to understanding why this spiritual scenario of humanity has to
play out is because there are Kingdom Laws and those Laws apply to
all members of the Kingdom equally, even YHWH has to follow them,
and to redeem HIS creation HE has to do it via legal means.
In other words, this world has been mortgaged over to Satan -
so to speak, and YHWH wants to buy it back – so to speak.
The Biblical Book of Ruth
with its touching story of love, devotion, and redemption, is
symbolic of the Kingdom’s legal aspects.
YHWH wants to redeem the faithful of HIS Creation and that is
accomplished by the evolution of YHWH’s Covenants with humanity.
In all, there are three universal Covenants, and five with
Israel, which also have universal aspects.
Christian’s are ministers of the Covenant because the
Covenants are the legal means by which humanity is entitled to
redemption (eternal life in YHWH’s Kingdom).
As I explained above we live under the curse of sin, subject
to death, YHWH loves HIS Creation and wants to prevent that.
That is the basic reason for the need of the Covenants.
Covenants usually have a
preamble identifying the author.
The prologue, describes the relationship or history. The stipulations, outlines both parties’ duties; such as
curses (death and suffering) for breaking it, and rewards
(blessings) for keeping it. The
ratification means publicly swearing allegiance or commitment to it.
Lastly, the witnesses and instructions for implementing the
covenant.
YHWH has probably made many Covenants with
the Angels and other strange beings in HIS Kingdom, but we are
interested in the ones with humanity, and I’ll outline them here. The first one was made with Adam:
#1: The Edenic
Covenant was the first universal Covenant with Adam after the
recreation of the earth was finished (Gen.2:15-17).
#2: The Adamic
Covenant is the second universal Covenant made with Adam &
Eve, after their spiritual failure in the Garden of Eden
(Gen.3:14-21).
#3: The Noahic
Covenant, the third universal Covenant was made with Noah after
the flood. It is
commonly know as the Rainbow Covenant (Gen.9:1-17).
The next five Covenants are called Theocratic
Covenants because beginning with Abraham, YHWH ruled and dealt
personally with specific group of people we know as the ancient
Israelites. Although
they are made with the Israelites, the Covenants also have
stipulations that have universal aspects.
#4:
The Abrahamic Covenant is the first, and it tells us that the
blessings of this Covenant are unconditional, and is the basis for
the following Covenants (Gen.12:1-3; and outlined in 13:14-17,
15:1-7, 17:1-8, 18:21).
#5: The Mosaic
Covenant, is the second Theocratic Covenant made with Moses
(Exo.19:5-8). This has
some conditional aspects because it begins “…if you will indeed
obey my voice…”
#6: The Land Covenant
is the third Theocratic Covenant (Deu.29:10-15, 30:11-20).
This is the Covenant that today’s Israelis point to as
their right to the land. They
are entitled to the land because they can prove they lived there in
the past and have returned just as the Prophets have foretold.
For those who can see, this fulfillment of Biblical prophecy
proves that YHWH is in charge of the Universe (Ezk.37:1-14).
The interesting universal part of this Covenant is that it
introduces the future aspect of “Grace” (Grace is the advanced
trait of mercy and forgiveness).
#7: The Davidic
Covenant is the fourth theocratic Covenant (2Sam.7:4-17).
The wonderful universal aspect of this Covenant is that it
prepares the way for the Messiah via a virgin birth in the Israelite
tribe of Judah.
#8: The New Covenant,
is the fifth and last of the Theocratic Covenants (Jer.31:31-35).
Some of the universal highlights of this Covenant are that it
promises full justification (salvation), and the amazing and
mysterious promise of the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit (Heb.
Ruach HaKodesh).
As I mentioned above, this is only an outline of the Sacred
Covenants, log on to learn more: http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c5_sacred_covenants.htm
“Have respect to the covenant;”
- Psalm 74:20
“My Covenant I will not break,”
Psalm 89:34. Beliefs
and traditions can be questioned, but our HOPE is never challenged.
Our hope lies in our CREATOR,
and our faith is in HIS plan.
One must have faith that YAHWEH
is the CREATOR and active Ruler
of the Universe. Faith
is defined in the epistle to the Hebrews ch.11, verse 1 sums it up, “Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen.” We
must learn to view everything from the realization that YAHWEH is there, HE
is in charge, HE is good, HIS
way is right and HIS character never
changes. If our
immortal spirits are to survive, it is by following the plan that HE
has ordained. That plan
manifests itself through the eight Covenants made with humanity and
the divine plan is played out for a-l-l humanity to see in what I
call the spiritual opera of YHWH’s Holy Days listed in Leviticus
ch.23. The Holy Days
are multifaceted spiritual lessons and one of the facets is that
they teach us the Covenants. The
Holy Days are broken down into two seasons, the spring and early
summer season, and the early fall season.
The spring Holy Days justifies and sanctifies the Faithful,
and teaches us our obligations of the Covenant; and the fall season
of Holy Days teach us prophecy as it shows us the blessings for
keeping the Covenants. This
year I’ll explain more about Covenant teaching in each of this
years Holy Day newsletters. To learn more on the Holy Days log on: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_intro.htm
“I will make you a great nation:
I will bless you and make your name
great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you.
And in you all the families of the
earth will be blessed.”
- A conditional, universal promise by
YHWH
given to Abraham, Genesis 12:2-3
fyi: Just-in-case you
are one of those spiritual schlemiels who thinks YAHWEH is finished
with Israel, at the end of the New Covenant HE clearly challenges
anyone, or anything, to step forward and tell HIM how HE hung the
planets, and how HE set the Universe in motion, because that will be
the day when Israel will cease to be a nation (Jer.31:35-36).
It’s a no-brainer, if Christians are teachers and ministers
of the New Covenant, then Christian Zionism and general support for
Israel is also part of the message.
- Enjoy the
journey of learning…
- >>The Covenants: http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c5_sacred_covenants.htm
-
- Please remember in your prayers, to pray for the
peace of Jerusalem (Ps.122).
-
- Take
care. Shalom and
Blessings, Errol.
- **********************************************
- Errol
Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
- e-mail:
errol@homeworship101.com
- website:
www.homeworship101.com
- **********************************************
- WSC
2006-02 posted 03/27/06. Revised 03/30/12.
- Copyright © 2012 Errol Mueller.
All rights reserved.
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personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and
encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no
alterations or deletions. Author’s
name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.
-
- For information, email or call (334) 678-0913.
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© 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.
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