THE COVENANTS OF YAHVEH Yah relates to His people through covenant relationships. That is why it is so important for all Believers to keep their part

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1 THE COVENANTS OF YAHVEH Yah relates to His people through covenant relationships. That is why it is so important for all Believers to keep their part of these covenant relationships. The fidelity of all six of Yah s covenants made throughout history is of utmost importance. Those who do not follow them don t receive the blessings El Shaddai has for them on earth, and in the New Jerusalem to come. Today covenants are simply called contracts. There are various types of contracts but originally covenants were all pretty much the same. WHAT IS A COVENANT? The Bible that we have available to us is divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the Renewed Testament. The word testament comes from a Latin word, testamentum which is properly translated covenant. The Greek word for covenant is Diatheke and the Hebrew word is Beriyth (Strong's #1285) and means: from 1262 (in the sense of cutting [like 1254]); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh), confederacy, [con]feder[ate], covenant, league. It means to cut covenant by the shedding of blood. The blood covenant between two parties is the closest, most enduring, most solemn, and most sacred of all contracts. It is a contract which cannot be broken. When you enter into a blood covenant with someone, you promise to give them your life, your love, and your protection forever, till death do you part. It is important to keep in mind how serious it was in Biblical times to cut a covenant. Whenever we come across the word covenant (used approx. 280 times in the Old Testament alone), we must respect and truly understand the seriousness of its full meaning. The procedure of cutting the covenant is not described every time one is made, so one must keep in mind the seriousness of these contracts as explained below. According to the Bible, Yah has never made a covenant directly to the Gentiles. Even the re-newed covenant of Jer. 31:31-34 cannot be made available through the Gentiles, because it stands on all the other covenants Adonai made with the House of Israel. Yah made his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, using the name "El Shaddai" (Almighty Yah). The covenant with Abraham was also with his wife Sarah, so that Isaac inherited the covenant, and not Ishmael. The covenant with Jacob resolved an ambiguity regarding his brother Esau who had sold his birthright for a pot of soup. Yah was making it clear that the covenant was with Jacob, and not with Esau. Adonai s covenant with Jacob did not include Esau. All covenants with Yahveh include a sacrifice, as spoken of in: Ps. 50:5 Gather My faithful ones to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. The age old custom of covenant goes back to the beginning of mankind. When two men made a blood covenant, it was a most serious ceremony, not hastily gone into. The following steps describe a blood covenant. Imagine if you will, you and I going into a blood covenant, as the Hebrew people did in days of old. It consisted of nine steps, as follows: 1. We exchange robes. To a Jewish person the robe, or coat, represented ones self. By exchanging robes we give of ourselves to each other, our complete being. 2. We next exchange belts. 1

2 My belt is what holds my weapons. By doing this we are symbolically pledging all our support and protection, one to another. If anyone attacks you, they attack me, and vice versa. 3. Now we cut the covenant We proceed to cut the covenant by cutting in half an animal and laying it on the ground, where we walk and stand between the two halves. We start out in the middle; standing back to back, we then walk through the halves making a figure eight, then returning to the center facing each other. In doing so we are symbolically saying that we are dying to ourselves and beginning a new walk with our covenant partner until death do us part. Each half of the bloody animal represents us, and as we point down to the halves we pronounce: God do so to me and more if I ever try to break this covenant. Just split me down the middle and feed me to the vultures if I ever break this blood covenant. 4. We make a scar We cut the palm of our right hands and bring them together, much like many small children did when playing as children, but we make a serious cut so there is a noticeable permanent scar. If anyone ever tries to harm us, all we do is raise our right arm and display the scar of our covenant. By doing so our enemies know that they are not just dealing with us but are dealing with our covenant partner. In other-wards; there s more here than meets the eye. There s an unknown covenant partner somewhere. That s the origin of that popular phrase. This is the basic principal of Nations joining together and raising up, displaying the flag, banner or proclamation, such as Nato, G7, EC, or the United Nations etc.. This is similar to a covenant, only there is no blood. The scar of Israel, those who are truly Yah s people and are in covenant with Him, is the male circumcision. That is why males get circumcised. 5. We now raise our right arms and mix the blood, As our blood runs together we become as one life. The two of us become one, echad, in Hebrew. 6. We exchange names As we stand with our palms together we exchange names, I take part of your last name as part of my name, and you do likewise. When men made covenants in days of old they exchanged parts of their last names as a sign of the covenant. Naming something is a sign of authority. Examples: Yah has authority over man and gave Adam his name. Adam demonstrated his authority over his domain by naming the animals (Gen. 2:19-20) and his wife (Gen. 2:23). When parents give their child a name, they are exercising their authority over their child. Yah initiated the covenant with Abram and then changed Abram s name to Abraham to reflect the promises of this covenant. That is why when a couple get married the woman takes on the last name of the husband. They are in covenant together. Today many wives refuse to take on the name of their husband and 2

3 the covenant of marriage never becomes official. In Yah s eyes that are just two people together as a couple, not as His covenant partners. 7. Give the covenant terms We stand before each other and witnesses, and proclaim the terms of the covenant. We would say something like this: Everything I have is yours, my possessions, and my property. If you ever need them they are yours, just come and take them. If I die then you take all my children and adopt them. You are then responsible for my entire family as I am yours. You receive the right to all my assets and at the same time you shall take on all my liabilities; if I ever get in trouble you must help me and I must help you, whether it be in finances or anything else. Then we stand and list off all our assets and liabilities, out loud, to each other, in front of witnesses. 8. Eat a special meal To complete the covenant we eat together. We take a loaf of bread and break it in two, feeding each other with it, saying: this is symbolic of my body and I m putting it in you. We also take and serve wine to each other, saying this is symbolic of my life blood which is now your blood. Symbolically saying I m in you and you are in me. We are now one together with a new nature. This is of course symbolic of the Last Supper. (Gen. 26:28-33:45-54, Josh. 9:12-15, 2Sam. 3:20) 9. We plant a memorial or make a pile of stones So as to never forget the blood covenant we made and to display it to the rest of the people, we plant a tree and sprinkle the blood from the animal on the tree. The tree and the scar are our outward signs that we have established a covenant. The tree is symbolic our spiritual covenant because it established roots, grows branches outward and provides life for those around, just like our covenant with Yah. Stones were also used as covenant markers. Some people would make a pile of stones to mark the covenant. That is the reason why Yah put His Ten Commandments on STONE tablets. In Hebrew a single stone is called a dead stone. A pile of stones is called living stones. When we are in covenant with Yah we are all working together in unity (echad) as living stones spreading the good news of the Living Word of the Holy One of Israel. NOTE From that moment on we are known as FRIENDS. In Biblical times when one proclaimed to be a friend, it could only be done so through a blood covenant. The word friend was not loosely used as it is today. All our children are covered in this covenant, even the unborn. As the children become of age and are understanding of the covenant, they have the right to stay in it or reject it. This is called the age of accountability. Abraham was called Yah s friend in the scriptures (2Chr. 20:7). GRACE AND THE RE-NEWED COVENANT It is by the blood of our Messiah that we come into our spiritual inheritance of Calvary. Our re-newed covenant, Yeshua s last will and testament, is a legal document. It was made according to the righteous procedure of Yah. It is not merely the spoken Word of Yah, but is a kind of document which He has drawn up through the blood of Messiah. Concerning the salvation of Yah, whatever is done before the crucifixion of Yeshua 3

4 Hamashiach is done by the grace of Yah, but anything done after the crucifixion is done by His righteousness. This does not mean that after Messiah s crucifixion there is no more grace; it simply suggests that as water is to a pipe, so the grace of Yah is now flowing to us through the channel of righteousness, as per: Rom. 5:21 that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Yeshua Hamashiach our Messiah. MARRIAGE AS A BLOOD COVENANT Marriage is a privilege, it is not a right. Marriage is only acceptable as marriage if it is between a man and a women, born again children of Yah. Marriage in the secular world doesn t exist. Many may claim so, but what they call marriage is not recognized by our Father. Their form of marriage is for statistical information only. If the bride is virgin, marriage is considered to be a true perfect blood covenant. A covenant is an agreement between two parties. A blood covenant is an everlasting, till death do us part agreement that involves those who directly accept it, and those who may indirectly accept or reject it, according to their own free will. When Yah makes a covenant with His people, it is similar to a marriage contract. Listed in the marriage contract are the expectations, terms, and conditions of that agreement (ketubah). Marriage is recognized as a common blood covenant, which in today s world is taken lightly. We don t honor marriage as a blood covenant like Yah says it is, even though most couples confess it with their mouth at the time of their marriage. Mal. 2:14 Yet you say, For what reason? Because Adonai has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Prov. 2:17 That leaves the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her Yah; When the bride and groom feed each other from the wedding cake at the reception they are symbolically saying; I m coming into you and you into me. The two of us are becoming one. The consummation of the marriage is supposed to be when the man comes into the women for her first time and the blood of the broken hymen (losing of her virginity), is the blood of the marriage covenant. That is why the Bible stresses so much the importance of virginity until marriage. (Gal. 5:19, 1Cor. 6:18, 10:8, etc.). The reason couples wear their wedding ring on their third finger is because it was thought many centuries ago that the third finger had a nerve in it leading to the heart. The heart was thought to represent the entirety of a person. Marriage as an eternal covenant is arguable. I would have to say that marriage between men and women is temporal. The "eternally yours" pledge of a spouse, violates what Yeshua taught. Do not swear by Heaven, nor by the Earth. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Anything more is sin. We really have to be more careful of the things we say. We should not make promises that we can't keep. It's difficult in this life to keep a promise when you don't know what tomorrow might bring. WHAT ABOUT James 5:12? Is there a marriage vow in scriptures?, no. Man cannot make a vow to his wife according to James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or 4

5 by earth or with any other oath; but let your yes be yes, and your no, no; so that you may not fall under judgment. The fact is, El Shaddai doesn t recognize worldly marriages as we do. In the eyes of Yah, if a holy man and woman stand before Him, with at least one witnesses, and dedicate themselves jointly to Him and to each other, it is considered marriage. For a closer look at the marriage covenant of Mt. Sinai please look at the Mosaic Covenant for the explanation. JEWISH WEDDING The chuppah, or canopy, used at many Jewish weddings is a tallit, which the bride and groom take their wedding vows under. This canopy is representative of the cloud covering of Exod. 19:5-7 where Yah tells Israel that she will be His treasured possession. For many Jewish weddings there is a contract signed by the bride and groom, called a ketubah. This contractcovenant sets out the terms of their marriage just like Yah s covenant with His people. As it was at Mt. Sinai, (Exod. 20), Yah provided one copy for the people and one copy of the covenant for Himself in the ark of the covenant. As in any wedding, we likewise find Yahveh s wedding ring for the people who take on His covenant, in Exod. 31: His wedding ring- outward sign for those who follow the covenant was the keeping of His sabbath -Shabbat, throughout the ages for all to see. The bride/bridegroom theme is repeated throughout the book of Exodus. The subject is first addressed when Yah promises Israel that He would "take you to be My people." In essence, He was formally entering into a betrothal or engagement relationship with His intended bride, Israel. This is based on the use of the Hebrew word, jek (take). This word, though most often meaning simply to take something, has also been used in the Tenakh in reference to a man "taking" a woman to be his bride. Thus, in chapter six, Yah promised to marry Israel. The next step in the revelation of the bride/bridegroom theme is revealed in chapter 19. The location was Mt. Sinai. The event was the giving of the Torah. It is possible to interpret this scene as a divine wedding, according to several pieces of evidence. The first was the mikveh, or immersion, that Jewish people customarily have before their wedding. The husband is not allowed to have contact with His bride until she has first been cleansed by mikveh. In this account there are two places in which Israel, like a bride, went into a mikveh. First, according to the Brit Hadasha, (Old Testament),1Cor. 10:1-2 "our fathers all passed under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (Exod. 14:22, Isa. 63:11). Thus, according to Rabbi Sha ul (Paul), of Tarsus, the bride Israel was immersed under the cloud, while passing through the sea. Second, according to Exodus 19, Yah 5

6 instructed Moshe (Moses) to tell the people to be consecrated and wash their garments. Many interpret this to mean that here they also were immersed in a mikveh. Another symbol of the wedding was the cloud over the mountain functioning as a canopy or chupah, to which the groom was beckoning His bride. Finally, the document that legalized the wedding was the ketubah, the marriage contract. This is the written document, which in essence, defines the terms of the marriage and describes how the marriage can be a blessed one. The bride then took on the NAME of the groom. Accordingly, it is my belief that the Torah itself served as the marriage ketubah. The Torah summed up on two sets of two tablets of stone. One for the husband and one for the wife. This ketubah was secured for eternity in a special place called the Ark Of The Covenant. The husband promised to provide and take care of the bride forever, and the bride promised to obey and forsake all others. The two witnesses called forth to witness the covenant were the Heaven and the earth. They witnessed the wife make her vows: all the words which Yahveh has spoken we will do (Exod. 24:3). Then the 70 elders of Israel (the Sanhedrin at that time), ate and drank with the Husband, Bridegroom, and Creator. The wife provided her contribution to her marriage covenant, a type of property brought by a bride to her husband at a marriage: the gold, silver, bronze, fabrics, oils, and precious stones for the construction of the ark and the dwelling of the husband among them. As for "cup" used in Jewish weddings, there are actually two cups of wine used. The first is used in the betrothal part of the wedding ceremony. After the rabbi recites the benedictions over this first cup, the bride and groom sip from it. A second cup is filled after the Ketubah has been read. It is over this cup that the rabbi recites the seven blessings. The bride and groom are then given of this cup to sip from. The first cup seals the marital agreement and the second, the actual union. As a final act of the wedding ceremony, a final cup is used, but this one is empty. It is wrapped in a napkin and placed under the groom's foot. The rabbi signals the groom, the groom crushes the glass, and everyone shouts Mazaal tov! Yah called out His bride from Egypt and invited them to His wedding. He gave them the wedding contract (ketubah) on Mt. Sinai which they all accepted and promised to honor. One copy for Him, one copy for them. Their copy was put in the ark of the covenant. They took on His name and were headed for the Promised Land where He would look after them. The Name of the Husband was taken by His wife; and so they were/are called Yahudim. This name was corrupted over the years by translators and was changed to Judah, then Jude, and then Jew. Yahveh speaks of His covenant never ceasing, reminding His wife of the marriage: Isa. 54:5 For your husband is your maker, Yahveh Tzva ot (Yah of Hosts), is His name Years later they abandoned Him by going into Babylon and taking on the sins (idols) of the pagans. According to Jewish law, the only way a bride could get a divorce was if the groom died. Yeshua died at Calvary so the bride had another chance to become His again. His ketubah was His Torah, same as before, and He promised them eternal life in His Kingdom of Heaven, if they were obedient. Again they took on His name (Nazarenes) and were to follow Torah forever. Those brides who have been following His Torah will be gathered up when the groom returns again for the second time. Like at all weddings, there 6

7 is a rehearsal. The first wedding it seems was a rehearsal, the second wedding is the real thing. Our God is a jealous God. He is similar in a way, to any groom. He wants His bride safe and protected, kept pure and holy. YESHUA AS OUR COVENANT PARTNER When Yeshua cut covenant with mankind, He did so at the Seder supper, with His disciples representing mankind as a whole, and Yeshua Himself representing Yah, the Father, in Heaven. The following is how Messiah cut covenant with us: He exchanged robes with us. He covered our sin with His robe of righteousness. Isa. 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. He took on all our liabilities and curses which were the sins of mankind, and we took on all the blessings available through Adonai s covenants. Yeshua gave us the spiritual weapons (armor of Yah), required to fight the battle with satan. (Eph. 6:10-20) Yeshua died for us so that we could die daily to our old sin nature. Yeshua raised His arms to accept the scars on our behalf as He was nailed to the tree of Calvary. The scar that was a sign of the covenant was not just a scar, but total death, and a spear thrown through His ribs. Yeshua exchanged names with us. We became His friend. John 15:14-16 You are My friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and {that} your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you. We became friends of Messiah and we exchanged names with Him, we became Believers. We got His authority to use His name above all names. We became part of His body through spiritual union and we must follow Him. Rom. 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. also (Philip. 2:9-11, Eph. 1:20-23). Yeshua gathered His disciples together and participated in a covenant meal of bread and wine. The bread represented His body, and the wine, His blood. He became part of us, and we became part of Him. We became as one with the Father, through His Son. The stake was the tree that was permanently planted in remembrance of the covenant. The precious blood that was sprinkled on the tree was His own. All His blood poured out over the tree He planted to mark the contract as a memorial till the end of time. Yeshua gave us more than an outward scar, He left with us the Holy Spirit (a seal), (Rev. 9:4) to be as a sign for all who believe. Now, when Satan bothers us, we just raise our hands and show him our scar, the power of the Holy Spirit, and he must obey. 1John 4:4 You are from Yah, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 7

8 When Yeshua comes back to collect His brides it will be the seventh and final covenant. SIX OF DAD S COVENANTS The covenants that Adonai made with His people were accumulative. We should not view each covenant as separate. The covenants are interconnected (stacked one upon the other). All these covenants were called "salt covenants" because they were all established eternally, forever. Yah established an amendment to the existing covenant, He did not throw out the existing covenant. When Yah established His covenant with Abraham it did not nullify the covenant with Noah. And when Yah made a covenant with Moses it did not abolish the covenant with Abraham, and so on, and so on. Yah s covenants are all inclusive to encompass His total plan for mankind. The following are brief descriptions of the covenants of Yah. THRESHOLD COVENANT Before we get into the details of the six main covenants of Yah I must first point out a type of covenant that was common practice for pagan's in biblical times. Understanding this covenant idea will help us see great thematic connections to various scriptures, especially those regarding the Feast of Passover. With this insight we will receive greater revelation of why the Word of Yah is called the Living Word. When we grasp the little intricacies hidden in-between the lines of our Hebrew bible, it is like seeing a diamond from a different angle and the skek'hinah (glory) is most beautiful. In ancient times it was common practice to use a door threshold to make a covenant between two people or families. The people would take an animal and cut it in half. They would place the two halves on either side of the doorway with the blood flowing across the threshold. The threshold (bottom front step area) of the home, would actually have a little groove all the way across and a small basin area on one side were the blood of a sacrifice could be poured. The blood of a sacrifice was normally poured in the basin and it drained across the door threshold. By crossing over this threshold the guest would understand that he was in agreement with whatever the covenant with that family was. They were in agreement with each other. The home owner was essentially creating a covenant with his guest. The two individuals, or groups, would state whatever their covenantal agreement was to each other and then both walk through the threshold, completing the action. Then they would speak out loud that if they broke the covenant they would be like the two halves of the sacrifice, dead, broken, and torn apart because of their actions. "May we be like the animals we just killed" if we break this covenant. It was also common practice for those who were not in agreement with the covenantal practices of others, to trample down the sacrifice on the threshold of the door of the home. 8

9 When someone invited another person into their home, they would sometimes make and display a sacrifice at the threshold of their home in order to designate the god or goddess their tribe was in covenant with. These pagans worshipped their gods in the entranceway of their homes. So, if for example you were invited over for a meal, they may sacrifice an animal to a specific pagan deity on the threshold of the door, so the blood of the animal ran across the threshold of the door. Upon entering (crossing over) the door threshold one would be acknowledging their god and be in agreement with the covenant of this belief. In this manner the home owners thought that their god would protect them and the one entering. They would sacrifice according to the priority they gave your company. It could be a small sacrifice or a very expensive sacrifice. THE THRESHOLD We see in Genesis an example of the threshold covenant as it appears in scripture. Lot had two visitors come to talk to him. He invited them into his home and the moment they stepped across the threshold of his home they were under the protection of Lot. Gen. 19:2-3 "And he said, Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way. They said however, No, but we shall spend the night in the square. 3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate." Gen. 19:8 "Now behold, I have two daughters who have not [d]had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them [e]whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the [f]shelter of my roof. That is why the scriptures say that Lot was so concerned about protecting these two men (angels) that he offered up his two daughters to the mob so his covenant would not be broken. A man's word, covenant, in those days, was a very serious thing. These men were in agreement with Lot when they entered his home so the oneness was on Lot to protect them at all costs. This threshold covenant was so binding that Lot offered a very shocking alternative to satisfy the evil people outside his home. PASSOVER CONNECTION What happened at Passover, as far as the blood on the threshold was concerned, was nothing new to people at that time. It was a common practice. Now let's have a look at the Passover connection. We may get a better understanding of the Passover threshold covenant the people made with Yah at that time. Exod. 12:7-13 "Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel [l]of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread [m]and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 11 Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste it is the Lord s Passover. 12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you [n]live; 9

10 and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you [o]to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." Yah promised His people that the Death angel would cross over the homes of His people who were in agreement (covenant) with Him. As it says in Exod. 12:23 "For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you." If the household was not protected by the father, the first born of man and beast would die. The blood around the doorway was a threshold covenant Yahveh used for His people. When the Death angel went over the homes he would say; "this house is in agreement," "this house is not". This was an agreement between Yah and His people who would OBEY Him. People today claim to love Him, but as per His agreement (Torah), they do not keep His commandments (John 14:15). Those who do not obey are simply NOT covered by the blood of the threshold agreement Yeshua represented as the sacrificed "lamb of God". THEMATIC CONNECTIONS Let's have a look at some of the thematic connections in our Good Book regarding blood, sacrifices, and covenants. Remember when Yah made a covenant with Abraham. Gen. 15:17-18 " It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your [t]descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates" With that in mind it is easy to understand the context of what was spoken in Zech.12:2-3 Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup [b]that causes reeling (trembling) to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely [c]injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." Jerusalem was made a threshold of trembling. Jerusalem was designated as Yah's anointed place where Yeshua would reign and where Yah would place His name. Jerusalem is the threshold of His house. Those who would dare to cross over it with bad intentions in their heart show that they despise His covenant. They would become as the cut up pieces of the animals sacrificed for the covenant. If Jerusalem was the center of Yah's covenant then who's blood was shed at the threshold of His home, Jerusalem? Yeshua was sent as the Lamb Of Yah, who's blood was shed over the threshold of Jerusalem so that we could be renewed in His covenant and become His people again. Yeshua was sent because we have all transgressed, trampled on His law. Now let's look at the book of Samuel where we see the Philistines carry the ark of the covenant into the temple of Dagon. Do you remember what happened next? Let's have a look. 1Sam. 5:1-5 "Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3 When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. 4 But when they arose early the 10

11 next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; [a]only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day." Why does it say even to this day the priests of Dagon will not ever enter into Dagon's house? It says this because even the priest's of Dagon acknowledge that that place is now holy ground for the Holy One of Israel. That place dedicated to Dagon was overcome by Yah's glory and He reclaimed it. He demonstrated that He alone was the Almighty of the Universe and that He alone has the right to anything in it. In the following examples you can see that priests were commonly identified as threshold covenant door keepers. 2Kgs. 22:4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may [a]count the money brought in to the house of the Lord which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people." Jer. 35:4 " and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper" 2Kgs. 12:9 "But Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and put it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money which was brought into the house of the Lord" WORSE THAN A CURSE The way a person in those days would show that he was not at all in agreement with someones covenant offering was by trampling and stomping on the sacrifice at the doorway. This practice was considered even worse than cursing at ones neighbor in those days. Now with that in mind, prayerfully consider the following verses. Hebr. 10:26-29 " For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses" 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Isn't it interesting how the language of the covenant was used in these verses? Then we see the outcome of those who break covenant as stated in Hebr. 10:30 "For we know Him who said, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay. And again, The Lord will judge His people."31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" The reality of what is spoken here is that some day Yah is coming back and He is going to clean house. He is personally going to deal with those who trampled on His covenants. He is going to dish out His vengeance. THE DAY OF THE LORD How does "the Day Of The Lord" fit in? When we keep in mind the context of what is said in the following Hebrews passage, it all makes sense. Hebr. 10:25 "not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" The day spoken of here is "The Day Of 11

12 The Lord". This is the judgement that will take place for believers at the beginning of the thousand year reign we know as the millennial reign. This is the one day of the Lord. Unbelievers will be judged after the thousand year period. After the thousand year reign is over, Yeshua hands His reign back over to the Father. This is the end of the seven days of man on earth as we know it. In order to appreciate this, we must keep in mind what is spoken of in scripture. What is spoken of in Hebrews chapter three to four is our thousand year sabbath rest. It is the rest that we are waiting to enter into after our judgement. Keep in mind that Yeshua said He was Lord of the Sabbath. The weekly sabbath is a prophetic foreshadow of the last thousand years, the Day of the Lord that we are still waiting to enter. The promise remains of us being able to enter into His rest. Hebr. 4:1-3 "Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it" For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word [a]they heard did not profit them, because [b]it was not united by faith in those who heard. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest, although His works were finished from the foundation of the world." He goes on to explain it further in Hebr. 4:4-10. We will be rewarded for our labor. All of this is mentioned so that we can remember what the Israelites did to Yah's covenant in the wilderness. They trampled all over His covenant and they did not enter into His rest. They continued to willfully sin just as spoken of in Hebrews chapter ten. They received the same gospel as us but did not walk it out in their faith. Hebr. 4:10-13" For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." There are many reasons why we should never trample on the blood of the covenant once we know the truth. The key is to know this truth and depend on Yah's promises made in His Living Word, sharper than a two edged sword. Life is in the blood. TODAY'S TRADITION Now you can see where the wedding tradition of a groom carrying his bride over the threshold of their home comes from. It simply meant that the bride and groom were in a 12

13 covenant relationship with each other. They were in agreement with each other about the things in their lives. How does all of this relate to today's world? Well, once we understand the origin of this custom we realize that when you invite someone over to your house, for supper for example, you are in reality forming a temporary covenant. Those you have invited over, for whatever reason, are agreeing with the God you are in covenant with. When they come through the door and passover the threshold they are symbolically in agreement with you. Almost everyone recognizes the biblical idea of the threshold once it has been explained. We are all familiar with door ways and the idea of what happened at Passover. Those who were in agreement with Yahveh had the blood of their sacrifice to Him protect their homes and their firstborn. Those who never painted the blood over the threshold of the home were simply saying that the God of Israel was not welcome in their home. In doing so, they invited the death of the firstborn into their homes. Those who were not obedient to what Yah said, were spiritual rebels. Their lack of obedience was essentially a message of disobedience and defiance, or rebellion towards the Holy one of Israel. We see this exact same attitude in the so-called Sunday worshipping Christian church today. Their lack of obedience, following the word of Yah, is rebellion. Spiritual rebellion as such is witchcraft. Those christians say they are obedient but by their lack of obedience they clearly proclaim they are not children of the Most High God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They do this because they don't understand covenant life. They have no idea what being in covenant with Yahveh is. Being obedient means being blessed by Yah. Being disobedient means experiencing the curses and wrath of Yah. It's everyone choice to make. Do we want to be blessed or cursed? Do we come to the threshold and not step through, or do we gladly step over the blood of the lamb and enter into the blood covering of His love? Col. 1:20 "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His stake; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in [ac]heaven." Our doorway to the Father is through Yeshua His Son and the blood of that lamb on the threshold of our home. Do you make decisions in a covenantal way? Are we basing our decisions on a material need or in a spiritual sense? Do we take the bible literally or just figuratively? Do we, like the pagans, run after things of the world, or are we running after things of Yah? WE know the things of the world can be enticing, but we must be strong enough to turn from Satan's lustful desires? Satan has a way of slowly rocking us to sleep when we constantly fall for the desires of the world around us. The world offers us a covenant of water. The world offers us a covenant that means nothing whatsoever. Yah offers us a covenant of blood and love. Coming under the protection of His blood means everything. It gives us not only peace in Yah, but the perfect peace of Yah. Are you washed in the blood? Have you stepped through the blood of the lamb? One more thought. Could the mezuzah be considered representative of the threshold covenant? It can indeed be the outside sign of our belief on the front of our homes. 13

14 Many people say the word BIBLE means Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, but this is not true. The BIBLE is our Binding Instructions Before Leaving Earth. 1. ADAMIC..EDENIC COVENANT Some consider the first covenant in the bible to be the Edenic covenant because Yah made a deal with Adam and Eve and said He would provide all they needed if they would obey His commands. Some say the Adamic and Edenic idea can be considered two covenants. I will count them as one here. Yah s first command was to eat from the tree of life but not from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Even though the word covenant is not actually mentioned regarding Yah s relationship with Adam and Eve, the concept of an agreement between Yah and Adam is recognized. Yah s agreement/covenant with Adam consisted of three components. First Adam was told to fill the earth or to multiply (Gen. 1:28). Second Yah told Adam to rule the earth or to have dominion over all Yah s creation (Gen. 1:28). Third Yah warned Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). If Adam broke this agreement he would suffer the consequences. Adam did break this agreement and in Gen. 3 sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:12). Basically, here Yah was saying: here are your new roles, prophecies of destroying the curse that had now entered the realm of the earth. Many don t accept the Adamic covenant as an actual qualified covenant of Elohim compared to the normal understanding of a covenant. 2. NOAHAIC COVENANT The next covenant Yah makes was with Noah. Gen. 6:18 says, But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark you and your sons and your wife, and your sons wives with you. Yah initiated the covenant with Noah and Yah continues to uphold His covenant with Noah. After the flood Yah gave Noah a sign for this covenant. Gen. 9:16-17 When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between Yah and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. And Yah said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth. Notice the word everlasting that describes the type of covenant Yah made with Noah. The Hebrew word for everlasting is olam and means: the beginning or end of which is 14

15 neither uncertain or else not defined. This Hebrew word olam is also translated to mean universe ; the universe is everlasting, non ending. All Adonai s covenants are EVERLASTING. These everlasting covenants are a continual reminder of Yah s faithfulness to His people. Even today we are still receiving the blessings of the Noahaic covenant, when we see a rainbow in the sky we know that Yah will not destroy the world with another flood (Gen. 9:12-13). The rainbow is an outward sign or reminder for those who follow His Word from their circumcised heart. Yah will forever stand by His promises. Yah s covenant with Noah was unconditional. You might say that the Noahide Covenant was about the structure of the government and the people. The people needed structure. They needed leaders and instructions to live a good life. 3. ABRAHAMIC COVENANT The covenant Yah makes with Abraham, Gen. 12, is His third. This covenant is very similar to what was in those days was called a Near Eastern Royal Grant. In ancient times the King would grant land to someone special in special circumstances when the individual came into unfriendly territory. The land would have specific natural landmarks that identified its boundaries. The King in Abraham s case was Yahveh, not an earthly king. To protect the person receiving the grant it was deemed cursed by the gods if anyone should try to control that territory. The grant was perpetual for all that persons generations. Yah makes His first set of promises to Abraham concerning (1) Gen. 12:2, a great nation (2) Gen. 12:3, a great name (3) Gen. 12:4, a blessing to the nations (4) Gen. 12:7, a promised land. Abraham's covenant had three distinct elements to it: promise, inheritance and faith. In Genesis 15 Yah teaches us that the promises of Abraham were to be reached by having faith. This covenant was unconditional. It was a gift from Yah for Abraham and all his descendants because of Abraham s faith. The signs of this covenant were circumcision and the land itself. Yah knew the covenant with Abraham (the shedding of animals blood), would be broken so He pointed to the future when Yeshua would come and replace the animals blood with His own. The covenant was a shadow of things to come. The cup at the Last Supper was evidence of His blood renewing the covenant with Abraham. When we look back in Genesis twelve we see the story of Abraham making a covenant with the Almighty. Remember when it says an angel came it simply means a messenger of Yah. That messenger could be Yeshua. It probably was in the case of Abraham s covenant situation. The covenant was actually made after Yah put Abraham to sleep. Many believe that at that time Yeshua was considered the Angel of the covenant. The idea is that Yeshua walked between the two halves of the cut up animal sacrificed, representing both Abraham and Yah. Yeshua represented the Seed of Abraham because He stood in for Abraham and He represented the Father also. Yeshua represented Abrahams descendants forever. Yah knew that Abraham would break the covenant, that is why Yeshua represented Abraham. Abba knew that Yeshua would have to die many years later at Calvary because Abraham s seed would break that covenant. In Gen. 15, Yah re-iterates His previous promises to Abraham. Gen. 15:4-5 Yah tells Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Gen. 15:6 Then he 15

16 believed in Adonai; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. Abraham s righteousness was based on his faith (Rom. 4) which should be the same for all Believers. Gen. 15:18 On that day Adonai made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates : Gen. 17:4-7 As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be Master to you and to your descendants after you. Today we still reap the benefits of Abrahams covenant. Gal. 3:6-8 Even so Abraham BELIEVED Yah, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that Yah would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, {saying}, ALL THE NATIONS SHALL BE BLESSED IN YOU. Yah established with Abraham the sign of circumcision as the outward proof of this covenant. The people had the opportunity to enter into it individually through personal shedding of blood. This was a foreshadow of the blood that Yeshua would some day offer on the stake. The very fact that circumcision is performed on the male organ for reproduction should help us understand that the sign-of the covenant was to be passed down forever, through the generations of the decedents of Sarah, (not Hagar). Just as the rainbow was an outward sign of the covenant with Noah, the physical circumcision was considered an outward sign of the Abramic covenant. Gen. 17:9-11 Yah said further to Abraham, Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. The males were to be the spiritual leaders of the families. If the males understood their covenant and were circumcised, the rest of the family would then fall in line. Yah made men to captain the ship so to speak, and He knew if they understood what His covenant was about the rest of the family would learn from him. They were made to be the greatest servants, to lead and teach all those under their authority in the home. It was an example of order in the family unit. Yah later confirms the covenant with Abraham s son Isaac in Gen. 26:2-6. Yah also confirmed the covenant to Isaac s son Jacob, in Gen. 35:9-13. Gen. 28:13-14 And behold, Adonai stood above it and said, I am Adonai, the Yah of your father Abraham and the Yah of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 1Chr. 16:16-17 {The covenant} which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. He also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Lev. 26:42 then I will 16

17 remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. You as a true believer in Yeshua have an equal share in the riches of Israel, the olive tree. Rom. 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree What is it that we share with Israel? Eph. 2:11-13 Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by the so-called Circumcision, {which is} performed in the flesh by human hands {remember} that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without Yah in the world. But now in Messiah Yeshua you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. Through the blood of Messiah, we are now heirs in the covenants (plural) with Israel. Rom. 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the {temple} service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, Yah blessed forever. Amein. In Messiah we receive the great promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We also receive the great blessings associated with the Mosaic covenant. The covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was also unconditional. (Rom. 4:11-12) I think it is appropriate to reveal that Abraham and Isaac were types of Yahveh and Yeshua to come. Isaac (in his 30 s) was offered up as the only son of Abraham on Mt. Moriah the same as Yeshua was offered up as Yah s only Son. Isaac carried the wood up the mountain just as Yeshua carried the stake on His back (Gen. 22:6). In Gen. 22:5 we see Abraham making a promise to his slaves that THEY would return from the mountain. This shows us that he had faith in Yah that a substitutionary sacrifice would be made by Yah rather than his son Isaac. In Yah s case there was no substitution, Yeshua His Son became the real sacrifice. THE PHYSICAL COVENANT BEING MADE When Yah and Abram made their blood covenant, Yah took the initiative and offers Abram His robe and His belt, as per the customary ritual. Because Adonai has no physical robe, He offers Himself in place of it. Gen. 15:1 After these things the word of Adonai came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great. By doing so Yah says, Abram, I offer myself as your reward, I give all that I am to you as your reward, I give you my righteousness, and my holiness. I give you my life, I pledge my life on your behalf if you will accept this covenant and enter into it with me. Again, Adonai symbolically says, I am your shield, I am not just offering you a shield, I will fight your battles for you and protect you. If anyone attacks you, they will be attacking me, I am your strength and your protector. Your battles are now mine, put on my full armor and let me go into battle for you. As a result of our covenant shall come a seed which will bring a blessing to the entire world. I will make you a great nation and I shall bless you. I will bless those who bless you,and I will curse those who curse you. I will give you the promised land. But Abram, you must understand that if you accept this covenant, it is not as though you deserve it, for your self-righteousness is like filthy rags to me. I am not doing this with you because you deserve it, but because I love 17

18 you. Then Yah tells Abram to gather up the clean animals for the covenant. These animals would serve as a substitutionary sacrifice until the real one later at Calvary. The seed spoken of in this verse is the Torah in the flesh, our Messiah Yeshua. Adonai tells Abram to split the animals down the middle, and to proceed with the making of the covenant. By doing so Abram knows what he is entering into and how serious it is, for He was familiar with the procedure. Gen. 15:9-11 So He said to him, Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Abram realizes that there is a problem with this covenant, because He has nothing to offer Adonai Yahveh. How can a simple mortal man offer anything up to the creator Himself? What has Abram got that is worthy of Adonai s receipt? How can Abram possibly keep up His end of the contract? Even with all His great possessions (for he was a wealthy man), he has nothing that Adonai could want. Adonai wanted fellowship with His people, He wanted the people to LOVE Him as He LOVED them. As we see in verse 11, when Abram tried to help out with the covenant the vultures took advantage of the situation and came down on the carcasses. The unclean vultures tried to destroy the clean sacrifice that Abram was offering, which was similar to what happened in a parable of the sower. Matt. 13:4 and as he sowed, some {seeds} fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.,. This can be compared again to the worldly description of Satan in Matt. 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil {one} comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. So Adonai explains to Abram that because He is mortal He cannot help out. This is a divine contract that can only be done correctly if He does not try to help. Adonai explains to Abram that He is going to put Him in a deep sleep and proceed with the covenant as He swears by it Himself. As Abram was in His sleep Yah spoke to Him in a dream, explaining that His descendants would be in bondage for 400 years in a strange country, but that after that they would be made free and blessed abundantly. Then, Abram saw someone walking between the halves of the sacrifices, representing Him. This person had a brilliant glow about Him, this person was saying, I m dying to myself. I m giving up the rights to my own life. I m beginning a new walk with my covenant partner until death do us part. The light was so brilliant that Abram could only describe it as a flaming torch and a smoking oven. Gen. 15:17 And it came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, {there appeared} a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. Who was it that Abram saw walking in His place? If we look in Matt. 17:2 and Rev. 1:14-15 we will see that it was Yeshua Himself representing Abram walking between the halves of the animals. Matt. 17:2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. Rev. 1:14-15 And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet {were} like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice {was} like the sound of many waters. Yeshua Himself was representing Abram with God the Father. There could be no other capable of representing 18

19 Abram with Adonai. Only the second part of the plural Elohim could be in covenant with Yahveh Himself. And on that day Abram and all His descendants, born and unborn, were offered a covenant with the Almighty. On that day, because the flesh and blood of the covenant sacrifices was symbolic, Yeshua Himself was pointed to as the sacrificial lamb of Yah who would ultimately take away the sins of the world. The animals offered at the time of Abram were symbolic, animal sacrifices could only cover sins until the blood of the lamb of God took them away. Abram is woken up (Gen. 17), and told to circumcise His male descendants as a sign (seal), an outward scar, of the EVERLASTING covenant. This was the sign for all generations who would accept the covenant Abram made with Yahveh. We, as Believers, are to be circumcised in our heart as Adonai puts His Holy Spirit within us (Gal. 3:26, John 20:22). When Yeshua said, John 10:10b-11 I came that they might have life, and might have {it} abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He meant it, and all who accept the covenants of the entire Bible proclaim: Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Abram and Yah exchanged parts of their names. Adonai, who was represented as YHVH, took the H out of His name and added it to Abram to establish Abraham. The H meant one had to exhale when pronouncing it, the exhaling represented the Holy Spirit as breath. Each time the H is used in that context it is to remind people of the ever present Holy Spirit. Likewise Sara s name was changed to Sarah. Yah in turn took on Abrams name and was after that known as the God of Abraham. After the covenant was cut, the God of Abraham, and Abraham, were known as FRIENDS (James 2:23). Abraham knew that YHVH was bound by this covenant forever, so He wondered how Adonai would give Him a child, (a physical seed), at His age. He knew that it would have to be by means of supernatural intervention. A son was born to Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 21:5) and Yah lives up to His part of the covenant. As you recall Abraham slept throw the covenant ritual, so Yah had to know if Abraham really accepted the covenant from His heart. Yah needed to see some works from Abraham to see if He truly loved Him. Adonai knew that faith without works was dead. Adonai had to know if Abraham would truly hold up to His end of the deal, so He had to test Abraham. As all who made blood covenants knew, it meant that the partners were willing, if ever called to do so, to give up everything they had to stand up to their part of the deal. Yah decided to see if Abraham was serious about the covenant and therefore told Abraham to offer up His only Son Isaac as a living sacrifice to Yah Himself. For Abraham to offer up His only Son would mean that He would have no heir, this was in those days, a terrible thing for any man to have to concede to. It would mean that His life was a failure and He would be looked down upon by all those around Him. On top of it all Abraham was kept in doubt whether or not His Son would die, for three days, as we see in Genesis. As we all know, Abraham did offer up Isaac to prove His full acceptance of the covenant and Yah then substituted a goat at the last moment to replace Isaac (Hebr. 11:17). 19

20 4. MOSAIC COVENANT/SINAITIC (Exod )! MARRIAGE CONTRACT We are all His bride if we keep the covenant that He made available at Mt. Sinai. His bride are all those who obey His Word, the children of Israel. Neither Jew or gentile, man or woman. Symbolically Yah is calling all His children to come to Mt. Sinai and renew or accept His marriage covenant (contract), the Torah, summarized as the Ten Commandments. We are to be His bride and express His love and truth throughout the world. As in the Jewish wedding ceremony, He is coming for His bride some day. Israel was His bride and we are Israelites if we heed His Word spoken at Mt. Sinai. THE LOVE STORY OF EXODUS The Book of Exodus is a love story between Elohim and His bride, His people who accept His marriage covenant. This love story can be divided up into four parts: 1) We see the promises He makes to His bride to be in: Exod. 6:6-8 Therefore, say to the people of Israel: I am ADONAI. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you 20

21 will know that I am ADONAI, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz chak and Ya akov I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am ADONAI. 2) In Exod. 19:5-6 we see His proposal or engagement to His bride. Now if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep my covenant, then you will be my own treasure from among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart. These are the words you are to speak to the people of Isra el. 3) In Exodus 20 the bride appears under the huppah (canopy..her husbands prayer shawl) of clouds, smoke, and thunder, and the ketubah (marriage contract) is read. Then a sign is given for all His brides to prove that they await His coming back for them. Exod. 31:13 clearly tells the sign: Tell the people of Isra el, You are to observe my Shabbats; for this is a sign between me and you through all your generations; so that you will know that I am ADONAI, who sets you apart for me. 4) The love story concludes with the building of the Tabernacle, where the bride and groom enjoy an intimate relationship in the holy of Holies. As in Gen. 2:23 when Adam declared Eve to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, so did the Israelites become one with the flesh of the Almighty. Gen. 2:23 The man-person said, At last! This is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. She is to be called Woman [Hebrew: ishah], because she was taken out of Man [Hebrew: ish]. Exodus 19:5 and 8 make it clear as a bell, we are to obey His commandments, the covenant of marriage. The people back then accept, like we are to now, His commandments as given to us, exclusively. We are to share them with the rest of the world. We are to act as agents for the Most High, revealing the words of that marriage covenant. All those who obey His Torah are the chosen ones. By living out the written words in the Torah we embody in our lives the living image of Yah. By living the Torah others can see who Yah is. As you recall, when Moses came down from the mountain the first time with the tablets and saw them worshipping an image of Elohim, he broke the tablets (marriage contract) before all who were present. When Moses went back up Yah had Moses himself carve out the tablets for Yah to write on. These tablets represent our heart. We are to bring to Him our heart of stone and He will change it into a heart of flesh that He writes His Torah on. Ezek. 11:19-20 And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. Jer. 31:31-33 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. 21

22 The content of the two covenants is the same, only the location changed. The Holy Spirit writes the Torah on our heart. Once this happens the law is under us. This is the covenant of marriage for His true bride. When this is done, that individual is declared to be His bride and He will protect His bride till He returns for the wedding ceremony and the Feast. Gal. 3:22-25 But instead, the Tenakh shuts up everything under sin; so that what had been promised might be given, on the basis of Yeshua the Messiah s trusting faithfulness, to those who continue to be trustingly faithful. Now before the time for this trusting faithfulness came, we were imprisoned in subjection to the system which results from perverting the Torah into legalism, kept under guard until this yet-to-come trusting faithfulness would be revealed. Accordingly, the Torah functioned as a custodian until the Messiah came, so that we might be declared righteous on the ground of trusting and being faithful. But now that the time for this trusting faithfulness has come, we are no longer under a custodian. Gal. 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism. Rom. 7:6 But now we have been released from this aspect of the Torah, because we have died to that which had us in its clutches, so that we are serving in the new way provided by the Spirit and not in the old way of outwardly following the letter of the law. The fourth and MAIN covenant Yah made with His people was at Mt. Sinai. The sign of this covenant was the tablets that Yah gave to Moses, the contract that was put in the ark of the covenant, and Sabbath keeping. It was a conditional covenant; how closely they followed the Torah determined the blessings and curses they would receive as per God s instructions. Many consider the covenant made with Abraham the covenant of promise, and the one made with Moses as the ability to dwell within the promises (Gal. 3:10-23). Exod. 24:12 Now Adonai said to Moses, Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction. Yah redeemed His Bride out of Egypt, baptized (mikveh) her in the Red Sea, married her at Mt. Sinai, and gave her the marriage agreement (ketubah). Exod. 34:10 Then Yah said, Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth, nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of Adonai, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you. This covenant was a conditional covenant, as per the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy, it gave the recipient the right to choose between receiving the blessings of Adonai, or the curses. (Deut. 11:26-28, 28:45) This covenant explained clearly that we are to follow the everlasting Ten Commandments and the Law given at Mt. Sinai. Moses was told to publicly read the Law/Torah to the people every seven years so they would always remember it. Deut. 31:10-12 Then Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of {every} seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before Adonai Yahveh at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear Adonai Yahveh, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. It didn t take long before Israel started to depart from Yah s Torah. 22

23 King Hilkiah realized the importance of the book of the law, and soon obeyed its rules as divinely given. 2Kgs. 22:8 says, Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Adonai. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. 2Kgs. 22:13 Go, inquire of Adonai for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of Adonai that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us. How did Israel lose Yah s Torah? Easy, they lost the Torah because they neglected it! Is the Torah being neglected in churches today? I will let you answer that one for yourself. In Exod. 6:6-7 Yahveh tells Moses what He intends to do for the people of Israel. He said He would deliver them, set them apart, redeem them, and take them to be His people. Exod. 6:6-7 Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, I am Adonai, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be Yahveh; and you shall know that I am Adonai Yahveh, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. The covenant with Moses was a covenant of faith that included obedience (Gen. 15:12). This covenant gave those who partook the ability to be in the blessings of their inheritance. In Gen. 15 it is made clear that the Mosaic covenant didn t make the Abrahamic covenant obsolete, the two complement each other. The blessing of Adonai is explained to Moses in Exod. 19:5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; The books of the Law were so important that Moses insisted they be put with the ark of the covenant (Deut 31:26). This type of emphasis makes it obvious as to how important they were, and still are, to His true Bride. Another sign of the everlasting covenant between Yah and Moses shows up as the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH in Exod. 31:12-16 And Adonai spoke to Moses, saying, But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for {this} is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Adonai who sanctifies you. Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to Adonai; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Ask yourself how long perpetual is? The covenant is updated in Deut. 29:1 These are the words of the covenant which Adonai commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb. Then Moses is told. Deut. 29:9 So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. Malachi also accepted the covenant of Moses as described in Mal. 2: DAVIDIC COVENANT (2Sam. 7) 23

24 Yah made an unconditional covenant with King David. There are various ideas as to what the sign of the Davidic covenant was; I happen to believe that the Temple/House that was built for Yah was the sign of the covenant (2Sam. 7). The physical Temple was destroyed eventually, but the Temple within all true saints cannot be destroyed. The Temple is now within. 2Sam. 23:5 Truly is not my house so with Yah? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and secured; For all my salvation and all {my} desire, Will He not indeed make {it} grow? 2Sam. 7:16 And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. Notice again the word everlasting being used. Messiah, the Root of Jesse, is the One who continually upholds the everlasting covenant made with David. Yah s covenant with David was unconditional. Ps. 89:34 My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips Some of the covenants in our good book had tremendous regional impacts as well as spiritual. An example of this impact can be seen in the covenant of David involving considerable economic involvement as materials were needed to build Solomon s Temple to Yah. (1Kgs. 5:6-11) The Davidic covenant ensured David s house would rule forever IF they kept Yah s commandments. 6. RENEWED COVENANT (BRIT HADASHA--JER. 31) The last covenant Yah makes with His people is the Renewed (New) Covenant. Simply put, the Renewed Covenant is established when we have the Old Covenant on our circumcised heart, and OBEY it. It is the Prophets who testified to the coming Renewed Covenant. Isa. 55:3 Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, {According to} the faithful mercies shown to David. Again the word everlasting comes up. Just as the previous covenants are everlasting, so the Renewed Covenant is also everlasting. Jer. 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. Again we see the everlasting theme in this verse. Ezek. 37:23-28 And they will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their Yah. And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them. And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons, and their sons sons, forever; and David My servant shall be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their Yah, and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am Adonai who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever. This covenant of peace with Phinehas is also spoken of in Num. 25:11-13 Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, 24

25 so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his Yah, and made atonement for the sons of Israel. If we look close at Isaiah, we will see that the re-newed covenant spoken of, was to include foreigners. It wasn t just for the Jewish people. Isa. 56:3a Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to Adonai say, Isa. 56:6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to Adonai, Notice that it says who join themselves to Adonai. Isaiah is including Gentiles in this prophecy; those who follow the Torah, those who join themselves to the Torah, not those who go along for the ride. Isaiah is talking about God-fearers, that accept the covenants of Torah. It is very interesting to note that the Renewed Covenant has elements of the previous existing covenants. Notice the Davidic covenant when Yah says, My servant David will be king over them...and David my servant will be their leader FOREVER. Notice the Abrahamic covenant when Yah says, They will live in the land I gave to Jacob my servant, where your ancestors lived. And notice the Mosaic covenant when Yah says, they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations. Yah took elements from the earlier covenants and created the Renewed Covenant. Just as the rainbow was an outward sign of this covenant with Noah and physical circumcision the outward sign of the covenant with Abraham, so to, the circumcision of our heart is now an inner sign of the keeping of the re-newed covenant of YHVH. You might consider the blood of Yeshua and His love also as signs of the partially conditional and unconditional Brit Hadasha. Without accepting the Torah covenants, one cannot have a circumcised heart. Yah tells us that He gives us a new heart and His Spirit to enable us to obey and live by His commands. The Renewed Covenant is the circumcision of our hearts. Only after our hearts have been properly circumcised by the hand of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, can His Torah (five books of Moses), be written on our hearts. Jer. 31:31-34 Behold, days are coming, declares Adonai, 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 Adonai. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Adonai, I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their Yah, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know Adonai, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares Adonai, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. Jeremiah states with the Renewed covenant Yah will write His Torah on our hearts. The author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah in Hebr. 8:8-12 when he talks to the Messianic Jews. What is the significance of Yah writing His Torah on our hearts? It is the only way we can truly follow it, out of love for our Father. Love comes from our heart. Yah had to write His Torah on our hearts because we could not keep it otherwise. The Renewed Covenant is Yah s Torah written on our hearts. There is more to the Renewed Covenant than just Yah s 25

26 Torah written on our hearts. Jer. 31:34 has already stated that Yah will forgive our wickedness and remember our sins no more. Yah would ultimately forgive our wickedness and remember our sins no more through the sacrificial death of Messiah. (Hebr. 7-10, Gal. 3:17) Many think that the Renewed covenant is only clearly talked about in Jeremiah, but let us look at a few verses the wisest man in the world (King Solomon) wrote talking about the covenant being on our heart. Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; Prov. 7:3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart Then we see it also talked about in Isa. 51:7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, Nor be dismayed at their revilings. Ps. 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip. Ps. 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart. We also see His love on our heart as part of the Shema. Deut. 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. If we have the torah on our heart, we truly love Him. Matt. 26:27-28 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave {it} to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins Messiah instituted the Renewed (New) Covenant in the upper room just hours before He offered up His sinless body as the perfect sacrifice. The sign of the Renewed Covenant is the blood of the Messiah our Passover Lamb. 1Cor. 5:7 Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are {in fact} unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. Our sins are now forgiven by faith in the blood of Messiah. Just as the rainbow, circumcision, and the Sabbath are everlasting signs of Yah s existing covenants, now the blood of Messiah is the everlasting sign of the Renewed Covenant. Messiah was the final sacrifice for sins when He said in John 19:30...It is finished... and is now the mediator of the Renewed Covenant. Hebr. 12:24 and to Yeshua, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than (the blood) of Abel" Under the old covenant it was the responsibility of Moses to teach the Torah (laws) to all the people who accepted Adonai as their God. It was Moses who had to gather all the people together every seven years and publicly read the Torah to them so they would always have it as their guide. (Deut. 31:10-13). As the population grew and people became more worldly, they withdrew from the writings of Moses. It became more and more difficult to do this and the people simply fell away. This falling away is what has happened to our Christian churches today. They have fallen away from the word, and claim the name of Jesus. (Matt. 7:21-23, 15:7-9, 24:4-5) Do you know of ANY church that truly follows the Torah? In Deut. 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Adonai, Yahveh, which I command you. 26

27 Much of today s confusion about Yah s Law, the Ten Commandments and the covenants, is because of three things that took place: (A) in the past those involved in Judaism often added to the Torah. (B) both Judaism and Christianity have ignored and avoided many parts of the Torah, and (C) Believers have subtracted from the Torah, torn out pages that didn t suit their doctrine. The Torah is to be the basis of the doctrine of the church. Failure to recognize this has been the biggest downfall of the church in this new age. Many call me Lord, Lord and do not what I say. (Luke 6:46) The Torah is perfect, and Yah gave it to Moses to teach the people. The Torah has never changed, but mankind has severely changed to the worse. There is no place in El Gibor s word that says Adonai will give us a new updated book of laws and regulations. Yah said His Torah is to be on our hearts because that is where love comes from, our love for Him being shown by our keeping His laws. In the times of the Temple the Torah/old covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies, but now we have this Torah/re-newed covenant on our hearts, if we are truly His people. WHY WAS THE RENEWED COVENANT MADE IN THE FIRST PLACE? A RENEWED COVENANT? The reason we call this part "a New Covenant?" is twofold. First, because it is new in the sense of it being something almost never heard of as we shall see. Second, because au contraire, in a most essential manner, it is not new, neos, at all, but kainen, a renewal and a compendium of the prior five covenants, from the Noachic to the Davidic. Why do we say it is not new at all? Because if we take a comprehensive view of Elohim's grand strategy, regarding the future of the world, we can see the final outcome in Elohim's eyes. His strategy is to restore the Garden of Eden with a "second Adam", the Rabbi Yeshua marrying a second Eve, His Bride the Church. They are to reign as the King and queen of an eternal Kingdom, a Kingdom headquartered in a land with His moral order. The Noahaic covenant furnishes the security of non-destruction by Elohim. The Abrahamic gives the King and queen a land. The Israeli covenant (Abrahamic), offers the blessings. The Mosaic furnishes the moral borders of their Kingdom. And finally, the Davidic covenant promises in advance, the Kingdom, and an eternal King. To see in what way, on the other hand, it is a Renewed Covenant, let us ask ourselves the following question: With whom was the Renewed Covenant made? With the Church, right? Wrong! Jer. 31:31-33 Behold, the days come, saith Yah Adonai, that I will make a brit ha Hadashah/renewed covenant with the House of Israel, and with the House of Judah; 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 Yah Adonai: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel; After those days, saith Yah Adonai, I will put my law *be kirbam[close to them], and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people" * [Note- The translators mistook kirbam (Strong Number 7131), which is the word appearing in the original Hebrew, for kribaim (Strong number 7130), meaning "in their inward parts". In Hebr. 10:16-17 the words used are: "This is the 27

28 covenant with which I will covenant with them after those days, says Adonai Yahveh, I will give my Torah, Instructions, Commandments, "Law" on their hearts. And on their minds I will write them. And the sins and deeds (against) the Torah/Instructions/Commandments I shall not remember any longer." We must understand that the "postal address" of the Renewed Covenant is "P.O. Box Israel", not "The Church." In other words, Elohim made the Renewed Covenant with the same Chosen People He made the previous ones; with Israel. How is that possible? The answer lies in Romans Eleven. Rom. 11:16-21 And if the first piece {of dough} be holy, the lump is also; and if the root be holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, {remember that} it is not you who supports the root, but the root {supports} you. You will say then, Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if Yah did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Romans Eleven holds part of the key to the position of the Church within the Malkut ha Shamaim/Kingdom of Elohim. In Elohim's eye there is what could be called "the Olive Tree of Romans Eleven" which is a "Who's Who" within His Malkut/Kingdom. The roots of the tree are the patriarchs and prophets of the House of Israel, the trunk, and some of the branches are the bride of Israel. The Israelites, and most of the branches are the Church. There is no Jewish tree on one side and a Gentile tree called "the Church" on the other. It has been the custom of olive farmers to invigorate an olive tree which is ceasing to bear fruit, by grafting it in with a shoot of the wild olive, so that the sap of the tree enables this wild shoot and the tree now again begins to bear fruit. This grafting helps both trees. The wild olive tree produced poor olives. Its ingrafting enabled it to bear wonderful fruit. On the other hand, the cultivated olive tree sometimes needed to have new vigor put into it. This was accomplished by the grafting in of the new shoot. The process was beneficial to both. In such an unusual grafting, we are told, both the graft and the stock on which it was grafted are affected; the old stock is reinvigorated by the new graft, and the new graft in turn, fed by the sap of the olive stock, is able to bear such fruit as the wild-olive could never produce. Another important implication from these verses is that the branches were grafted into the olive tree in order to bear olives, not peaches, oranges, or any other kind of fruit. The produce (seed) from an olive tree bears all the characteristics of an olive tree. It is important to note that when the gentiles are grafted in, they do not eliminate Israel nor change Israel into something other than Israel. The tree remains an olive tree! Other branches are merely added on to it, not replacing any of the natural ones. Thus, with this visual picture in mind, the fact that the Renewed Covenant was also made with Israel begins to make a lot more sense. Why? Because Judaism and Christianity are not two separate religions as we are lead to believe, but a spiritual continuum, and Romans Eleven is a scriptural proof of that. Now, do you see why this is called "A Renewed Covenant"? 28

29 Yeshua told the people how to keep the covenant, and yet they continued to stray away from it, just like the people do to this day. John 5:46-47 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? NOT A NEW COVENANT! Second, let us see why it is not a new covenant. Again, let us ask ourselves a second question: The Rabbi Yeshua came to abolish the Mosaic Covenant, didn't He? Again, the answer must be: No. Matt. 5:17-19 "Think not that I am come to destroy the (Torah-Instructions-Commandments) "law", or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to make full. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Torah, till all be full. Howsoever therefore shall break one of the these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the malkut ha shamaim/kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" There is an interesting wordplay by Rabbi Yeshua on the words in Greek for "to destroy" and "to fulfill", katalusai and plerosai, respectively. While the former means "to destroy utterly", according to Vine's Dictionary, the latter means exactly the opposite in a sense, to "fill," in the sense of to make the Torah maleh/pregnant with His Holy Spirit. In verses the Rabbi Yeshua makes absolutely clear beyond any doubt that the Torah shall not pass away, nor should we teach anybody that it has. The key to understanding the Renewed Covenant lies in Jer. 31:33's expression: "I will put my Torah, (my Instructions, "Law") close to them [be kirbam] and write it in their hearts." If we really understand what these words wish to convey we will begin to understand the real meaning of the Renewed Covenant. How did Elohim put the Torah, the Instructions close to them ('the House of Israel and the House of Judah'), and write it in their hearts"? First, the Rabbi Yeshua plerosai, filled the Torah/Instructions (Mat. 5:17) with His Holy Spirit, i.e., He is THE walking Torah. Then, when we receive the Rabbi Yeshua as our Savior, He is inside us. The Torah is inside us too. Thus, we have not only the tools, the Torah to fulfill it, but the Divine Instrument with whom to carry it out! (This is the real meaning of Grace! Grace is to have not only our Instructions but the tools to carry them out!) With Him we have the opportunity, the ability, and the duty to obey the Torah. Because He fulfilled it and then we received Him inside us, we can and should fulfill it too. Not the external Torah, but the Torah placed in us through the Rabbi Yeshua. That is what 29

30 Jer. 31:33 means: to put the Torah "close to them and write it in their hearts"! How can Elohim write it in our hearts"? Only, if, and when, He has someone inside our hearts writing it: the Rabbi Yeshua through the Holy Spirit in us. On the other hand, this is the "walking in the spirit" mentioned in Rom. 8:1-2,14 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Messiah Yeshua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua hath made me free from the law of sin and death...for as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, they are the sons of Elohim." Let us note what is said in Rom. 8: 1) those who walk in the spirit are under no condemnation; 2) one is free from the Torah only provided that we are walking under the "law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua"; and, 3) if one wants to be called "sons of Elohim", one has to be lead by the Spirit of Elohim. "Wait a minute" critics will say. "Aren't we supposed to be free from the Law in the New Covenant?" However, Rom. 3:31 says: "Do we then make void the law through faith? May it not be! But we affirm the Torah." What about the famous "...for ye are not under the (Torah) the "law," but under grace" of Rom. 6:14? To say it again, we are no longer under the Torah in the sense of an external Torah/Instructions, written in stone, but we indeed are under "the Torah of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua"; i.e., when we walk in the Spirit, when "we are lead by the Spirit of Elohim," the Holy Spirit leads us to obey the Torah. It is in this sense that the Covenant is not new at all, but a renewed one. To conclude, a more comprehensive view of the Renewed Covenant is needed to put the pieces of the Scripture puzzle together, especially if we are dealing with a delicate subject such as the "Old" Covenant vs. the New One. Instead of taking for granted certain common understandings regarding the Renewed Covenant, we should delve more into it, and retrieve the deeper meanings Elohim is willing to share with us. May the Holy Spirit of the Elohim of Israel guide us in this holy quest. THE ANTI-MESSIAH RAISES HIS UGLY HEAD AGAIN If you look closely at what the great prophet Daniel said would happen in these last days, you will plainly see who Daniel was warning us about. Dan. 7:25 And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. The HE that Daniel is speaking of is the anti-messiah. It is the spirit of the anti-messiah that has caused Yah s children to stray from the ways directed by Yah. The spirit of the anti-messiah is prevalent in our Christian churches today, and that is why many of the people who claim to love Adonai, have been deceived. This deception is spoken of many times throughout the good book, as in (Matt. 7:21). The lawless one is the anti-messiah, he is the deceiver of the world. 2Ths. 2:8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom Adonai will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; It is the lawless one, not our Messiah Yeshua, who is convincing the Christians (through His unbiblical churches), to neglect and disregard Yahveh s Law. In real simple terms; people are lawless when they don t keep the laws of Yahveh. It is Satan working through his anti-messiah spirit that has persuaded the pro-claimed Believers to be lawless. Their failure to get seriously into the word of 30

31 Yahveh has lead the people and the clergy down this garden path. Our Yeshua came to show us the importance of the laws of the Father. He clarified and correctly interpreted His Fathers Torah for days of old, and for our time. Yah speaks of covenant breakers, people polluted by worldly influences, and evil in Isa. 24:5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Another stiff warning from Adonai is given to believers who did things that they know are not proper in Ezek. 44:7 when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, {even} My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant void {this} in addition to all your abominations. THE RE-NEWED COVENANT (BRIT HADASHA) IS BETTER THAN THE OLD COVENANT Many ask why did Yah make a new covenant with His people, what was wrong with the old one? This is a very good question. Was there something wrong with the Old Covenant? The answer to this question can be found in Jer. 31:32 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 Adonai. Hebr. 8:9 also says, NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS ADONAI There was nothing wrong with the Old Covenant, but there was everything wrong with the people s faithfulness to that covenant. Yah always remained faithful to His promises, and always upheld His end of the deal. It was the people who broke His covenant. Hebr.8:8 says, For finding fault with them, He says, BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS ADONAI, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH But Yah did find fault with the people. Again we see that it was the people who were at fault and not Yah. Yah had to renew His covenant with His people because of their continual covenant unfaithfulness. El Gibor renewed His covenant with His people in such a way that they would have no excuse to break it again. Even though we are partakers of this Renewed Covenant, it will not reach its final fulfillment until the Messianic Age and all of Israel is back in the land. Why was the Renewed Covenant made in the first place? Because sinful man could not fulfill the 613 Commandments of Elohim. In fact man cannot fulfill even the first one, "Thou shalt love Yah ADONAI thy Yah with all thine heart..." (Dvarim/Words/"Deut "6:4). Man was defeated on Round One, with Adam and Eve, so Elohim had to start all over again using little Messiah s living inside each one of us (Rom. 8:10; Col. 3:3) through the Holy Spirit. Now we have a Church which is made out of the Rabbi Yeshua, just as Eve was made from one of Adam's ribs. For Elohim cannot tolerate anything made of flesh. Flesh is perishable, but the spirit is eternal. If you pay close attention to the theme of the book of Hebrews, you will see that it explains the supremacy of Yeshua our Messiah. Hebr. 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises Yeshua is the mediator of a better 31

32 covenant, makes it clear that the renewed covenant is superior to the old. If you understand the Greek meaning of better, you will see it doesn t mean the old one is no longer there, it means it has been re-newed, improved upon, more useful, or more excellent. As stated in Hebrews, our Messiah was superior in regards to: Angels, (Hebr. 1-2), Moses, (Hebr. 3-4:13), Aaronic priesthood, (Hebr. 4:14-6:20), and the Melchizedek priesthood of (Hebr. 7:1-28). Yeshua s work as the High Priest was superior in regards to: the Covenant, (Hebr. 8), the Sanctuary, (Hebr. 9:1-12), and the Sacrifice, (Hebr. 9:13-18). Only the blood of Yeshua could take away the sins of the world. All the sacrifices of the past simply covered the sins of the world. Because of the Renewed covenant we can claim the blood of our precious lamb of Yah as our ability to be directly forgiven for our sins. Messiah updated or amended the Torah through His sacrifice on the stake. These modifications had no effect on the morals and civil instructions contained in the books of Moses. Our Country has what we call a charter of rights, or bill of rights. That is the law of the people. When our Government leaders get together in Parliament, or Legislature, they don t change the entire bill of rights when they put into place a new law or rule. They amend the original bill to include the change, or addition. It is this same principal that Yah had in mind when Yeshua came to update or modify, the Law of the Torah. The old covenant was not thrown out, but amended to include, or re-new it, because of what Yeshua replaced at Calvary in regards to the sacrificial system, laws, and priesthood. CONFUSING SCRIPTURES ABOUT COVENANTS There are many scriptures that have caused confusion about the things of the Renewed Covenant. The following are a few typical mis-understood verses: Hebr. 7:17-18 For it is witnessed {of Him}, THOU ART A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK. For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness The commandment being talked about here is the commandments or rules pertaining to the priesthood. If you look closely at the following verse you will see it is the priesthood that is being set aside, not the Torah. Hebr. 10:9 then He said, BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO THY WILL. He takes away the first in order to establish the second. Here something better is being introduced. Messiah is the priest forever (in the priesthood of Melchizedek), as per verse 17. As in verse 18 the weak and uselessness is referring to the Levitical priesthood (Hebr. 7:11), and the sacrifices. There is often confusion with Hebr. 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. Hebr. 8:13 When He said, A new {covenant}, He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. At first glance it may seem that the so-called old covenant was totally thrown away, abandoned, and a new covenant was about to replace it. This is what most would have you believe, but look closely at what it really says, in context to what was happening at the time this was written. At that time the writer of Hebrews was telling the Jewish people that one aspect of the old covenant regarding sacrifices and the levitical system, was about to change. This 32

33 verse is found in the middle of a discussion of priestly duties, atonement, and the sacrificial system in general. When it is kept it in context, one can see that it was referring to that part of the covenant which was all about to change, because Yeshua was about to become the ultimate, once and for all, sacrifice to replace that system of atonement. Yeshua s famous words: it is finished come into play here. The sacrificial system for atonement was near completion. This verse is not referring to the Torah as a whole, but simply the old sacrificial system instructed in the Torah. What is being referred to here as made the first obsolete, is the old priesthood, not the covenant as some would have you believe. Ready to disappear is the old priesthood, because Yeshua (the High Priest), was replacing the old Levitical priesthood. One covenant does not set aside another; one does not invalidate another so as to nullify its stipulations. Rather, it renews expands, adapts, up-dates. In addition, the Renewed Covenant, like all biblical covenants made with Israel, incorporates all the provisions of the previous covenant, made necessary by the historically accomplished sacrifice of Yeshua. The Torah is still in effect as a covenant, and its provisions are still Yah s instructions for the righteous. David Stern has this to say concerning the vanishing of the old covenant, in this verse: What is actually on the verge of vanishing is the old priesthood, not the old covenant-or, perhaps we may say, not Yah s unchangeable nature which stands behind the old covenant. The priesthood is the subject of the whole section (indeed, the sacrificial system is the subject of the whole letter), and it is this which is about to disappear or, at the very least, take on a very transformed role. The Mosaic Covenant has not vanished in as much as the Abrahamic, Noahaic, or Davidic Covenants, have not vanished. All of these covenants are still in effect, and we continue to receive the blessings from each. When Yah amends His covenant with His people, this amendment is an addition or adaptation to the previous covenants. When Yah introduces a new covenant, it does not abolish the existing covenants. God simply builds upon His earlier covenants. There are great dangers in cancelling any of Yah s covenants. No one has the authority to cancel covenants made by El emet (God of truth), other than El emet Himself. That means no clergy, no teachers, no prophets, and no saints, can change the word of Yah. We must abide by what He told us to do, and respect His wishes, for He is the maker of heaven and earth. We are the created, not the creators. VOWS..PROMISES..COVENANTS The following is a subject that is included in the Mattot (Tribes) Torah portion (parashah). Because it is so misunderstood, I have decided to have a special teaching on this alone. I hope you enjoy it. There are other vows spoken of in the bible that are associated with blessings or curses, but in this teaching I am specifically referring to what is being revealed in the Book of Numbers. Num. 30:1-8 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, This is the word which the LORD has commanded. 2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out 33