NewCovenant

THE NEW COVENANT

What is the new covenant?
There are a lot of opinions on this subject
so our study may be a little unpopular in certain places.
I did some searching for information on the new covenant
and I came up with a few articles that had really wild ideas.
They mostly ignored the scriptures that tell what the new covenant is
and just went on their own merry way ‘proving’ things that are not true.

Let’s see what the scripture has to say.

A covenant is an agreement made under seal – a very solemn agreement.
A covenant is an agreement for the parties to do some things in the future.
In the scriptures a covenant is an agreement for the two parties to become
members of the same family!
When Solomon made a covenant with Hiram (1 Kings 5:12)
they had peace/shalom between them.
In 1 Ki 9:13 Hiram calls Solomon ‘my brother’

We often think of a covenant as being made by Yahweh.
But actually, anyone can make a covenant.

Think about the covenant associated with
the giving of the ten commandments.
There were a lot of things the people had to do for their side of the
agreement.
They promised to do ALL that Yahweh said (Exodus 24:7).
Yahweh had Moses write the laws on parchment and Yahweh even wrote
the ten commandments on Stone with his own finger.
Moses sealed the covenant with the blood of bulls (Exodus 24:8).

There was nothing wrong with the agreement.
Yahweh kept his side of the agreement perfectly.
But the people just didn’t do what they promised.
Yahweh says in Jeremiah 31:32 that the people BROKE that agreement.

Yahweh was very disappointed.
He had made a marriage covenant with Israel and His precious bride had
been unfaithful to him.

The New Covenant refers to another agreement to be made by Yahweh.
It is referred to by that name only one time in the Hebrew scriptures.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 "Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh,
when I will make A NEW COVENANT
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
32. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt,
My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says Yahweh.
33. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says Yahweh:
I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts;
and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
34. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for they all shall know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh.
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

This passage tells us several things about the new covenant.
1. It is to be with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
In this sense we could call it THE RENEWED COVENANT.
It is a covenant with the same people and has many of the same terms.
But it also has some radically NEW terms:
2. “I (Yahweh) will put My law IN THEIR MINDS, and write it ON
THEIR HEARTS.”
3. “I will be their Elohim.” As in the old covenant
4. “They shall be My people.” As in the old covenant
5. “They all shall know Me.”
6. “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
There are other statements that may refer to this covenant but this
in Jeremiah 31:31 - 34 is the heart of it.

This covenant looks different from the other covenants we see in the scriptures.
First, there is no commitment from the people, only from Yahweh.
Second, there is, as yet, no blood to seal the agreement.

Of course Yahweh can do whatever he wants in making covenants.

Did you know that the ‘New Covenant’ was pledged by Yahweh
about 600 years before the Messiah was born?

Does the New Covenant promise new laws?
No! It says YAHWEH’S LAWS will be written on their hearts instead of on stone.
THE SAME LAWS, just written on a better place.
Written so that Yahweh’s children would follow those ways
perfectly, automatically, as if by instinct,
because it is their nature to do so.

There is no commitment from the people because
Yahweh will write his ways within them and
change their nature from carnal to righteous.

When this happens they will love and follow Yahweh
because they will have personal knowledge of Him

Today we may have a foretaste of this nature by
the earnest or down-payment of the spirit of Yahweh within us.
Now He who establishes us with you in the Messiah
and has anointed us is Yahweh,
22. who also has sealed us
and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
But only in the kingdom will we be changed
to have the nature to follow Yahweh perfectly.

Some may be concerned that I said
that the people were not required to do anything
under the new covenant.

I only mean that the covenant as stated in Jeremiah 31 left the people
with a very passive role.
Nothing is yet required of the people.

On the other hand, a typical example from the Torah
shows the people being required to obey Yahweh:
    Exodus 19:5 'Now therefore,
    IF you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,
    THEN you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people;
for all the earth is Mine.

              A Good Help in Studying Scripture
              Whenever you come to the word IF, circle it.
              Then look further for the word THEN and circle it.
              There is often a THEN shortly after an IF.
              Draw a light pencil line from the IF to the THEN.
              It helps you to understand what is being said.

Now lets look at some other Old Testament scriptures that
talk about a new covenant, and see if we can learn more.

Jeremiah 32:36-44 Now therefore, thus says Yahweh,
the Elohim of Israel, concerning this city of which you say,
'It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon
by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence':
37. “Behold, I WILL GATHER THEM out of all countries
where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath;
I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.
38. THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE,
and I WILL BE THEIR ELOHIM;
39. then I WILL GIVE THEM ONE HEART AND ONE WAY,
that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them
and their children after them.
40. And I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH THEM,
that I will not turn away from doing them good;
but I WILL PUT MY FEAR IN THEIR HEARTS
so that they will not depart from Me.
41. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will
assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.”

42. For thus says Yahweh:
“Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people,
so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.
43. And fields will be bought in this land of which you say,
‘It is desolate, without man or beast;
it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’
44. Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them,
and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin,
in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah,
in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland,
and in the cities of the South;
for I will cause their captives to return,” says Yahweh.

Isaiah 61:1-10 The Spirit of the sovereign Yahweh is upon me,
Because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2. To proclaim the acceptable year of Yahweh,
And the day of vengeance of our Elohim;
To comfort all who mourn, 3. To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of Yahweh, that He may be glorified."
4. And THEY SHALL REBUILD THE OLD RUINS,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
5. Foreigners shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6. But YOU SHALL BE NAMED THE PRIESTS OF YAHWEH,
They shall call you the servants of our Elohim.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
7. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land THEY SHALL POSSESS DOUBLE;
EVERLASTING JOY shall be theirs.
8. "For I, Yahweh, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them AN EVERLASTING COVENANT.
9. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are the children whom Yahweh has blessed."
10. I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh.
My soul shall be joyful in my Elohim;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

So, what additional things have we learned are part of the New Covenant.
7. “I will gather them out of all the countries.”
8. “I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”
9. “I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me.”
10. “They shall rebuild the old ruins.”
11. “You shall be named the priests of Yahweh,
they shall call you the ministers of our Elohim.”
12. “In their land they shall possess double.”
13. “Everlasting joy shall be theirs.”

Still no commitment required from the people. Yahweh does it all.

And still no eternal life.
We see an eternal covenant and eternal joy
but those promises do not necessarily mean eternal life for individuals.

We also see people of other nations’ serving the children of this
covenant; who are “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

We have one other Old Testament scripture to review
before moving on the New Testament.

Joel 2:28-32 "And it shall come to pass afterward that
I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall PROPHESY,
your old men shall DREAM dreams, your young men shall SEE VISIONS.
29. And also on menservants and on maidservants
I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT in those days.
30. "And I will show WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS AND in the EARTH:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.
32. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh
shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As Yahweh has said, Among the remnant whom Yahweh calls.
Joel 3:1-2 "For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2. I will also GATHER ALL NATIONS,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter INTO JUDGMENT with them there on account of My people,
My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.

Here we see a few new elements:
14. “People shall prophesy, dream, and see visions. I will pour out my spirit”
15. “Wonders in the heavens and in the earth.”
16. “Yahweh will gather all nations to judgment.”

So far we’ve looked only at Old Testament scriptures
and we’ve learned that the new covenant includes the following:
From Jeremiah 31:31-34, Jeremiah 32:36-44, Isaiah 61:1-10 and Joel 2:28-32.
1. It is to be with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
2. “I (Yahweh) will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.”
3. “I will be their Elohim.” As in the old covenant
4. “They shall be My people.” As in the old covenant
5. “They all shall know Me.”
6. “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Additionally from Jeremiah 32:36-44 and Isaiah 61:1-10
7. “I will gather them out of all the countries.”
8. “I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”
9. “I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me.”
10. “They shall rebuild the old ruins.”
11. “You shall be named the priests of Yahweh,
they shall call you the ministers (servants) of our Elohim.”
12. “In their land they shall possess double.”
13. “Everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
14. “People shall prophesy, dream, and see visions. I will pour out my spirit”
15. “Wonders in the heavens and in the earth.”
16. “Yahweh will gather all nations to judgment.”

Let’s look at one more OT scripture about the new covenant:

Daniel predicted that the Messiah would confirm the new covenant which
would end the need for sin sacrifices.
Daniel 9:26-27 "And after the sixty-two sevens Messiah shall be cut off,
but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one seven;
But in the middle of the seven He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. . ."

Many translations use ‘week’ instead of ‘seven’ in this passage.
The Hebrew word can mean either one.
Actually Daniel is referring to seven year periods.
Yahshua has a seven year period to confirm the New Covenant with his followers.
His ministry on earth has already used three and one-half years.
He will use the other three and one-half years at the close of the age.

The New or Renewed Covenant from Old Testament Scriptures

From Jeremiah 31:31-34
1. It is to be with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
2. “I (Yahweh) will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.”
3. “I will be their Elohim.” As in the old covenant
4. “They shall be My people.” As in the old covenant
5. “They all shall know Me.”
6. “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

From Jeremiah 32:36-44
7. “I will gather them out of all the countries.”
8. “I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”
9. “I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me.”

From Isaiah 61:1-10
10. “They shall rebuild the old ruins.”
11. “You shall be named the priests of Yahweh,
they shall call you the ministers (servants) of our Elohim.”
12. “In their land they shall possess double.”
13. “Everlasting joy shall be theirs.”

From Joel 2:28 to Joel 3:2
14. “People shall prophesy, dream, and see visions. I will pour out my spirit”
15. “Wonders in the heavens and in the earth.”
16. “Yahweh will gather all nations to judgment.”

Now let’s look at the New Testament

There is a lot of good information in the New Testament about the New Covenant and our part in it.

A covenant can be described as a contract or an agreement;
but it really is more accurate to describe it as THE TERMS OF A RELATIONSHIP
– A close FAMILY relationship.
A marriage covenant is a good example.

Often, covenants are entered into with the blood of cut-apart animals.
We see that blood is used this way in many scriptures:
Genesis 9, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, Genesis 22, Exodus 24, Zechariah 9, and Hebrews 8-13.

Several covenants are mentioned where the blood is not predominant
but they do show the family relationship aspect of a covenant: Look at
Genesis 31:43-, 1 Samuel 18 & 20, and Ezekiel 16.

The new covenant clearly defines a close relationship of Israel with Yahweh.
Hebrews 8:6 says that Yahshua is “the Mediator of the New Covenant,”
Yahshua said he was the key to this family relationship.
John 14:6-7 Yahshua said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.
NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.
7. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and
from now on you know Him and have seen Him."

Think of verse seven as saying:
“If you would have had a close relationship with Me,
you would have had a close relationship with My Father also:
and from now on you do have a close relationship Him and have seen Him.
You are now in our family!”

We saw that several of the New Covenant promises hinge on the people being free from sin.

These four promise a close relationship with Yahweh.
3. “I will be their Elohim.”
4. “They shall be My people.”
5. “They all shall know Me.”
11. “You shall be named the priests of Yahweh, they shall call you the
ministers (servants) of our Elohim.”

Let’s see how that will be accomplished.

Its interesting that Yahshua, the Mediator of the New Covenant, uses the
term ‘New Covenant’ only once in all the words we have recorded from him.

It is at the last supper.

Matthew 26:27-28 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
28. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for
the remission of sins.
(= Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20 and 1 Cor 11:25)

Now we see blood associated with the New Covenant.
It is the blood of the Messiah!
Represented by the Passover wine.

Now we can also understand HOW the promise, “I will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." is accomplished.
Yahshua said it is through his blood.
It is through the blood of Yahshua’s sacrifice, symbolized by the Passover wine.
It is interesting that the wine is not sprinkled ON the people as it was for
the Old Covenant in Exodus 24:8.
In this case it is taken INSIDE the people and becomes part of them.
-- An apt figure for the new covenant.

Another thing we see in this short sentence of Yahshua’s is that the
people must DO SOMETHING.

It comes out a little more clearly in
          1 Corinthians 11:24-25 and when He had given thanks, He broke it
     and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this
     in remembrance of Me." 25. In the same manner He also took the cup
     after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. THIS
     DO, as often as you drink it, IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME."

They have to drink of the cup AT PASSOVER.
It is a simple thing but it has profound implications.
It means that we share in the blood of Yahshua. We accept his sacrifice
in order to enter into this wonderful New Covenant.

Better Promises

Hebrews 8:6 mentions “a covenant, established on better promises”.

We saw those better promises in words like “I shall . . .”
rather than “If you . . . then I. . . .”

What are some of those promises?

>Yahweh will gather them out of all the countries back into the land
promised to Abraham where they will live in Edenic joy and peace,
serving Yahweh in spirit.
They will have a very close relationship with Yahweh.
>Yahweh’s law will be placed in their minds.
>Past sins will be forgiven and forgotten and sinning will be ended BY YAHWEH.
>The establishment of this covenant time will be accompanied by
awesome events in the heavens and in the earth.
>And Yahweh will be gathering all nations to judgment.

The Scope of the Covenant

The Old Testament scriptures mentioned that the New Covenant is to be
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

You may be thinking that you have a problem because the New Covenant
is for Israel only and you may not be an Israelite.

But consider these scriptures:

Romans 11:16-17 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and
if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you [Gentiles],
being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them
became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,

(Try to find time to read the context of the whole chapter of Romans 11.)
And:
Galatians 3:6-9 Just as Abraham "believed Yahweh, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness."
7. Therefore know that those who are of faith are sons [children] of Abraham.
8. And the Scripture, foreseeing that Yahweh would justify the Gentiles
by faith, preached the good news to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you
all the nations shall be blessed."
9. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Galatians 3:29 And if you are the Messiah’s, then you are Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Yahweh told Abraham, “All nations shall be blessed in you.”
Therefore YOU TOO can be blessed in the seed of Abraham, Yahshua the Messiah!

2 Corinthians 3
There is some good information about the New Covenant in 2 Corinthians 3.

2 Corinthians 3:1-6 Are we beginning again to tell you how good we are?
Some people need to bring letters of recommendation with them or ask
you to write letters of recommendation for them. 2. But the only letter of
recommendation we need is you yourselves! Your lives are a letter written
in our hearts, and everyone can read it and recognize our good work
among you; 3. clearly a letter from the Messiah, placed in our care,
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living Elohim, carved not on
stone, but on human hearts.
4. We are confident of all this because of our great trust in Yahweh
through the Messiah. 5. It is not that we think we can do anything of value
by ourselves. Our only power and success comes from Yahweh.
6. He is the one who has enabled us to serve this NEW COVENANT, not
by a letter but by the Spirit; for the letter ends in death; but the Spirit
gives life.

Paul is talking about the same New Covenant we saw in Jeremiah 31:31.
In the New Covenant the law is written on the hearts rather than on tablets of stone.
I hope we all understand that ‘written on the heart’ means that the law is
part of the structure of the mind.
Keeping the law becomes automatic.
It is certainly true that if one of the people under the Old Covenant broke
Yahweh’s law they were subject to penalties, up to and including death.
Of course, if they kept the law there was no penalty, but rather, great blessings.

7. But if that which worked death, by a written text engraved on stones,
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses
because of the glory of his countenance, even though that glory was passing away,

Paul is referring to Exodus 34:29-35, when Moses had just come down
from receiving the law from Yahweh.

8. Won’t the working of the Spirit be more glorious?
[Some day we have to talk a little about Hermeneutics and Kal v’Khomer]

In several NT scriptures Yahshua is shown as being really glorious and
bright all over. Not just his face, like Moses. Look at Matthew 17:1-5 and
in Revelation 1:14-15 and 21:23

9. For what worked to declare people guilty had glory, how much more
will the glory abound in that which works to make people righteous!
10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the surpassing glory.

11. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

The Old Covenant is passING away.
It has not passed away yet.
Yahshua the Messiah, the minister of the New Covenant is indeed more
glorious than Moses when he came down from the mountain.
Besides that, the entire New Covenant consists of better, greater, higher
and more generous promises than the old. (Heb 8:6)

12. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech;
13. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the
children of Israel would not see the fading brightness come to an end.
14. But their minds were hardened. For until this day the same veil
remains on their heart in the reading of the Old Testament, because only
in the Messiah is the veil taken away.
15. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

Pray that a veil does not lie on our hearts, that our hearts are indeed
open to Yahweh’s word.

16. Nevertheless when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away.
17. Now Yahweh is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of Yahweh is, there is liberty.

As we have seen, in the New Covenant Yahweh’s spirit will cause them
to think with a new mind, one with Yahweh’s law as part of it.

18. But we all, with unveiled face, seeing as in a mirror the glory of
Yahweh, are being transformed into the same image [as the Messiah].
From glory to glory by the Spirit of Yahweh.

We are moving from the Old Covenant glory to the New Covenant glory!
HalleluYAH ! ! !

Sin Taken Away

If you read the 11th chapter of Romans,
you see Paul’s parable of the olive branches being grafted in.

Romans 11:25-27 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be
ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that
blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
"The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away
unrighteousness from Jacob;
27. For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."

Paul is quoting Isaiah, who is writing about the new covenant time.
(Isaiah 59:20-21 and 27:9)
Notice that Yahweh says he WILL take their sins away, not that he will
forgive them (which he does say elsewhere).
In the fulfillment of the New Covenant He actually takes the sins out of their lives.
They do not sin any more!

As we saw in Jeremiah 31:
          Jeremiah 31:33-34 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the
     house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I WILL PUT MY
     LAW IN THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE IT ON THEIR HEARTS;
     and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
          34. "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his
     brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for THEY ALL SHALL KNOW ME,
     from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh. For I will
     forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Yahweh can forget their sin only because they are no longer practicing it.
If they were continuing in sin, Yahweh would NOT forget it.
Of course we are trying to keep from sin. We are even helped in that by
Yahweh’s Holy Spirit.

Even today, with the earnest of the spirit we now have:

Romans 8:26 Likewise the spirit also helps our infirmities: for we do not
know what we should pray for as we ought: but the spirit itself makes
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Also, love is one of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22)
and love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10)
But any believer who claims to never sin is just not being honest. Our
sinning natures are only taken away when Yahshua the Messiah returns
and we are changed. Not before.
Until that time we have to go to Yahweh, sincerely repent, and ask for
forgiveness in Yahshua’s name.

Only then are our past sins forgiven.

1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

In the new Covenant time Yahweh says:
Jeremiah 32:40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that
I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put my fear in their
hearts so that they will not depart from Me.

Next we will finally get to Hebrews, a book rich in information about the
New Covenant. Let us see what we can learn

In the beginning of Hebrews 8 [quoted below] we see Yahshua named as
the High Priest in heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the father. The
writer of Hebrews then connects this fact with the high Priest’s service on
the Day of Atonement (Lev 16).

There is another place where we see the same set of facts –
The opening of the scroll with seven seals:

Revelation 5:4-10 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to
open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
5. But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to
loose its seven seals."
6. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four
living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it
had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of Yahweh sent out into all the earth.
7. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand
of Him who sat on the throne.
8. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and
golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals; For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to Yahweh by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10. And have made us kings and priests to our Elohim;
And we shall reign on the earth."

Notice the importance of the Lamb’s blood (v. 9) in accomplishing this act.
Also notice the gathering of Yahweh’s people
and their service before Yahweh in righteousness.

Revelation 5 is a scripture about the New Covenant!

We must also see that Leviticus 16, the description of the Day of Atonement,
describes the New Covenant in its fulfillment.
This is the only time in the Torah where all the sins of the people are forgiven.
Leviticus 16:30 "For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you,
to cleanse you, that you may be clean from ALL YOUR SINS before Yahweh.
See also verses 16, 21 and 34.

The Day of Atonement is a clear foretaste of the Messiah, the kingdom
of Yahweh and the New Covenant promises.

Now, on to Hebrews:
Hebrews 8 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying:
We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne
of the Majesty in the heavens,
2. a Minister [servant] of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which
Yahweh erected, and not man.
3. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.
Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.
4. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are
priests who offer the gifts according to the Torah;
5. who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was
divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle.
For He [Yahweh] said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern
shown you on the mountain."
6. But now He [Yahshua] has obtained a more excellent ministry [than the
Levitical Priests], inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant,
which was established on better promises.

Yahshua obtains that higher Priesthood because none other is found
worthy in Heaven. Yahshua alone is the lamb without blemish.
Because of his blood he can open the seals, come into the Heavenly Holy
Place and establish the long-promised New Covenant.
HaleluYAH!!!

Hebrews 8:7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place
would have been sought for a second.
8. Because finding blame WITH THEM, He says: ‘Behold, the days are
coming, says Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them,’ says Yahweh.
10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says Yahweh: ‘I will put MY LAWS in their mind and write
them on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
11. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying,
'Know Yahweh,' for all shall know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them.
12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their
lawless deeds I will remember no more.’”

This is the familiar New Covenant passage, quoted from Jeremiah 31:31-34.

13. In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete.
Now what is BECOMING obsolete and growING old is ready to vanish away.

As we have discussed, the New Covenant was prophesied about 1450
BCE (Day of Atonement, Lev 16). It was clearly promised about 600
BCE (Jer 31). It was sealed with the blood of Yahshua in 31 CE (Matt
26:28). And it will be finally established and fulfilled at Yahshua’s return.

May Yahweh send that time soon!

Let’s continue in Hebrews 9 to learn about the new covenant:

Hebrews 9:8-18 The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the
Holiest Place was not made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

The writer of Hebrews refers to the Day of Atonement again.

9. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices
are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in
regard to the conscience;
10. concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly
ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
11. But the Messiah came as High Priest of the good things to come, with
the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not
of this creation.
12. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He
entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
13. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14. how much more shall the blood of The Messiah, who through the
eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to Yahweh, cleanse your
conscience from DEAD WORKS to serve the living Elohim?
15. And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means
of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant,
that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
16. For where there is a covenant, there must also of necessity be the
death of the covenantor.
17. For a covenant is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at
all while the covenantor lives.

We are talking about a covenant which brings us into the family of
Yahweh. Inheritance is determined according to the Torah. The firstborn
gets a double portion and the others get equal portions.

          Deuteronomy 21:16-17 "then it shall be,
     on the day he causes his sons to inherit his possessions,
     that he must not bestow firstborn status on
     the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved,
     the true firstborn.
          17. "But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the
     firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the
     beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Yahshua, as the firstborn son, automatically gets the double portion.
Believers who have entered into the covenant through Yahshua the
Messiah also become heirs, just as David became a legal heir to Saul's
throne through his marriage covenant with Saul’s family (1 Samuel 18:27)
and through his covenant with Jonathan. (1 Samuel 18:3)
We are not talking about a last will and testament as men use today.
The inheritance is determined by the Torah.
This verse 16 is not saying that Yahweh has to die in order for us to inherit.
Paul is talking about the old covenant. The children of the Israelites would
inherit the rights to the promised land from their fathers when the fathers died.

18. Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.

Verses 19 through 28 discuss the blood of Yahshua as a seal of the new covenant.

Since covenants are sealed with blood, the blood of Yahshua was used to seal to new covenant.

Mark 14:24 And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.

Through the new covenant we become part of the family of Yahweh and Yahshua.
Yahshua is then in the role of our kinsman-redeemer.

Leviticus 25:47-49 'Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes
rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells
himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the
stranger's family,
48. after he is sold he may be redeemed again.
One of his brothers may redeem him;
49. or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him;
or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him;
or if he is able he may redeem himself.

See the book of Ruth where this law is used.

By entering into the new covenant with Yahweh,
having Yahshua as our covenant mediator through his blood,
we become part of Yahweh's family and can inherit with Yahshua.
With the position of being children of Yahweh comes certain rights,
privileges and responsibilities.
Since we are covenant brothers with Yahshua,
we become adopted members of the family of Israel. (Romans 11)

We must love our brothers and sisters in a special, sacrificing way:
          John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one
     another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35. "By
     this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
     another."

We also receive a portion of Yahweh's Holy Spirit within our heart:
Hebrews 10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
says Yahweh: I will put My laws into their hearts,
and in their minds I will write them,"

We are conceived as children but not yet born,
We have a portion of the Spirit but not yet
the complete change of our very nature that makes it IMPOSSIBLE for us to sin.
When that happens, sinning is behind us.
We keep the law of Father Yahweh and,

Hebrews 10:17. then He adds,
"Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brethren, we have confidence to use the way
into the Holiest Place opened by the blood of Yahshua.

We can now approach Father Yahweh directly in our prayer:

John 16:26-27 "In that day you will ask in My name,
and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;
27. for the Father Himself loves you,
because you have loved Me,
and have believed that I came forth from Elohim.

In the kingdom we will apparently have physical access to Yahweh's
throne room to be able to talk directly with Him, face to face.
HALLELUYAH ! !

We have been trying to make it clear that the New Covenant is for the latter days.
It comes into FULL EFFECT only after the second coming of Yahshua the Messiah.
Here is some additional scriptural support for that view:

1. The New Covenant is mentioned by Elohim in connection with the
Kingdom and not with any other time:
Jeremiah 31:31 in the context of 31:10-40
Jeremiah 32:40-44 in the context of 32:37-44
Ezekiel 37:26-27 in the context of Ezek 37:1-28
Matthew 26:28-29 (= Mark 14:25)

2. In the New Covenant era ALL Israel will know Yahweh. Jeremiah 31:31, 34

3. When the New Covenant comes, Israel will hold ALL the land promised to Abraham.
Genesis 16:18-21, Jeremiah 32:41, Ezekiel 37:25.

4. In the New Covenant the Temple will stand in Israel, Ezekiel 37:25-27.

5. In the New Covenant time there is no longer a need for sin offerings,
Hebrews 10:16-18

6. Yahshua refused to partake of the cup of the New Covenant
until he could drink it in the kingdom. Matthew 26:28-29

7. If the New Covenant were in effect, the Old Covenant would have
already faded away, but when Hebrews 8:13 was written, it had not.

So we see from all these scriptures that the new covenant is not fully
given until after the return of Yahshua the Messiah.

Circumcision and the New Covenant

Colossians 2 pertains to the New Covenant.
It tells about a sign of the covenant which parallels circumcision;
the sign of Abraham’s second covenant (Genesis 17).

Colossians 2:11-14 In Him [Messiah] you were also circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of
the flesh, by the circumcision of the Messiah, 12. buried with Him in
baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the
working of Elohim, who raised Him from the dead.
13. And you, being dead in your trespasses
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He has made alive together with Him,
having forgiven you all trespasses,
14. having wiped out the bill of charges which was written against us,
which was contrary to us.
And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the tree.

Paul also talks about circumcision in Romans 2:

Romans 2:25-29 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law;
but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements
of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?
27. And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law,
judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision,
are a transgressor of the law?
28. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,
nor is circumcision that which is outward, in the flesh;
29. but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart,
in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

A reader mentioned that the circumcision of the heart needs to be a
breaking of the heart of stone so that Yahweh can indeed inscribe his law
on a YIELDED heart.

Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

We need to yield our stiff necks and soften our hard hearts.
We need to seek to follow Yahshua in all we think and feel and do.
When we do, we are ready for the fulfillment of the New Covenant within us.
We have the first bit of it today by that small portion of Yahweh’s spirit within us,
and when Yahshua the Messiah comes and we shall be changed to be like him.
We shall have eternal life and, perhaps more important,
we shall have a nature that can not sin!
At last we will be able to approach our Father and embrace Him and be embraced by Him.
We will then fully be the covenant children of the House of Yahweh!

May that day come soon!
HalleluYAH ! ! !

The New or Renewed Covenant
From New Testament Scriptures

1. Sealed with the blood of Yahshua symbolized by the Passover wine taken INSIDE the people.
Matthew 26:27-28 = Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20 and 1 Cor 11:25

2. No one comes to the father except through Yahshua. John 14:6-7
Yahshua is the Mediator. Hebrews 8:6

3. Gentiles were grafted in with Israel and became partakers. Romans 11:17

4. Yahweh justifies the Gentiles by faith. Galatians 3:8

5. Gentiles may be grafted in to Israel’s tree. Romans 11

6. There are now ministers of the New Covenant. 2 Corinthians 3:6

7. When one turns to the Master, the veil over the law is taken away.
2 Corinthians 3:16

8. Yahshua is the High Priest in heaven and mediator of the N. C.
Hebrews 8

9. The New Covenant:
Was prophesied about 1450 BCE (Day of Atonement, Lev 16),
Was clearly promised about 600 BCE (Jer 31),
Was sealed with the blood of Yahshua in about 31 CE (Matt 26:28) and
Will be finally established at Yahshua’s return with the first resurrection.

10. We can now approach the Father directly in prayer.
Hebrews 10:19, John 16:26-27

5-2001 TLS

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