The Mystery of Protestantism #4

Covenant Law
Obeying the voice of God and our spiritual covenant with Him

Fred R. Coulter—July 29,2017

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services! One of the biggest mistakes that the Protestants make is that they do not understand covenant law.

We sent in you A Comparison between the Old and New Covenants {also found in: Appendix I in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version}. I want you to go through this yourself, in your own special Bible study. What I want to do today is cover the basis of covenants in the Bible. This becomes very important.

Dan. 10:21 is a very interesting Scripture. These words were spoken by Gabriel to Daniel. Let's see something concerning what God has done. I want you to recall Revelation 13:8, that Christ, "…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." God has a plan and purpose that He has all written out. This also adds to the understanding that God's plan is fantastic and important.

Dan. 10 talks about the prophetic things of Persia, Media and Babylon and how Michael had to have Gabriel come and help him fight against the forces of Satan, and so forth. Gabriel said to Daniel:

Daniel 10:20: "Then he said, 'Do you know why I come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I go forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come…. [that was 300-years later] … But I will show you that which is written in the Scripture of Truth.…'" It could actually be translated Scroll of Truth!

Are there scrolls in heaven with some of the things that the plan of God are written on? Yes! What do we find in Rev. 5? We found the book that was sealed with seven seals! That book was not a book like we have today, but it was a scroll. So, these things are written down.

Psa. 40 is concerning Christ. Very interesting, indeed! This helps us understand that God doesn't do anything that is not in His plan. He's given free moral agency to us. He doesn't want us to become robots. He wants us by choice to choose:

• to love Him
• to obey Him
• to serve Him
• to do His will

Psalm 40:4: "Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust and does not respect the proud, nor those who turn aside to lies." What did we just read about? The Scroll or Scripture of Truth.

Sidebar: One of the things you need to ask: How many lies do the Protestants believe? Some of them are very obvious, Sabbath and Holy Days, and there are many others. Protestantism looks so good and sounds so good. But if you listen to it carefully, if you watch it, if you study it, it is only part of the Truth, part of the way of God.

Eternal life requires that you are in covenant with God. Covenant with God is a fantastic thing. God's covenant with us is tremendous; it's unto eternal life. We're going to look at the elements of the covenant of God, but it starts with Christ.

So here's a prophecy of Christ, v 5: "O LORD my God, many things You have done, Your wonderful works and Your thoughts which are toward us; there is none to compare unto You… [keep that in mind. This is a prophecy of Jesus' prayer] …if I could declare and speak of them, they would be more than can be told. Sacrifice and offering You did not desire… [from Christ] …My ears You have opened… [but in the Septuagint it reads: a body You have prepared for Me] …burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, 'Lo, I come; in the Scroll of the Book it is written of Me'" (vs 5-7).

What is that Scroll of the Book? The Scripture of Truth in heaven! So, there is no question that God the Father and Jesus Christ had a covenant between them, and it was written down. Why was it written down? I believe, so when we enter into the Kingdom of God, we will be able to read it and understand how far back in time, in the ages of eternity, that this was actually done.

Verse 7: "Then I said, 'Lo, I come; in the Scroll of the Book it is written of Me; I delight to do Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My heart'" (vs 7-8). That's why I've said you need to study Psa. 119 very carefully, on your knees.

Verse 9: ": I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not kept back my lips, O LORD, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not hidden Your loving kindness and Your Truth from the great congregation" (vs 9-10)—the resurrected saints! This ties in with Heb. 2.

Let me just say right here, if you do not have the in-depth study of the book of Hebrews—41 messages with the transcripts—you write for it; we'll send it to you. This will help you to understand covenant law even more, the purpose of the Old Covenant, purpose of the New Covenant. Both of those hinge on the covenant that God made with Abraham!

Verse 11: "Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; let Your loving kindness and Your Truth always preserve me." We find this back in Heb. 10. What do we find when we have this? We find the unity of Scripture: Old Testament and New Testament!

This talks about removing the Old Covenant and bringing in the New Covenant; that had to require the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That required one of Elohim to become the Son to be born by the virgin Mary, live a full physical life, and become the sacrifice for the sin of the world. The sin of the world goes clear back to Adam and Eve. The sin of the world is the 'law of sin and death' within each one of us because of Adam and Eve's sin.

Hebrews 10:5: "For this reason, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me. You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then said I, "Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the Scroll of the Book) to do Your will, O God"'" (vs 5-7).

Every covenant that is made has to do with the will of God and our choices. Go back to Adam and Eve. What is the will of God? Obey My voice! Wasn't that what Adam and Eve had to do? And they failed; they sinned, the whole world sinned before the Flood. Then God established His covenant with all creation that He would never again destroy the world with a Flood, and gave the rainbow as a sign of the covenant. "…to do Your will, O God." You have to do the will of God.

Verse 8: "In the saying above, He said, 'Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (which are offered according to the priestly law) You did not desire nor delight in.' Then He said, 'Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.' He takes away the first covenant in order that He may establish the second covenant; by Whose will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (vs 8-10). Then he shows that animal sacrifices can never take away sin spiritually.

Here is the covenant, v 16: "'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds.'"

Far from abolishing, doing away, fulfilling to get rid of! Everything in the New Covenant has superseded the physical things of the covenant with Israel. You'll see that when you study it.

Verse 17: "'And their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again.' Now, where remission of these is, it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices for sin" (vs 17-18).

Let's look at the covenant that God made with Abraham. That covenant, by the way, contained the basis for the covenant with Israel and the covenant with the Church.

Let's see some of the New Testament things that are required. What is the first thing that we need to do when we come to God? and answer the call of God?

• God has to call us
• the Father has to draw us
• we have to be taught by the Father
• we need the blood and sacrifice of Christ

What's the first thing that we need to do? Count the cost for baptism! We are to not let anything get in the way of our relationship with God: not father, mother, brother, sister, lands, even our own lives. What did God require of Abram before he became Abraham?

Genesis 12:1: "And the LORD said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house into a land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed'" (vs 1-3).

This is the proposition of the covenant with Abraham. It also states the will of God. He had to leave everything behind, counting the cost (Luke 14). So, he did that.

Some ten years later, Genesis 15:1: "After these things the Word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram, I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward.' And Abram said, 'Lord GOD, what will You give me since I go childless, and the heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?'" (vs 1-2). At this time 85-years-old, it was a reasonable question.

Verse 3: "And Abram said, 'Behold, You have given no seed to me; and lo, one born in my house is my heir.' And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir'" (vs 3-4). God was going to perform a miracle for him.

Notice the proposition here, v 5: "And He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heavens and number the stars—if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be.'" We have two factors here:

• physical seed, which came through Isaac
• spiritual seed, as pictured by the stars of heaven

Which then is:

• the New Covenant
• the Millennial Covenant
• the Great White Throne Covenant

Verse 6: "And he believed in the LORD. And He accounted it to him for righteousness."

Not only are we to obey, we are to believe; that's called faith. Here we have sacrifice coming. There is always a sacrifice with a covenant.

Verse 7: "And He said to him, 'I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said, 'Lord GOD, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?' And he said to him…" (vs 7-9).

Here's the sacrifice, a special sacrifice. Not a burnt offering, not a sin offering, a special covenant sacrifice by God. Abraham's part in it was to prepare it. We'll see Abraham's sacrifice for the physical covenant (Gen. 17). Abraham took part in this, only in that he prepared the sacrifices.

Verse 9: "And He said to him, 'Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle… [from head, right down the spine] …and laid each piece opposite the other… [there was a path to walk between them] …but he did not divide the birds" (vs 9-10). He put one on one side and one on the other side.

Verse 11: "And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And it came to pass, as the sun was going down…" (vs 11-12). We're looking at a two-day period here. The first one was the night before. Now we have the day portion, sacrifices made, then we have toward the end of the day:

"…that a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him!" (vs 11-12)—a symbol of death!

That was actually symbolic of Christ's death, because the One Who was the Lord God of the Old Testament became Jesus Christ of the New Testament, so this covers both covenants here. This becomes important to understand when we come to Rom. 7 and why Christ had to die.

Verse 13: "And He said to Abram, 'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs (and shall serve them and they shall afflict them) four hundred years. And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age…. [how's 175?] …But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.' And it came to pass—when the sun went down…" (vs 13-17)—starting the new day. This ties in with the Passover of Israel in Egypt and the night that they left, and so forth. We cover that during Unleavened Bread.

"…and it was dark—behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces" (v 17). That was God!

What happened with the smoking furnace and the burning lamp? Burning lamp was to light the way! Smoking furnace burned up the sacrifice that was laying on the ground! When Abraham awoke, all there was left for him was ashes. This sacrifice confirmed God's part in the covenant with Abraham, which had two parts:

• the covenant with Israel
• the covenant with the Church

Let's see Abraham's sacrifice for the physical descendants and the requirement. What you have with Abraham, you have everything combined: spiritual, physical, loving God, serving Him. God requires that in every covenant. So, here is the covenant, the covenant of circumcision—physical circumcision—Abraham's sacrifice for the covenant that would come to Israel.

Here we have 15 years later, Genesis 17:1: "And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am the Almighty God! Walk before Me and be perfect.'"

Matthew 5:48: "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." So, we have New Covenant doctrine right here.

Genesis 17:2: "'And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.' And Abram fell on his face. And God talked with him, saying, 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you. And I will give the land to you in which you are a sojourner, and to your seed after you, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God.' And God said to Abraham, 'And you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you in their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male child among you shall be circumcised'" (vs 2-10).

That is the sacrifice of Abraham and his blood of the covenant that went to Israel.

Verse 11: "And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. And it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. And a son of eight days shall be circumcised among you, every male child in your generations; he that is born in the house, or bought with silver of any foreigner who is not of your seed. He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your silver, must be circumcised. And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant" (vs 11-13).

He circumcised Ishmael, all the men that were there, all who were with him. He had many servants. He had a large caravan going with him all the time. Later on the 8th day Isaac was circumcised.

Gen. 26:5 becomes profoundly important in understanding about the covenants of God. There are always laws to be kept! What this comparison does, this comparison that you're going to study, shows that instead of abolishing, to do away with completely, that's a lie. It shows that everything is graduated from the physical to the spiritual.

• from circumcision of the flesh to circumcision of the heart
• from sacrifices for sin to repentance and a broken heart

What I want you to do is on #6 of the Comparison, I want you to add under the New Covenant: Psa. 51. The whole Psalm, repentance and that the sacrifices of God that we produce in the New Covenant are a broken heart and a contrite spirit! That's repentance!

God comes to Isaac and tells him why the covenant has been passed on to him, Genesis 26:2: "And the LORD appeared to him and said, 'Do not go down into Egypt. Live in the land, which I shall tell you of. Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your seed, I will give all these lands; and I will establish the oath, which I swore to Abraham your father'" (vs 2-3).

Because the oath was a covenant pledged by God's own death! When the Lord God walked between those parts of the animals, He was pledging His faithfulness to fulfill the promises He gave to Abraham, and also His own future death. A covenant is so binding that it requires a person's death if they do not fulfill it.

Verse 4: "And I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and will give to your seed all these lands. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

Notice v 5, perhaps one of the most important verses in the entire Old Testament, because everything going to Israel hinges on this and everything coming down to Christ hinges on this. It goes back to Abraham. That's why in the New Testament we are told that if you are Christ's then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. The promise was 'your seed shall be as the stars of heaven.' Yes, sand of the sea and the stars of heaven.

• sand of the sea is physical Israel
• stars of heaven is spiritual Israel, the descendants of Abraham through the covenant with Christ

Verse 5: "Because Abraham…"—not because Isaac did it. Isaac was faithful, he was obedient, no doubt about that, but the covenant was not passed to Isaac because he was faithful and obedient, which he had to be, but because of Abraham. We need to understand how great this covenant was with Abraham.

Verse 5: "Because Abraham obeyed My voice…'" If you will obey My voice (Exo. 19:5). The covenant with Israel started out with this: IF you will obey My voice, I will make you a nation or a kingdom of priests for Me! In other words, to bring the way of God through the Old Covenant to the whole world. But Israel failed.

• Did Adam and Eve obey the voice the voice of God? No!
• Did Cain obey the voice of God? No!
• Did the people before the Flood obey the voice of God? No!

Abraham did!

When we read what happened with Jeremiah, warning the children of Judah what was going to happen, everything was coming upon them because they did not obey the voice of God.

A little leap forward to the New Covenant. Are we to obey the voice of God? Yes, and we've got it written for us. There is no mistaking it. We can't say, 'God, I never heard your voice.' Don't have to; it's written. What are you going to do with that?

Verse 5: "'Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge… [whatever He told him to do] …My commandments… [same ones you find with the Ten Commandments and all of those that God gave to Israel] …My statutes… [meaning that he was keeping the Holy Days] …and My laws.'" (v 5). And the laws that govern his huge entourage that was always with him. Keep that in mind.

Same way with Jacob. The blessing came to him because God determined it was going to go to him, though it looked like he got it by lying and stealth. That was only to add a human factor in there, because Esau was prophesied to serve Jacob.

We've already covered several times that the proposition with Israel at Mount Sinai was to obey the voice of God, to become a nation of priests to God. Then the covenant was confirmed by sacrifice and the sprinkling of the blood on the covenant documents, which Moses wrote, and the sprinkling of the blood on the people, which Moses said was the blood of the covenant. The blood of the covenant becomes a very important thing.

Let's see one other covenant that was part of the overall covenant. We know about the Ten Commandments. We know about all the laws in making the Ark of the Covenant. We know all of that, so we're not going to cover that here.

Exo. 31 becomes very important, because God gave all the instructions to Moses, all the way down to chapter 31 about everything necessary for the Ark of the Covenant, for the tabernacle, for the altars, for the priesthood, and everything. All of that was done. God sums it all up and makes this declaration within that covenant. The covenant was this: Will you obey My voice and My laws and commandments and everything that I tell you? Everyone answered and said yes.

When you do that, God is going to hold you accountable for it. We're going to see with the New Covenant, when you are baptized, that is a profound covenant sacrifice that every one of us needs to keep and honor.

Here's one for all of Israel, all of the Church; Exodus 31:13: "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, 'Truly… [in Truth] …you shall keep My Sabbaths…"

Very important. When it's plural that means the weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days. They're all Sabbaths. This part of the covenant runs forever, meaning that it becomes part of the requirements of the New Covenant as well.

"…for it… [that means not it, the Sabbath, singularly, but the keeping of the Sabbaths] …is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you" (v 13). That covenant is still in force because God kept it in force.

• Did Jesus keep the Sabbath?
• Did He keep the Holy Days?
• Did He keep the Laws of God? Yes, He did spiritually!
• What did He say? 'I do the will of My Father, of Myself I can do nothing'!

This covenant of Sabbath-keeping and Holy Day-keeping runs all the way through the rest of the Bible into the New Covenant. Through that God reveals His plan, through His Sabbath and His Holy Days.

"…a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is Holy to you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death, for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, Holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath Day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath… [weekly Sabbath and annual Sabbaths] …to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed" (vs 13-17).

Special covenant, part of the covenant with Israel, part of the covenant that is with the Church.

(go to the next track)

There has to be a covenant death or a covenant sacrifice, which is symbolic of a person's future death if they break it.

God made the covenant with Israel. They said, 'All that You said we will do and be faithful.' If they sinned, they can repent and God would re-establish them. However, notice how God expresses it. The first part of Lev. 26 has to do with no idolatry, Sabbath-keeping, etc. etc.; all the things that they pledged that they would do.

Leviticus 26:11 "And I will set My tabernacle among you… [which He did and had Solomon build the temple] …And My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people" (vs 11-12).

Think about that today as it applies to the Church. Think about the warning that we're told if trample underfoot the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10). So covenant law is very important. I can tell you right now, and you will see by time we're done with this, the Protestants are not under the New Covenant! They claim they are. They are not.

Notice what breaks the covenant, v 14: "But if you will not hearken to Me…" What does it say about if we do not hearken unto Jesus? Who was Jesus? The One Who was the Lord God of the Old Testament! And if we do not do the will of the Father, Who is in heaven.

IF you don't obey the voice of God, that's where it all starts. "…will not hearken to Me and will not do all these commandments, and if you shall despise My statutes… [remember what we read about Abraham] …or if your soul hates My judgments, so that you will not do all My commandments, so that you break My covenant" (vs 14-15)—because God says He will never break His covenant. He won't do it!

Verse 16: "I will also do this to you; I will even appoint over you…" We've read those before, all of the plagues. Same way in Deut. 28.

Psa. 89 is a Psalm concerning David and giving David the kingship forever; that is having someone sit on the throne between now and the time of the resurrection.

Let's see what God says concerning the covenant. Here it is, a lament by Ethan the Ezrahite. So, here's the circumstances. The children of Israel sinned, they broke the covenant, as it says in Jer. 31. If they break the covenant, He removed them from the land and sent them into Babylon. There were no sons to come back to be king. The Persians did not allow them to have a king, only a governor. The throne of David was removed, but remember that Jeremiah took the daughters of the king. All the king's sons were killed by Nebuchadnezzar.

The rest of the story is that Jeremiah took the daughters to Ireland and there the breach between Perez and Zarah was healed with the marriage of one of the daughters to one of the sons of Judah—Zarah—and that healed the breach. That's another whole story; we won't get into it.

But when they came back from Babylon, they couldn't have a king. Ethan the Ezrahite is lamenting: 'There's no king, but, God, You promised.' God never breaks His covenant. God never breaks His promises. Keep that in mind.

Psalm 89:26: "He shall cry to Me, 'My Father, You are my God, and the Rock of my salvation.' And I will make him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth" (vs 26-27). This is saying what He was going to do for David, which He did. He's going to keep it.

Verse 28: "I will keep My steadfast love for him forever, and My covenant shall stand fast with him. Also, will I make his seed to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven" (vs 28-29). That's a promise that was given to David.

Verse 30: "If his children forsake My Law and do not walk in My judgments, If they profane My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. But I will not completely take My loving kindness from him… [David] …nor will I allow My faithfulness to fail. I will not break My covenant, nor change the thing that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My Holiness, I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me'" (vs 30-36).

Those were the promises. Ethan the Ezrahite didn't know what happened to the daughters of Zedekiah, that Jeremiah took them. The breach between Perez and Zarah was healed and the throne of David continues and is found today in the British Isles. That's the throne of David! Is there a queen sitting on it? Yes, indeed! God's faithfulness is true.

What happens if you make a covenant? Here's how a covenant is made. You make the agreement.

Indians used to cut either their thumbs and put them together and let the blood mingle. That was one of the ways that they did. They cut the inner part of their hand and held their hands together and that sealed it. That was the blood of the covenant, whatever they made with them. When that is done, you are signing your own death warrant if you don't keep the covenant.

With the preaching of Jeremiah, there were some who had determined that they would repent and that they would let their slaves go, give them liberty. They hadn't given them liberty. Let's understand this.

Jeremiah 34:8: "The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them." The king made a covenant, proclaiming liberty to all of the slaves.

Verse 9: "That each man should let his male slave, and each man his female slave—if a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman—go free, that none should enslave a Jew, his brother among them. And all the rulers obeyed, and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave, so that not any should be enslaved among them any more; and they obeyed and let them go" (vs 9-10).

Once you make a covenant sacrifice—now consider this with baptism—that is your covenant sacrifice. But what they had to do, they had to sacrifice a calf, just like Abraham did (Gen. 15). They all walked between the parts. When you walk between the parts, you are professing by your life, your very being, that you will be faithful and do what you have pledged to do. If not, you die like that sacrifice. That's how important covenant law is.

Therefore, consider this. All the Protestants who claim they're under the New Covenant are not, because they do not keep the Sabbath, they do not keep the Holy Days. Most of them no longer even baptize. We will see that baptism is our covenant pledge unto death that we will be faithful.

Verse 11: "But afterward they turned and took back the male slaves and the female slaves whom they had set free and enslaved them again as male slaves and female slaves. So, the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt…"'" (vs 11-13). They had the sacrifices (Exo. 24).

"'"…out of the house of slavery, saying, 'At the end of seven years each man should let go free his brother, a Hebrew, who has been sold to him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.' But your fathers did not hearken to Me, nor incline their ears"'" (vs 13-14).

• obey His voice
• obey the voice of God

Verse 15: "And you had turned today, and had done right in My sight to call for liberty, each man to his neighbor. And you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name." Think how important that is.

You come right to the temple of God. You say, 'God, we're going to make a covenant with you. We're going to let our slaves go. We are going to have this sacrifice.'

The priest probably cut the sacrifice down the middle, spread the parts and all who pledged walked through it. That slaughtered animal with its guts hanging out and everything was a declaration of each one who walked through, that 'if I do not keep this covenant sacrifice, this is how I'm going to die.'

Verse 16: "But you turned back and defiled My name, and each of you has taken back his male slave and his female slave whom you had set free to do as they pleased. But you forced them again to become your male and your female slaves."

Think about that in relationship to the Protestants and the Sabbath and the Holy Days and the Passover more importantly. Though the Protestants can preach many parts of the Word of God over and over again, and sound so sincere, they have no covenant with God for eternal life—period!—because they're doing like it is here.

• Are they going against the will of God in the New Testament? Yes, indeed!
• Are they keeping the holidays of this world, while claiming to keep the New Testament? Yes, indeed!

Verse 17: "Thus says the LORD, 'You have not hearkened to Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor! Behold, I proclaim freedom for you,' says the LORD, 'to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine. And I will cause you to be a horror… [a horrific thing] …to all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men who have sinned against My covenant…'" (vs 17-18).

You sin against the covenant of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ—you Protestants out there—when you say, 'All you have do is just say Lord, forgive me, and your sins are forgiven and everything is done. You're saved and you're going to heaven.' Lie, lie, lie!

'Oh, but they're ever so sweet and nice.' Yes! Remember, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil has good and evil. That which looks good, reading of the Word of God, turns out to be evil, because they do away with it. Think on that!

Verse 18: "And I will give the men who have sinned against My covenant, who have not done the words of the covenant, which they made before Me when they divided the calf in two and passed between its parts."

Think about that when you're baptized. Think about that because you make a covenant pledge to God! Only this time it's not unto just physical death, it is eternal death, if you do not keep that covenant.

Verse 19: "The rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the officials, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth. And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his rulers, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who has withdrawn from you" (vs 19-21).

Because when they let the slaves go free, God caused the armies of Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw their attack against Jerusalem. They went against that.

Verse 22: "Behold, I will command,' says the LORD, 'and cause them to return to this city. And they shall fight against it and capture it, and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah a desert without a soul to live in it." Think on that. Is covenant law serious? Yes! Eternal life or eternal death!

Remember when the Lord walked through the parts (Gen. 15) for Abraham. He pledged His future death. We will see that's because the covenant was made and there were two choices to make for ending that covenant. Because the children of Israel—and that applies to all their descendants going on down through time—either all the children of Israel had to die to end that covenant or God had to die. That's why Christ came.

Not only is the sacrifice for the sin of the whole world under the New Covenant, but to end the covenant with Israel. You need to understand that. You also need to understand why you need to be very, very on guard against Hebrew roots, against Messianic Jews. Even though they believe in Christ, they are no better than the Protestants because they keep to their own traditions.

Let's understand one other thing that's important. That is the Passover. That's the day Christ died. The night before He said, 'Take this broken bread and eat, it's My body.' That's symbolic of it. He took the wine and said, 'Drink, this is My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of the sins of many.'

Jesus' death on that Passover Day was God's covenant death to end the covenant with Israel. That didn't do away with the promises given to Abraham; that's still in force. That's why the children of Israel have not been destroyed, but to fulfill the promises that He gave to Abraham. The covenant with Israel ended when Christ died. When Christ, on the cross, says, 'It's finished.' That had to do with:

• ending the covenant
• His death for God's sacrifice for the New Covenant

Then that was sealed with the resurrection three days later.

Heb. 9 becomes important now that you understand covenant law. In the Faithful Version there is a long footnote explanation about covenant law. I want to tell you this: The King James Version is absolutely wrong! The Faithful Version is one of the few, if not the only translation that correctly translates about covenant law in Heb. 9. The reason is because it is properly translated.

The King James translators did not properly translate it. The word for covenant in the New Testament is 'diatheke.' Every place in the New Testament it is properly translated 'diatheke.' However, in Heb. 9 we find that they change it to testimony or testament. The key thing to understand concerning covenant law is that—as we saw back there in Jer. 34—covenant is not in force until there is a sacrifice showing the symbolic death of those who are making the covenant.

That's why what happened back there in Jer. 34 is so important. They walked between the parts. They pledged to get rid of the slaves, but they didn't do it, they turned from the covenant! When you turn from the covenant and have had a pledge of covenant death, if you break it you are going to suffer the covenant death. Heb. 9:16 is where this translation is so wrong.

Testamental law: last will and testament, you can change the will any time after you have made it, until your death. Covenant law: you cannot change it and it is not binding until you have the sacrifice. When you have the sacrifice, if you break it you die. Testimony, the will is of no force until the person dies. Here, they made it testimony law, rather than covenant law. Let me read it in the King James Version:

Hebrews 9:15 (KJV): "And for this cause He is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator" (vs 15-16).

Christ was raised from the dead. His death ended the covenant with Israel. He pledged His death; He died that death.

Verse 17 (KJV): "For a testament is of force after men are dead… [wrong translation] …otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives." Wrong!

Let's read the correct translation. Let's come up here and we'll follow along with the verses before.

Verse 13 (FV): "For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who aredefiled, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, to a far greater degree, the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, shall purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (vs 13-14). But He had to be raised from the dead to do that.

Verse 15: "And for this reason He is the Mediator of the New Covenant: in order that through His death, which took place for the release of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Now where there is a covenant… [not testimony] …it is obligatory to bring forth a symbolic sacrifice to represent the death of the one who personally ratifies the covenant" (vs 15-16). Isn't that what they did in Jer. 34? Yes!

Verse 17: "Because a covenant is ratified only over the dead sacrificial animals…" Otherwise, it's not in force.

The agreement is bound at the beginning. You don't have a beginning, like a will, 'When I die you will get this, or you will get that.' No, this is for eternal life. So, the covenant is made first. The covenant is made by God first. That's why Christ died and rose from the dead!

If He had not risen from the dead, there would be no New Covenant. His death and resurrection gives the eternal inheritance from God's point of view and God's part in the covenant. What about our part? We'll get to that!

Verse 17: "Because a covenant is ratified only over the dead sacrificial animals … [in the Greek it is over the dead ones, meaning animals] …since there is no way that it is legally in force until the living ratifier has symbolically represented his death."

• Did Christ do that in Gen. 15? Yes!
• Was that covenant binding? Yes!

Two parts of it:

• as the sand of the sea to physical Israel
• as the stars of heaven to spiritual Israel

 When He died, He ended the covenant with Israel. Either that or He would have to have killed all of the descendants of Israel.

Remember: when the covenant with Israel was enacted, they all said, 'We'll do what God has said.' They had the animal sacrifices, the sprinkling of the blood, and all the people said, 'Yes, we'll do it.' What is our part? This becomes important, because this lays the groundwork for Rom. 7, which we will cover next. We know the sacrifice that God has given, the death and resurrection of Christ. What is our part? We have to bring a sacrifice to God! There are two parts to that sacrifice: repentance and baptism! Sound familiar?

Acts 2:38: "…'Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'"—which is the begettal for the down payment of eternal life.

You can read the whole Psa. 51; this is understanding how we repent to the very depth and core of our being, because God wants to convert us and have Truth in the inward parts.

• loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and being
• keeping His commandments spiritually
• loving Christ
• loving the brethren

After David had repented with the sin with Bathsheba, and so forth, he says here:

Psalm 51:16: "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (vs 16-17).

So, complete repentance is what is necessary. That's called the sacrifices of God that we bring to God. Once you have repented you are to be baptized.

We have to understand how that was accomplished with the death of Christ to end the Old Covenant. And how with the death and resurrection of Christ, that institutes the New Covenant and how we become a part of it. The sacrifice that we bring is deep and profound repentance and accepting of the blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

That's why there can be no salvation without baptism. The Protestants always look to Acts 10 when God gave the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles before baptism. That had to be done on the one-time basis to show Peter that God was not a respecter of persons and that the Gentiles, being uncircumcised, could receive the Holy Spirit of God. They were baptized after the fact, because of the act of God, a one-time event. You do not take a one-time event and make that the rule for everything.

All the Protestants better read Rom. 6, because they say, 'We have the grace of God. We trust in the grace of God. Oh, come to church on Sunday and come to our Christmas and Easter. We have such a lovely time.' Abomination to God!

Romans 6:1: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin…?" Sin is the transgression of the law and sin is lawlessness. Sin religiously, with the Bible and the Word of God, is going to God and telling Him what you will do and telling God what He will do! No way! That's not a broken heart, a broken spirit and a contrite heart as the sacrifice of God that you bring to God. No, you're bringing your pride, your arrogance; the most abominable thing you can do is tell God what to do!

"…Shall we continue in sin, so that grace may abound? MAY IT NEVER BE! We who died to sin…" (vs 1-2). How did you die to sin? Your covenant sacrificial death, which is baptism!

"…how shall we live any longer therein? Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?" (vs 2-3)—covenant death. Greatest thing we can do. Greatest thing that God can do:

• to help us
• to change us
• to convert us
• to train us
• that we become His children

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death… [when you're put under the water, you're as good dead if you're not raised out of it] …so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection" (vs 4-5).

We are brought out of the watery grave to walk in newness of life and overcome the sin within through conversion for the rest of our physical life. 

"…together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection…. [we covered that with Pentecost] …Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him…" (vs 5-6). Did He die being crucified? Yes! Now we have to put the death the sin of the old man, which then is the sin within. That is conversion!

"…in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin; because the one who has died to sin has been justified from sin. Now, if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (vs 6-8).

That's why we are not to let sin rule in our mortal bodies. We are to overcome it. We are to change.

The long and short is that the covenant with Israel and our covenant with Christ is a marriage covenant. The marriage covenant is binding until death. This is what Paul is talking about in Rom. 7. He says, 'I'm talking to those who know law.' The Jews who were bound under the covenant that God gave through Moses to the children of Israel. If they were to go after Christ and they did consider it idolatry, they had to understand what happened with the death of Christ that it ended that covenant and that God now requires that you worship the Father and you worship Christ.

He is your Savior. He is your sacrifice. That marriage covenant with God under the covenant with Israel, with the death of Christ, ended that covenant.

That's the meaning of covenantal law. With this background we'll be able to understand Rom. 7.

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted)

Scriptures referenced:

• Revelation 13:8
• Daniel 10:20-21
• Psalm 40:4-11
• Hebrews 10:5-10, 16-18
• Genesis 12:1-3
• Genesis 15:1-17
• Genesis 17:1
• Matthew 5:48
• Genesis 17:2-13
• Genesis 26:2-5
• Exodus 31:13-17
• Leviticus 26:11-12, 14-16
• Psalm 89:26-36
• Jeremiah 34:8-22
• Hebrews 9:15-17; 13-17
• Acts 2:38
• Psalm 51:16-17
• Romans 6:1-8

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 5
• Psalm 119
• Hebrews 2
• Luke 14
• Romans 7
• Matthew 5:48
• Psalm 51
• Exodus 19:5
• Deuteronomy 28
• Jeremiah 31
• Acts 10

Also referenced:

• from: The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, Appendix I: A Comparison of the Old and New Covenants ()
• Sermon Series: Hebrews

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 8-7-17
Formatted: bo—8-9-17

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