Chapter Six

What Is The New Covenant?

        What is the New Covenant?  This question has started wars, divided nations, and is the reason we have so many denominations.  The majority say, it’s the New Testament.  The answer to that is in the meaning of the words testament and covenant as stated in Chapter Five.  The word covenant means a solemn and binding agreement made by two or more individuals or parties to do or keep from doing specified things.  And the word testament means to testify, make a will, a witness.  The New Testament is exactly that.  It is Jesus’ and the Apostles’ testimony of the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Son of God.  It also contains the Messiah’s Will in the book of Hebrews.  There is another point of view, held by some, that you are to keep certain things from the Old Testament.  The problem is that they cannot go to scripture to show what to keep and what not to keep—they pick and choose—so, most say to do away with all of the Old Testament.  The problem with this is that the New Covenant, offered in the New Testament, exists in the Old Testament.  Remember, God will not deal with any man without a covenant or binding agreement.

        As I stated in ‘God Is A Covenant God’, there are two covenants to the world.  The Covenant to Adam and every living thing starting at Genesis 1:28 and ending with 2:17.  And the Covenant to No’ah and every living thing starting at Genesis 8:16 and ending with 9:17.  There are also two covenants to the people of God:  The Si’nai covenant is the first, beginning in Exodus Chapter 19 verse

3          And Mo’ses went up to Elohim, and Jehovah called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shall you say to the house (tribe) of Jacob, and tell the sons’ of Is’ra-el;

4          You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

5        Now, if you will obey My voice indeed (in practice), and keep My Covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine:

6        And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.  These are the words which you shall speak to the sons of  Is’ ra-el.

Notice that Jehovah Elohim reminds them how He drew them out of the world and protected them.  And in verse 6, He says, If they would obey Him, and keep His Covenant, (it was conditional) then when they had accepted the Covenant, they would be a peculiar (or strange) treasure.  Now, I challenge you to study the covenants to the sons of God or the children of God or the chosen of God or The elect of God (all these terms mean the same thing).  If they would have accepted this Covenant, they would have been strange compared to the world!  And if we will accept the New Covenant, we will definitely be considered strange compared to the world today!  For all the earth belongs to Him.  Because He (Jehovah) created the world.  You see the sons’ of God or the elect must stand out or be different from the world.  And if they would have obeyed Him and kept His Covenant, they would have been a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.  This is the same offer we have today.  Just not the same Covenant!  This Covenant starts in Exodus Chapter 19 through Exodus Chapter 40:15 and is gone over in greater detail in the book of Leviticus.

        Let’s pick up in Numbers 13 where the children of Is’ ra-el came up next to the promise land.  And Jehovah spoke to Mo’ses saying, send men to search the land of Ca’naan, which He was going to give to the sons’ of Is’ra-el.  He said pick a man from every tribe, a son of the ruler of every tribe, so that every tribe had a witness.  This is a direct shadow of later when Jesus would choose the twelve disciples as witnesses, and then told them all the secret things of the kingdom of heaven.  Then He told them, What I tell you in secret, that, you preach from the roof tops.

        So Mo’ses did as Jehovah had commanded.  These are the witnesses Mo’ses chose: 1) From the tribe of Reu’ben, he chose Sham-mu’a , son of Zac’cur.  2) From the tribe of Sim’e-on, he chose Sha’phat, son of Ho’ri. 3) From the tribe of Ju’dah, he chose Ca’leb, the son of Je-phun’neh. 4) From the tribe of Is’sa-char, he chose I’gal the son of Jo’seph. 5) From the tribe of E’ phra-im, he chose O-she’a, the son of Nun (not until 13:16 was this man identified as Je-hosh’u-a). 6) From the tribe of Ben’ja-min, he chose Pal’ti, son of Ra’phu. 7) From the tribe of Zeb’u-lun, he chose Gad’di-el son of So’di. 8) From the tribe of Jo’seph, specifically the tribe of Ma-nas’she, he chose Gad’di, the son of Su’si. 9) From the tribe of Dan, he chose Am’mi-el the son of Ge-mal’li. 10) From the tribe of Ash’er, he chose Se’thur, the son of Mi’chael. 11) From the tribe of Naph’ta-li, he chose Nah’bi, the son of Voph’si. 12) From the tribe of Gad, he chose Ge-u’el, the son of Ma’chi.  These are the names of the men sent out to see all the secrets of the promise land.  And Mo’ses called O-she’a the son of Nun, Je-hosh’u-a.  Now here Mo’ses changes O-she’a’s name, in the same way Jehovah did A’bram to A’bra-ham and Ja’cob to Is’ra-el.  By changing O-she’a’s name he also was appointing him leader of the twelve, in the same way Jesus changed the name of Si’mon the son of Jo’na, to Peter (Ce’phas in Greek, meaning a rock).  You see, Mo’ses passed his leadership of the congregation (church) to Josh’u-a in the same way Jesus did to Peter.  Do you see a pattern forming here?

        In Numbers 13:2 (KJV) Jehovah said, Send you men, that they may search the land of Ca’naan.  Now, why did the translators use the word search instead of spy out, as they did in verse 17?  Because Jehovah was asking them to be witnesses of the things he had already told Mo’ses and the sons’ of Is’ra-el many times.  You see, He wanted them to trust Him and believe Him, not just sometimes, but all the time.  Let’s turn back to Exodus 3:7-8:  And Jehovah said,

7      I have surely seen the suffering of My people which are in E’gypt, and have heard their cry by the result of their taskmasters; for I know their troubles;

8      And I Am come down to deliver them out of the land of the E-gyptians, and to bring them up out of that land, to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Ca’naan-ites, and the Hit’tites, and the Am’or-ites, and the Per’iz-zites and the Hi’vites and the Jeb’u-sites.

This is repeated in Exodus 3:17 and in Leviticus 20:24.  You see, they really didn’t have any faith in Jehovah to keep His word.  Now, let’s turn back to Numbers 13:17

17            And Mo’ses sent them to spy out the land of Ca’naan, and said to them, Go south and get to the top of the mountain:

18            And see the lay of the land, and the people that live there, whether they are strong or weak, a few or many;

19    And whether the land be good or bad; and about the cities, whether they be open camps or fortresses;

20    And whether the land was rich or poor.  And if there was wood or not.  And to be brave, and bring back the fruit of the land.

Now it was the time of the first ripe grapes.  Do you notice all the questions about the land?  Jehovah already promised a good and large land flowing with milk and honey.  This was a test of their faith.  Also, notice the concern about the people of the land, whether they could over-take them.  Jehovah just told Mo’ses that He would give the land to them.  That means that they wouldn’t even have to fight.  You might say that’s not true because of the count or census that Jehovah had Mo’ses do prior to this, but let’s turn to Exodus 33:1-3.

1                  And Jehovah said to Mo’ses, Go and lead the people which you have brought up out of the land of E’gypt, to the land which I swear to A’bra-ham to I’saac, and to Ja’cob, saying to your descendants will I give it:

2      And I will send an angel (or messenger) before you; and I will drive out the Ca’naan-ite the Am’or-ite and the Hit’tite and the Per’iz-zite, the Hi’vite, and the Jeb’u-site:

3      To a land flowing with milk and honey: For I will not go up in the midst of you (or among you); for you are an obstinate people: lest I consume you.

Now, unless Jehovah lied (and we know that’s impossible), then if they would have trusted Jehovah and went in, they would have received the promise land without even having to fight.  But, we all know that they didn’t.  They did; however, obey Mo’ses.  They went in from the south, and they came to the valley of Esh’col, and cut one large cluster of grapes that two men carried on a staff between them.  They also gathered pomegranates and figs and after forty days they returned and brought word to Mo’ses and Aar’on and all the congregation.  And they told them, we went to the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and said to them, this is the fruit we gathered there.  But the people are very strong that live there, and the cities are very large and walled.  And we also saw the sons’ of A’nak there.  And also the Am’a-lek-ites live in the south land: and the Hit’tites and the Jeb’u-sites and the Am’or-ites live in the mountains: and the Ca’naan-ites live by the sea and by the banks of the Jor’dan River. Then Ca’leb quieted the people, and said, Let us go up right now, and occupy it.  For we are able to take it.  But ten of the witnesses that were with him said we are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we are. And they gave an evil report of the land that they searched for the sons of Is’ra-el, saying, The land which we have gone to search is a land that eats up those that live there; and all the people that we saw there were men of great size.  And we saw giants, the sons’ of A’nak:  And we are the size of grasshoppers compared to them.  And the congregation of Is’ra-el wept that night. And they grumbled against Mo’ses and Aar’on:  and the congregation said to them, we wish Elohim would have let us die in E’gypt! Or that Elohim would have let us die in the wilderness!  And why has Jehovah brought us to this land, to die by the sword, that our wives and our children should become prey?  Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to E’gypt?  And they said to one another, Let us choose a captain and return to E’gypt.

 Do you remember in John Chapter 18-19 where the high priest had delivered Jesus to Pi’late, and he couldn’t find Jesus guilty of anything?  But the chief priests and elders told him that if he released Jesus, he was not a friend of Cae’sar; whoever makes himself a king is an enemy of Cae’sar. 

And in Matthew 27:15 it says, at this feast the governor had a custom to release a prisoner to them.  And they had a very famous prisoner named Ba-rab’bas.  When the people had gathered around, Pi’late said to them, which one will you have me to release to you?  Ba-rab’bas, or Jesus which is called Christ?  For Pi’late knew that for envy they had delivered Him.  (You see, they knew He was the Messiah, and they were afraid he would take their place of authority and power from them).  But the chief priest and elders had persuaded the people that they ask to release Ba-rab’bas and to kill Jesus.  And Pi’late asked again, Which of the two will you have me release?  And they cried Ba-rab’bas.  Pi’late said to them, What shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?  They all said to him; Let him be nailed to a stake.  And Pi’late said, Why? What evil has He done?  But they cried out again let Him be nailed to a stake.  When Pi’late saw that he could change nothing, for fear of starting a riot, he took water and washed his hands in front of all the people, saying I am innocent of the blood of this just man, see you to it.  Then all the people answered, saying, His blood be on us, and on our children. And this blood, the blood of the Messiah would be on them and on the New Covenant! 

You see they did not want to be ruled by Jesus.  In the same way their ancestors didn’t want to be ruled by Jehovah.  They could have believed Jehovah, and entered into the promise land, but instead they rejected Him and decided to choose their own leader, the same way they chose to follow the chief priests and elders and reject Christ in Matthew 27. 

Let’s turn back to Numbers 14:5

5      Then Mo’ses and Aar’on fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the sons’ of Is’ra-el.

6      And Josh’u-a the son of Nun, and Ca’leb the son of Je-phun’neh, which were of the twelve that searched the land, tore their clothes:

7       And they spoke to the assembly of the sons’ of Is’ra-el, saying, the land that we passed through to search, is an extremely good land. 

8      Now, if Jehovah is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us; a land that flows with milk and honey.

9      Only don’t rebel against Jehovah, and don’t fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: For their protection has left them and Jehovah is with us: don’t fear them.  (You see, only two of the witnesses believed Jehovah). 

10                  But, all  the congregation said, stone them, and the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation in the sight of all the sons’ of Is’ra-el. 

11                  And Jehovah said to Mo’ses How long will this people provoke Me?  And how long will it be, before they believe Me, or all the miracles which I have showed to them? (Do you remember all the miracles Jesus performed in the sight of the people, and still they did not believe?)

12                  I will strike them with pestilence, and disinherit them, and I will make you a greater nation and mightier than they are.  (Do you see the shadow in this?  When Jehovah came and dwelled in Jesus, He came first to the sons’ of Is’ra-el, and after Is’ra-el as a whole rejected Him, He offers His Covenant to others, the new elect, the circumcised of heart!)

13                  And Mo’ses said to Jehovah, The E’gyptians will hear it.

14                  And they will tell the inhabitants of this land:  for they have heard that You Jehovah are among this people, that You Jehovah are seen face to face, and that Your cloud covers them and that You go before them, by day in a column of a cloud, and by night in a column of fire.

15                  Now if You kill all of these people as one man, then the nations that heard of Your fame will say,

16                  Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people, into this land, that He swore to them, that is why He killed them in the wilderness.  (This is a shadow of how Jesus later after the resurrection and ascension, when He breathed on them, is not only among His people, but in His people, and like the cloud, He covers our sins, and how, if we belong to Him, He goes out before us to protect us, and how if we will just follow Him we can never go wrong.)

17                  Mo’ses says, I beg You, let the power of Jehovah be displayed, according to your own words,

18                  Jehovah is slow to anger, and has great mercy, forgiving sin, and by no means clearing the guilty, charging the sins’ of their fathers to the children of the third and fourth generation.

19                  Forgive, I beg You, the sins of this people according to Your great mercy, just as You have forgiven them, from E’gypt until now. 

20                  And Jehovah said, I have forgiven according to your word:

21                  But as truly as I live, all the world will be filled with the power of Jehovah.  (This is what was spoken of by the prophet Jo’el, (Joel 2:28-32) and later quoted by Peter in Acts 2:17-21.  And Acts Chapter two is only a shadow of the last days where this is once and for all completed). 

22                  Because all those men which have seen Me, and the miracles that I did in E’gypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not obeyed My voice;

23                  They will not see the land that I swore to their fathers, not one of them that provoked Me will see it. 

24                  But my servant Ca’leb, because he had another spirit with him, followed Me completely, I will bring him into the land where he went, and his descendants will possess it.   (Did you ever wonder why the majority of the people today in the physical country of Israel are Judaen?  It’s because of this promise to Ca’leb.  You see just as He kept his promise to A’bra-ham, He has kept His promise to Ca’leb.  In Numbers 13:6 it states that Ca’leb is of the tribe of Ju’dah.  Jehovah Elohim is the same yesterday, today,  and forever!)

25                  Tomorrow, turn and get into the wilderness, and take the way along the Red Sea. 

26                  And Jehovah spoke to Mo’ses and Aar’on, saying,

27                  how long shall I put up with this wicked congregation which grumbles against Me?  I have heard the grumblings which they grumble against Me. 

28                  Say to them, as truly as I live, says Jehovah, as you have spoken in My ears, so will I do to you. (Speaking of Number 14:2 where they say they wished Jehovah would have let them die in the wilderness.  Also, remember the words of their descendants in Matthew 27:25—Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children-- Do you see the shadows?  How the people rejected Jehovah  and how they die in the wilderness or out of Covenant with Elohiym)?

29                  All of you, twenty years and older will die in the wilderness, who have grumbled against Me. 

30                  You will not come into the land, which I swore to make you live in, except for Ca’leb son of Je-phun’neh, and Josh’u-a son of Nun. 

31                  But your children, which you said would be prey, them I will bring in, and they will enjoy the land which you have rejected.

32                  But as for you, you will die in the wilderness. 

33                  And your children will wander in the wilderness forty years, bearing your sins, until your bodies are wasted in the wilderness. 

34                  After the number of days in which you searched the land, which was forty days, each day for a year, will you bear your sins, for forty years, and you will remember My breach of promise. 

35                  I Jehovah have said, I will surely do it to all this wicked congregation, that are gathered together against Me; in this wilderness they will be eaten up, and there they will die.  (Do you see how they rejected Jehovah, and therefore the Covenant or the binding agreement?  This is how the first Covenant is rejected, not the Old Testament!)

Now we are ready to start looking at the second Covenant, and how it is also the new Covenant!  The second Covenant starts with Numbers 28, and is scattered throughout the rest of Numbers.  It is given also in the book of Deuteronomy.  Did you know if you do a word study on the word Deuteronomy it means the words?  This brings a whole new meaning to when Jehovah said; in the Old Testament and Jesus said in New Testament, If you keep My words.  The survey of the book of Deuteronomy, in my KJV says, The name of the book of Deuteronomy, or ‘Second Law’, suggests its nature and purpose.  Standing, as it properly does in our Bibles, as the last of the five books of Mo’ses, it summarizes and brings to focus the message embodied in the four preceding books. This does not mean that it is a mere repetition of what was said previously. Deuteronomy is, it is true, set in the historical events which have been given previously, particularly in Exodus and Numbers.  However, it goes beyond those records in that it both interprets and adapts them.

Throughout this book, events are charged with meaning.  Mo’ses gives a good deal of history, but in nearly every case he relates events to the spiritual lesson, which they underscore.  He takes the legislation which Jehovah had given to Is’ra-el nearly forty years before and adapts it to conditions of settled life in the land to which Is’ra-el was soon to go.  (This is the same thing that is done in the book of Hebrews.)

The nation of Is’ra-el was, when this book was written, in the land of Mo’ab, to the east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.  Once before  Is’ra-el had failed, through lack of faith, to enter Palestine.  Now, thirty-eight years later, Mo’ses gathers the company together and seeks to infuse faith, which will enable the chosen people to move ahead in obedience.  (That’s the same thing the writer of Hebrews is doing.)  Before them lies their inheritance.  Danger, seen and unseen lies ahead.  With them is their God, whom they have come to know better during their experiences in the widerness, with all its ruggedness and bleakness.  (Do you see the shadows in this?  First  Jehovah draws us out of Eg’ypt, or the world, then we get to know Jesus, as we grow in faith.  How do we do that?  By studying The Word and laying it up first in our mind, and then by practicing it in our hearts.  All the while He walks with us through dangers seen and unseen through a rugged and bleak world, for our inheritance lies ahead of us, eternal life in the promise land.  Because he that endures to the end shall be saved!)  Mo’ses sees, correctly, that their major perils will be in the area of their spiritual life; so the major thrust of his message is spiritual.  Jehovah their Elohim is one; it is He who has delivered them from bondage.  He has given them the law.  He has entered into a Covenant relationship with them.  They are His people.  He demands exclusive devotion and worship.  (Do you think He will accept anything less today?!)  His ways are known to them.  (How are His ways known to them?  By the Covenant!)  By long experience, Is’ra-el has learned that Jehovah honors obedience and punishes disobedience.  (Do you think that has change?  I don’t!)  Now, in a new sense, Is’ra-el is on her own, under Jehovah and in her new home.  (just as we are on our own, under Jesus, being on the earth, but not of the world!)

The book of Deuteronomy covers the entire range of questions which arise out of this new phase in Is’ra-el’s life.  Is’ra-els’ attitude toward Jehovah is, of course, the major problem.  Mo’ses, with all of the earnestness which he can summon, calls Is’ra-el to trust Jehovah with the whole heart, and to make His law the continual monitor of Is’ra-els’ life.  This law, if observed, will infuse Is’ra-els’ entire life, and make their people distinctive among nations.  (It is the same problem today; people just don’t want to do what the Word of God  says.  The Philadelphia Church is earnestly calling the people of God to keep the law of God with the whole heart, to make it the continual monitor of our lives, and it will infuse our entire lives, and make us a distinctive people among nations.)  Blessings will follow and the nations will recognize that her God is Jehovah.  But if Is’ra-el shall go the way of the nations around it, and forget her God, then afflictions will seize Is,ra-el, and ultimately it will be scattered among the nations.  (When our nation recognized the law of God with the whole heart, we were a distinctive nation.  But now, our country and even the church has rejected the law of God, and the afflictions have already started.  Abortions, terrorist attacks, pornography, same-sex marriages, homosexual bishoprics, and ultimately, if we do not repent, we will be scattered among the nations!)

Throughout the book of Deuteronomy the emphasis is upon faith plus obedience.  In a real sense, this is its keynote. (End of survey)

The fact is, that today God will accept no less, because as James said, faith without works (obedience) is dead!

As I stated in ‘God is a covenant God’, God will not deal with man without a Covenant.  And as the writer of this survey said, the book of Deuteronomy interprets and adapts the first Covenant for life in the promise land with God, just as the book of Hebrews adapts the second Covenant for the time when the Spirit of God Started to dwell in man, and also pointing to the time when we will live with the Messiah in the kingdom of God.  Before we look at the book of Hebrews, let’s go to Galatians Chapter 4, verse 1

1                        Now I say, the heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from the slave, though he be lord of all; (Now this example is the same for Christ as it is for us.  When Jesus was a child, or even a young adult, He was no different from us.  And when we first accept Christ we are no different than anyone else.)

2                        But is under guardians and managers until the time appointed of the father.  (Jesus was under Mary and Joseph for a time and also He was studying the scriptures, laying up the scriptures in His mind and then with practice in His heart until the time appointed by the Father.  This was until He was baptized at the river Jordan, by John the Baptist and received the Holy Spirit.)

3                          Even so, we, when we were children, we were in bondage under the principles of the world—end of thought—What was said here is:  When we first accept Jesus we are still under bondage to sin, or the things of the world, until we lay up the law of God in our mind and then by practice, in our heart.  Do you see how the law is our schoolmaster or guardian or manager, until the time appointed by the Father?  You see Jesus, through His sacrifice, freed us from the penalty of the law, which is death.  When we accept Jesus as our personal sacrifice we are free from the penalty of the law.  That is the curse, eternal death! Just like when Jehovah told Adam he could eat every tree in the Garden of Eden except, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That Law or commandment was not the curse. But because Adam broke that Commandment, all must die. That is the curse!

4                      But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

5                              To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

6                              And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Father, Father. (Do you understand what is said here?  When the time appointed by the Father came, He sent forth His Son, born of a human woman, that was still under the law, because she had submitted herself to God and His law.  To save them from the penalty of the law or the curse,  So that we can receive the adoption of sons.  And how He did that was to send forth the Spirit of His Son to live in our hearts, crying for the Father to come in our hearts.

7                                    Therefore you are no more a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  (Now we are not a slave to the law, because if we are a son, our Father gives us rules so that when we grow up, we will be the kind of person that is acceptable to God!  If we truly love God, and do our best to please them, when we fall short—which we will do--, They will be faithful to forgive our sins.)

8                                          However then, when you knew not God, you did service to them which by nature are no gods.  (Before they were converted they served pagan gods.)

9                                          But now, after that you have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn you again to the weak and poor principles, whereto you desire again to be in bondage?

10                                    You observe days, and months, and times, and years.  (Now here is where a lot of people try to do away with the seventh day Sabbath, new moons and the holy days of Jehovah.  Calling them weak and poor; but, these people are from Ga-la’tia not Is’ra-el.  These people were in bondage to pagan gods and days, and months, and times, and years, not God’s holy Sabbaths!)

11                                    Brethren, I beg you, be as I am; for I am as you are; you have not hurt me at all.  (Did you know that Paul kept the Sabbath and the holy days?  In Acts 13:14, 42 and 44 Paul preached on the Sabbath day, but that was to the children of Is’ra-el. 

In Acts 16:10:

10      And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Mac-e-do’ni-a, concluding that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel to them.

11                  Therefore leaving from Tro’as, we came with a straight course to Sam-o-thra’cia, and the next day to Ne-ap’o-lis;

12                  And from there to Phi-lip’pi, which is the major city of that part of Mac-e-do’ni-a, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.

13                  And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was customary to be made; and we sat down, and spoke to the women, which gathered there.

         (Notice that prayer was customary to be made on the Sabbath.  Now where are they at?  Just outside the city of Phi-lip’pi in Mac-e-do’ni-a.  They were unconverted Gentiles, contrary to some bible commentaries, that say that they were Jews.   In verse 20, Paul and Si’las were brought before the court for teaching Jewish customs to them.  Now if those people were Jews, this charge wouldn’t have made sense.  But, since they were unconverted Gentiles and Ro’mans, Paul and Si’las were stripped of their clothes, beaten and thrown in jail.  You see it wasn’t just Jewish custom to keep the Sabbath, the whole world knew to keep the seventh-day Sabbath).

        And in Acts 17:1--Now when they passed through Am-ol-lo’ni-a they came to Thes-sa-lo-ni’ca, where there was a synagogue of the Jews:  2) And Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, (Now this plainly tells us that it was Paul’s custom to keep the Sabbath).  And in Acts 18:4—Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.  (You see, the Sabbath wasn’t just for the Jew, it was, and still is, for all people!)  And in Acts 20:6—Paul and his disciples sailed from Phi-lip’pi after the days of Unleavened Bread and came to Tro’as in five days; where we abode seven days.  (This is the first festival as commanded by Jehovah  in Leviticus 23:1-6.

Leviticus 23: verse 1

1                  And Jehovah spoke to Mo’ses saying,

2                  Speak to the sons of Is’ra-el, and say to them, Concerning the feasts of Jehovah, which you will proclaim to be holy assemblies these are My feasts. 

3                  Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy assembly; you shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of Jehovah in all your homes. 

4                  These are the feasts of Jehovah, holy assemblies, which you shall proclaim in their fixed times.

5                  In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Jehovah’s Passover. (Or at the end of the fourteenth day of the first month is Jehovah’s Passover.)

6                  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Jehovah: seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

                                                                                                                             Now back to Acts 20:6

Why do you think they waited till after the Days of Unleavened Bread? Because they were keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread!

7        the KJV says, And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.  Most denominations teach Paul was keeping Sunday, instead of Saturday, the seventh day Sabbath.  But let’s look at the Greek to English Interlinear Bible for a literal translation.  It should have been translated to say ‘And on the one (or first) of the sabbaths, the disciples having been assembled to break bread, Paul reasoned to them, being about to depart on the morrow; he continued his discourse until midnight. 

            Now, what do you think the writer meant by the first of the Sabbaths?  Let’s go to Deuteronomy 16:9: ‘Seven weeks shall you number to you; begin to number the seven weeks from such time as you begin to put the sickle to the grain.  This is explained in Leviticus 23:15—And you shall count to you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete:

Now, back to Deuteronomy 16:10

And you shall keep the feast of weeks to Jehovah your Elohiym with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give to Jehovah your Elohiym, according as Jehovah your Elohiym has blessed you:

 The first of the Sabbaths, is the first Sabbath of the feast of weeks, and as for breaking bread, this was a common phrase used to mean ‘having a meal together’.

Let’s look at Acts 20:16—For Paul had determined to sail by Eph’e-sus, because he would not spend time in A’sia: for he hurried, if it were possible for him to be at Je-ru’sa-lem the day of Pen’te-cost. (The day of Pen’te-cost is what they were counting to in the feast of weeks, you count seven Sabbaths, which equals fifty days.  The Strong’s Concordance #4005 means fiftieth part; it is the final day of the feast of weeks.  It was also known as the Feast of Firstfruits.  So here is evidence that Paul kept the Seventh day Sabbath and the Feasts of God.)

        Let’s go to Galatians 4:12—Remember Paul said “Brethren, I beg you, be as I am; for I am as you are:  you have not wronged me at all.

13        You know how through weakness of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at first

14                  And my trial which was in my flesh you despised not, nor rejected; but received me as a messenger of God, even as Christ Jesus.

15                   Where is then the blessedness you spoke of?  For I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 

16                   Am I therefore your enemy because I tell you the truth?

17                   They zealously affect you, but not for good; Yes, they would exclude you, that you might seek them.  (You see they were excluding them because they were not circumcised, that is what this is about.  Paul wanted to make sure they realized that the clipping of their foreskin could not complete their salvation.  Physical circumcision was only a shadow of the circumcision of the heart, first mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy.  And if they were led into physical circumcision, then the sacrifice of Jesus meant nothing to them, and they would still be subject to the sacrificial law.  You see Paul was showing that if we have a circumcised heart, then we can truly accept the sacrifice of Jesus.  Then there is no more need for physical sacrifice! That didn’t mean that Paul didn’t believe that their children should not be circumcised.  Paul was accused of teaching that, but that was not true.  Look for yourself, there is nowhere in the book of Acts or any of Paul’s epistles that Paul taught not to circumcise the children. He taught that it did no good to circumcise a fully-grown man as proof of salvation!

18            But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing and not only when I am present with you.

19            My little children of whom I suffer in birth again, until Christ is formed in you,

20            I desire to be present with you now, and to change my tone; for I stand in doubt of you.

21            Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you hear the law? (You have to keep in mind that this whole letter is about not being circumcised to complete salvation, and the law Paul is talking about is the sacrificial law.)

Let’s look at Romans 3:29-31

29                        Is He the God of Jews only?  Is He not also of the Gentiles (nations)?  Yes of the Nations also:

30                        Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

31                        Do we nullify the law through faith?  God forbid:  Yes, we establish the law. (You see, by keeping God’s law by faith, we establish, or prove, God’s law.)

Back to Galatians 4:22, for this is the main reason for our study of this epistle, here we will start to identify the New Covenant.  Pay close attention to the next few verses.

22                   For it is written, that A’bra-ham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

23                   But he of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman by promise.

24                   Which things are an allegory:  (Do you know what the word allegory means?  In the Webster dictionary the definition for allegory is:  the description of one thing, under the image of another. for these are the two Covenants; the one (or the first) indeed from mount Si’nai which is born to bondage, which is Hagar—KJV says Agar but the Greek to English Interlinear Bible says Hagar, which is the literal translation--.

25                   For this Hagar is mount Si’nai in A-ra’bi-a, and equals to Je-ru’sa-lem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.  (Since the Jews as a whole have not accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, they are still in bondage to the old sacrificial law which is the Si’nai Covenant.)

26                   But Je-ru’sa-lem which is from above is free, which is the mother of us all.

27                   For it is written, (Quote Isaiah 54:1) Rejoice, you barren that bear not; break forth and cry, you that suffers not: for the barren has many more children than she which has a husband.

28                   Now we, brethren, as I’saac was, are the children of promise.

29                   But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

30                   Nevertheless what says the scripture?  Cast out the bondwoman and her son:  for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

31                   So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

        Remember Paul said; these things are an allegory, and that Hagar is mount Si’nai, or the Si’nai Covenant.  Now, Sa’rah who is not mentioned here, is Mo’ab which is 40 years later, and is not ratified by blood till Jesus is given as our sacrifice.  Now, the quote from Isaiah 54:1 says ‘Rejoice you barren that bear not; (which refers to Sar’ah) break forth and cry, you that suffers not; for the barren has many more children than she which has a husband.  This last part is confusing, because Sa’rah was married to A’bra-ham.  But the shadow or allegory is also physical Is’ra-el which was married to Jehovah until He came and dwelled in Jesus, and they rejected Jesus and killed Him.  Therefore, separating them from God!  Now we, as I’saac was, are the children of promise, because the church is promised to Christ, not married to Him.  So, now do you see how we are Sa’rah and Physical Is’ra-el is Hagar, and also how they are the two Covenants?  The Physical Is’ra-elites were persecuting the Spiritual Is’ra-elites, to get them to be part of the physical, by circumcision.  Notice, Paul says that scripture says ‘cast out the bondwoman and her son (which is physical Is’ra-el, because without the sacrifice of Jesus they are still bound to animal sacrifices and the first Covenant.  So, then, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free, and therefore also heirs of the second Covenant or New Covenant!

        There is still much more evidence that the second Covenant is the New Covenant.

 Let’s go to Hebrews 8:1:

1                  Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum:  We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

2                  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. (The word Lord here is found in your Strong’s Concordance under reference #2962—it can mean master or owner, but it is also the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for Jehovah which is the Tetragromatron or   YHWH or YHVH, which identifies Jehovah as the God that spoke to Is’ra-el, as explained in chapter one.

3                  For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts (or offerings) and sacrifices: (their purpose was to sacrifice animals). Wherefore of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.  (This man here is Jesus.  And He wouldn’t have ordained if He didn’t have a purpose). 

4                  For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

5                  Who serve to the example and shadow of the heavenly things, as Mo’ses was instructed of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: (Quote Exodus 25:40—for see says He, (Jehovah) that you make all things according to the pattern showed to you in the mount—You see the priests and the animal sacrifices served as a shadow, or pattern, of Jesus and His sacrificial death.

6                  But now He has obtained a more superior ministry, also by so much as He is mediator of a better Covenant which was enacted on better promises

7                  For if the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. (The first Covenant was given at mount Si’nai, where the children of Is’ra-el didn’t go in because of unbelief.  The second Covenant is given at Mo’ab where Josh’u-a  led them into the promise land,  which is a shadow, or pattern, of Jesus leading us through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the Father and eternal life, which are the better promises!)

8                  For finding fault with them, (notice here it says finding fault with them, the physical Is’ra-elites.)  He says, (Quote Jeremiah 31:31-34) Behold the days come, says Jehovah, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Is’ra-el and with the house of Ju’da:

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 E’gypt; because they continued not in My Covenant, and I regarded them not, says Jehovah.

10            For this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Is’ra-el after those days says Jehovah; I will put My laws into their mind and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people;

11            And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brothers, saying, know Jehovah: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.

 Now some say that this Covenant hasn’t started yet because we are still teaching our neighbors and our brothers, which is true, we are still teaching one another.  But it is not true that this Covenant hasn’t started yet.  The reason is found through who Jehovah is speaking to.  Verse 8 plainly says that He is talking to the House of Is’ra-el and the house of Ju’da; and they can’t be in this Covenant without accepting Jesus and His great sacrifice!

 Did you know that Paul was a prophet?  Let’s turn to Romans 11:18-27 to prove it.

18                        Boast not against the Branches.  But if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root you. (The branches are physical Is’ra-el and the root is Jesus.  This can be better said; Judge not physical Is’ra-el.  But if you judge, remember you don’t hold up Jesus, but Jesus you.)

19                        You will say then, the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.  (Grafted in to what?  The common wealth of Is’ra-el or the family of God and therefore the second Covenant!

20                        Well because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith.  Don’t be conceited but rather fear:

21                        For if God spared not the natural branches, take care that He also spare not you.

22                        Behold therefore the kindness and the severity of God; on them that fell, severity; but toward you, kindness if you continue in the kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.  (what is the kindness that we are to continue in?  Here is an example, the Ten Commandments and the Second Covenant.)

23                        And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. (So if they will accept Jesus and His sacrifice they will be grafted back in).

24                        For if you were cut off the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much easier shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25                              For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this hidden truth less you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Is’ra-el, until the fullness of the nations be come in.  (There it is, that is why the physical Is’ra-elites will not be teaching their neighbor or their brother, because when all the people of all the nations, that are going to come, come in, then they will come in and we will teach them.  You see as citizens of the common wealth of Is’ra-el or Spiritual Is’ra-el we inherit Gods’ New Covenant which is the second or the Mo’ab Covenant!)

26                        And so all Is’ra-el shall be saved: as it is written (Quote Isaiah 59:20-21) There shall come out of Zi’on the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Ja’cob; (and this is the same quote used in Hebrews chapter 8, Quote Jeremiah 31:33).

27                        For this is My Covenant to them, when I shall take away their sins. (Now, I don’t know about you, but He has already taken away my sins, and I openly and freely accept   the sacrifice of Jesus and the New Covenant!  Now, when the fullness of the nations has come in to Covenant, and the fullness of physical Is’ra-el comes in, the prophesy will be fulfilled.  But, we can accept this Covenant now, by first seeing it, and then laying it up in our minds and then with practice, in our hearts.  You see that is how Jehovah puts the law in our minds and writes it in our hearts.  We have to accept the sacrifice of Jesus first, and then the New covenant!)

 Let’s go back to Hebrews 8:12

12            For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawlessness will I remember no more.

13            In that He says, a New Covenant, He has made the first old.  Now that which dies and grows old and is ready to disappear. (He, Jesus, has made the first old, the Si’nai Covenant, not the Old Testament.  And because the physical Is’ra-elites have not accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, they are still tied to animal sacrifice, even though they are not sacrificing animals at this time because the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and they believe that they can only offer sacrifices in the physical temple.  You see, they don’t realize that Jesus is the temple made without hands and that He is also the Lamb of God and therefore is our sacrifice and without Jesus they are tied to that first Covenant, until they accept His sacrifice, and they cannot be part of His covenant.)

Let’s not stop here, it gets even better!  Chapter 9:1

1                  Then truly the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and an earthly sanctuary. (Do you understand what is being said here?  It says that both covenants had ordinances of divine service, or regulations for animal sacrifice, and a temple here on earth).

2                  For there was a tabernacle made; first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary.

3                  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; (Now notice in verse 3 it speaks of the second veil.  Back in Exodus 26 it also tells you the first veil was just before you come into the sanctuary spoken of here in verse 2.  The first veil is a shadow of the Spirit, breath or power of Jehovah, and the second veil is a shadow of the Spirit, breath or power of the Holiest of all; or the Father which the translators knew full well, as shown by the capital ‘H’ in Holiest, which describes Deity).

4                  Which had the golden altar of incense, and the ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aar’on’s rod that budded, and the tables of the Covenant; (This golden altar of incense is a shadow of the golden altar of incense that is before the throne of the most High as described in Revelation 8:3-4 and the ark of the covenant is a shadow of us with a circumcised heart when we have the law of God laid up in our mind and written on our heart.  The golden pot that had manna was the vessel that had manna which was placed in the ark, which in turn is a shadow of Jesus as the Bread of Life in our heart.  Aar’on’s rod that budded is a shadow of Spiritual rebirth and at the resurrection when we will be recreated as Spirit or like Jesus, which is the only first born of the dead, and of course the tables of the Covenant which Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:18-19, truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, not even one small letter or mark shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. (Has all been fulfilled, has heaven and earth passed away? I think not).  Verse 19—whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Back to Hebrews 9:5

5                  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot speak in detail. (This of course is a shadow of the grace of God).

6                  Now when these things were thus prepared, the priests’ went always into the first tabernacle, performing the service of God. (Now what service were they performing?  Animal sacrifices!)

7                  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors (sins) of the people.  (Notice in verse 6 that all the priests went to the first tabernacle, but in verse 7, only the high priest went into the second, once a year, on the Day of Atonement.  And not without blood of animal sacrifice for his sins and also the sins of the people.)

8                  The Holy Spirit thus showing that the way into the Holiest of all was not yet made possible, while the first tabernacle was yet standing: (Because until Jehovah came lived in  the man Jesus, And Jesus lived a sin-free life, was killed on the Passover, was in the tomb three days and three nights, and the Theoi (Jehovah the Father) raised Him from the dead toward the end of the Sabbath.  He ascended to heaven sometime that Sunday morning, as our wave sheaf offering and was accepted in our stead; therefore, bridging the gap between us and the Father.)

9                  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; (Now that was a mouth-full!  What is said here is that the first temple was only a figure or shadow of the physical body of Christ, as the true temple, meaning, that Jesus when baptized at the Jordan River, received the Spirit of Theoi, which is the Spirit or power of Jehovah and the Father, Jesus became the first born of the Spirit of God, and God incarnate.  This, first temple, is pointing to the body of Christ.  And the animal sacrifices were a figure or shadow of the sacrifice of Christ.  And that those animal sacrifices never took those sins from the conscience of the high priest.  You see, it was not the law of God that was done away with, it was the physical high priest and Levitical priesthood that is done away with, being replaced with a perfect High priest that is after the order of Mel-chis’dec.  And with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, as the Lamb of God without spot or blemish, there is no more need for animal sacrifices or the ordinances pertaining to them!)

10            Which stood only in foods and drinks, and various washing, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.(verse 9-10 is KJV, let’s see what the Greek to English Interlinear Bible says, which is, by the way, a literal translation.  It reads:  which was a parable (lesson) for the time present, according to which, both gifts and sacrifices are being offered, not being able, as to conscience, to perfect the one serving, only on foods and drinks and various washings, even ordinances of flesh.  Until a time of setting things right, being imposed.  (The things the priests offered were a lesson or a schoolmaster, for that time, to teach them about the Messiah and His perfect sacrifice and priesthood.  Those offerings could never take away sin, or make the priest perfect!)  Continuing in Hebrews verse 11

11            But Christ having appeared, a High Priest, of the coming of good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, this is not of this creation;

12            nor through blood of goats, and of calves, but through His own blood, He entered in once, for all, into the Holies, (Heaven) having found eternal redemption.

13            For if the blood of bulls and goats, and ashes of a heifer sprinkling those having been polluted, sanctifies to the flesh cleanness, 

14            by how much more the blood of Christ, who through the Spirit Eternal (Jehovah), offered Himself without spot to God, will cleanse your conscience from dead works, for the serving of the living God. (It is easy to see that the dead works spoken of here is referring to animal sacrifice, not God’s law or the Second Covenant.)

15            And for this reason He is the Mediator of the New Covenant(in the KJV this word is translated testament. The Strong’s concordance reference #1242.  Remember according to the Webster dictionary a covenant is a solemn and binding agreement made by two or more individuals or parties, to do or keep from doing specified things.  And testament means to testify or give witness or a will.  The covenant is the Second or Mo’ab Covenant and the New Testament is the witness or testimony of Jesus and His apostles of the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  And the book of Hebrews is His Will!) That by means of death, for the redemption of the sins committed under the First Covenant, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.  (This says the reason He is the mediator of the New Covenant is so that everyone who is called from Genesis till Christ’s return, might receive forgiveness for sins committed under the First Covenant.  You see, sin is transgression of the law, and not even one letter or small mark shall pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  So, what was sin in the First covenant is sin in the Second.  What has changed here is the priesthood and the sacrifice.)

16            For where a testament (will) is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. (Will maker)

17            For a testament is of force after men are dead:  otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives.  (Neither this will nor was the Second Covenant of any strength before the death of Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant.  And in the next verse is where the evidence starts.)

18            Whereupon neither was the First Covenant confirmed without blood.

19            For when Mo’ses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people.

20            Saying, this is the blood of the Covenant which God has enjoined to you.

21            Moreover he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

22            And almost all things are by the law purged by blood; and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  (This took place back in Exodus 24, at mount Si’nai, read it for yourself.  This is not done at Mo’ab.  Read Numbers chapter 26 on, it is not done.  Read the entire book of Deuteronomy, is not done.  Read the beginning of the book of Joshua, the Second Covenant or the Mo’ab Covenant was not confirmed in blood, as the First Covenant or the Si’nai Covenant is.  It is not until the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, that this Second Covenant is confirmed or ratified.)

23            It was therefore necessary that the patterns (copies) of things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly themselves with better sacrifices than these.  (Remember that Jehovah told Mo’ses; see that you make all things in the pattern that was shown you on the mount.  The first temple is a shadow of the body of Jesus; we are now the body of Jesus.  That’s why there had to be animal blood sacrifices in the first temple, to complete the shadow.  You see, all the sons of God of the First Covenant will be in the new heaven and new earth.  So, it was necessary for them to be cleansed by blood, to point to everyone being cleansed by the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus.  The heavenly things are the saints.)

26            For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the age: but now once in the end of the age has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  (This is talking about our past sins, not cheap grace, as we will see in chapter 10.

27    And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment:

28    So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin to salvation. 

Let’s go on, it only gets better!  Hebrews 10:1

1                  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.

2                  For then would they not have ceased to be offered?  Because that the worshippers once cleansed should have no more conscience (debt) of sins.  (You have to see they are talking about the sacrificial law, because they had a daily sacrifice, a weekly sacrifice, a monthly sacrifice, and a yearly sacrifice.  All offered for the same sins.  You see, the daily wasn’t enough, and the monthly in addition wasn’t enough, and the daily plus the monthly plus the yearly wasn’t enough, because they really didn’t take away sin.  Only the sacrifice of Jesus could do that.  All of the sacrificial law was a shadow of Jesus’s sacrifice).

3                  But in those sacrifices there is reminder again made of sins every year.

4                  For it is not possible that blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

5                  Wherefore when He comes into the world, He says, Sacrifice and offering you desire not, but a body have you prepared me:

6                  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have had no pleasure.

7                  Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of Me, to do Your will O God.

8                  Above when He said, Sacrifices and offering and burnt offerings You desired not neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law: (Do you really believe that He is talking about the moral law here?  It is plain to see it is the sacrificial law.) 

Let’s turn to Psalms 40:6-8 which the writer is referring to here.

6      Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears have you opened; burned offering and sin offering have You not required.

7      Then said I, Lo, I come:  in the volume of the book it is written of Me,

8      I delight to do Your will O my God: yes, Your law is in my heart.  (It is a shame the way this has been mistaught)

Back to Hebrews 10:9

9                  Then said He, Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.  He takes away the first that He may establish the second.  (Do you believe that He is taking away the Old Testament?  That is absurd!  He took away the first covenant, or the Si’nai Covenant to establish the second covenant or the Mo’ab Covenant minus the sacrificial law.  The first covenant, or the Si’nai Covenant is found in the second and third books of the Bible.  It was written to the sons of Is’ra-el that Jehovah led out of E’gypt, that did not enter in because of unbelief.  The Second Covenant or Mo’ab Covenant is found in the books of Numbers and in Deuteronomy.  In Numbers 27:18-21 is where the transfer of power from Mo’ses to Josh’u-a is found as a shadow of Jesus transferring leadership of the church to Peter.  As stated in the survey of the book of Deuteronomy, in the KJV, that I covered earlier in this writing, the book of Deuteronomy is referred to as the “Second Law”.  The word Deuteronomy means words.  Which gives a completely different meaning to John 14:23:  Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love Me, he will keep MY WORDS:  and my Father will love him, and WE will come to him, and make OUR abode with him.  I challenge you to study these Covenants.  There really is no change in the moral code (Law of God).  It is interpreting or revealing the original intent in the moral code of the Si’nai Covenant.  But in addition to that, it adapts it to life in the promise land.  Just as the book of Hebrews does to Life with the Holy Spirit.  You see, Jesus is the perfect sacrifice.  Therefore there is no more need for those physical blood sacrifices, they are finished or complete through Jesus.  But, not one letter or even a small mark shall be removed from the moral code (Law of God).  You see, God never changes, and neither does His Law, it is His character, it is an extension of God.)

10            By which WILL we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.  (This book of Hebrews is the WILL of Jesus.  In a dual sense, it is His last WILL and Testament.  And it is His WILL that if we love Him, we will keep His WORDS or the Second Covenant!  But not just out of fear, but by our own free will, because we love Him, and by the sacrifice of Jesus, and by this act of faith we are made holy.  You see, we do these things by our faith in Jesus and Theoi (Jehovah and the Father), not just out of fear, but because we know doing the WORDS, is pleasing in their sight).

11            And every priest stands daily ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:  (This book is written to physical Is’ra-el as a plea to accept the offering of Jesus.  But, they had been offering these same sacrifices since the Exodus, and they continued until 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed.  You see, anyone that is drawn by the Father, can accept Jesus’ sacrifice.  You just have to believe that He is the Messiah and that He truly died for your sins and that the Theoi raised Him from the dead, and He is at the right hand of the Theoi, making intercession for us.  And anyone that accepts the sacrifice of Jesus can accept the New Covenant.  But, first you have to know what the New Covenant is, and that starts by realizing that God is right and the world is wrong.  And that is hard to do.)

12            But this man, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;

13            From hereafter waiting till His enemies be made His footstool.

14            For by one offering He has completed for ever them that are made holy

15            Whereof the Holy Spirit also is a witness to us:  (You see, if you have the Holy Spirit, this is a witness to you, that you are made Holy). For after that He had said before,

16            This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days says Jehovah, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them: (Now, does this sound like the moral code is done away with?)

17            And their sins and lawlessness will I remember no more. (Their past sins)

18            Now where forgiveness of these is, there is no more sacrifice for sin. (Physical Is’ra-el as a whole could not give up these sacrifices, because they could not accept the sacrifice of Jesus, because of unbelief.  Sacrifice is what all the emphasis is on).

19            Having therefore, brethren, confidence to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, (I bet that wasn’t easy for them to accept, seeing that if the high priest would have went in past the second veil without the blood of the sacrifice, he would have died.  They used to put a hook around the high priest and if he fell dead they would pull him out with this hook.  But with the blood of Jesus covering us we can go directly to the Father which is the Holiest of all.)

20            By a new and living way, which He has prepared for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh;

21            And having a great high priest over the house of God.  (The house of God is each one of us that has the Spirit of God living in us.)

22            Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  (Did you know that when we accept Jesus’ sacrifice it relieves our conscience?  And when we are baptized our bodies are washed with pure water, we can start all over with a clean slate.)

23            Let us hold fast the profession of our faith, without wavering;

24            And let us consider one another to provoke to love and good works.  (Again, I challenge you to study the moral code of the Covenant, because it does provoke us to love and good works.  The next verse is very important in understanding the New Covenant, because it is talking about the sacred assemblies of Jesus (Jehovah).

25            Not giving up the assembling of ourselves together, as the practice of some is; but encouraging one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.  (Let’s see what the writer is talking about not giving up the assembling of ourselves together.)

 Let’s turn to Leviticus 23:1

1                  And Jehovah spoke to Mo’ses saying,

2                  Speak to the sons of Is’ra-el and say to them, concerning the appointed times of Jehovah, which you shall proclaim to be sacred assemblies, these are my appointed times

3                  Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, and sacred assembly; you shall do no work therein:  It is the Sabbath of Jehovah in all your dwellings.  (Then Jehovah names all the annual feasts as sacred assemblies, starting with the Passover, then the days of unleavened bread, then the feast of weeks beginning on the wave sheaf day and ending on Pentecost.  Also the feast of trumpets and the Day of Atonement, then the feast of tabernacles and the last great day.  Now, I realize this is the First Covenant, or the Si’nai Covenant But, it is repeated again in Deuteronomy chapter sixteen and the wording in Leviticus 23 is easier.  Also, there is one more sacred assembly that is not mentioned in Leviticus or Deuteronomy which is mentioned in Numbers chapter 29:8, which is, by the way, part of the Mo’ab Covenant.  This sacred assembly is better known as New Moons; it is referred to as the beginning of months in Numbers 28, but, the best place to see the command is Ezekiel 46:3.  Now, at the beginning of chapter 46 it says Thus says Master Jehovah (Adonay Jehovah, Just so we know who is speaking here).  Let’s read verse 3—Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before Jehovah in the sabbaths and the new moons.  So, if they are to worship on the new moons, it is a sacred assembly.  Read all of Ezekiel chapters 45-46 and you will see that all the sacred assemblies are commanded here.  All of these are the assemblies the writer of Hebrews is telling them not to give up.  But, what about Colossians 2:16—Let no man therefore judge you in food or drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.  (Remember Paul kept the holydays and new moons and sabbaths.  Let’s think about what is said here ‘let no man judge you in respect of all these things’.  What does the word respect mean?  Well, I will tell you what it does not mean, it does not mean disrespect.  And where are these people?  They are in the city of Co-los’se:  Where is Co-los’se?  It is in southwest Asia Minor, (pagan, not Jewish).  The people of Co-los’se would not have judged them for not keeping these days or practices, they would have judged them for keeping them.  Yes, Paul is still warning them of circumcision and the ordinances of animal sacrifice, but I assure you Paul is not telling them not to keep God’s appointed times!

  Let’s turn back to Hebrews 10:26.  Let’s pay close attention to what is being said here.

26            For if we sin willfully (or intentionally) after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, (This means if we sin intentionally, the blood of Jesus isn’t covering our sins.  What happened to once save always saved?  It does not exist.  You must do your very best to live by the law of God.  And if we make a mistake we have an intercessor that is at the right hand of the Theoi, that has been tempted in all ways and knows our hearts and the reasons we do what we do.  Right or wrong.  The next question is ‘what is sin’?  The definition to sin is found in the first epistle of John.

Let’s turn to 1^st John 3:4

4                  Whosoever commits sin transgresses (or breaks) the law: for sin is the transgression (or breaking) of the law. (Pretty simple isn’t it?)

Back to Hebrews 10:27

27            But a certain terrifying waiting for judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the enemies.  (Did you notice, the writer is describing those who willfully break the law of God as enemies of God?)

28            He that rejected Mo’ses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.

29            Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, he will be thought worthy, who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified (or made holy) Being an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of Grace?  (The Spirit of grace is Jesus, and when we sin intentionally, we do trample under foot the sacrifice that sanctified us, and it is an insult to Jesus and Thoei).

30            For we know Him that has said, Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay, says Jehovah.  And again, Jehovah shall judge His people.  (This is a quote from Deuteronomy 32:35, 36.  Why do you think the writer quotes Deuteronomy so much?  It’s because it is the New Covenant ratified by the blood of Jesus the Christ!)

31            It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.—end of thought.

32            But remember the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions; (This word illuminated, means having received light.  And since Jehovah is the light of the world, and Jehovah was in Jesus, this means after you have accept the sacrifice of Jesus you will have many tests).

33            Partly, until you were made a grazingstock (or the sheep of Jehovah) both by reproaches (or disgraces) and afflictions (pain or distresses) and partly, until you become companions of them that were so used.  (Like No’ah, A’bra-ham, I’saac, Ja’cob and Mo’ses and so on).

34            For you had sympathy on me, in my slavery, and took you in the spoiling of your property knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and lasting substance (Jesus Jehovah and the Father).

35            Do not cast away your confidence, which has great promise of reward.

36            For you need patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.  (What promise is this talking about?  Do you remember in John 20:21 when Jesus said Peace be to you:  as my Father has sent Me, even so I send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive you the Ho’ly Spirit.  At this time, the disciples receive the Spirit or breath of Jesus the Christ, and also become the Apostles, because Jesus is sending them out.  The word Apostle means ‘sent out’.  This is the first part of the promise the writer of Hebrews is talking about.  The second part is found in Luke 24:49—And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but stay in Je-ru’sa-lem until you be endued with power from on high.  This promise is received in Acts chapter 2 with the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pen’te-cost. 

Now back to Hebrews 10:37 (this is a quote from Isaiah 26:20)

37            For yet a little while, He that shall come will come, and will not delay.  (This is a duel prophesy in Isaiah it was prophesying about the coming of the Messiah, and also of the giving of the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Jesus first, and then Theoi, through obedience to the Son.

38            Now the just shall live by faith:  if any man draw back, my soul (or spirit) shall have no pleasure in him.  (This plainly says that if we resist the Holy Spirit, it will leave us, this doesn’t mean that we will not sin.  It means we will follow the Spirit.  But we are not of them who draw back to destruction; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.  (And if we live by faith does that mean it doesn’t matter what we do?  May God forbid!  It is plain to see the Second Covenant or the Mo’ab Covenant is the New Covenant.  And if we accept the sacrifice of Jesus, there is no more need for blood sacrifices.  And if we have laid up the Second Covenant or the law of God, in our minds, and then by practice in our hearts, we now have a circumcised heart and there is no need of physical circumcision.

Pastor Bob Farr

Philadelphia Church-Stonefort

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