Cain and Able

Genesis 4:8. And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it happened when they were in the field that Cain rose to Abel his brother, and slew him. 9. And the LORD* said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I did not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10. And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. (Heb. 11:4) 11. And now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to take your brother’s blood from your hand. 12. When you till the ground, from now on it will not yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth.” 13. And Cain said to the LORD*, “My iniquity is greater than can be borne. 14. Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the earth and I shall be hidden from Your face, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will be that everyone who finds me will slay me.” 15. And the LORD* said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD* set a mark upon Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. 16. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD* and dwelled in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

Left unsaid in verse 9 is “what would happen.” Since no one had ever died, Cain could not have known what the result of his attack would be. What raised the ire of the LORD* was the flippant, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” This Am I is the very strong Anokhi, the I of purpose, also meaning “because I am” making this a really insolent response to God.

In verse 10 the word for cry out is very strong, not just a whimpering cry, but a loud crying out.

In verse 11 the word translated take is commonly translated “receive” but take is the literal translation. Take makes a very real difference because Receive is passive, implying the blood just filters down into the ground, but take implies that the ground draws the blood like a sponge draws water or any liquid. You can take a small bowl of water and with a fist-sized natural sponge, squeeze the sponge, release it in the water and absorb all the water. That the ground opens its mouth reinforces this taking of the blood.

In verse 13, when Cain says his iniquity is greater than can be borne, there are two things to note: first, in using the word iniquity he admits that this is intentional sin. That tells us he is not speaking of the killing of Able because Cain did not know Able would die. Therefore Cain is speaking about his insolent remark to God, using Anokhi. That his iniquity is too great to be borne means he believes his iniquity is too great to be forgiven.

Realizing how much he has sinned, Cain then expresses great sorrow, showing a true call to repentance. This last step is critical, often missing from our prayers today when we simply say “I repent” then go on our way without another thought. True repentance demands a serious attitude along with a heartfelt desire to not repeat the offense. Even if the offense is nothing more than a cross word, the response should be this serious.

Caleb, because some references to him are as a Kenizite, there is some confusion about his being of Judah. The following verses make it clear that Caleb is of Judah.

Gen. 46:12. And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

Num. 13:6. of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

Num. 32:12. except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizite and Joshua the son of Nun

Jsh.14:6. Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizite said to him, You know what the LORD* said to Moses the man of God concerning me and you in Kadesh Barnea.

Jsh. 15:17. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb took it, and he gave him Achsah his daughter for his wife.

Jdg. 1:13. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it and he gave him Achsah his daughter for his wife.

Jdg. 3:9. .. Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

1 Chr.2:9. The sons also of Hezron that were born to him; Jerahmeel..

1 Chr. 2:42. Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha

1 Chr. 4:1-23 lists the sons of Judah.

4:13. And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel and Seraiah and the sons of Othniel; Hathath. 14. And Meonothai begot Ophrah: and Seraiah begot Joab, the father of the valley of Harashim, for they were craftsmen. 15. And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Iru, Elah, and Naam: the sons of Elah, Kenaz.

So, Caleb the son of Jephunneh was of the tribe of Judah, as was his younger brother Othniel the son of Kenaz. Since Caleb and his younger brother had different fathers, the assumption is that there was a Levirate marriage and Jephunneh’s younger brother Kenaz married Caleb’s mother. A different Jephunneh is mentioned one time as a descendant of Asher, 1 Chr. 7:38. All other references to Jephunneh are with the descendant of Judah.

Census was to be taken according to Scripture, so only men able to go forth to war were counted, even at the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000. Numbers 1:3 is the defining verse so only men older than twenty, but not over fifty, were to be counted. Women, children, aged, and handicapped were not to be counted, restrictions not applying to the Roman census.

Cephas, a name used for Peter, is the Latin spelling of an Aramaic word for
a small rock. The word for rock is Kefa, which is used in Jn. 1:42,
1 Cor. 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5, and Gal. 1:18; 2:9,11,14. This is evidence that the apostles called Peter by the Aramaic name given to him by Y’shua and that the apostles did not normally speak Greek. That Hebrew was widely spoken in Israel in Y’shua’s day has been substantiated by recent archaeological finds; revealed in secular documents, coins, and stone carvings on buildings and monuments. The Hebrew word for a small rock is kaf which is used well over 100 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, most often with its basic meaning as sole of the foot or palm of the hand, but not with the meaning of rock. Kaf is simply a rock, small enough to be lifted in one hand. The Greek word Petra is a feminine noun meaning Rock. The masculine Petros, used only for Peter in the New Testament, is a classic Greek word meaning a piece of a rock.

Three other Hebrew words speak of God or Messiah as a Rock. They are Tsor, referring to a sheer rock cliff; Sali, referring to a huge rocky cliff; and Even (pronounced eh-ven) speaking of a cut stone as used in construction, particularly the corner stone.

Chapter and Verse Numbers were added long after every book of the Bible was written. The chapter numbers were added by Bishop Stephen Langton, who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1207-1228 AD. The verse numbers were added to the New Testament in 1551 by Robert Estienne, a commercial printer who also went by the name Stephanus. The Hebrew text has some differences from the Christian in verse numbers, especially in Psalms where
the introduction is counted as a verse in the Hebrew text. The only differences
in Chapter numbers are in Numbers, Malachi, and Joel. Verses in
Numbers 16:35-50 of other Christian Bibles are Numbers 17:1-9 here, but nothing is missing from or added to the text. In Malachi the Hebrew adds verse numbers to chapter 3 instead of going to a 4^th chapter, while in Joel chapter 3 is shortened, making a 4^th chapter. Bishop Langton’s Bible was the Latin Vulgate and Robert Estienne’s New Testament was a Byzantine Greek text, descended from the early 16^th Century Erasmus text.

Christ is the English spelling of the Greek word Xristos. The meaning of Xristos is Messiah or Anointed One, so in the New Testament this translation uses Messiah.

Cleanse. How could Y’shua cleanse a leper by touching him? Num. 19:22 says Whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean; and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. A leper lived outside town because anything or anyone he touched would be unclean, yet Y’shua cleansed the leper by touching him, Lk. 5:13.

Y’shua is the Living Word, the Living Torah (Teaching), Jn. 1:14, The Word became flesh and lived among us. As the Living Torah He thus cleanses everyone He touches. This is a double cleansing since Lev. 6:20 says, Whatever touches its (sin offering’s) flesh will be holy..

Coming of Messiah. We see many signs that lead us to believe that Y’shua could return any day now. Look at some of Y’shua’s statements about His return. Read all of Matthew 24, and then note verses 36, 42-44, which say, 36. But no one knows about that day and appointed time or hour, and neither do the angels of the heavens or the Son, except the Father only. 42. Therefore you must steadily be watchful, because you do not know what sort of day your Lord is coming.
43. But you know it, that if the house owner had known what sort of watch when the thief was coming, he would have been watchful and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44. Because of this then you must always be prepared, because in this you must not continually think of the time the Son of Man is coming. This is really a definitive command: we are to be about His business, feeding the hungry, caring for those less fortunate, and not to be focused on His return, but on Him.

Mk. 13:32 states, But concerning that day and the hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven and not the Son, only the Father. 33. You must watch out! You must continually be alert: for you do not know when the time is. In Lk. 12:40 He says, ..the Son of Man is coming in a time you do not think He is coming. Then He talks of the coming Kingdom of God in 17:20-37. Verse 20 includes The Kingdom of God does not come by means of, or in company with, close observation. Watching for Him will not speed up His coming. If anything can speed up His coming, it would be feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and so on as listed in Matthew 25:35-40. This is according to Eph. 5:27. in order that He would present for Himself the glorious congregation, not having spot or wrinkle or any of such things, but so that His bride would be holy and without blemish.

Matthew 10:23 And when they would persecute you in this city, you must flee to another: for truly I say to you, you would not finish the cities of Israel until the Son of Man would come. Matt. 24:32 Truly I say to you that this generation would not pass until all these things would happen. Since these words were written in the first century each generation has had advocates that THIS is the generation that will see His coming. Paul believed He was coming soon as we can see in his remark, And I say this, brothers, the time is short:.. talking about not getting married, 1 Cor. 7:29.

Matt. 24:45 Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom the owner appointed over his household servants to give them food in due season? 46. Blessed is that servant who when his master comes will find him doing this: 47. truly I say to you that he will place him over all his possessions. 48. but if that evil servant would say in his heart, ‘My lord lingers,’ 49. and he would begin to beat his fellow servants, and he would eat and he would drink with the drunkards,
50. the master of that servant will come in a day in which he does not expect and in a moment that he does not know, 51. and he will punish him severely and his lot will place him with the hypocrites: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.

Clearly, we need to be taught about the end times, but just as clearly, we need to focus on the task at hand, to raise up mature believers and to evangelize, to feed the poor, and bring deliverance to the world. Each generation is to believe the time is at hand as Jacob wrote in Jcb. 5:8 You too must now be patient, you must strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has drawn near. This does not put down those who are teaching about the soon coming of the Messiah. They are being obedient to their call and are keeping many occupied as good servants as well as bringing many converts to the Lord. Then too, He might come tonight!

Communion came out of the Seder and is still part of every Sabbath (Friday evening) meal in an Orthodox Jewish home as well as the service in the synagogue. In taking communion we are renewing our covenant with God, each saying, “Everything I have is Yours.” See Passover under Seasons of the Lord for the full description.

Congregation is the appropriate translation of the Greek word Ekklesia, which means a group of people who have gathered for some particular purpose. Although often translated church, no Greek word meaning Church is used in the Greek New Testament. Another Greek word sometimes translated Church, in Jcb. 2:2, is Sunagoga, now written synagogue in English. Sunagoga means a gathering of people or an assembly. Church is not an appropriate translation of either word because that in our minds refers to an organization or to a building, while both Greek words, Ekklesia and Sunagoga, refer to people. The people are far more important than the organization or the building. Therefore in this translation Ekklesia is always translated congregation, and Sunagoga is translated synagogue or public gathering. Ekklesia is also used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, where it is translated congregation. Since the authors of the Bible did not use a word for Church, the word Church does not appear in the Scripture of this volume.

Conjunctions are used very frequently in Scripture, much more than would be considered reasonable in modern English. This is according to the pattern established in the Hebrew Scriptures, which the scholars say is to verify the connection from one action or statement to another. So be sure that “and,” “but,” “then,” were used intentionally. The sentences in the New Testament are very long because Greek sentences are long. Even though the New Testament was written without punctuation the scholars who published the United Bible Society text added punctuation appropriately. The New Testament translation shortened sentences by inserting a period in place of a conjunction as little as possible because the long, sometimes awkward sentences contribute to the flow of Scripture.

Covenants. God made His first covenant with Noah, His second with Abraham, then a succession down through the years. Here they are presented in order as they appear in Scripture. The very nature of covenant is the bond between the parties of the covenant, each saying “Everything I have is yours.” In making covenant with Him we are to give everything we have to Him, then He gives us all His love and power and eternal life.

The importance of God’s Covenants.

When we look at God’s wonderful covenants, many Christians are amazed to see, not only their importance, but their relevancy for us today. These covenants are even more powerful when we look at them through the lens of our Hebrew heritage in Scripture. They cover every aspect of civilization, through devastation by flood, courts for social justice and all foundations for human and moral progress. They also include covenants for land, descendants and prosperity, spiritual blessings, and as the Covenant of Salt, permanence and preservation. God’s covenant expands to non-Jews with the Promised Redeemer and Eternal Life, and the covenant through the Messiah of peace and restoration of all things.

The three kinds of Covenants.

There are three kinds or types of covenants: the two main being Conditional and Unconditional. The Conditional require each individual in the covenant to do something, or the covenant is invalid. The Unconditional is given by God and is an Eternal Promise not requiring certain behaviors from its beneficiaries. These are identifiable by the use of the verbs give and establish. When God gives or establishes a covenant, it is unconditional. An exception to this is Lev. 26:1-13, which is conditional. When he cuts a covenant, it is conditional. The third type simply reinforces the previous covenants.

Why Jewish Covenants are still valid for Christians today.

It is important to remember that Christians are grafted into Israel, so all these conditional covenants apply to Christians, as well as Israel.

Why all of the twenty-two Covenants in Scripture are important to believers.

These covenants contain or establish our beliefs, strengthening us as we prepare for eternal life. Each covenant builds on, or reinforces the previous covenants. No covenant replaces any prior covenant.

Does Scripture teach about an Old and a New Covenant?

The statement in Heb. 8:13 (NIV) By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear, does not make sense when you study these covenants. This idea concerning new replacing old was first stated by Marcion in mid second century AD and was never expressed by any New Testament author. At that time Marcion was called a heretic, but later his heresy became accepted. When Marcion’s opinion was added to Hebrews is not known since our oldest known copy of the book of Hebrews is from the third century.

Why a Covenant is more than a promise.

Covenant is a word we use today, but fail to grasp its full meaning. Many think of it as a promise, but a covenant is far more. It is a total commitment, an absolute requirement, to do or not do something, even at the cost of one’s life. Commitment, in terms of life or death, is difficult for us to comprehend, but a covenant is exactly that. When cutting, making a covenant, each party says, “Everything I have is yours!” That is exactly what we are to do with God.

The one needful requirement for Covenant.

Blood has been an essential element in covenant, so for the Jewish people, the blood of circumcision is necessary, as well as immersion, which is symbolic of dying to self and coming out of the amniotic fluid as a new creation.

Paul makes reference to Covenants, plural.

Beginning with the first covenant named in Scripture, with Noah, in Gen. 6:18, each covenant builds on those before it, culminating in Isa. 55:1-6 when the Lord God cuts an everlasting covenant, a covenant of peace with the flock of Messiah, repeated in Ezek. 34:23-31, and then the full restoration of God’s people and kingdom. Ezek. 37:21-27. Paul refers to covenants, plural, in Rom. 9:3, For I could wish to be accursed to God myself, separated from the Messiah on behalf of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4. who are Israelis, of whom are the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Torah (Teaching) and the worship and the promises, 5. of whom are the Fathers and out of whom is the Messiah according to the flesh, the One Who is the only God over everyone, blessed forever, amen. Then Eph. 2:11, On which account remember that formerly you were heathens in the flesh, the ones who were called uncircumcised by the one who called himself circumcised in the flesh by human hands, 12. that you were at that time without Messiah, having been alienated from the citizenship of Israel and aliens of the promise of the covenants, since you did not have hope and you were in the world without God. Paul referred to multiple covenants, so obviously, he did not see The New Covenant replacing a prior covenant. The covenants are strengthened by studying each covenant and its value and contribution to the entire plan of God for His Beloved Covenant people.

LIST OF THE COVENANTS

With: Noah, family

Substance: Preservation during flood

Scripture: Gen. 6:18-20

18. “But with you I shall establish, ratify, My covenant and you will come into the box, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, you will bring two of every sort into the box, to keep alive with you; they will be male and female. 20. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep alive..”

With: Noah, family

Substance: Never again will all life be cut off by flood.

Scripture: Gen. 9:1-17

1. 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. 2. And the fear of you and the dread of you will be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moves upon the earth and upon all the fishes of the sea. They are delivered into your hand. 3. Every moving thing that lives will be food for you, even as the green herb. I have given you everything. 4. But you will not eat flesh with its life, which is in its blood. 5. And surely your blood of your lives will I require, at the hand of every beast I shall require it, and at the hand of man. At the hand of every man’s brother I shall require the life of man. 6. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man will his blood be shed, for He made man in the image of God. 7. And you, be fruitful and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.” 8. And God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him saying, “And behold, I AM establishing My covenant with you and with your seed after you, 10. and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the box, to every beast of the earth. 11. And I will confirm My covenant with you. Neither will all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, nor will there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12. And God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I am giving between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13. I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14. And it will be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15. and I shall remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh: and the waters will no longer become a flood to destroy all flesh.
   16. And the bow will be in the cloud, and I shall look upon it, so I can remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” 17. And God said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant, I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”

NOAHIDE COVENANT. These seven precepts are known as the Noahide Covenant, the covenant for all non-Jews. The requirements are: 1. social laws;
2. to refrain from blasphemy, 3. idolatry; 4. adultery; 5. bloodshed; 6. robbery; and 7. eating flesh cut from a living animal.

See Acts 15:19,20. 19. On this account I judge that we should not cause difficulty for those of the heathens who are turning to God, 20. but to instruct them to abstain from the pollutions of the idols and from immorality and from the meat of strangled animals and from the blood.

Abraham: Since Paul wrote that we Christians are seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise, (Gal. 3:29) these apply to us. As heirs, all the covenants with Israel apply to us, because the inheritance is through Isaac.

With: Abram & his descendants

Substance: Land

Scripture: Gen. 15:9-21

9. 9. And He said to him, “Take a heifer for Me, three years old, and a three year old she-goat, and a three year old ram, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.” And he took all these to Him, and divided them down the middle, and laid each piece one opposite another, but he did not divide the bird. 11. And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
   12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13. And He said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and will serve them and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14. And also that I AM will judge that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. (Exod. 11:2, Acts 7:6,7) 15. And you will go to your fathers in peace: you will be buried in a good old age. 16. But in the fourth generation they will return here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
   17. And it was that when the sun went down and it was dark, there was a smoking furnace and a burning flame that passed between those pieces. 18. On the same day the LORD* cut a covenant with Abram saying, “To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: 19. the Kenite, the Kenizite, the Kadmonite, 20. the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, 21. the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Gergashite, and the Jebusite.”

Jewish tradition relates the three animals to Egypt, Rome, and Ishmael. The well known Orthodox rabbi, Shlomo Riskin of Jerusalem, when praying about the meaning of the two birds that are released, sensed that they represent Judaism and Christianity. He told this at the annual day of prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, October 5, 2008. The released birds are to take the Lord’s message of love to the world.

The next covenant also tells of the Egyptian captivity

With: Abram

Substance: Descendants & Prosperity

Scripture: Gen. 17:2-21

2. 2. And I will give My covenant between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.” And Abram fell on his face and God talked with him saying,
   4. “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be a father of many nations. 5. 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.
   6. And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you, and to your seed after you. 8. And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

17:9. And God said to Abraham, “Therefore you will keep My covenant, you and your seed after you in their generations. 10. This is My covenant, which you will keep, between Me and you and your seed after you. Every man child among you will be circumcised. (Acts 7:8) 11. And you will circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it will be a token of the covenant between Me and you.
12. And he that is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money from any stranger who is not of your seed. 13. He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must definitely be circumcised. And My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14. And the uncircumcised male whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” 15. And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you will not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. 16. And I shall bless her and give you a son also from her. Yes, I shall bless her and she will be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will be of her.” 17. Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18. And Abraham said to God, “Oh! That Ishmael might live before you!” 19. And God said, “Sarah your wife will indeed bear a son for you; and you will call his name Isaac. And I shall establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. (Heb. 11:11) 20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He will beget twelve princes and I shall make him a great nation. 21. But I shall ratify My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time in the next year.”

With: House of Jacob

Substance: Priesthood for all

Scripture: Exod. 19:5,6

5. 5. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you will be a peculiar treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine. And you will be a kingdom of priests to Me and a holy nation. These are the words which you will speak to the children of Israel.” (Isa. 61:6, 1 Pe. 2:5,
   Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6. See Ezek. 20:37)

 

With: Israel

Substance: Spiritual Blessings, Torah                            

Scripture: Exod. 24:7,8

7. 7. Then he took the scroll of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that the LORD* has said we will do and we will listen.” And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, (Heb. 9:20) which the LORD* has cut with you concerning all these words.” In verses 4 & 7 Moses presents the Book of the Covenant, Torah, to the people. This is the first Shavuot.

With: Israel

Substance: Original Covenant at Sinai Exod. 24:4,7, ratified by offerings, vv 5-8, broken by golden calf (Exod. 32:4), tablets broken (Exod. 32:19). New tablets made (Exod. 34:1,28). Called the Mosaic Covenant, made before all Moses’ people.

Scripture: Exod. 34:10-26

10. 10. And He said, “Behold, I AM cutting a covenant: before all your people. I shall do amazing things, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among whom you are will see the work of the LORD*, for it is an awe-inspiring thing that I shall do with you. Mark well what I AM commanding you this day! See for yourself! I am expelling before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12. Take heed for yourself, that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare among you, 13. but you will destroy their altars, break their images and cut down their groves, 14. for you will worship no other god: for the LORD*, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15. Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they go astray after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and invite you and you eat of his sacrifice. 16. And you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters go astray after their gods and make your sons go astray after their gods. 17. You will make no molten gods for yourselves.”

34:18. “You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You will eat unleavened bread seven days as I commanded you, in the time of the month Aviv, for in the month Aviv you came out from Egypt.”

34:19. “All that opens the womb is Mine and every firstling among your livestock that is male, whether ox or sheep. 20. But the firstling of a donkey you will redeem with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, then you will break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you will redeem. And no one will appear before Me empty.

34:21. “You will work six days, but on the seventh day you will rest: in plowing time and in harvest you will rest.

34:22. “And you will observe the Feast of Weeks of the First Fruits of wheat harvest (Shavuot), and the Feast of Ingathering (Sukkot) at the year’s end.

34:23. “Three times a year all your males will appear before the LORD* God, the God of Israel. 24. For I shall cast out the heathens before you and enlarge your borders. Neither will any man desire your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD* your God three times a year.

34:25. “You will not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven. Neither will the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left to the morning.

34:26. “The first of the First Fruits of your land you will bring to the House of the LORD* your God. You will not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”

34:27. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Write these words for yourself, for in accordance with these words I have cut a covenant with you and with Israel.

With: Israel

Substance: Covenant of Salt, the symbol of permanence and preservation.

Scripture: Lev. 2:13 & Num. 18:19

Lev. 2:13. “And you will season with salt every offering of your grain offering. Neither will you permit the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering: with all your offerings you will offer salt.”

Num. 18:19. “I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you all the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD*, by a statute forever: it is a Covenant of Salt forever before the LORD* to you and to your seed with you.”

With: Israel

Substance: Peace & Deliverance: Blessings for the second giving of the Torah, material blessings for spiritual action.

Scripture: Lev. 26:1-13

1. 1. “You will make you no idols or graven image, nor raise up a standing image, nor will you set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it, for I am the LORD* your God. You will keep My Sabbaths and reverence My Sanctuary. I AM the LORD*!”

26:3. “If you will walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, 4. then I shall give you rain in due season and the land will yield its increase and the trees of the field will yield their fruit. 5. And your threshing will reach to the vintage and the vintage will reach to the sowing time, and you will eat your bread to the full and live safely in your land. 6. And I shall give peace in the land, and you will lie down, and no one will make you afraid, and I shall get rid of terrible beasts from the land, neither will the sword go through your land. 7. And you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword. 8. And five of you will chase a hundred and a hundred of you will put ten thousand to flight and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9. For I will have respect for you and make you fruitful and multiply you and I will establish My covenant with you. 10. And you will eat old store and bring out the old because of the new. 11. And I will set My Tabernacle among you, and My very being will not abhor you. 12. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be My people. (2 Cor. 5:16, Rev. 21:3) 13. I AM the LORD* your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so you would not be their bond men, and I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you go upright.”

The next verses spell out the consequences of breaking this covenant.

Lev. 26:14. “But if you will not listen to Me, and will not do all these commandments; 15. And if you will despise My statutes, or if your soul loathes My judgments, so that you will not do all My commandments, but that you break My covenant; 16. then I shall do this to you; I shall even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning fever that will consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart, and you will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it. 17. And I shall set My face against you and you will be slain before your enemies. Those who hate you will reign over you and you will flee when no one pursues you.”

With: Phineas

Substance: Reward for Zeal: Peace & Priesthood

Scripture: Num. 25:11-13

11. “Phineas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for My sake among them, and I did not consume the children of Israel in My jealousy. 12. Therefore I say, Behold, I am giving My Covenant of Peace to him, 13. and he will have it and his seed after him, the Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel.” The word translated Peace is Shalom, which means far more than the word peace. It means peace, quiet, tranquility, safety, well-being, welfare, health, contentment, good condition, success, comfort, justice, and more. See Shalom elsewhere in Glossary.

With: Israel

Substance: Warning & Reward

Scripture: Deut. 29:9-14

9. “You are taking a stand this day, all of you, before the LORD* your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, 10. your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the cutter of your wood to the drawer of your water, 11. so you could cross into covenant with the LORD* your God, and into His oath, which the LORD* your God cuts with you this day 12. so He may establish you today for a people to Himself and He may be God to you, as He has said to you, and as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 13. Neither with you alone am I cutting this covenant and this oath, 14. but with him who stands here with us this day before the LORD* our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day.

With: Joshua

Substance: Serve & Obey: Reward of Inheritance

Scripture: Jsh. 24:24-28

24. “And the people said to Joshua,

We will serve the LORD* our God and we will obey His voice.

24:25. So Joshua cut a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26. And Joshua wrote these words in the scroll of the Torah (Teaching) of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was by the Sanctuary of the LORD*. 27. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone will be a witness for us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD* which He spoke to us: it will be therefore a witness to you, lest you deny your God. 28. So Joshua let the people depart, every man to his inheritance.

With: Servant

Substance: Messiah, Deliverance

Scripture: Isa. 42:1-9

1. “Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My Elect, in whom My very being delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him. He will bring forth judgment to the heathens. 2. He will not cry or lift up or cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3. A bruised reed He will not break and the smoking flax He will not quench. He will bring forth judgment in truth. 4. He will not burn dimly or be discouraged until He has set judgment in the earth, and the isles will wait for His instruction. (Matt. 12:18-20) 5. Thus says God, the LORD*, He Who created the heavens and stretched them out; He Who spread forth the earth, and that which comes from it; He Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk there. 6. I AM, the LORD*, has called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, for a light to the heathens. 7. To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from prison, those who sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Luke 4:18) 8. I AM the LORD*. That is My name and My glory I shall not give to another, nor My praise to graven images. 9. Behold, the former things have come to pass and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

With: The People

Substance: God’s Covenant expanded to Non-Jews

Scripture: Isa. 55:1-6

1. 1. “Ho, everyone who thirsts, Go to the waters! (Rev. 21:6; 22:17) He who has no money, Go! Buy food! Eat! Yes, Go! Buy wine and milk without money and without price! 2. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me and eat that which is good, and let your very being delight itself in abundance. 3. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen! Obey and your inner being will live! I will cut an everlasting covenant with you, the sure loving kindnesses of David. (Acts 13:34) Behold, I have made him a witness to the people, a leader and commander of nations. 5. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, and a nation that did not know you will run to you because of the LORD* your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.”

With: Zion

Substance: Redeemer Promised

Scripture: Isa. 59:20,21               

20. 20. And He will come as Redeemer to Zion and to those who turn from rebellious sin in Jacob, says the LORD*. 21. As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says the LORD*, “My Spirit that is upon you and My words, which I have put in your mouth will not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed’s seed, says the LORD*, from now on and forever.”

With: Seed

Substance: Descendants

Scripture: Isa. 61:8,9

8. 8. “For I AM the LORD*. I love justice. I hate robbery with burnt offering and I shall direct their work in truth, and I shall cut an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed will be known among the heathens and their offspring among the people. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD* has blessed.”

With: Israel

Substance: Renewed Covenant

Scripture: Jer 31:30-34

30. “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD*, that I will cut a renewed covenant with the House of Israel, and with the House of Judah, 31. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I AM husbanding them, says the LORD*. 32. But this will be the covenant that I shall make with the House of Israel, After those days, says the LORD*, I will put My Torah (Teaching) in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they will be My people. 33. And each person will no longer teach his neighbor and each person his brother saying, Know the LORD*, for they will all know Me from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD*, (1 John 2:27) for I shall forgive their iniquity and I shall no longer remember their sin.” (Heb. 8:8-12; 10:16,17) This is the same covenant with the addition of the Torah’s being written on the heart of the believer, being taught by the Holy Spirit.

With: Israel

Substance: Restoration

Scripture: Jer. 32:40-42

40. 40. “and I shall cut an everlasting covenant with them, that I shall not turn away from them, to do them good, but I shall put My respectful awe in their hearts so they will not depart from Me. Yea, I shall rejoice over them to do them good and I shall plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole being.”

With: Israel

Substance: Discipline & Obedience

This reinforces the conditional covenants.

Scripture: Ezek. 20:37-43

37. “And I shall cause you to pass under the rod and I shall bring you into the bond of the covenant, 38. and I shall purge the rebels and those who transgress against Me out from among you. I shall bring them out of the country where they are sojourning and they will not enter the land of Israel, and you will know that I AM the LORD*. 39. As for you, O House of Israel, thus says the Lord, the LORD*, Go! Everyone serve his idols and hereafter also, if you will not obey Me, but do not profane My holy name any longer with your gifts and with your idols. 40. For on My holy mountain, on the mountain of the height of Israel says the Lord, the LORD*, there all the House of Israel, all of them in the land will serve Me. I shall accept them there and I shall want your heave offerings there, and your First Fruits offerings with all your holy things. 41. I shall accept you with your sweet savor when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered and I will be sanctified in you in front of the heathens. (2 Cor. 6:17) 42. And you will know that I AM the LORD*, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers. 43. There you will remember your ways and all your doings, with which you have been defiled. And you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. 44. And you will know that I AM the LORD*, when I have done with you for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, or according to your corrupt doings, O you House of Israel,” the word of Adonai, the LORD*.

With: Flock of Messiah

Substance: Messiah, Peace, Blessings, Deliverance, Prosperity

Scripture: Ezek. 34:23-31

23. “And I will set up one shepherd over them and he will feed them, (Rev. 7:17) My Servant David. He will feed them, and He will be their Shepherd. 24. And I, the LORD* will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them. I AM, the LORD*, has spoken. 25. And I will cut a Covenant of Shalom with them and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26. And I shall make them and the places around My hill a blessing and I shall cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing. 27. And the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield her increase and they will be safe in their land and will know that I AM the LORD*, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those who served themselves by using them. 28. And they will no longer be a prey to the heathens, nor will the beast of the land devour them, but they will dwell safely and no one will make them afraid. 29. And I shall raise up for them a plant of renown and they will no longer be consumed with hunger in the land or bear the shame of the heathens any more. 30. Thus they will know that I AM with them, the LORD* their God, and that they, the House of Israel, are My people, says the Lord, the LORD*.
    31. And you are My flock, the flock of My pasture: mankind, I AM your God,” the word of Adonai, the LORD*.

With: Children of Israel

Substance: Restoration, Messiah, Peace, Permanence

Scripture: Ezek. 37:21-27

21. “Then say to them, Thus says the Lord, the LORD*, Behold, I shall take the children of Israel from among the heathens where they have gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land 22. and I shall make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel and one King will be king to them all and they will no longer be two nations. Neither will they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all, 23. nor will they defile themselves any longer with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions, but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them so they will be My people and I shall be their God. 24. And David My servant will be King over them and they all will have one Shepherd. (John 10:16) They will also walk in My judgments, and observe and do My statutes. 25. And they will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers have lived and they will dwell there, they and their children and their children’s children forever, and My servant David will be their Prince forever. 26. Moreover I shall cut a Covenant of Shalom with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them and I shall place them and multiply them and will set My Sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. 27. My Tabernacle will also be with them. Yes, I shall be their God and they will be My people.
    28. And the heathens will know that I AM, the LORD*, does sanctify Israel when My Sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

With: Bride

Substance: Eternal Life

Scripture: Hos 2:16-22

16. Therefore, behold, I AM will lure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak to her heart. 17. And I shall give her vineyards to her from there, and the Valley of Achor for a Door of Hope and she will sing there, as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 18. “And it will be at that Day, says the LORD*, you will call Me Ishi, MY Husband, and will no longer call Me Baali, My Husband. 19. For I shall take away the names of baalim out of her mouth and they will no longer be remembered by their name. 20. And on that Day I will cut a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of the sky and with the creeping things of the ground, and I shall break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth and will make them lie down safely. 21. And I shall betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I shall betroth you to Me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in compassion. (Rom. 9:25) 22. I shall even betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD*”. The Ishi is the equal relationship of Gen. 2:18, the Baali is the master-slave relationship.

CONCLUSION

We need to understand all that God has given us with these covenants. We need to understand that the conditional covenants are blood covenants in which each of us is saying to God that “Everything I have is Yours!” His reply is “Everything I have is yours!” We are to appropriate His promises as well as keep His commandments. This means salvation, but much more than that, it brings in all His promises. This means that healing is salvation in a physical sense, and deliverance is there as well.

Now, take communion, which is a statement of covenant, as Y’shua said,
Lk. 22:17. Then having taken a cup, after He gave thanks, He said, “You must take this and you must immediately share it among yourselves: 18. for I say to you, that from now on I am not drinking from this product of the vine until the Kingdom of God would come.” 19. Then having taken bread, after He gave thanks, He broke it and gave it to them saying, “This is My body which is being given on your behalf: you must continually do this in My remembrance.”
20. Then likewise the cup after they ate, saying, “This is the cup of the ReNewed Covenant (Jer. 31:30-33) in My blood which is being poured out on your behalf. See Passover under Seasons elsewhere in Glossary.

His blood is still being poured out today, so restate your covenant frequently by taking communion, and then appropriating His promises of salvation, healing, deliverance, provision, protection, and even more. See Passover under Seasons elsewhere in Glossary.

God’s covenants are woven throughout Scripture to make a tapestry of His love and His desire for relationships – relationship with Him and with all other people. The covenants give us His plan for life now and for eternal life in His promises.

Renewing Covenant, is what we do each time we take communion, as done by Y’shua in Lk. 22:20. Jer. 31:30-33 This is the ReNewed Covenant in My blood which is being poured out on your behalf. Y’shua is referring to the custom that we still have of renewing the covenant relationship frequently. Now most Christians call this Communion. When taking communion each of us is saying to God, “Everything I have is Yours.” Then He says that back to us. See Passover under Seasons elsewhere in Glossary.

Paul in Romans 9:4 and Ephesians 2:12 refers to covenants, plural. The root of the Hebrew word usually translated New has the meaning of Renew, so this is really a renewal of the previous covenants plus the addition of a new blessing, made possible by a deeper relationship through His blood. The underlined words are the new points given in this covenant. As those under this covenant read and study Scripture, God will put the tenets into their spirits and reveal hidden meanings. This will facilitate a change in our behavior, bringing true knowledge of Him. What a blessing that He no longer remembers our sin. Satan does keep a record and wants to remind you of past sins, but do not let Satan put you in that trap. God’s record says that that sin never happened, so believe Him. See Sin, Forgiveness of elsewhere in Glossary.