Everlasting Covenant - One More Thing

I have to correct something I wrote in part 1 of my look at what the everlasting covenant might be. I'm not above correcting myself... :)

When I was looking at the covenants called "everlasting" and saw God's covenant with Noah I straight away remembered all the Sunday School lessons I've taught about Noah and the rainbow and how it was God's promise not destroy the earth with a flood again. I too quickly categorized it as a one-sided covenant and ruled it out of my search, BUT....

In my reading today I was reminded that the covenant with Noah DOES have requirements for the people to keep. So it is possible, after all, that this was the everlasting covenant mentioned in Isaiah 24:5. We'll call it...

Everlasting Covenant Possibility 4
God's covenant with Noah after the flood, Genesis 9:16
Focusing in on Genesis 9:4-6
But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

“ Whoever sheds man’s blood,
      By man his blood shall be shed;
      For in the image of God
      He made man.

The part required of man in this covenant is to honor life, both that of people and of animals.
Looking at society today, I'd say that this covenant it being broken every day by someone or another.

Now, looking at the 4 possibilities, I'm reminded of something Jesus said in the book of Mark when a teacher of the law came to ask what the greatest commandment was. Jesus said,
Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:29-31)

I see that the first 3 possibilities can be rolled into "Love the Lord your God," and the 4th is "Love your neighbor as yourself." Interesting, isn't it?

This concludes (hopefully!...for now, at least) my personal study into the everlasting covenant.

Studying the Bible yourself is a great way to make it come alive, but it's always good to read what several other Bible scholars say. It helps to have their perspective and extensive research so you don't accidentally go way off track.
If you'd like to study more about the covenants, you might like the book, The Covenants, by Kevin Connor and Ken Malmin. It's written in an outline form and summarizes all of God's covenants.

What is the Everlasting Covenant? - Conclusion

And so there are:
Circumcision, Genesis 17:7
The Sabbath, Exodus 31:16
and Jesus, Hebrews 13:20
All three are called everlasting covenants.  Which is it?...
(Update--There is one more possibility in my next post "One More Thing."  Don't miss it!)
The covenants of circumcision and the Sabbath are altered in the New Testament.  They were not required for Gentile believers, and though the Jewish believers continued them, they recognized that the acts of circumcision and keeping the Sabbath were not what brought them salvation, but their faith--belief in the Lord Jesus.  So in a way, we could say they were swallowed up into the covenent concerning Jesus.  That points us to the covenant described in Hebrews 13:20.

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant

While looking up "everlasting covenant" I saw that there are six verses that say God will make an everlasting covenant with His people.  They don't say exactly what it will be, but that it will happen.  Here they are:
Isaiah 55:3 and 61:8
Jeremiah 32:40 and 50:5
Ezekiel 16:60 and 37:26

Those verses point to a time which was in the future for Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.  Jesus and His everlasting covenant was in the future for them, and so it still fits.  And Isaiah 55:3 can provide confirmation:
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
      Hear, and your soul shall live;
      And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
      The sure mercies of David.
"David" was a prophetical name used for Christ.  You can see it in Jeremiah 30:9, Ezekiel 34:23-24 and 37:24-25, and Hosea 3:5.

But the question that remains is, what is our part in keeping (or accepting) this everlasting covenant through Jesus. Is it keeping the Passover with all the particular regulations as the WMSCOG says, or is it something else? That's a good question for another day...

By the way, when my sister asked me this question, this is exactly what I did.  I started looking in my Bible for every instance of "everlasting covenant" and listing the possibilities.  That's when things got difficult with the conversation, and we didn't get any farther.  I don't know if it was something about the way I was studying the Bible, or if it was the result of pent up frustrations after some heated discussions.  But it's too bad, because I think we would have at least agreed on the right section of the Bible to settle on.

Click here for a little more on the Everlasting Covenant.

What is the Everlasting Covenant? - Part 3

Continuing on...What is the everlasting covenant broken in Isaiah 24:5?

Just a note...there are a lot of verses listed here, and I think it will take too much room to write them all out.  You might want to have your Bible handy...or BibleGateway.com which can look up the verses quickly for you.

Everlasting Covenant Possibility 2
The Sabbath, Exodus 31:16

Here is Exodus 31 verses 13, 16, and 17
13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

I've already written about the Sabbath, which you can read under the topic of "Sabbath."
Colossians 2:16, Galatians 4:9-11, Romans 14, and
Acts 15:28-29 are some of the verses in the New Testament indicate that the Sabbath is not required for salvation.
But the Sabbath is a foreshadow of the rest we have with God--rest from all our work.  (Hebrews 3 and 4, especially 4:9-11)
How do we enter God's rest?  By believing.  (Hebrews 3:18-19 and 4:3, 6, 11)
Note that in the NIV the word "disobedience" in those verses is translated "unbelief" in the KJV.
That's because the Greek word there means "disbelief, disobedience, unbelief."  It's talking about the kind of true belief that results in obedience.

Everlasting Covenant Possibility 3
The everlasting covenant of Jesus, Hebrews 13:20
(It's called the "eternal covenant" in the NIV.)

Hebrews 13:20
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant

Hebrews 9:14-15 (although it's good to read the whole chapter to see the context)
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

This new, eternal covenant was put into effect by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Now, this is where the WMSCOG connects the everlasting covenant to Passover, because at the Last Supper Jesus says, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
They interpret it to mean that you must physically take the bread and wine on the exact day and time of Passover (and not at any other time) to keep this covenant.   For the WMSCOG, breaking this covenant means not keeping the Passover.

Mainstream Christians interpret this bread and wine as symbolic of Jesus' broken body and shed blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.  As a mainstream Christian, for me it's not a matter of breaking or keeping this covenant, but rather accepting or rejecting it.  But for argument's sake, I would equate breaking this covenant as rejecting it--rejecting Jesus, His sacrifice, and therefore rejecting God totally.
-------------
I'm not quite done looking at this everlasting covenant question.  The point of this little study is to show that we can search the Bible to find possible answers to our question.  We don't have to blindly take the answer given to us.
Now that we've found the possibilities, it's time to evaluate them and see if we can pinpoint the one answer, since our question must have only one answer.

Click here to go on to Part 4, the conclusion.

What is the Everlasting Covenant? - Part 2

What is the everlasting covenant broken in Isaiah 24:5?

That is the question the WMSCOG will ask and then proceed to explain why they believe it is the Passover.

The WMSCOG takes great pains to point out that they do not believe in "interpretations of men" but only what's written in the Bible.  So before stringing together a bunch of verses to support anyone's nice sounding idea, why not go straight to the Bible and see if it tells us directly what the everlasting covenant is?

I started with keyword searches to find a "covenant" that was described as "everlasting," "lasting," "eternal," or "forever."  There are actually quite a few, so I ruled out covenants where it was one-sided, a promise of God to do something and didn't include any requirement from the people.  You can't break the covenant if it requires nothing from you, right?  Then we can see if any of the ones left fit with Isaiah 24.  You can try this yourself and let me know if you found anything I missed....

I've narrowed it down to 3.  (I almost included God's covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7--see 2 Sam. 23:5; Psalm 89:28; and 2 Chron. 13:15 and 21:7 for descriptions of it as everlasting--but God said that even if the people turned away from Him, He would still keep His promise.  Therefore it's a one-sided promise.)

So here are the first one, and I'll address the others next time...

Everlasting Covenant Possibility 1

God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:7

(This covenant is passed down to Isaac and Jacob, see 1 Chronicles 16:17 and Psalm 105:10)

In Genesis 17, God promises Abraham that He will make him into the father of many nations, that He will give them the land of Canaan, and that He will be their God.
Then, starting in verse 9, we see what God requires Abraham to do.  Here are verses 9 and 10:

And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised

The people's part of this "everlasting covenant" is circumcision.

Physical circumcision was an outward reminder to be circumcised in your heart. (Jeremiah 4:4 and 9:25)
Jesus was circumcised. (Luke 1:59 and 2:21)
Must we be circumcised today?  Not physically, it is circumcision of the heart that counts. (Romans 2:28-29 and 3:30)
So how can our part of this covenant be broken today?  By not having our heart circumcised.
What does it mean to have your heart circumcised?  Put off your sinful nature by having faith in Jesus.
Read Colossians 2.  The whole chapter is good, but focus in on verses 11-13:

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses [sins],

Click here to go on to Part 3.

What is the Everlasting Covenant? - Part 1

Isaiah 24 begins with a description of the devastation of the earth, and then verses 5 and 6:

The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
      Because they have transgressed the laws,
      Changed the ordinance,
      Broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
      And those who dwell in it are desolate.
      Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
      And few men are left.

The question posed by a commenter from this verse is… What is the everlasting covenant that was broken?

My sister asked me the same question, but she did not like my answer and the conversation stopped.  (I have to admit, I was quite frustrated at the time, and the conversation got heated, so I’m sure my tone of delivery didn’t help.)  She never followed up by telling me what her answer was.

I know that question was not asked simply for me to ponder over.  It was asked because she wanted to tell me what the everlasting covenant was that not being kept by these people who were being destroyed.  I believe she would have continued on to explain that the everlasting covenant was the Passover, and that we needed to keep the Passover so that we would not break the everlasting covenant and so we would be protected in the last days.  Am I right?

So what is this “everlasting covenant” in Isaiah 24?  Is it the Passover, or could it be something else?

I didn’t want to speculate, so I went straight to the Bible to search for what it says about a “covenant.”  There are a number of covenants that God makes in the Bible, and more than one of them are described as “everlasting” or “eternal” or “lasting” or to be kept “forever.”

Some of those covenants are promises that God made and intends to keep, with no requirements from the human race at all.  In Genesis 9, God makes an everlasting covenant never to destroy the earth and all its life with a flood again.  There is nothing we need to do as part of that agreement—it’s all God. (Click here for a correction to this part about Genesis 9.)  We can never break that type of covenant. 

We need to look for the kind of covenant where God did give the people some responsibility to keep on their part.
 
So that's the direction I'll be going next.  Stay tuned.... 

Click here to go on to Part 2.

Was the Lord's Supper a Covenant or a Command?

More from Ahnsahnghong's book, “The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life”:

Page 401, Chapter 31
“The words in John 13:34, “A new command I give you,” are the same as the words in Luke 22:20, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” In the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it is described as the “new covenant” or the “covenant” instead of a “new command,” and in the Gospel of John it is described as a “new command” instead of the “new covenant” (John 13:34; 15:10-12). This new covenant, the new command, is a memorial day of our Redeemer. It is the Passover through which we love Jesus and also love one another in Him as He has loved us.”
And on Page 413, Chapter 31
Regarding “the new command” and “the new covenant”: “…the two are the same words; the new command is the new covenant.”

Is the "new covenant" that Jesus talked about at the Last Supper really the "new command" that Jesus wants us to follow?

First of all, the word for “covenant” used in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is the Greek word “diatheke.” The word for “command” used in John is the Greek word “entole.”

"Diatheke" = a covenant, testament, contract, compact
"Entole" = a command, order, prescribed rule

Those are two different words with two different meanings, not the same word, not even from the same root word, not even interchangeable words with the same meaning.

But if you look at the context, would the verses correspond to show us that the Lord’s Supper is both a “command” and a “covenant”? Here are the verses, first for “covenant”:

Matthew 26:27-28
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

Mark 14:23-24
Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many."

Luke 22:20
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."

And now for “command”:
John 13:34-35
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 15:10-12
"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Is the “new covenant” the same as the “new command”?  No, or Jesus would have said, “A new command I give you: take the cup of the Passover without fail,” or “My command is this: drink from my cup.”
The “new covenant” is the blood of Jesus poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
The “new command” is to love each other.
Different.