New Covenant Assembly A person recently posed the following question on the Internet. They asked why if you are a new covenant assembly do most of your teachings come out of the Old Testament. The answer is the New and Old Testament make one book and that book is law and testimony of Yahweh, Yahshua and Yahweh's disciples. This is not a hard teaching but a teaching that existed when Yahshua arose and even after the temple was destroyed. Yahweh Doesn't Change "For I am Yahweh, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Mal 3:6 KJV) The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, is an excellent place for Yahweh to talk about the coming changes but Yahweh doesn't change. Malachi was an appropriate name for the last prophet of the Old Testament. Malachi means a prophet or a teacher and Malachi had a very important message to teach but it wasn't a message of change in Yahweh's laws but of return to Yahweh. Malachi is Strong's number 4401 from the same as Strong's number 4397, Malachi means "My messenger". "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Eliyah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Yahweh: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:4-6) Malachi spoke of the Eliyah message, which will return all things to Yahweh and the natural order of things. Eliyah means my El is Yahweh, accepting that Yahweh is our master through praise and supplication. Spiritual Israelites Around 400 years after Malachi there was a savior born to the tribe of Judah but not just a savior of Judah and blood descendents of Jacob but also a savior for all spiritual Israelites. The spiritual Israelites are men and women that have been grafted into the twelve tribes of Israel. Has Yahweh given up on the descendents of Jacob? Lets start by establishing who is Israel through the words of Paul. "I say the truth in the Messiah, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Messiah for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of Yahweh, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Messiah came, who is over all, Yahweh blessed for ever. Amen. Not as though the word of Yahweh hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called." (Romans 9:1-7) Just after the dream that Peter had confronting him to make him go to the gentiles we find an important part of this puzzle. We find that Yahweh is not a respecter of persons. Another words a bloodline won't carry you into the kingdom. "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that Yahweh is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." (Acts 10:34-35) Then we must establish whether or not natural Israel still is a part of the spiritual Israel. "I say then, Hath Yahweh cast away his people? Yahweh forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Yahweh hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Know ye not what the scripture saith of Eliyah? how he maketh intercession to Yahweh against Israel, saying, Master, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of Yahweh unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal." (Romans 11:1-4) Israel Expanded Israel has not been cut out of the promise. Israel has been expanded beyond those people who are born as an Israelite, to those that follow Yahweh. This example that Paul used here spoken by Eliyah the prophet is of a remnant of people who remained faithful to Yahweh and didn't bow down to the image of Baal. People of Israel are given the same opportunities to receive Yahweh's promise and they are not excluded as so may people teach. Those who say that the natural branches are no longer going to receive Yahweh's help are in defiance of the scriptures. "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, Yahweh hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? Yahweh forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy." (Romans 11:5-11) Yahweh wants natural Israel to return to following the scriptures and to do this he wants Israel to see the blessings that the gentiles now have and change their ways. This is similar to how we are to treat a brother who even after following Matthew 18:15-17 continues in wickedness. "And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15) We must be careful not to exclude Yahweh's chosen people from our prayers. There are so many natural branches that it is impossible to say they are all against Yahweh. The fact is that there are so many people that are diligently seeking Yahweh and recognize Yahshua as the savior. We must be very careful not to become puffed up by this wonderful expansion that Yahweh has given us through Yahshua. We must all ways strive to be a branch and not worry whether we are natural or unnatural. "Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if Yahweh spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of Yahweh: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for Yahweh is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away unrighteousness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." (Romans 11:12-27) Israel's Path, The Path of Yahshua Now that we have established who is Israel. Next, we discuss what Israel is to do. The story of Israel spans many millenniums, from bondage in Egypt to being captured and taken to Babylon. Yahshua is the best example of what we are to do and he was through his mother a descendent of Israel. What is righteousness, what is Israel to do? "And thou shalt love Yahweh thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one Yahweh; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Yahshua saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of Yahweh. And no man after that durst ask him any question." (Mark 12:30-34) "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." (John 14:21) "But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." (John 14:31) "Yahshua answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." (John 8:34) "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4) As you can see the commandments are still in affect. We too often loose sight of the truth and dreadfully walk in the way of darkness. Darkness is sin and sin is death. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of Yahweh is eternal life through Yahshua the Messiah our Sovereign." (Romans 6:23) No where in the New Testament has Yahshua done away with the law. The only law that has been set in abeyance is animal sacrifices but Yahweh still wants us to sacrifice spiritually. It is hard to believe for some people that Yahweh never wanted animal sacrifice. What Yahweh has wanted since the beginning of time is a contrite heart. This spirit of truth is only available through Yahweh. "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required." (Psalms 40:6) Biblical Laws Still Valid So why do we keep Yahweh's laws? Where in the scriptures is the law abolished? Nowhere in the Bible does it ever mention that the laws of the Old Testament are abolished or filled up as to no longer be in affect. Many may think that this is not true, what about Romans 10:4? "For Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Rom 10:4) If the end of the law is its destruction and there is no law what is the difference between sin and righteousness? The definition of end as the destruction of the law is contradictory to other scriptures. The definition of end is not only the conclusion but also it is the goal. "For Messiah is the goal of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Rom 10:4) "Goal" is in complete harmony with other scriptures like I Peter 2:21 where we are to walk in Yahshua's footsteps. An example that can't be missed is in James 5:11 where it says that we have seen the end of Yahweh. The more it is read the sooner it can be realized that the scriptures are to be taken as an amalgamate not as New and Old Testaments. Without the Old Testament we have no hope of ever attaining eternal life because the life that Yahshua lived is taught in the Old Testament. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Sovereign that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto Yahweh, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more wickedness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;" (2 Timothy 2:12-17) Second Covenant So why was there a need for a second covenant after all? "But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith Yahweh. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Yahweh; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a Elohim, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:6-13) The people were the problem not the covenant. The people would follow Yahweh as he commanded for a short time and because they didn't continue in Yahweh's law correctly with love Yahweh opened the covenant up to all people. Yahshua showed perfectly that Yahweh's covenant with Abraham wasn't flawed but it was the hearts of the people that kept themselves from following Yahweh perfectly. After Yahshua's resurrection the Holy Spirit was given to help men and women follow Yahweh with their hearts. Holy Spirit as a Guide The Holy Spirit came and left before the Pentecost in Acts 2 but what we see is that with the new covenant by the shedding of the blood of the savior Yahshua, Yahweh has given us a great responsibility. The first fruits are to be priests in the kingdom of Yahweh and how are we supposed to do this if we don't know the law? The first covenant was not made with blood of Yahshua but with the blood of animals. There are many parallels to the original sacrifice when Abraham made the first covenant with Yahweh. One of them is when Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac that Yahweh spared him with a ram in the thicket. Abraham was called the father of the faithful because he was willing to do whatever Yahweh asked of him even sacrifice Isaac. "And it came to pass after these things, that Elohim did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which Elohim had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, Elohim will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which Elohim had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of Yahweh called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest Elohim, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-yireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of Yahweh it shall be seen. And the angel of Yahweh called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith Yahweh, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;" (Genesis 22:1-17) The second covenant was formed through the blood of Yahshua. Yahweh didn't spare His son Yahshua and with Yahshua's sacrifice the second covenant was formed. The second covenant is not a new covenant rather it is an extension of the first. Yahshua is now the Savior and the High Priest. "But Messiah being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to Yahweh, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses 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, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which Yahweh hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9:11-22) "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." (Hebrews 10:26-27) Conclusion Brethren think not that Yahweh has changed. He is the same but we are to change. Many brethren for thousands of years have been looking for truth in all the wrong places. The scriptures are too often the missing books from our mind so when Yahweh calls us we must follow. For a closing thought lets look at I Peter 1:22-25. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of Yahweh, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Yahweh endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the evangel is preached unto you." Brethren there are many more places that we could have looked for verification that the Law of Yahweh is still in affect. Study to show yourself approved. |
