Which Laws Are Everlasting? Part 2

Which Laws Are Everlasting?

Part 2, When is “Forever” Truly Forever?

Chapter 31, Part 2 Preview: (back to Part 1) The vast majority of the 2.1 billion professing Christians in the world—33% of the world’s population—believe that Yeshua’s (Jesus’*) death nailed the Law to the cross. They “stake” their destiny on that presumption! Yet the very first question that every Christian should ask concerning his status as a Saint*) is: Precisely what does God require of me? How is a person to know which Biblical laws are required of Christians. Should you simply inherit a religion or pick a guru and believe whatever he tells you? How do you personally decide which laws to obey? Does it really matter? Is there a key to knowing which laws are permanent?

The following verses explain that God simply will not let His people reject His Laws forever. He insists that He will “be king over you” by reversing the Diaspora. By Diaspora, I am not limiting the use of the word to just the Jews following the destruction of Jerusalem in Roman times. I am applying it to all twelve tribes, dating it back to their original captivity. This passage is in reference to the Second Exodus and the New Israel.

Ezekiel 20:31-36: ... And shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord [Yehovah], I will not be inquired of by you; 32 and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. 33 As I live, says the ‘the Lord’ [Adonay Yehovah], surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be King over you: 34 and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; 35 and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. 36 Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord [Yehovah]. WEB

Notice that the context itself explains that this is a scenario “like” the one He had had with “your fathers”. This is a prophecy about the Everlasting Kingdom. People tend to lose the futuristic context of this prophecy due to the reference to sacrificing in verse 40. However this is consistent with Zechariah 14 where the Messiah, after suppressing all of man’s governments, will mandate universal Feast of Tabernacles observance (v.16-19) and also reintroduce the Levitical sacrificial system (v. 20-21).

Ezekiel 20:37-44 I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the [renewed] covenant .... 40 For in My holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord [Yehovah], there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve Me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things. 41 As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations. 42 You shall know that I am [Yehovah], when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers. 43 There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. 44 You shall know that I am [Yehovah], when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord [Yehovah]. WEB

When God set up the nation of Israel, He was playing “for keeps”, that is, while He knew that “we” would break our commitment to the “marriage” covenant; He promised never to be the One to break it:

Judges 2:1 The Messenger of Yehovah [1] came up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I caused you to leave Egypt, and I have brought you into the land that I swore to your forefathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. —The Word of Elohim (WE: Gabriel Version)

[1] Wrongly called “the Angel of the Lord”. In reality He is “the Word of Aloha (God)”.

When things began to “go south”, as they say, God “appointed” other leaders, while insisting that the covenant was meant to be “forever”.

1 Samuel 13:13-14 Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of [Yehovah] your God, which He commanded you; for now [Yehovah] would have established your ‘kingdom’ [dynasty] on Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. [Yehovah] has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and [Yehovah] has appointed him to be prince over His people, because you have not kept that which [Yehovah] commanded you. WEB

After the people had rejected God as their ruler and were behaving exactly as the heathens around them, God made a final offer. Just as He had told Adam and Eve that if they only avoided one tree in the garden everything else would fall into place; in like manner He told Israel that if they only kept the Sabbath, that Jerusalem “shall remain forever” the capitol city of Israel. This was the proposal:

Jeremiah 17:19-27 Thus said [Yehovah] to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and tell them, Hear the word of [Yehovah], you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: 21 Thus says [Yehovah], Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day holy, neither do any work: but make the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they didnt listen, neither turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction. 24 It shall happen, if you diligently listen to Me, says [Yehovah], to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein; 25 then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and THIS CITY SHALL REMAIN FOREVER. 26 They shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, to the house of [Yehovah]. 27 But if you will not listen to Me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. WEB

There are several Sabbath articles on this site. I would simply advise you to investigate the issue first before you draw any conclusions. Dont assume that your parents or grandparents or your minister have done that!

Have you ever wondered why the Scriptures have so much information about an end time period of destruction? The answer is quite specifically explained in Isaiah. People are breaking God’s “EVERLASTING COVENANT” as well as His “laws” and “statutes”! Notice:

Isaiah 24:1-6 Behold, [Yehovah] makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants .... 3 The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for [Yehovah] has spoken this word. 4 The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish. 5 The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the Laws, violated the statutes, and broken the EVERLASTING COVENANT . [I believe this to be the Exodus 31:16 Sabbath covenant (below).] 6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. WEB

(Do notice that the destruction is not complete, as it was not complete during the worldwide flood, and that some people are left.)

This would be a good place to comment on the word “owlam” that I mentioned in the opening paragraph. If Bible translators would make more of an effort to consistently translate words into English using the same equivalent words, many problems would be solved.

Nevertheless, the word “forever” (“for ever” in the KJV) is almost always translated from the word “owlam”, and is generally the exact equivalent to our word “eternity”.

The odd renderings have logical explanations. For example, when “owlam” is translated as “never”, the context tells you that something will “never” be—for eternity.

2 Samuel 12:10 Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. WEB

On the few occasions when “owlam” is used in reference to a man, it means “always” for the rest of his life.

Psalms 119:112 I have set my conscience to perform your statutes forever, even to the end. WE

There are a few other words in Hebrew that are translated as “forever”. However, these words usually do not imply eternity. Some “scholars” use the Hebrew definitions of these words so as to indicate that God can never be understood to imply eternity. That is simply an unconscionable ploy.

Here are a few more quotations of things that will yet be made everlasting. The Sabbath is either specifically indicated as being the perpetual covenant, or it is part of a more detailed contract.

Exodus 31:16-17 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days [Yehovah] made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed. WEB

Leviticus 16:31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls; it is a statute forever. WEB

Leviticus 24:8 Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before [Yehovah] continually. It is on the behalf of the children of Israel an everlasting covenant. WEB

Isaiah 59:21 As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says [Yehovah]. “My Spirit [which] is on you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall 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 [Yehovah], “from henceforth and forever. WEB

Isaiah 60:20-21 Your sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon withdraw itself; for [Yehovah] will be your everlasting , light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. 21 Your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever , the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. WEB

Isaiah 61:8 For I, [Yehovah], love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. WEB

If there is any kind of a time limit to these “forever” statements, then it would have to involve “a thousand generations” and “His Covenant”. A thousand generations could represent eternity as we know it, or it may indicate that something will change for the better after 30,000 to 100,000 years. The Scriptures simply leave us seeing thru a dark glass concerning this.

Deuteronomy 7:9-13 Know therefore that [Yehovah] your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps Covenant and loving kindness with them who love Him and keep His commandments to A THOUSAND GENERATIONS, 10 and repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not be slack to him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day, to do them. 12 It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that [Yehovah] your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which He swore to your fathers: 13 and He will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you. WEB

1 Chronicles 16:15-17 Remember His Covenant forever, the word which He commanded to A THOUSAND GENERATIONS, 16 the covenant which He made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac. 17 He confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant .... WEB [Also Psalm 105:8]

The only context that the “thousand generations” mystery is used in is in the context of the covenant made to Abraham.

Psalm 119:44-48 Let Your loving kindness also come to me, [Yehovah], Your salvation, according to Your word. 42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in Your word. 43 Dont snatch the word of truth out of my mouth for I put my hope in Your ordinances. 44 So I will obey Your law continually, forever [05769: for eternity] and ever [05703 into perpetuity]. 45 I will walk in liberty, for I have sought Your precepts. 46 I will also speak of Your statutes before kings, and will not be disappointed. 47 I will delight myself in Your commandments, because I love them. 48 I reach out my hands for Your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on Your statutes. WEB

In order to know which laws are forever, we need to know what forever is.

How is it possible for David to keep these commandments “forever”?

Ezekiel 37:25-28 They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, ‘forever’ [for eternity] and David My servant shall be their prince ‘forever’. [Both 05704: “as long” as “time” & 05956: for eternity]. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an Everlasting [New] Covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. 27 My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 28 The nations shall know that I am [Yehovah] who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them ‘forevermore’. WEB

Only the Father has an eternity that stretches both forward and backward in time forever without interruption. Yeshua had a three day and three night interruption. However anyone can have an eternity from a certain point forward. This will be our Everlasting Covenant with Yehovah.

Somewhere, someone has probably made the case that the world will be devoured by fire from the following passage:

Deuteronomy 32:22-25 For a fire is kindled in My anger, burns to the lowest Sheol [grave or “hell”], DEVOURS THE EARTH with its increase, AND SETS THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS ON FIRE. 23 “I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them. 24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the poison of crawling things of the dust. 25 Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the chambers, terror; on both young man and virgin, the suckling with the gray-haired man. WEB

The only problem is; this is the allegorical language used to describe the fall of ancient Egypt. The quotation is taken from “the Song of Moses” (sorry, I dont have the music). This is following the Exodus from Egypt, and just before the Israelite exiles finally moved into the glorious Promised Land. Moses was reminding them of why they had been made slaves in Egypt in the first place.

Malachi 3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to [Yehovah], as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. WEB

Great Tribulation? It doesnt have to end this way! This offer still stands:

Jeremiah 25:4-6 [Yehovah] has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear) 5 saying, Return now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that [Yehovah] has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forevermore ; 6 and dont go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and dont provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no harm. WEB

The chapter on the “New Covenant”, explains the great significance of Jeremiah 31, which precisely defines what the New Covenant is. However, continuing into Jeremiah 32 there is a great deal of information about the demise of ancient Israel, but the concluding statements indicate that, after the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the descendants of the ancient nation of Israel, will again be allowed to live in the promised land with all of the benefits of this New Covenant!

Jeremiah 32:17-41 Ah Lord [Yehovah]! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you, 18 who show loving kindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the great, the mighty God, [Yehovah] of Armies is His name; 19 great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: 20 who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made Yourself a name, as in this day; 21 and brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror; 22 and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; 23 and they came in, and possessed it, but they didnt obey your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come on them. 24 Behold, the mounds, they are come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken has happened; and behold, you see it. 25 You have said to me, Lord [Yehovah], Buy the field for money, and call witnesses; whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 Then came the word of [Yehovah] to Jeremiah, saying, 27 Behold, I am [Yehovah], the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me? 28 Therefore thus says [Yehovah]: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it: 29 and the Chaldeans, who fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses, on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in My sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands, says [Yehovah]. 31 For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and of My wrath from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before My face, 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned to Me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech; which I didnt command them, neither did it come into My mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. 36 Now therefore thus says [Yehovah], the God of Israel, concerning this city, about which you say, It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: [Now for the good news!] 37 Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, where I have driven them in My anger, and in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: 38 and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: 39 and I will give them one heart and one [new] way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 and I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put My fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from Me. 41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole soul. WEB

Jeremiah 50:5 They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, Come, and join yourselves to [Yehovah] in an everlasting [New] Covenant that shall not be forgotten. WEB

Ezekiel 16:60 Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth [the “Old Covenant”], and I will [re]establish to you an everlasting [New] Covenant. WEB

When the tribes of Israel finish their rebellion against God, He will make Earth the place for His throne.

Ezekiel 43:7-8 He said to me, son of [Adam], this is the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile My holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their prostitution, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places; 8 in their setting of their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost beside My doorpost, and there was but the wall between Me and them; and they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed: therefore I have consumed them in My anger. WEB

Hosea 2:19-20 I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion. 20 I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness; and you shall [finally] know [Yehovah]. WEB

God Is Not About To Change!

It should be apparent that one should not go through the Hebrew Scriptures, arbitrarily choosing which laws are still in force and which ones arent for this “dispensation”.

What does the “traditional Christian” word “dispensation” mean? Dispensationalism is the doctrine in which some believe that God judges people by different standards depending on which time period they happen to live in. In short, it is lusting for a license to sin. Webster’s dictionary says about Dispensation under the subheading “Rom. Cath. Ch”:

Biblically speaking, God does not change. Even more specifically, His not changing is the reason why His people Israel (Jacob) all thru the ages have not been destroyed.

Malachi 3:6 For I, [Yehovah], dont change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed. WEB

Interestingly, Satan’s henchmen want to change the law.

Daniel 7:25 He [the Beast] shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to CHANGE the [appointed] TIMES [Holy Days] AND THE LAW; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. WEB

While God does not change His eternal laws, the nations of Israel, past and present, have “rejected knowledge” of His laws.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. WEB

2 Kings 17:15 They rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the nations that were around them, concerning whom [Yehovah] had commanded them that they should not do like them. WEB

This is the very essence of the mystery. God has only personally sanctioned two types of governmental laws! There were the laws regarding the Levitical Priesthood of the First Covenant working in tandem with the laws which were essentially part of the Constitution of Ancient Israel. These operated when God was dealing with Israel on a collective national basis. Secondly, there are the laws that apply to all people, of all time, in every place. Ignorance of these laws is no excuse. Of course certain other general information laws, such as health laws and laws of physics etc. are sprinkled thruout the Bible. However none of these laws are in the Levitical or governmental classifications.

I was tempted to quote Hebrews chapters 7 thru 10 here, so that some might read thru it, but it might have the opposite effect. These chapters go into great detail about how the Levitical Priesthood was replaced by Melchizedek’s (Yeshua’s) eternal priesthood.

Hebrews 7:11-12 So if perfection was attainable by means of the Levitical priesthood, (because on that basis, the people received the Torah), then why was another Priest still necessary, a priest like Melchizedek, not a Levitical priest like Aaron”? 12 When a shift in the priesthood takes place, there must also be a shift in the Torah. GV

Since the sacrifice of our Savior, the new priesthood is we ourselves. Each Christian is a priest over one! The only problem with the “First (‘Old’) Covenant” was that it was predestined to fail because the laws were not etched into the minds of the people. The experiment with ancient Israel, while tragic, was necessary to prove to people, of all time, that mankind cannot attain any level of perfection on his own.

1 Peter 2:8-10 He is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. They are induced to sin, because they refused to believe and obey the truth; they have set themselves apart. 9 But you are a select race, officiating as priests of the Kingdom; a sacred nation [2], a congregation that proclaims the virtues of the One who called you by name, out of darkness and into His precious light. 10 Once you werent considered a people, but now you are the people of Yehovah. Also, you hadnt experienced mercy, but now mercies are poured out on you. GV

For the time being, those of us called of God for leadership positions in the Kingdom of God are not operating under the terms of ancient Israel’s “first covenant”, nor are we living under the ideal conditions that will accompany the “New Covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31). This present age is a time of much greater opportunity and much higher rewards are possible than those offered under either the Old Covenant or the New Covenant with Israel!

In this interim period, between the First Covenant and the New (or “Second”) Covenant, we dont need a Levitical priesthood. In fact we are a “officiating as priests of the Kingdom”!

Hebrews 7:23-28 There were many priests, because they were mortal. They werent allowed to survive—they all died: 24 but this Man, because He remains here forever, has a permanent Priesthood that will never be passed on to a successor. 25 He is capable of offering absolute eternal Life forever, to those who come to Yehovah thru Him. Because He lives forever, He can intervene for them. 26 This is the kind of Priest we need to stand before us; one pure and innocent, one separated from wickedness, and exalted higher than the Heavens; 27 One who doesnt need to offer sacrifices daily, like other high priests, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He did this once and for all, when He sacrificed Himself. 28 The Torah appoints weak men as high priests; but the Word affirmed the oath, after the Torah was written, appointing the perfected Son forever. GV

However, the New Covenant, as it applies to the Levitical priesthood, includes most of the same sacrificial requirements as were required under the First Covenant. This is described in great detail in Ezekiel chapters 40-48. Most commentators would rather avoid this large segment of scripture entirely, or else have you believe that this detailed prophecy has somehow already been fulfilled.

Has the Old Covenant Vanished Away Yet?

The New Covenant will be better than the First one because the promised rewards (such as eternal life being universally understood) are much more encouraging and the hope of living up to it’s standards is much greater due to the laws being hot wired directly in the peoples brains! Today, we must struggle with many false concepts. Seeking and finding the truth takes work.

Hebrews 8:6-13But now, Yeshua the Messiah has attained a more excellent public service, since He is the Mediator of a more excellent covenant, one that was legislated with better promises than the former. 7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. 8 Finding fault with THEM and said, “Look, the days are coming, says Yehovah, when I will bring about a New Covenant with the descendants of Israel, and with the descendants of Judah. 9 It wont be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors during the time when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt, because they didnt remain loyal to My covenant, and I rejected them, declared Yehovah. 10 But this is the covenant that I will enter into with the descendants of Israel after that time, says Yehovah; I will put My [same] Torah in their minds—inscribing it on their innermost thoughts. I will be their Aloha, and they will be My people. 11 No one will teach doctrine to their fellow citizens, or a friend, or ask: “Do you know Yehovah”, [as I am doing], because they’ll all know Me, from the youngest of them to the oldest.[Definitely not so today!] 12 I will be merciful regarding their wrongful behavior; and I will no longer remember their sins”. 13 When He said, a New Covenant, He has declared that the previous one was old and about to be repealed; and what is old and failing, is about to disappear. GV

Paul acknowledged that the First Covenant was still in existence as he wrote, but that its days were numbered. This would be a reference to the Levitical priesthood’s obligations of the Covenant. Sacrifices had not ceased when Christ was crucified. Of course Paul thought that he would live to see the New Covenant being implemented. Paul had no idea that there would be a two thousand year period from which God would be selecting many more leaders for the Messianic Age. That being the case; did the Old Covenant vanish away when Paul thought that it would or was that also going to last far longer than he had anticipated. To be sure, after 70 AD the Levitical priesthood’s implementation of the Old Covenant’s sacrificial requirements were put on hold and have remained on hold ever since that time. But has God cancelled the Levitical obligations of His Old Covenant yet, or is the sacrificial system simply dormant; soon to be a Renewed Covenant? The Levitical system far outlasted the nationhood of ancient Israel, after it’s captivity, without a need for a free and independent national Israel. It was doing just fine under Roman occupation until the Jews sought to force the political reunification of Judea before God’s time. This was the ““Church”*) and State” issue if the first century.

To be sure, Yeshua attached a great significance to the circumstances surrounding the end time “Holy Place”.

Matthew 24:14 THIS Good News of the Kingdom will be taught in all the world, as a witness to every nation, and then the end will come. GV

Let the reader understand; the Holy Place in this instance is the end time Third Temple. “Holy Place” is mentioned I believe 57 times in the Hebrew scriptures to the temple and its surroundings.

Daniel also specified that the sacrifices would be resumed, and then forcibly halted. Without getting into that here, suffice it to say that this “Holy Place” is not simply a Holy Place to the Jews, rather it is Holy to God; that is why it will be holy! In God’s Holy Place sacrifices will again take place. I believe that this will complete the Old Covenant (or contract) just prior to the New Covenant’s implementation. Even Paul’s statement, in Hebrew’s 8 above, appears to have envisioned the Old Covenant lasting until the New (Renewed) Covenant is enacted.

Notice in the renowned Seventy “Weeks” Prophecy of Daniel that sacrificing had again been on center stage:

Daniel 9:27 He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate. WEB

Certainly God had to divorce Israel, but with the marriage agreement written in the minds of Israel, national divorce will become “obsolete”. Next time God will not have to even consider divorcing Israel.

Isaiah 50:1 Thus says [Yehovah], “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold and for your transgressions was your mother put away. WEB

Before getting into more detailed laws, I’d like to give an example of a law that I was very reluctant to adopt.

Numbers 15:38-40 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make tzitzits [tassels] for themselves on the borders of their garments, thruout their generations, and that they put on the tzitzits of each border a cord of blue. 39 You will have tzitzits, you can look at them, and remember all of the commandments of Yehovah, and do them; so that you wont pursue the harlotry of your own mind and your own eyes as you are inclined to do; 40 so that you will REMEMBER [double emphasis!] to do all of My commandments, and be sacred to your Elohim. 40 “and that you may and do all My Commandments, and be holy for your God. WE

I had rationalized for years that having the Sacred Spirit to help me “REMEMBER all the Commandments” made tassels redundant. I figured that I didnt need any more help. But then, Yeshua wore them, so where is my excuse? When common versions of the Bible say that people touched the hem of Yeshua’s garment and were healed, they were really touching the tzitzits on His clothing. Apparently it did more that help their memory!