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Unbanned Bible Publications |
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Defending God’s Truth in Church Doctrine and Political History – Renette Vermeulen |
OLD ISRAEL’S NATIONAL, OLD TESTAMENT LAW OR THE FIRST COVENANT, WAS THEIR WAY TO GODRenette Vermeulen© COPYRIGHT NOW UNBANNED PUBLICATIONS
[Acknowledgement to the person who compiled this image] Þ All my work is done from the perspective of Jesus’ New Testament Covenant, (1 Cor. 10:11.)
INTRODUCTION Relating articles: Jesus’ eternal New Testament Covenant with believers across the whole globe, (John 3:16-18.) The Bible was written in Two Testaments or Covenants for a Good Reason
This study, as all my other work, has no dogmatic church connections. God commanded us “not to believe every spirit,” [manifestation and teaching,] but to “test all things” in the “entirety of truth” or the full context of Scripture, “to know whether it is of God” and thus to “abstain from every form of evil,” (1 Ths. 5:21-22; 1 Jn. 1:1-4.) As a result, I reject all manmade church doctrine, and dedicated my whole life to the Lord Jesus Christ to study everything in the true context of “all Scripture” and real church history, (Psalm 119: 160; 115 KJV!) To understand the Bible in context begins by realizing that physical Israel is not “the nation and country of God throughout the whole of human history and Bible Scripture.” Paul clarified this great church confusion in 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 by writing, “[Although the Israelites had not only the physical, Old Testament covenant but also the knowledge of how to serve God through the Dual Law: the ceremonial, ritual, outward temple law combined with the inward Moral Law in their hearts and minds,] God was not pleased with most of them… [How God dealt with their immorality and disobedience, verses 6-11,] became our examples, [not to return to Hebraic teachings, but] so that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted, and do not become idolaters as were some of them… and were destroyed… Now all those things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our [New Testament] admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come…” In opposition to God’s New Testament Word, Messianic Judaism teaches Jesus blood-redeemed believers to ‘return’ to their so-called ‘Hebrew roots,’ revere the ‘holy’ land of Israel and the Jewish nation, adhere to Judaist ritual, ceremonial temple laws, feasts, and so forth. They also insist that believers call the Lord Jesus by so-called Hebrew names as if He doesn’t understand other languages. When confronted with the vital truth that the Two Testaments or Covenants of the Bible differ vastly from each other, they call it “replacement theology” or “supersessionism” to keep on focussing on the eternally ousted Old Testament covenant with physical Israel, (Heb. 8:13.) Messianic Judaism’s clever use of ‘replacement theology’ masks the difference between the Two Testaments to keep Jesus’ believers in bondage to Judaism and Christian Zionism. To find the truth about anything, Bible Truth especially, one needs to interpret the Scriptures in the context of ‘all truth.’ God teaches in Psalm 119:160; 115 KJV, “The entirety of [My] Word is truth…”
The Two very different Testaments or Covenants of the Bible The Old Testament was God’s National Covenant with the physical Hebrew nation in the land of Israel. The separate New Testament is God’s International Covenant with all believing Hebrews as well as all personally believing Gentiles or non-Hebrew people, (Jn. 3:16-18; 1:1-13; 3:3-5.) The Old Testament or the National Covenant of Hebraic Law, was written in stone. The New Testament, International Covenant of Grace was written in Jesus’ own blood on the ‘hearts and minds’ of everyone, who truly believe in, accept, and follow Him, (Jn. 3:16-18; Heb. 8:7-10!) Everything in the Old Testament covenant was national and literal. A physical country, nation, temple, altar, ceremonial blood and other sacrifices, Levitical priesthood, wars, and so on. Everything in the New Testament Covenant is spiritual. Spiritual country in heaven, global nation of true believers; Holy-Spirit temple of true believers, altar before God’s throne in heaven, Jesus Christ the Sacrificial Lamb of God, Melchizedekian priesthood the body of Christ, (1 Pt. 2:9-10; Heb. 7:11-19; 10:1.) The Lord Jesus Christ fully and eternally won the spiritual war and true believers are spiritually “complete in Him.” The battle of believers is for their thoughts and beliefs — their minds or souls, (Col. 2:9-15; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Rom. 9:5-11; 2:1-2…)
Israel was a once-off Theocracy or “Kingdom-Now” country on earth God was both the national and spiritual King of Old Israel during the Old Testament covenant. In this one and only Theocracy or God-ruled country on earth, the human Levitical priesthood of the physical temple functioned as both their priests and parliamentarians. During the New Testament Covenant, politicians rule countries on earth and the ever-present God Himself in heaven is the Only Supreme King of His unseen, spiritual Kingdom inside the born again ‘hearts’ or human spirits and souls/minds of all true believers, (1 Ths. 5:23; Luke 20:25.) Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, “My [spiritual] Kingdom is not from this world. (It has no such origin and source.) If it were from here, My disciples would fight that I Am not handed to the Hebrews. But now My Kingdom is not from here,” (Jn. 18:36.) All so-called Christian and other “Kingdom-Now” or government God-rule on earth, is false. As God’s Theocracy, the Dual Law or Old Testament covenant in its entirety governed both the religious and civil lives of the Old Israelis. To cater for the priesthood’s duties as both priests and parliamentarians, God gave His physical Hebrew nation the Law as a Two-fold Set of Regulations, which consisted of 1,) The Ceremonial or Ritual Temple Law that was a symbol of Jesus The Lamb of God at the cross. And 2,) The inward Moral Law, which guides all of humanity for all eternity, (Jn. 19:28-30; 13:34; Heb. 8:10.) To ensure the protection of its law-abiding citizens, every country’s code of conduct or national law has to dictate the appropriate punishment for every specific crime. No one can stand accused in a court of law, simply apologise and go free, because that would lead to national and worldwide anarchy. The offender will only go free once the verdict and it’s punishment are fully rendered. Hence, the Old Testament Hebrews, God’s old covenant, physical nation on earth, had to keep the entire Old Testament Law: the ceremonial temple laws and the many precepts of the inward Moral Law. Old Hebrews were governed by the outward ceremonial law of the temple and punished by the law. The law could not be bent or broken. Neither did mercy exist in the execution of the Dual Old Testament law, (Deuteronomy 27:11-26; chapter 28.) Keeping the entire Dual law was the salvation, redemption and blessing of the Old Hebrews. Disobeying the temple or the Moral law brought the entire curse of the law upon them, as described in Deuteronomy 27:11-26 and chapter 28. Yet, God did not prescribe the Law to bring Old Israel into bondage or to make them His passive slaves. God designed the Old Testament covenant to give the nation of Old Israel a literal kingdom here on earth, (the symbol of His eternal spiritual Kingdom inside true believers that was to come under His New Testament Covenant,) as well as a spiritual escape from their sinful, fallen, cursed position on the earth, which all people inherit from the fall in the garden, (Jn. 18:36; Rom. 5:12.) No other nation before or after the Old Testament Covenant with Israel could or can lay claim to God’s Kingdom-Now rule on earth, (Jn. 18:36!)
It is most important to distinguish between the two parts of the Dual Law The Old Testament Covenant in its entirety only foreshadowed that which was to come during the New Testament Covenant of grace in Jesus Christ, (Heb. 8:7-13; 9:8-10; 7:18-19; 11-17; 10:1-21; Gal. 2:21; 3:10-14; Rom. 2:13; 3:21-26.) In fact, the Old Testament covenant law showed the Old Israelites and all Gentile or non-Hebrew nations after the cross, what the nature of sin really consists of, so they could and still can recognise sin in all its various forms to avoid it, (Rom. 7:7.) 1. The outward Ceremonial Law only pertained to the Old Testament temple and all its external structures, forms, norms, and religious ceremonies or rituals. It “could not make anyone complete,” as it was only symbols that pointed toward The Eternal Lamb of God, the complete sacrifice of the New Testament Covenant,” (Heb. 10:1-4, 16-18; 8:7-13; 7:18-19!) So, the ceremonial law commanded Old Israel to adhere to a physical altar in a physical temple with physical sacrifices. E.g., the law of tithing was to keep the Old Testament temple with its physical Levitical priesthood, the national feasts, to supply the needs of disadvantaged Hebrews, (their security or welfare fund,) and so on. The ‘tithes’ (plural) were Old Israel’s national, compulsory, government and temple taxes; not a system of “giving freely as the Holy Spirit leads” them, (2 Cor. 9:5,7.) It was actually the adulterating Hebrew priests who ‘robbed God’ of tithes and offerings and brought themselves under a curse! It does not apply to New Testament believers, (Malachi Chapters 2-3.) 2. God incorporated the Moral Law from the Book of Exodus onwards. This is the everlasting, inward ‘Royal Law of Love’ or agape-obedience in deed and truth to all God’s Moral-Law precepts, which pertain to the inner man; the human heart or human spirit. It consists of all the inward laws that guide our works and behavior towards God, our fellow man, and ourselves, (1 Ths. 5:23; 1 Jn. 4:7-12; 3:15-18.) Hence, even people in the deepest, darkest jungles, who never heard about the One and Only True God of the Bible, “by nature do the things in the [Moral] law… This shows that the work of the [Moral] law is written in their hearts [human spirits and minds,] and their conscience also bear witness… [that they know they should not lie, steal, murder, adulterate….] (Rom. 2:1-15.)
While the temple was still standing, the Way to God could not be opened Rituals and ceremonies of the outward, Ceremonial or Ritual temple Law could not and will never change anything of Old Israel or anyone else’s fallen, cursed state; their spiritually dead position without God, which all of humanity inherited from the fall in the garden, (Rom. 5:12.) And so, “there was an annulling of the former [ceremonial temple] law because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the [ceremonial] law made nothing perfect. [So, with the New Testament Covenant in the Lord Jesus Christ,] there is a better hope, through which [true believers can] draw near to God,” (Heb. 7:18-19.) The aim of the complex rituals of the ceremonial law was not to remain indefinitely. But as mere symbols that pointed toward Jesus Christ, the Perfect Lamb of God, Who would take away the sin of the whole believing world, the Old Testament ceremonial law made the sin-infected Old Israeli people acceptable to draw near to God in prayer and worship, (Jn. 1:29; Heb. 10:1-4.) “The Holy Spirit indicated that The Way into the Holiest of All, [God’s direct presence,] was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle, [the literal Old Testament temple,] was still standing. The [entire Old Testament covenant with Israel] was symbolic for the present time, [until the establishment of Jesus’ eternal New Testament Covenant with all believers globally.] Christ came as Eternal High Priest of [the New Testament] in the greater and more perfect [spiritual] temple not made with human hands… Not with the [Old Testament] blood of [animal sacrifices,] but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place [with God in heaven at His death on the cross,] once for all, having obtained [full and] eternal redemption [for all true believers in Him,]” Heb. 9:8-12. Similarly, “If the first [Old Testament] covenant was faultless, no place would have been found for a second [New Testament] Covenant… In that God says, ‘A New Covenant,’ He made the first [Old Testament] covenant obsolete. [At the cross,] it grew old and vanished away,” (Jn. 19:28-30; Heb. 8:7,13.) When Jesus fulfilled every single prophesy concerning Himself, as well as every single precept of the entire Dual Law of the Old Testament Covenant, everything pertaining to the Old Testament Covenant, (except His eternal Moral Law,) was destroyed, (Jn. 13:34.) Jesus declared, “I will destroy this temple that was made by hands, and in three days [when I rise from the dead,] I will build another [indestructible, spiritual temple] made without hands.” During the New Testament Covenant, God does not dwell in temples made by human hands, (Acts 7:44-50!) The only New Testament temple is Jesus’ blood-cleansed body of authentic believers, (1 Cor. 3:16-17.) The hierarchical old Levitical priesthood functioned as mediators or ‘go-betweens; first connecting themselves and then the Israelites to God by implementing the ceremonial or sacrificial temple law. They brought the prescribed blood and other sacrifices in the material temple, which, as symbols of the New Testament in Christ, ‘covered’ the sins, bondage, and cursedness of Old Israel. Though the blood of animals could not perfectly atone for their lostness, cursedness, and so on, those sacrifices, as signs of Jesus’ full atonement that was to come, made thanksgiving, prayer and worship possible for the Old Hebrew nation, (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22; 10:1-4!) “Thus, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, (for through them the Hebrews received the law,) what further need was there that another Priest should rise according to the Order of Melchizedek… As the priesthood as changed, of necessity there is also a change of LAW… For [Jesus Christ] is High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, [and His entire body of true believers became His spiritual priesthood,]” (Heb. 7:11-19; 1 Pt. 2:9-10.)
No one on earth, neither Jew nor Gentile, can be saved by the Old Testament Covenant or by keeping its outward, ceremonial laws Jesus’ life, ministry, suffering, and death all took place under the Old Testament Covenant before the cross. Everything He did pertained to the Old Hebrew nation and His fulfilment of the Law — all the many precepts of the ceremonial and the Moral Law, (Jn. 1:1-16; Mt. 5:17-20.) That is why Jesus did not annul anything of the law during His life before the cross. By fulfilling the Law in the place of all genuine believers when He died, believing Israelites and Gentiles could be justified or found innocent of breaking the Law by accepting Him as their Savior, and by living in His perfect atonement for them. His fulfilment of the Law caused the ceremonial temple law, which pertained to the country and people of Israel, to “vanish away,” (Jn. 1:1-13; Mt. 5:17-48; Heb. 7:18-19!) Hebrews 9:15-28 explained, “[If the blood of Old Testament sacrifices [made the Old Israelites] holy [because they were mere symbols of Jesus’ New Testament atonement,] how much more will the blood of Christ, Who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your consciences from dead [outward religious works such as temple worship, temple ceremonies, and sacrificial temple rituals,] to serve the Living God? For this reason, the Lord Jesus is the [only] Mediator of the New Covenant, by means of [His] death [and resurrection,] for the redemption of the transgressions [done] under the first (Old Testament) covenant… [unto] eternal life, (Heb. 8:13.) Hebrews 8:8-10, “Finding fault with [the Old Hebrews,] God said, ‘Behold, the days are coming, [when Jesus fulfill the entire Law at the cross, ] when I will make a New Covenant with... Israel and... with Judah, [the latter represents all the other nations of the earth, Rev. 7:9.] Not according to the [first Old Testament] covenant I made with [national Israel…] Because they did not continue in My covenant I disregarded them. [And] this is the [global, New] Covenant I will make with [personally believing, spiritual] Israel… I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will [all] be My [New Covenant] people…” (Jn. 3:15-18; 1 Pt. 2:9-10!) Hebrews 10:5-9, “[Christ fulfilled God’s Will to establish His New Testament Covenant.] Therefore, when [God] came into the world [as a mere man,] Jesus said, ‘[Old Covenant physical] sacrifice and offering God did not desire. But a [human] body [My Father in heaven] has prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin [under the Old Testament Covenant, excluding all other nations,] You had no pleasure… Behold, I came in the volume of the Book, [the Old Testament Hebraic law and all the prophecies concerning the Savior,] to do Your will, O God.’” In the Truth of all of the above, Paul wrote, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the [ousted ceremonial] law, then Christ died in vain,” (Gal. 2:21.) The Bible was written in Two Testaments or Covenants for a good reason What does it mean to “get back you your Hebrew Roots?” What is Jewish and Christian Judaism according to God’s Truth? Jesus’ Eternal New Covenant with all true believers globally The Kingdom-Now Theology Versus the Spiritual Kingdom of God SHOULD WE CALL GOD JEHOVAH, YAHWEH, YAHWAH, YAH, YESHUA, JESHUA — OR JESUS? Lost Tribe of Israel — Fact or Fiction? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN? WHY JEWS AND OTHER TEMPLE/CHURCH RELIGIONISTS REJECT JESUS AS THEIR CHRIST OR ‘MESSIAH’
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