Dr. Paul Manuel—2020
Text:
Jer 31:31 “The time
is coming,”
declares the Lord, “when I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. 32 It will
not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke My covenant, though I
was a husband to them,’”
declares the Lord. 33 “This is
the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put My law in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My
people. 34 No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no
more.”
Jer 31:35 This
is what the Lord says, He who
appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by
night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is His name: 36 “Only if
these decrees [of nature] vanish from My sight,” declares the Lord,
“will the descendants
of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me.”
37 This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be
measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject
all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord.
Jer 33:14
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord,
‘when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel
and to the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will make a righteous
Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.
Jer 33:16 In those
days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by
which it will be called: The Lord Our
Righteousness.’ 17
For this is what the Lord says: ‘David
will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 nor will
the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before Me
continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present
sacrifices.’”
Jer 33:19
The word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah: 20 “This is what the Lord
says: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the
night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then My
covenant with David My servant—and My covenant with the Levites who are priests
ministering before Me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant
to reign on his throne. 22 I will make the descendants of David My servant and the
Levites who minister before Me as countless as the stars of the sky and as
measureless as the sand on the seashore.’”
Outline:
I. God
intends the New Covenant for His people (31:31-34).
A. The NC will be in force into the future and
will replace the Old Covenant.
B. The NC will include God’s law internally and
a relationship with Him personally.
C. The NC will include a thorough awareness of
God and His pardon from sin.
II. God
makes the New Covenant with His people forever (31:35-37).
A. Just as nature is unalterable, so is the NC.
B. Just as nature is unlimited, so is the NC.
III. The future government of the kingdom
will be united (33:14-18).
A. The
ruler of Israel and Judah will be righteous (vv. 14-15).
B. The
offices of David and Levi will be permanent (vv. 16-18).
IV. The future administration of the
kingdom will be permanent (33:19-22).
A. The
administration will be unending (vv. 19-21).
B. The
administrators will be unlimited (v. 22).
I. God makes
the NC with His people (31:31-34).
A. The NC is in force into the future and
replaces the Old Covenant.
B. The NC includes God’s law internally and a
relationship with Him personally.
C. The NC will include a thorough awareness of
God and His pardon from sin.
II. God makes
the NC for His people (31:35-37).
A. Just as nature is unalterable, so is the NC.
B. Just as nature is unlimited, so is the NC.
Those redeemed by God always have the
presence of God. The indwelling of God’s Spirit gives you an inclination to
obey God. As He says through Ezekiel, “I
will…move you to follow My decrees (36:27).
III. In the future, the government of the
kingdom will be united (33:14-18).
As the OC was the basis for governance in
the administration of the early Israelite nation, the NC will serve as the
basis for governance in the Messianic Age when the messiah will occupy the
throne.
His character will be a decided
improvement over some of the nation’s previous rulers. The monarchs in the
northern Kingdom of Israel were consistently evil, as were several rulers in
the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which hosted the Temple, where people should
have known and behaved better.
But the character of the kingdom in the Messianic Age will be quite different
(and when people will behave better). The capital itself will be called
“The Lord Our
Righteousness” (v. 16), because it will possess the
character of the messiah, who is righteous. A. The
ruler of Israel and Judah will be righteous (vv. 14-15).
B. The
offices of David and Levi will be permanent (vv. 16-18).
IV. The future administration of the
kingdom will be permanent (33:19-22).
A. The
administration will be unending (vv. 19-21).
B. The
administrators will be unlimited (v. 22).
Application: There is no requirement to make amends first,
no lengthy process of court appearances to appeal your case (1 Tim 2:5).
Application:
The NC guarantees a favorable outcome, ensuring man’s ultimate success
and God’s lasting support (Matt 28:20).
Application: Always make your speech measured and
appropriate to whatever your situation may be (Eph 4:29).
Application: Regardless
of other circumstances, there is no better place you can be than
in God’s loving and secure embrace (Matt 28:20).
Introduction: It is important to follow through on the commitments
you make, even when they are difficult. (This is for my wife, not as if she
needs further proof I should stay out of the kitchen.)
On their
anniversary night, the husband sat his wife down in the den with her favorite
magazine, turned on a soft reading lamp, slipped off her shoes, propped up her
feet, and announced that he was preparing dinner all by himself. “How romantic!”
she thought. Two-and-a-half hours later, she was still waiting for dinner to be
served. She tiptoed to the kitchen and found it in a colossal mess. Her harried
husband, removing something unrecognizable from the smoking oven, saw her in
the doorway. “Almost ready!” he exclaimed. “Sorry it took me so long. I had to
refill the pepper shaker…and stuffing it through those dumb little holes wasn’t
easy.”
It is
important to follow through on the commitments you make, even when they are
difficult. God has made commitments, even some that are difficult, but He has
no trouble keeping them, after all He is God.
Background: Most Christians are familiar with the new covenant from
its treatment in Luke’s gospel and in Paul’s epistles to the Corinthians:
[Luke writes:] After the supper
[Jesus] took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is
poured out for you. (Luke 22:20)
[Paul writes:] After supper [Jesus] took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of
me.” (1
Cor 11:25)
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the
Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor 3:6)
The OT also mentions the NC, most notably in the book of Jeremiah,
where the prophet describes this last of God’s five contracts with Israel
(Manuel 2011). In so doing, Jeremiah provides the most complete treatment of it
in scripture.
Jeremiah
compares the new (or Messianic) covenant and the old (or Mosaic) covenant. In many
ways, they are alike (Manuel 2011):
• The recipients for both covenants are the
same—God’s people.
• The regulations for both covenants are the
same—God’s law.
• The region for both covenants is the same—God’s
creation (on earth versus in heaven).
• The ratification for both covenants is the
same—God’s sacrificial meal (Passover).
• The range (duration) for both covenants is the
same—permanent (i.e., as long as its recipients live on this earth).
In one way, though, they are unalike:
• The requirement for each covenant is different.
There is no special demand that a person must
meet to take part in the old covenant, and many do participate, even gentiles.
There is a special demand that a person must meet to take part in the
new covenant: Only those who are regenerate can participate in the NC, and many
do, including gentiles (e.g., Melchizedek). “The same death of Christ that
implemented the new covenant for Israel does so for all sinners for all time” (Feinberg
1989:575). Furthermore, their participation in the NC is automatic. That is,
once a person is regenerate, he is immediately enrolled in the NC. Keep in mind
that regeneration has always been available, even before the NC is formally
inaugurated (Manuel 2007a).
The
NT book that gives the fullest treatment to the NC is the book of Hebrews,
which explains the need for a new contract:
Heb 8:7 If there had been nothing wrong with that
first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found
fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9 It will not be like the
covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned
away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of
Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on
their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…. 13 By
calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is
obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
NB: The problem
was not with the OC but with people’s failure to keep it. Moreover, the OC
remains in effect today for those who do not avail themselves of the NC.
Heb 9:15 Christ is the mediator of a new covenant…
He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the [old]
covenant.
Jer
31:31 “The time
is coming,”
declares the Lord, “when I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. 32 It will
not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke My covenant, though I was a
husband to them,’”
declares the Lord. 33 “This is
the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put My law in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My
people. 34 No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no
more.”
The
opening clause, “The time is coming,” (v. 31), is an eschatological phrase and is the
harbinger of a future period that may portend good or ill for God’s people. In
this case, it is good news as the Lord will make a new contract with Israel.
This new contract will replace the previous contract, which is still in effect
for many Jews, and will be impervious to damage by the very ones who should
keep it safe.
One
of the features of this new contract is its ability to function in a new environment,
not external but internal to the individual (Feinberg 1989:576).
Normally, law is a collection of regulations that exist outside a person, as a
list of dos and don’ts he must keep. In the NC, law is such an integral part one’s
conscience that he does not need a separate list to know what to do. His
relationship with God enables him to tap directly into divine inspiration and
know what God wants without having to consult a secondary authority.
A
regenerate individual does not automatically know every aspect of God’s law,
but he is so attuned to God’s will that he knows what God would want him to do
in most situations. When he is uncertain, consultation with God’s indwelling
Spirit (i.e., prayer) and with God’s written word help to eliminate
uncertainty.
Essential
to this internal process is not allowing problems to accumulate, but maintaining
a clear and guilt-free standing before God at all times. This is what it means
to “know the Lord”
(v. 34), to
realize the great benefit that is available even to the “worst” of sinners (1 Tim 1:15), knowing that the Lord “will remember [your] sins no more” (v. 34).
Furthermore, the NC is inclusive, “from the least of them to the greatest” (v. 34). There is no distinction of class
or social position. All benefit equally. Some under the OC may have enjoyed
special privilege, or thought they did,
being able to afford better sacrifices or more elaborate holiday celebrations.
It is not so with the NC. Every believer has the same access to God (Manuel
2007b).
Application: As soon as you become aware of some way you have
fallen short of God’s standard, do not dwell on it or savor it, but confess it
and forsake it. Take full advantage of the pardon He offers to wipe the slate
clean. What should always amaze you is that such a condition is attainable, the
possibility to start over:
If we confess our
sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
To receive forgiveness, there is no requirement to make amends
first,
no lengthy process of court appearances to appeal your case. In fact,
you have the best legal defense possible:
For there is…one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim 2:5)
Moreover, there is no question if you will be able to afford him; he
takes all cases pro bono. This is a better deal than Edgar Snider’s “Never
a Fee Unless We Get Money for You.”
Although the lead prosecutor is the judge’s own son, there is no doubt that you
will receive an unbiased trial, because “God does not
show favoritism” (Rom 2:11), and “the Judge of
all the earth” (Gen 18:25) will indeed
do right. What could be better than a guaranteed positive outcome? The
alternative is to lose in the highest court, where there is no retrial and no
appeals process. A loss there is a loss for eternity. By the same token, a win there
is a win for eternity, which is a very long time.
The
NC is unlike the OC in that it is for those already redeemed, and the NC has a
pardon provision built in. Nevertheless, there are important similarities
between the two contracts. Like the OC…
Jer
31:35 This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to
shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up
the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord
Almighty is His name: 36 “Only if these decrees [of nature] vanish from My sight,”
declares the Lord, “will the descendants of Israel
ever cease to be a nation before Me.” 37
This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be
measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject
all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord.
God
compares two aspects of nature to the NC in order to help people understand how
the NC is superior to the OC, with its inherent flaws.
A
contract may be subject to change if the conditions that attended its original creation
change.
In the case of God’s NC, the conditions of its initial creation are immutable. Just
as the cycle of seasons repeat each year without fail, so the NC remains in
effect without fail. “It is an argumentum ad absurdum, and the saying
would have given strong confidence to a people so beset by troubles as Israel was
(Thompson 1980:582)
Previously,
man’s fallen nature made his need for divine pardon a frequent desideratum. When
he taps into the pardon available in the NC, he obtains a means of forgiveness
that does not change even when his behavior falls short of God’s expectations. In
the OC, a man had to make the necessary sacrifices repeatedly, each time he
sinned. In the NC, Jesus’ sacrifice is markedly different. As the author of
Hebrews states,
Christ
was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people…. because it is
impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (9:28; 10:4)
…and the
positive effect of Jesus’ sacrifice is unalterable.
Solomon
notes the limit of man’s ability with regard to nature, especially to control the
wind (ruach):
As
you do not know the path of the wind…so you cannot
understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (Eccl 11:5)
Man may understand how air currents wend through the atmosphere,
how their passage over a particular land mass affects them, but he cannot
control or contain them. Moreover, man is at the mercy of certain wind events,
like hurricanes. He may predict them and prepare for them, but he cannot
prevent them, another absurd idea (Thompson 1980:603). So it is with the
Spirit. This is similar to Jesus’ point to Nicodemus:
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you
cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone
born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
At best, man sees the effect of wind, but he
cannot limit it, and the positive effect of the Spirit, like Jesus’ sacrifice,
is also unlimited:
He is the atoning sacrifice…for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
If man fails to avail himself of Jesus’
sacrifice, there is no other means of pardon: “Salvation is found in no one
else” (Acts 4:12).
The
NC with its participation of the Spirit (also ruach), helps man meet the
requirements of God, so that man need not fear his final meeting with God when he
must appear before God’s “judgment seat” (Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10). Ezekiel wrote
about the Spirit’s aid in preparation for that event:
[God says,] I will
give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in
you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. (Ezek 36:26-27)
The positive effect of Jesus’ sacrifice, which is unlimited, is
that it prepares one for that final judgment by God, ensuring that he will face
it secure in his pardon from God.
Application: Although modern science has made great strides in
understanding nature, tracking changes and assigning values to those changes,
modern science does not control the changes. They are in God’s hands alone. Similarly,
the OC tracks changes and assigns values to changes in man’s behavior as he
struggles to meet God’s perfect standard. But the OC does not control those
changes nor ensure a favorable outcome. The NC guarantees a favorable outcome,
ensuring man’s ultimate success and God’s lasting support:
[Jesus said] I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
(Matt 28:20)
Even
the most stable governments today have some division in them, some aspect of contrary
elements. Not so in the Messianic Age with God’s appointed administration.
Jer
33:14 “‘The days
are coming,’
declares the Lord, ‘when I
will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the
house of Judah. 15
In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout
from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’
17 For this is what the Lord says:
‘David will never
fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to
stand before Me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings
and to present sacrifices.’”
As
Jeremiah relates earlier…
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I
will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do
what is just and right in the land.” (Jer
23:5)
God has promised that a righteous descendant of
David will always occupy the throne, and in the messiah that promise sees
fulfillment. In addition…
The kingdom
positions of potentate and priest are lifetime appointments, united in the
single person of God’s messiah. That rulers’ surrogates presumably occupy
lengthy terms in office as well, perhaps for the entire duration of the
messianic age. At that time, people will live longer. Isaiah says:
Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days, or an old
man who does not live out his years; he who
dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed. (65:20)
Lifespans
during the Messianic Age will be longer, so those in the administration may
serve longer as well.
Application: If God affirms that something He has said is true, He
appeals to Himself for support, because there is no higher authority:
When God made His
promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He
swore by Himself. (Heb 6:13)
Moreover, unlike man, who is notoriously fickle and unreliable, God
is good to His word. In fact,
No matter how many promises God has made, they
are “Yes” in Christ” (2 Cor 1:20).
As a child of God, you must try to emulate Him in the words you
speak and the commitments you make. Take soberly what comes out of your mouth
(Manuel 2002). This does not mean you cannot joke around, but when conditions
are serious, phrase your speech carefully:
Do not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name
of your God. I am the LORD. (Lev
19:12)
When
a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath
to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not
break his word but must do everything he said. (Num
30:2)
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but
only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it
may benefit those who listen. (Eph 4:29)
Always make your speech measured and appropriate to whatever
your situation may be.
The
government of the Messianic Age will be not be a coalition of disparate
elements. Unlike other administrations, it will be unified. Moreover…
Jer
33:19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 “This is what
the Lord says: ‘If you
can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day
and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then My covenant with David My
servant—and My covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before
Me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his
throne. 22 I will
make the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister before Me
as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the
seashore.’”
Man’s
abilities, however high an opinion he holds of himself, are limited. Even the
great king Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, the most powerful monarch in the
Ancient Near East, extolled the Lord, recognizing that his own authority was
finite:
[God’s]
dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to
generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He
pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold
back His hand or say to Him: “What have You done?” (Dan 4:34-35)
There is a limit to what any man, even the most
powerful, is able to do, not so with God. For example, the Lord alone has the ability
to control nature; man does not.
There
will be no term limits for those in the main positions of the future government,
at least for its highest posts. The occupants of those offices will remain in
power presumably until they die, or as long as “day and
night” (v. 20)
continue to cycle. The length
of this arrangement is as certain as God’s longevity, which is very long. After
all, He is the “eternal” God.
Moreover…
There will be an ample
supply of candidates for these posts, “as measureless
as the sand on the seashore” (v. 22). Moreover, candidates among the clergy will even include
gentiles:
I will select some of them also to be priests and
Levites,” says the LORD. (Isa
66:21)
God
is an equal opportunity employer.
Application: In God’s administration of the Messianic Age, there
will be no layoffs or firings. On the contrary, there will be extensive hiring.
It is the
ultimate job security. Until then, a person may experience setbacks, but even
these are temporary, and it is important that a child of God does not confuse
separation from employment now as separation from God. He is not easily put
off. In fact, even if your situation seems dire, even if you have been
separated from a job, you are not separated from God or from His care for you.
As Jesus promises, I am with you always, to the
very end of the age (Matt 28:20). In
other words, there is nowhere and nowhen you can flee from his presence. While
you can cut yourself off, no external force can do that to you (Manuel 2013). As
Jesus also says, No one can snatch them out of my
hand (John 10:28). Regardless of other
circumstances, there is no better place you can be than in God’s loving
and secure embrace.
Conclusion: The new covenant is God’s commitment to the people He
has redeemed, both Jews and gentiles. It embodies the consistency of His
dealings with man, that no matter what their situation may be, His people can
depend on Him, because His word is reliable: “Promises Made, Promises Kept.”
God’s people should be similarly reliable. Are you?
Bibliography
Feinberg, Charles L.
1989 “Jeremiah.”
Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 6. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.
Manuel, Paul http://paulwmanuel.blogspot.com
2002 “Not at the Mercy of Your Mouth” (Prov
13:3). [Devotional]
2003 “The New Covenant of Jer 31:33.”
2007a “An Equal-Accessibility Deity.” Soteriology
Excursus 3 in A Reader’s Digest Approach
to Theology.
2007b “The Practices of Covenant Review and
Covenant Renewal and Their Relation to the New Covenant.”
2011 “A Study of Law and Grace: Finding the
Proper Balance.”
2013 “Can a person lose his
salvation?” An
excerpt from the Soteriology unit of A Reader’s Digest Approach to Theology.
Thompson, J.A.
1980 The
Book of Jeremiah. NICOT. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company.
Ezekiel offers a description of the NC,
although he does not use that specific term:
Ezek 36:25 I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all
your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put
a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a
heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my
decrees and be careful to keep my laws…. 31 Then you will remember your evil
ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and
detestable practices.
Ezek 37:21 I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have
gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own
land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.
There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two
nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile
themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for
I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them.
They will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 My servant David will be
king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws
and be careful to keep my decrees…. 26 I will make a covenant of peace
with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and
increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My
dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my
people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them
forever.
1
Sam 2:31
The time is coming when I will cut short your strength
and the strength of your father’s house.
Rom 12:2 Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be
able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Exod
22:22 Do
not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.
Lev
5:7 If he
cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the
LORD…. 11 If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a
tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering.
Lev
27:8 If
anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, he is to present
the person to the priest, who will set the value for him according to what the
man making the vow can afford.
Deu
10:18 He
defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving
him food and clothing.
Deut
27:19
Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the
widow.
Exod
22:3 A
thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold
to pay for his theft…. 14 If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it
is injured or dies while the owner is not present, he must make restitution.
Lev
22:14 If
anyone eats a sacred offering by mistake, he must make restitution to the
priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value to it.
Lev
24:21
Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be
put to death.
Num
5:7 He must
make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it, and give it all to
the person he has wronged.
Hos
13:4 You
shall acknowledge…no Savior except me.
Ezek 11:19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in
them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of
flesh.
Exod 20:20 The fear of God will be with you to keep you
from sinning.
Deut 31:6 The LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor
forsake you…. 8 He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Ps 121:7 The Lord
will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life.
1 Cor 1:8 He will keep you strong to the end.
Jude 24 [He] is able to keep you from falling and to
present you before his glorious presence without
fault and with great joy.
1 Kgs 11:36 David my
servant [will] always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I
chose to put my Name.
1 Kgs 15:4 For David’s
sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to
succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong.
2 Kgs 8:19 The
LORD…promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
1 Kgs 14:21 Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah…. 22 Judah did evil
in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous
anger more than their fathers had done. 23 They also set up for themselves high
places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every
spreading tree. 24 There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the
people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had
driven out before the Israelites.
2 Kgs 11:1 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead,
she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family.
2 Kgs 16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of
Jotham king of Judah began to reign…. 2 He did not do what was right in the
eyes of the LORD his God. 3 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and
even sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable ways of the
nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices
and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every
spreading tree.
2 Kgs 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years…. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD,
following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out
before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had
destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab
king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped
them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said,
“In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD,
he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the
fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists.
He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7 He took the
carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the LORD had
said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I
have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever’…9
Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD
had destroyed before the Israelites…. 11 Manasseh….has done more evil than the
Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols…. 16
Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem
from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that
they did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
Ps 110:2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will
rule in the midst of your enemies…. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change
his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Ezekiel calls the political leader in the
Messianic Age “prince,” presumably to distinguish him from the (messianic)
king:
Ezek
34:24 I the
LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them.
Ezek
45:7 The
prince will have the land bordering each side of
the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city…. 22 The
prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for
himself and for all the people of the land.
Ezek
46:17 If
the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one
of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants.
Ezek
48:22 The
property of the Levites and the property of the city will lie in the center of
the area that belongs to the prince.
Ezekiel calls the religious leader in the
Messianic Age “priest,” presumably because no further distinction is necessary:
Ezek
44:21 No
priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner
court…. 25 A priest must not defile
himself by going near a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father
or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile
himself.
Ezek
45:19 The
priest is to take some of the blood of the sin
offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the
upper ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court.
The messianic human
surrogate is mortal and will not necessarily live forever:
Ps 89:3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have
sworn to David my servant, 4 ‘I will establish your line forever and make your
throne firm through all generations.’”
The messianic ruler himself,
though, is eternal:
Ps
110:4 The
LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the
order of Melchizedek.”
Isa
9:7 Of the
increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on
David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice
and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The consistent
testimony of God’s people is that He keeps His word:
Josh
21:45 Not
one of all the LORD’S good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one
was fulfilled.
1 Kgs 8:20 The LORD has kept the promise he made…. 56 Not
one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
2 Pet 1:4 He has given us his very great and precious
promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and
escape the corruption in the world.
2 Pet 3:13 In keeping with his promise we are looking
forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Eph 5:4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking,
which are out of place.
Col 3:8 Rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage,
malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
1
Tim 6:4 He
has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result
in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions.
2 Tim 2:14 Warn them before God against quarreling about
words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
2 Pet 2:18 They mouth empty, boastful words and, by
appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who
are just escaping from those who live in error.
Jude 16 These men are grumblers and
faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves
and flatter others for their own advantage.
Gen
21:33 He called
upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.
Deut
33:27 The
eternal God is your refuge.
Isa
26:4 The
LORD, is the Rock eternal.
Jer
10:10 He is
the living God, the eternal King.
