Genesis16-7
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GOD'S WORD |
New International Version |
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Ge 16 |
Ge 16 |
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16:7 The Messenger of the LORD found
her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the way to Shur. |
16:7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar
near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside |
The New John Gill Exposition
of the Entire Bible
Genesis
16:7
And the angel of the Lord found her…
This is the first time that mention is made of an angel in Scripture, but is
not to be understood of a created angel, but of a divine Person, as appears
from (Genesis 16:10,13)
, the uncreated angel, the Logos or Son of God, called the Angel of God's
presence, and the Angel of the covenant, (Isaiah 63:9) (Malachi 3:1) ;
who often appeared in an human form before his incarnation, being sent by his
divine Father on one account or another; and hence called an angel, a
messenger, or one sent, as in the fulness of time he was sent in human nature
to be the Redeemer of his people; though many of the Jewish writers take this
angel to be a man sent of God. Gersom
Now the angel of
the LORD
found
her by a spring
of water
in the wilderness,
by the spring
on the way
to Shur.
ay(h-l( rBdMB eyMh
aye(-l( hwhy
j)lm H)cmYw (8799)
. rW$
jrdB
http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/gsb/view.cgi?book=ge&chapter=16&verse=7#Ge16_7
16:7 And the d angel of the LORD found her by a fountain
of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
(d) Which was Christ, as appears in (Genesis
16:13,18:17).
16:9 And the angel of the LORD
said unto her, e Return to thy
mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
(e) God rejects no estate of people in their
misery, but sends them comfort.
(f) That is, the Ishmaelites will be a separate
people by themselves and not part of another people.
(g) She rebukes her own dullness and acknowledges
God’s graces, who was present with her everywhere.
http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=ge&chapter=016&verse=007#Ge16_1
Verse 7.
The angel of the Lord
That Jesus Christ, in a body suited to the dignity of his nature, frequently
appeared to the patriarchs, has been already intimated. That the person
mentioned here was greater than any created being is sufficiently evident from
the following particulars:-
1.
From his promising to perform what God alone could do, and foretelling
what God alone could know; "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly,"
, Genesis 16:10;
"Thou art with child, and shalt bear a son," , Genesis 16:11; "He
will be a wild man," , Genesis 16:12. All
this shows a prescience which is proper to God alone.
2.
Hagar considers the person who spoke to her as God, calls him El,
and addresses him in the way of worship, which, had he been a created
angel, he would have refused. See Revelation 19:10;; 22:9.
3.
Moses, who relates the transaction, calls this angel expressly JEHOVAH; for,
says he, she called shem Yehovah, the NAME of the LORD that spake
to her, Genesis 16:13.
Now this is a name never given to any created being.
4.
This person, who is here called malach Yehovah, the Angel of the Lord,
is the same who is called hammalach haggoel, the redeeming
Angel or the Angel the Redeemer, Genesis 48:16; malach
panaiv, the Angel of God's presence, Isaiah 63:9; and malach
habberith, the Angel of the Covenant, Malachi 3:1; and is
the same person which the Septuagint, ; Isaiah 9:6, term
μεγαλησβουλησαγγελοσ,
the Angel of the Great Counsel or Design, viz., of redeeming man,
and filling the earth with righteousness.
5.
These things cannot be spoken of any human or created being, for
the knowledge, works, , attributed to this person are such as belong to
God; and as in all these cases there is a most evident personal appearance,
Jesus Christ alone can be meant; for of God the Father it has been ever true
that no man hath at any time seen his shape
Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament
The angel of Jehovah?
This being can hardly be thought of as a creature, despite the usual meaning of
the word angel. This is one of those O.T. intimations of personal distinctions
with God HimselfF8
and is definitely a hint of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, revealed
in the N.T. Those who find here a Christophany, therefore, are not necessarily
wrong. The words refer to the Lord himself.F9
The Biblical writers constantly speak of the angel of the Lord as Divine, calling
him Jehovah without the least reserve.F10
The teaching here implied of there being a plurality of Persons in the Godhead
is in perfect harmony with Gen. 1:26; 11:7, etc. We shall encounter other
examples of the same thing in the O.T. This is the very first occurrence in the
Bible of this phraseology. This angel was God Himself, that is, another
pre-incarnate appearance of the Messiah.F11
Adam
Clark Commentary
• Gill's
Exposition
• Geneva
Study Bible
• David
Guzik's Commentaries
• Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
• Matthew
Henry Complete
• Matthew
Henry Concise
• Treasury
of Scripture
• Wesley's
Explanatory Notes
Geneva
Study Bible
· Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
· Matthew
Henry Complete
· Matthew
Henry Concise
· Scofield
Reference Notes
· Treasury
of Scripture
· Wesley's
Explanatory Notes
GEB -> Study Notes on 16:7
GSB -> Study Notes on 16:7
JFB -> Commentary on 16:7
MHC-COM -> Commentary on 16:7
MHC-CON -> Commentary on 16:7
SRN -> Study Notes on 16:7
TSK -> Commentary on 16:7 TSK -> Entry for 16:7
WEN -> Notes on 16:7
NTB -> Afflictions And Adversities; Angel (Holy Trinity); Angel (a spirit); Lahai-Roi; Prayer; Servant; Shur
TTT -> Deserts; Fountains and Springs
EBD -> Angel; Beer-lahai-roi; Shur
SBD -> Angel of the Lord; Shur
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/c/1153608273-1613.html
a. She fled from her presence: As Hagar escaped
this difficult situation the Angel of the Lord (here, the pre-incarnate
presence of Jesus) met her by a spring of water in the wilderness.
i. We can assume that this
was God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, appearing to Abraham before His
incarnation and birth at
Write the Commentaries and ask them how they can
have it both ways ---Above Jesus is an angel below he his not
Sbt
Does Not Get Into Criticisms of Individuals or Groups or organizations.
Unscriptual Traditions –Is the Main Concern -Quoting Christ is not Criticisms—it
is a Christians
Duty-- Study Ephesians 6:10-18 - [Verse 12 in Original Greek]
7.
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No angel is or can ever be called God's son |
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World not in subjection to any angel |
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He did not take on the nature of angels |
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Glorified with God -- not the angels |
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All power given to Him, in heaven and earth |
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He has a name that is above all names |
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God will not share His glory with any other |
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Chapter 1 - Read This Chapter |
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And when He again brings the firstborn into
the world, He says, " otan de palin eisagagh| (5632) ton prwtotokon eiv thn oikoumenhn, legei, (5719) Kai proskunhsatwsan (5657) autw| pantev aggeloi qeou. |
|||
Burton
Coffman
• Barnes'
New Testament
• Darby's
Synopsis
• Gill's
Exposition
• Geneva
Study Bible
• Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
• Matthew
Henry Complete
• Matthew
Henry Concise
• People's
New Testament
• Robertson's
Word Pictures
• Treasury
of Scripture
• Wesley's
Explanatory Notes
http://www.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=heb&chapter=001&verse=006#Heb1_1
Jesus said to
Worship the Father Only—John-4-22-24,-Luke 4-8,- Matt 4-10 ,--
Jesus Would Not
Lie To Us—So for Those Who Say He Accepted Worship—
It is Just Not
in Harmony with What ***Our King*** Said---To
Do !!!! See John 5-23.
Jesus is Not
The Father.
So For Those Bible Publishers
That use PROSKUNEO-Wrong---Get in Harmony With
What ***OUR KING*** Said—To Do,--
( That
all men
should honour the Son ) And Start Using the
GWGPNC
Rule –Is a Simple Rule of Harmony—And That’s How Simple
it is to Correct Verses.
The
KING---Has Spoken---The Way--
John 4-26 [ In
Context | Read Chapter | Discuss this Verse ]
[ Original: Greek | Multi-Translation | Make
Poster ]
Jesus *said to her,
"I who speak to you am He." ---- Open KingJesusHasSPOKEN.htm
JOHN
Son
honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
(Joh
14:6) Jesus said to him, I am the Way,
the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.
There Are Many Meanings of the Word Worship
WHO IS --Using ***PROSKUNEO***RIGHT-------Test
-
The Right Meaning in each verse must harmonize with
Check The Bible
of Your Choice
And Compare These Verses
in WorshipLibraryList.htm
SBT—Reporting----Accuracy---Void of Pagan Gentile Theory Theology
<A-1,Verb,4352,proskuneo>Open-- [worship][worshiping]
WorshipLibraryList.htm
—For All Verses----In
Question .
Also See
C/H- WORSHIP2.htm
For Best Word Matcher –Open- BadWordsInTheBIBLES.htm
There are over 35 Commentaries in –StudyLight and Searchgodsword
http://www.studylight.org/desk/?query=joh+4:24&t=nsn&st=1&new=1&sr=1&sc=1&l=en
Compare all Commentaries TO
That Claims Jesus is the Father---Plus Open KingJesusHasSPOKEN.htm
Do the Nazarene Saints
"Worship" Two Gods?
http://www.nazarene-friends.org/articles/Do%20the%20Nazarene%20Saints%20Worship%20Two%20Gods.htm
SBT GIVES SPECIAL THANKS TO
http://www.geocities.com/onlinebibletranslations/index.html
For What They Have Done---
Plus Any One Dedicated In
Translating Accurate Scriptures.
Do Your Own (simple)
Harmony Test With These Verses Matt 2.8 Matt 28.9,17 Heb 1.6 Rev
Or a more detailed
Test with all the Verses listed above
Check 4 Bibles at Once Open-- / http://unbound.biola.edu/
ExAMPLE-- Matthew 2-8 open [Context] [Commentary]
Matthew 28-9-17-open [Context] [Commentary]
http://www.tmbible.com/search.htm
Another Quick Check C/H http://www.greeknewtestament.com/B40C002.htm
C/H http://www.greeknewtestament.com/index.htm
Heb 1-3—10
Bibles at Once Open http://www.greeknewtestament.com/B58C001.htm
Look
For Substance Explained in BadWordsInTheBIBLES.htm
Open-- BestBiblesPlus.htm
Today-- There is Really only Two Types of Bibles C/H- BiblesTwoTypes.htm
Or Open
Index http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&p=JOHN1onePLUS&xargs=0&pstart=1&fr=slv1-mdp&dups=1
The Best Bibles---Use
The GWGPNC –RULE - God can not Lie—( Nu 23-19,--Heb 6-18 ,--Titus 1:2 -- All Truth Must Harmonize With His Words)
and His Son -------Jesus Would Not Lie To Us - -------No Bible Reads God the Son!!!
Joh
From the SimpleBibleTruths.net--The Alternative to Mysticism
The Best
Bibles Harmonize Jesus’ Words Throughout All Scripture
-2 Tim 3-16-17,- Matt-5-17,-Gal-6-2
AND
All Greek
Scriptures Must Use Harmonizing Equivalent
(Volcabulary)
Words To Match Their Counter Part Words In The Hebrew Scriptures—
Most Bible translations render the Greek word aggelos
(pronounced ahn gel ose – with a hard g) as angel wherever it is
found. However, aggelos is just the Greek word for messenger. True, in
most cases where the Bible speaks of angels, it is referring to spirit
messengers from God. However, this may not be the meaning in every instance,
and always translating it as angel may distort what was said in certain
instances.
For example, consider the words at Acts 12:15. In Greek, the
latter part of this verse reads, ‘oi de elegon Ho aggelos estin autou,’
and is often translated as, ‘They began to say, It is his angel.’
This rendering doesn’t sound reasonable. It would have been bizarre for
Christians to assume that an angel from God (who looked like Peter) was
standing and knocking at their door. Rather, the rendering we have used herein
makes more sense, ‘So they said, It’s his messenger.’
Another good example of why aggelos shouldn’t always be
translated as angels can be found at Genesis 32:3, which reads in Greek, Apasteile
de Iakob aggelous emprosthen autou pros Hesau ton adelphon autou,
or, Sent of Jacob angels ahead of him toward Esau the brother of him.
Here Jacob was obviously sending human messengers to his brother, not heavenly
ones.
Also, translating aggelos as messenger (when
it truly means an ‘angel’) helps to provide readers a better, deeper
understanding of the actual role that such spiritual sons of God play in His
dealings with mankind.
1 Sara, Abram’s wife, hadn’t given him any children.
However, she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sara said to Abram,
‘Look, [Jehovah] has kept me from getting pregnant, so, [sleep with] my maid so
I can have my children through her.’
Abram accepted Sara’s advice. 3 So, Sara, Abram’s wife,
took Hagar her Egyptian handmaid (after Abram had lived in the
4 Then [Abram] went in to [sleep with] Hagar, and she
became pregnant. And when she realized that she was going to have a child, she
started to be disrespectful of her mistress. 5 Then Sara said to Abram, ‘I have
really been hurt by you. I gave you my handmaid [to sleep with], and when I saw
that she was pregnant I was treated disrespectfully by her. May [Jehovah] judge
between me and you.’
6 Then Abram told Sarah, ‘Look, your handmaid is yours;
treat her any way that seems right to you.’
So, Sara started treating [Hagar] badly, and she ran away.
7 A messenger
from [Jehovah] found [Hagar] by a water fountain in the desert (the fountain on
the way to Sur). 8 And [Jehovah’s] messenger said to her, ‘Hagar, Sarah’s maid,
where are you coming from and where are you going?’ 8 And [Jehovah’s] messenger
said to her, ‘Hagar, Sarah’s maid, where are you coming from and where are you
going?’
And she replied, ‘I’m running away from my mistress,
Sara.’
9 Then, [Jehovah’s] messenger said, ‘Return to your
mistress and obey her.’ 10 And the messenger of [Jehovah] told her, ‘I will
make your seed grow, and there will be so many that they can’t be counted.’
11 And the messenger of [Jehovah] said to her, ‘Look! You
are pregnant with a child. You will give birth to a son; and you should name
him Ishmael, because [Jehovah] has noticed how you have been humiliated. 12 He
will be a wild man. His fists [will be lifted] against everyone, and everyone
[will lift] their fists against him. And he will live in the midst of all his
brothers.
13 Then she called out the name of [Jehovah]
God, who spoke to her, saying, ‘You are the God who watches me.’ And she added,
‘Because, I openly saw the One who appeared to me. 14 [And from that point on]
she called the well, ‘the Well of Him Who I Openly Saw.’ Look, it [still can be
found] between Cades and Barad.
15 So, Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram named the son
that Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar
bore Ishmael to Abram.
http://www.2001translation.com/Genesis.htm#_Messengers
http://www.2001translation.com/New_Covenant.html
The New Covenant
There are few theological teachings that are less understood
by the majority of Christians than the subject of the New Sacred Agreement
(Covenant) that Jesus inaugurated with his Apostles during his ‘last supper,’
which immediately preceded his death and resurrection. So, what we will discuss
here will start with the ‘type’ – the ‘Old Sacred Agreement’ – to show what it
involved and pictured, and then we will look at the ‘antitype’ – the ‘New
Sacred Agreement’ – to see how those prophecies are fulfilled in it.
The first Sacred Agreement that God made with mankind was
the one He made with our common forefather Noah (as well as with ‘all
creation’), where God vowed that He would never again destroy all life on earth
with water. And the sign that He provided to remind us of His oath is the
rainbow.
The next Sacred Agreement that He made was with faithful
Abram (at Genesis 15:18-20), where He promised to give the land that was then
referred to as Canaan to Abram’s descendants.
God thereafter expanded His Sacred Agreement with Abram at
Genesis 17:1-14, when He changed his name to Abraham and promised that he would
become the ‘father of a multitude,’ his seed would inherit the land of Canaan,
He would be their God, and that nations and kings would descend from him.
However, something would be required of Abraham and his descendants to fulfill
their part of the Agreement; all the males who were over eight-days old and
lived with him had to be circumcised.
It is at Exodus 19:5, 6 that we read of God extending this
Agreement once more, when He spoke to the sons of Israel through Moses while
they were in captivity in Egypt. There He promised, ‘Now, if you will listen to
what I tell you and keep My Sacred Agreement, you will be a special people to
Me that will be higher that all other nations … You will become a holy nation
and My royal priesthood.’
This Agreement was extended even more at Exodus 23:24-33, where
God said, ‘If you serve [Jehovah] your God, I will bless your bread, your wine,
and your water, and I will keep you from getting sick. There won’t be anyone in
your land that is impotent or infertile, and you will live a full life … all
your enemies run from you … I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the
[Mediterranean], and from the desert to the great Euphrates River … I will hand
over those who are living in the land and drive them away from you. So, you are
to make no Agreements with them or their gods.’
We find the children of Israel agreeing to fulfill their
portion of the Agreement at Exodus 24:7, 8, where it says, ‘So, [Moses] took
the scroll of the Sacred Agreement and read it to the people. And they [again]
said, We will do and pay attention to
everything [Jehovah] has said. Then Moses took the blood [from the
bowls] and sprinkled it on the people, and he said, {Look!} This is the blood of the Sacred
Agreement that [Jehovah] has made with you over the things you’ve [agreed to].’
Then we read of the next extension to this Sacred Agreement
at Exodus 31:17, 18, where God gave the laws regarding the Sabbath and the Ten
Commandments. So, all of God’s Laws to Israel (including the Ten Commandments)
were part of this Agreement.
It is in Leviticus 26:14-43 that we read of the penalties
the Israelites were to pay if they broke their side of the Agreement. Note some
of the promised results. ‘However, if you choose not to listen to Me and obey
these My rules … these are the things that I must do to you … your lives
will be shortened … the seeds in your ground won’t produce … I will send
wild animals into the land and they will eat you and kill your cattle. You will
decrease in numbers, and your [land] will become empty … I will bring a famine
of bread among you … you will have to eat the flesh of your sons and daughters
… I will destroy your cities … then I will scatter you among the nations.’
And no one can deny that all these things truly happened to
unfaithful Israel and to the Jews, not once, but twice (first at the hands of
the Babylonians and then at the hand of the Romans).
Now, did you notice that this first Sacred Agreement didn’t
promise an afterlife? It just promised that if the people were faithful they
would be blest, and if they weren’t faithful, they would be cursed. Now, the
Israelites did in fact believe in a hereafter, but they
had NOTHING IN WRITING that promised them this. So, those who were faithful
simply trusted that God had something better in mind for them after they died.
The answer to this question is one that seems to elude many
Christians. Obviously, God made His Agreement of ‘the Old Law’ with the
descendants of Abraham, and specifically the Israelites, not with any other
nation of mankind. So, although the Ten Commandments in particular state God’s
views on many matters, these (and the Sabbath Laws) were never given as part of
an agreement with mankind in general. Therefore, people of the nations had no
God-given laws or agreements until after the formation of the Christian
Congregation, when they then accepted the Law of the New Sacred Agreement.
However, the Old Law and Sacred Agreement did apply to
Gentiles (or people of the nations) who chose to worship Jehovah. Notice, for
example, what was said about this at Numbers 15:15, 16, ‘There must be just one
law for you and for the aliens who live among you … Both you and the aliens
that live among you must follow the same laws and regulations.’
So, all the people in ancient Israel – the priests, the
native peoples, and non-Israelites – had the same rules and promises.
There were four primary sacred festivals or conventions that
all the people in Israel (including aliens) were to observe and attend in
Jerusalem each year, the Festival of the Barley Harvest (or Passover), the
Festival of the Wheat Harvest (or Pentecost), The Festival of Payment for Sins
(Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur), and the Harvest Festival (Booths). All of
these festivals required the people to offer sacrifices and all had to be
ceremonially clean to participate in them.
So, although the Sacred Agreement was made with the
Israelites who descended from Abraham, the Gentiles who chose to live among
them and serve Jehovah had to:
·
Be circumcised
·
Follow the same laws
·
Offer the same sacrifices
·
Observe the same festivals.
The first mention of a New Sacred Agreement is found in the book
of Isaiah, for at Isaiah 55:3 we read, ‘Listen to Me, and you’ll have good
things for your soul! For, with you I’ll proclaim an Agreement through the
age.’
Then we read at Jeremiah 31:31, ‘The
days are coming … when I will make a New Sacred Agreement with the house
of Israel and Judah that is unlike the one that I made with their ancestors
during the time that I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of
Egypt… the Agreement with Me that they broke.’
So, even before Jerusalem was
destroyed and her people led away into captivity in Babylon, God saw the need
to create a New Sacred Agreement with His people. What was going to be
different about this Sacred Agreement? Consider Jeremiah 31:33, 34, ‘This is
the Sacred Agreement that I’m going to make with the house of Israel at that
time … I will put My Laws inside them and write them in their hearts. I
will become their God and they will become My people. They won’t have to teach
their friends and brothers to know [Jehovah], because they will all know Me,
from the least to the greatest … because I will forgive their mistakes and
forget their sins.’
So, according to this scripture, the key differences are:
·
The Law of this Sacred Agreement is to be written on hearts, not on
stone or paper
·
Those who are involved in the New Sacred Agreement will enjoy a special
relationship with God and have a personal knowledge of Jehovah
·
Their sins will be forgiven.
However, this prophecy wasn’t
fulfilled until more that six-hundred years later. And like the Old Sacred
Agreement, it had to be sealed with blood… the blood of the truly ‘perfect
lamb,’ Jesus.
It was on the same day that Jesus
was sacrificed (which started at sundown the night before, according to God’s Law)
that Jesus inaugurated this New Sacred Agreement with his eleven faithful
Apostles in an upper room in Jerusalem while celebrating the Passover. Together
they ate the sacrificed lamb and bitter herbs, and they drank the wine that was
part of the Passover meal.
Then notice what Jesus said and did
(Matthew 26:26-28); ‘As they ate, Jesus took a loaf, and after giving
thanks, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying, Take some and eat it,
because this is my body. He also took a cup [of wine], and after giving
thanks, gave it to them saying, All of you drink out of it, because, this is
my blood of the Sacred Agreement, which will be poured out for many to forgive
[their] sins.’
We read the same account at Luke
22:19, 20, which says, ‘Then he took a loaf [of bread], gave thanks,
broke it, and gave it to them saying, This is my body, which is being handed
over for you. Keep doing this in memory of me. And he did the same thing
with the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Sacred Agreement of
my blood, which is being poured out for you.’
So, when the sacrificial blood of Jesus was poured out, the
New Sacred Agreement was inaugurated. However, did you notice that once again,
there was no promise of a hereafter or of going to heaven? Surely, if this were
part of a written agreement or contract, it should have been mentioned! All
that was promised in the prophecy of Jeremiah (which is the only place where we
find the terms of this New Sacred Agreement) is that God will put His
Laws into their hearts, they will become His people, everyone will know God,
and He will forgive their sins.
As you can see (and as Paul pointed out several times in his
writings), the Old Sacred Agreement just showed men what sin was, and it
condemned them to death whenever they in their imperfection violated it. And
though there were promises of better things, these were never realized, because
nobody (except Jesus) could live up to the Law’s requirements.
So, the New Sacred Agreement isn’t just a promise like the
one God gave to Noah. Rather, Jehovah has requirements for those who wish to
participate in this New Sacred Agreement. Exactly what these requirements will
be wasn’t specified at that time. However, we were told that these laws would
be written in our hearts.
What kind of a law could be written in hearts? Consider
Jesus’ reply, when he was asked which commandment of the Law was the greatest
(as found at Matthew 22:36-40), ‘You must love [Jehovah] your God with your
whole heart, life, and mind. This is the first and the greatest
commandment. The second, like it, is, You must love your neighbor as
yourself. These two commandments are the basis of the whole Law and the
Prophets.’
Then on the night before his death, Jesus gave this Law to
his followers (at John 13:34, 35), ‘I’m giving you a new commandment, to
love each other. Love each other just as I loved you. This is how they will
know that you are my disciples, by your love for each other.’
Paul later explained (at Romans 13:10), ‘Love is the
Law’s fulfillment.’
Then at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Paul gave a comprehensive
description of what this Law of love involves. He wrote, ‘Love is kind and
patient. Love isn’t envious, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t conceited, it doesn’t
scheme, it doesn’t just watch out for itself, it doesn’t stir things up, it
doesn’t hold a grudge, it doesn’t rejoice over unrighteous things. Rather, it
rejoices over things that are true. It covers everything, believes everything,
hopes everything, and endures everything. Love never fails.’
So, love is an internal thing. It resides in our hearts
rather that in a book of laws. And if we fully apply this Law in our lives, it will
govern us better than any written code of laws. By practicing love we show
ourselves to be Jesus’ true disciples.
Notice that Paul linked love with several other positive
qualities, such as kindness, patience, forgiveness, belief, hope, and
endurance. However, three of these especially stand out in his conclusion at 1
Corinthians 13:13, ‘So, we now have these three things: faith, hope, and
love. And the greatest of these is love.’
Therefore, while this law involves other internal things
such as faith and hope (which must also be written in our hearts), the greatest
portion of it is still love. Love encompasses all of these other requirements
and it serves as an identifying mark, making us stand out as true worshipers of
God.
And although Christians are free of any oppressive set of
rules, this doesn’t mean that we are free to do whatever we wish. For, when
they were faced with the question of circumcision, the Apostles and elders in
the Jerusalem congregation stated that there were certain ‘necessary things’
which all Christians had to follow, namely, they had to ‘stay away from things
that are sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things that are strangled, and
from sexual immorality’ (Acts 15:29).
Paul also wrote of many other bad things that men do…
things that a good conscience would forbid. And he said that people who do such
things ‘won’t inherit God’s Kingdom’ (1 Corinthians 6:10).
However (as we pointed out earlier), the New Sacred
Agreement never promised a resurrection to heavenly life, for no scripture
speaks of such a hope being offered. And if such a thing were part of this
sacred contract, it surely had to be included somewhere. So, as the promise of
the First Sacred Agreement with Israel was that they would become an earthly
nation of kings and priests, the same thing is implied in the Second,
because no such changes are mentioned by Jeremiah… or by anyone else for that
matter.
Then Jesus made another agreement (which was not part
of the first) that finally spoke of the hope of a hereafter and of a
resurrection to heaven. And his covenant was only offered to a select few. His
wasn’t an addendum to the New Sacred Agreement, it was another agreement that
he made with those who he said, ‘stuck with me during my trials.’
This added agreement was ‘for a Kingdom,’ which he offered
to his eleven faithful Apostles on the eve of his death. We read of this at
Luke 22:28-30, where Jesus said, ‘However, you are the ones who stuck with me
during my trials. So, I’m making a sacred agreement with you, just as my Father
made a sacred agreement with me, for a Kingdom… that you may eat
and drink at my table in my Kingdom and sit on thrones to judge the twelve
tribes of Israel.’
Now, since most people think that Jesus was his own Father
(The God), they think that what Jesus said here in Luke was the New Sacred
Agreement. Yet, notice that Jesus said his Father had made a sacred
agreement with him, so now he was making his own agreement with his Apostles.
The New Sacred Agreement that he had just inaugurated with Israel and Spiritual
Israel was between them and his Father, but this was Jesus’ own agreement with
his Apostles.
Notice that this special agreement between Jesus and his
Apostles is the only one that promised life in heaven. That it was a
promise of life in heaven is indicated by the words, ‘that you may eat and
drink at my table in my Kingdom and sit on thrones.’
These words are very significant, for if you look at the
methods of Hebrew Kings, such as David and Solomon, you’ll see that those who were
invited to sit at the king’s table were not only his closest friends and
advisors, they were also his primary governors. And the king had them sit and
eat with him at his table, because he always wanted them to be close to him.
Thus, when Jesus told his Apostles that they would eat and drink at his (the
king’s) table, he was saying that they would be where he was, in heaven with
his Father Jehovah.
Also, notice that they would ‘sit on thrones and judge the
twelve tribes of Israel.’ So, they are to judge those who comprise the rest
of the arrangement for serving God, those who also claim to be under the New
Sacred Agreement, but who were not offered life in heaven. For more information
about what judging the twelve tribes of Israel means, see the linked document, Jerusalem and the Israel of
God.’
As you can see, this misunderstanding shows the
insidiousness of the Trinity doctrine. For, when one believes that Jesus is The
God and part of his Father, he/she doesn’t understand that this was another
agreement that Jesus made with his Apostles, which promised them life in
heaven. So, they think that everyone was offered life in heaven, and although
they may have live secular, mundane, and even immoral lives, they feel that
they deserve the same reward as Jesus’ faithful Apostles… they don’t. If that
were true, Jesus would have offered the same agreement to all his disciples,
not just to the faithful eleven. For more information, see the linked document
‘Who Was Jesus?’
But, isn’t the fact that the Bible says that Israel will
serve as ‘kings and priests’ an automatic promise of heavenly life? Not
necessarily, for, notice that in the ‘type’ (the Sacred Agreement with fleshly
Israel) there were two priesthoods. There were those of the family line of
Aaron who could serve at the altar and enter the Holy Place (picturing heaven),
and those of the rest of the priestly tribe of Levi, whose primary job was that
of living among, and teaching and judging Israel. So, the indication is that
there will be both heavenly and earthly priesthoods. (For more information, see
the linked document, God’s
Promise of an Inheritance.)
The fact that this agreement for a Kingdom is only mentioned
in the book of Luke (not in Matthew, Mark, or John) is also very interesting.
Although it was obviously one of Jesus’ most important instructions, the fact
that at first the Apostles didn’t recognize (or remember) what Jesus said on
that occasion, indicates that it was the guidance of God’s Holy Breath that
caused them to later remember and fully appreciate this extra promise of the
agreement that Jesus made with them and with others who would be ‘anointed’ and
‘chosen.’ The reason for this lapse is likely because (like most religious
groups today) they may have confused this sacred agreement for a Kingdom with
the New Sacred Agreement that God made with the rest of antitypical Israel.
Remember that the first Passover was part of the tenth
plague on the land of Egypt, but it provided for salvation and a way out. All
who wanted their firstborn to live, regardless of whether they were Egyptians
or Israelites, needed to carry out the instructions that were given to Moses.
And as the result, large numbers of Egyptians and other aliens did just that
and left Egypt with the Israelites (Exodus 12:38).
Now, if we look at the instruction in the Mosaic Law on how
the Passover was to be observed, again we find that ALL were to partake of the
Passover sacrifice, including the ‘Anointed’ Priests, the Levite Priests, the
rest of the Israelites, and the ‘aliens’ who lived among them (Exodus 12:19).
Jehovah didn’t give different laws to each of these groups. Rather, he said
that there would be ‘just one Law,’ and it would apply to both ‘the native
residents and the converts that come to live among you’ (Exodus 12:49).
Why, participation in the first Passover was a requirement
for the lives of their firstborn to be spared. And by their continued
celebration of the Passover, the Israelites were expressing their desire to
continue to be a part of the Sacred Agreement that God made with His people.
Likewise, the New Sacred Agreement is the only means for the
forgiveness of sins… and for life! On the night before his death, Jesus made it
clear to his disciples that the New Sacred Agreement was about to be
inaugurated, and that by their eating and drinking those emblems they would be
brought under that Agreement. He further commanded them to continue this
practice (Luke 22:17-20).
So, all true Christians who wish to have their sins
forgiven, to have a true relationship with Jehovah, and to have the ‘life’ that
God promised, must first be baptized, and then agree to be parties to the New
Sacred Agreement… they must cultivate its laws in their hearts and display it in
their lives. And only then may they – and should they – partake of the
emblematic flesh and blood.
But what of those who