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New Covenant Question
hillsbororiver:
Hi Eric,
I won't presume to give a definitive answer but I will offer some scriptures that might be relevant food for thought;
Hebrews 7
11If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
12For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
13For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
20And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
23And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
24But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
*(Who now are implored to make a daily sacrifice?)
28For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.
* 1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Contrast that with this;
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Peace,
Joe
Phil3:10:
Thanks Joe, Eric,Kat and all for your explanations of the New Covenant. Kat, it was such a good explanation from Ray that I intend to print it out for future reference. Joe, how very well you pointed out in the verses that JESUS THE CHRIST is the better surety and all we will ever need. Eric, it is questions like yours that makes this forum such a blessing to visit. It is indeed a wonderful blessing to be able to read and understand our LORD'S teachings in such a way that no church minister could ever present for my understanding.
Again, my thanks to you and to all who visit this forum. You help me so much in understanding the truths of our GOD and are indeed a blessing worth so very much.
In HIM,
Phil3:10
Kat:
Hi Eric,
I think this excerpt from the article 'Lazarus and the Rich Man' should help with your question.
http://bible-truths.com/lazarus.html ---
JEWS STILL REJECT JESUS
Judah did not obey God through most of their long history. The Jews as a nation did not repent at the preaching of John the Baptist. They killed their own Savior!
"Let all the house of Israel know certainly, then, that God Makes Him Lord as well as Christ--this Jesus Whom you [Jews] crucify!" (Acts 2:36).
But Christ forgave them before He even died:
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
He commissioned his apostles to herald the good news of His resurrection and the coming Kingdom of God to them again, but again, as a nation, the Jews rejected Him.
So now what? So then Christ calls Saul to be "Paul." And so Paul preaches and teaches in Jerusalem. And what kind of reception did Paul and his message receive?
"Now he [Paul] argued in the synagogue on every sabbath ... Paul was pressed in the word, certifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. Now at their [the Jews] resisting and blaspheming, shaking out his garments, he said to them, ‘Your blood be on your head! Clear am I! From now on I SHALL GO TO THE NATIONS" (Acts 18:4-6).
Just as Christ prophesied
"...neither will they be persuaded if someone should be rising from among the dead."
The Scriptures do plainly state that the Jews shall yet find salvation through Christ’s Sacrifice, because it was God who blinded them in the first place so that they would not and could not understand and repent! Isaiah prophesied that they would not repent and so Christ did not heal them (Mat. 13:1915). "...us [Gentiles], whom He calls also, not only out of the Jews, but out of the nations also..." (Rom.. 9:24). And
"I shall be calling those who are not My people [poor and wretched people like Lazarus--Gentiles] ‘My people,’" (Rom. 9:25).
Yes ALL PEOPLE will be GOD’S PEOPLE!
If that thought doesn’t bring joy to our hearts, I don’t know what could. And
"I became disclosed to those [Gentiles] who are not inquiring for Me" (Rom. 10:20).
Since the time that Paul said "From now on I shall go to the nations," the Jews have, except for rare and individual cases, rejected Christ risen from the dead. But millions of poor rejected people like Lazarus have been brought into Abraham’s bosom, into a close and intimate relationship with God Himself.
v
v
Let’s read the good news:
"...I will make a NEW Covenant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah... For this is the Covenant that I WILL MAKE [future tense] with the house of Israel AFTER THOSE DAYS [those days of blindness and unregenerate hearts crying out from the symbolic gates of hades], saith the Lord; I will put my Laws INTO THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM IN THEIR HEARTS; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people" (Heb. 8:8-10).
Judah had the "promises," the "Oracles" of God, the "Royalty," the "Priesthood," the "Seat of Moses," the "Temple of God," the "Ark of the Covenant," enormous "wealth and riches," the "Possession of the Land," and the prophesied "Messiah." But they crucified their only Savior! For this they will certainly go through many "tormenting" trials and afflictions, but the fire of God’s Holy Spirit will cleanse them of their sins and they WILL BE SAVED--ALL OF THEM!
"And thus ALL Israel shall be saved..." (Rom. 11:26)
So sad that the Scriptures are not believed and the gospel rarely preached. People accuse me continually of teaching that unbelievers, and evil unrepentant and unregenerate sinners will be saved in THAT condition. I have never even suggested such a repugnant thing. God WILL CHANGE THEM. And it all begins in THE HEART! They will repent at the goodness of God.
"And thus ALL Israel shall be saved, according as it is written, Arriving out of Zion shall be the Rescuer [that’s CHRIST!]. He WILL be turning away irreverence from Jacob [Jacob includes Israel and Judah], And this is My Covenant with them whenever I SHOULD BE ELIMINATING THEIR SINS" (Rom. 11:26-27).
If we would but believe these simple and profound Scriptures there would never be such distortions of God’s Word being taught as is the case with this parable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
mercy, peace and love
Kat
mharrell08:
--- Quote from: ericsteven on August 02, 2009, 12:17:02 PM ---If Israel is now a spiritual Israel, as Ray teaches, what is the spiritual purpose behind referring to Israel collectively as “the House of Israel” and “the House of Judah?”
--- End quote ---
I think this is where the confusion lies...was as believers, right now, are referred to as both 'the House of Israel' and 'the House of Judah'.
As Israel:
Gal 6:15-16 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
For those who 'walk according to this rule', they are the Israel of God...the rule of being IN Christ and Christ being IN us.
As Judah:
Rom 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Rev 2:9 & 3:9 ...which say they are Jews, and are not [this is a rebuke as they should be Jews but instead they lie and are unbelieving]
Jew is short for Judah...and many who are of another tribe of Israel refer to themselves as a Jew.
Excerpt from 'Lazarus and the Rich Man' paper (http://bible-truths.com/lazarus.html):
To show how dominant Judah was in absorbing all these Tribes and passing on his name to them, look at Judges 17:7:
"And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite..."
He was a Levite who was considered Juhah’s family.
The Priests, of course, did have to know their lineage or they would not be qualified for the Priesthood. Paul was an extremely well-educated man and therefore did know his lineage. So let’s see if this makes sense now. With all these things in mind, maybe we can better understand how these different names are used and applied to even the same person.
Paul, for example, was an Hebrew (Phil. 3:5) through Abraham (Rom. 11:1), and through Isaac, was an Israelite through Israel (Rom. 11:1), was a Benjamite through the Tribe of Benjamin (Rom. 11:1), from Tarsus of Cilicia (Acts 21:39), was educated in Jerusalem, was trained a Pharisee, under Gamaliel, spoke Hebrew & Greek (Acts 22:2-3), was also a Roman (Acts 16:37), and also calls himself A JEW (Acts 21:39).
So here’s what happened. In the Old Testament all Jews were Israelites, but not all Israelites were Jews. Like all Floridians are Americans, but not all Americans are Floridians. But, because Judah was always the dominant Tribe and Israel was once again gathered in Judea under Judah’s leadership, and because many of the individual Tribes became so mixed in inter- tribal and interracial marriage, many became designated as "Jews" in the New Testament. Even today, many known "Jews" may really be "Danites" or "Reubenites" etc. Many thinking themselves Gentiles could really be descendants of Israelites or Jews or other lines of Hebrews and not even know it..
The priests, though referred to as Jews after their return to exile, were of the lineage of Levite, therefore the House of Israel. The House of Judah was the lineage for the King, as Christ is. This role of King and Priest, of both Houses, is given to Christ as Joe showed from the book of Hebrews.
Priests were never kings, neither were kings ever priests [under the Old Covenant...though Melchizedek was both before the Old Covenant]. And like Melchizedek, the scriptures state that Christ would serve both positions under the New Convenant[Ps 110:4, Heb 5:6]. We also know that as He is, so will we be [1 John 3:2, 1 John 4:17]
1 Pet 2:9-10 ye [believers] are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Rev 5:9-10 Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Christ and Peter make reference to us, the believers, as fulfilling these 2 positions in the [spiritual] Israel of God.
Hope this helps clear up any 'House of Israel' and 'House of Judah' questions/comments.
Thanks and sorry for the long post,
Marques
Jody Edwards:
Just a short response. From after reading Ray for years now, I believe the short answer to the question is found in John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Jesus fulfilled the penalty of sin required in the law at the cross (that they might have life) and he will fulfill the second portion (life more abundantly) by putting an end to sin by writing the law on the hearts of all men. Of course, the second phase is a very long process that ends when the LOF age is completed. The first part happened quickly at the cross so that no man would remain dead. But upon resurrection for most of mankind, the sinning continues and will be dealt with in the LOF. In the end, all men will have life (1st part of Jesus' ministry) and have it more abundantly (second part of Jesus' ministry). When sin is dead, there will be no need for the law.
Jody
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