What Is The “New” Covenant and Are You Included In It?

When examining an agreement (aka covenant), it is usually an advisable practice to be familiar with all aspects of the agreement; for example, is it a completely new agreement with all new terms, an addition to an existing agreement, an alteration of an existing agreement, etc.

The covenants between Yhwh and Abraham, Yhwh and Isaac, Yhwh and Jacob (aka Israel) and Yhwh and the children of Israel are all given in separate locations in the torah (aka the books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy).  Also recorded are other agreements such as with Noah.  None of these agreements is worded exactly the same way, and there are distinctive promises and expectations attached to each.  Also, Yhwh went on to make other agreements with specific persons descended from Abraham, such as David and David’s son Solomon.  All of these covenants had terms laid out.

You should notice as you read these agreements, there are usually stipulations for both parties, such as conduct, rewards, penalties for breaking the agreement and so forth.  We would simply call them contracts today.

There is a “new covenant” that Christianity lays claim to, a covenant that was recorded in a letter addressed to the Hebrew people of almost 2,000 years ago.  The covenant, which appears in the letter called The Epistle to the Hebrews in the “new testament,” is actually taken, however, from what was recorded as prophesy given by Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was the son of a priest at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.  The word of Yhwh that came to Jeremiah establishing him as prophet was this:

“Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.”

AND

“See, I appoint you this day over nations and kingdoms: to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

The book of Jeremiah also records as from Yhwh:

The word which came to Jeremiah from Yhwh:  Thus said Yhwh, the Elohim of Israel:  Write down in a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you.  For days are coming—declares Yhwh—when I will restore the prosperity of My people Israel and Judah, said Yhwh; and I will bring them back to the land that I gave their fathers, and they shall possess it.

There is quite a bit along these lines with more specifics given throughout; however, specifically in chapter 30 and on into chapter 31, we read such as:

For thus said Yhwh:  Cry out in joy for Jacob, shout at the crossroads (head) of the nations!  Sing aloud in praise and say: ‘Yhwh has saved His people,’ the remnant of Israel.  I will bring them in from the northland, gather them from the ends of the earth—the blind and the lame among them, those with child and those in labor—in a vast throng they shall return here.  They shall come with weeping, and with compassion will I guide them.  I will lead them to streams of water, by a level road where they will not stmble.  For I am ever a Father to Israel, Ephraim (means “fruitfulness in the land of my affliction”) is my first-born.

Hear the word of Yhwh, O nations, and tell it in the isles afar.  Say—He who scattered Israel will gather them and will guard them as a shepherd his flock.  For Yhwh will ransom Jacob, redeem him from one too strong for him.

The writing continues with more about Israel and the return of Israel.  Then this:

At this I awoke and looked about, and my sleep [preceding vision] had been pleasant to me.

See, a time is coming—declares Yhwh—when I will sow the House of Israel and the House of Judah with seed of men and seed of cattle; and just as I was watchful over them to uproot and to pull down, to overthrow and to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will be watchful over them to build and to plant—declares Yhwh.  In those days, they shall no longer say, “Parents have eaten sour grapes and children’s teeth are blunted,” but every one shall die for his own sins:  whosoever eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be blunted.

Now, please notice that all this time the prophecies are speaking of Israel and Judah.  The prophecy continues:

See, a time is coming—declares Yhwh—when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand [outside influence] to lead them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, though I espoused them—declares Yhwh.  But such is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel after these days—declares Yhwh:  I will put My Teaching [torah] into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts [literally minds].  Then I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.  No longer will they need to teach one another and say to one another, “Heed Yhwh”; for all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall heed Me—declares Yhwh, for I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sins no more.

Thus said Yhwh, who established the sun for light by day, the laws of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea into roaring waves, whose name is Yhwh of Hosts:  If these laws [of day/night/sun/moon and stars/sea] should ever be annulled by Me—declares Yhwh—only then would the offspring of Israel cease to be a nation before Me for all time.

Thus said Yhwh:  If the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below could be fathomed, only then would I reject all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done—declares Yhwh.

See, a time is coming—declares Yhwh—when the city shall be rebuilt for Yhwh from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate; and the measuring line shall go straight out to the Gareb Hill, and then turn toward Goah.  And the entire Valley of the Corpses and Ashes, and all the fields as far as the Wadi Kidron, and the corner of the Horse Gate on the east, shall be holy to Yhwh.  They shall never again be uprooted or overthrown.

Examine with me, if you would, the section that speaks about a “new covenant.”  First of all, it mentions that this new covenant will be different from the one made with the children of Israel after they had been led out of Egypt.  Yhwh speaks of the House of Israel and the House of Judah, and at the time Jeremiah spoke this prophecy, Israel had been split into those two houses.  However, the prophesy states in two sentences later that the new covenant will be with the House of Israel.  I can think of two possibilities.  Since both Judah and Israel broke the covenant, it would seem that the new covenant is for a restored House of Israel…when Judah and Israel are together again.  OR Yhwh makes mention of only Israel (after these days) because the House of Judah would repent and be brought back after the Babylonian captivity and only the House of Israel would remain to be brought back into covenant with Yhwh.  In either case, ALL of the children of Israel would be covenanted with Yhwh.

Also, Yhwh makes the point that He did not break the covenant, the people did.  He espoused them, but they failed to cleave to Him.  In the new covenant, however, things will be different.  The House of Israel will not break the covenant, and that is what is NEW.  They won’t break it because Yhwh will put His teaching (His torah) into the inmost being and He will inscribe it on the minds of His people.  As a result, the people WILL be His people, and of course, He will be their mighty one.  It goes on to make the point that Israel has not nor will cease to be a nation before Yhwh [no matter how much religious leaders teach they are replaced]; they are still a nation before Him, and therefore, can and will be in the new covenant.

Now notice what the new covenant does NOT say.  Nowhere is any change made to the original agreement.  His commandments, instructions, statutes, rules, and teachings remain unchanged in this new agreement…it is quite clear that what is “new” is that the people will obey Yhwh.  (For more on this see Who and What Have You Believed? and watch for the upcoming article on the Letter to the Hebrews.)

Nowhere does this covenant say anything about an agreement with gentiles.  Why then do Christians, gentiles, believe this covenant is referring to them?  First of all, they haven’t read it.  Secondly, they haven’t read it without doing a whammy on it and changing its meaning in their minds even as it’s being read, and thirdly, they have traditions that have so snared them, that even a simple reading of the “new covenant” becomes some convoluted mess of cancelled law, Israel replaced, and freedom in “Christ” to disregard the commands of Yhwh since, after all, those only apply to the “Jews.” All of this while laying claim to this “new covenant.”

I never heard of a contract in which the actual wording is completely disregarded or treated as worthless, yet the contract is claimed as a valid contract for the ones disregarding it.  Amazing.

I submit to you that if you are not of a repentant House of Israel that has returned to the Elohim of your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and, in addition, has submitted your mind and innermost being to Yhwh’s teaching/torah/law written and placed there, you are not in this “new” covenant with Yhwh.  And no matter how many other people you find who will disregard the terms of the agreement along with you, it will never make you a contract holder.  For certain, you are outside of the agreement if you do not acknowledge and live by the ACTUAL terms of the covenant…it is only for those people who will be His people and He will only be Elohim to those people ACTUALLY in the covenant.