New Covenant Promises
-What about the New Testament verses regarding the New Covenant?
-If we're not in the New Covenant, how are we saved?
-Jesus said, "this is the New Covenant in My blood." So how are we not in the New Covenant?
These are a few of the responses/ questions/ arguments that I have received over sharing that we are actually not yet in the New Covenant. So, what we're going to do is start in the New Testament and work our way backwards in order to peel back meanings and definitions. It’s very crucial that we seek out context for ourselves and not rely on the doctrines that have been handed down through the centuries. I know this may feel like a scary topic, but I promise, grasping a better understanding of the New Covenant will empower you endure the trials and struggles of this life so much stronger because your hope is built upon a firm foundation!
Firstly, let’s talk about the difference between the New Testament and the New Covenant. A testament is a storyline of events, a recorded testimony. A covenant is a contract of promises and conditions. So please keep that in mind as we continue- just because there is a shift in the storyline as prophecies are fulfilled, and additional testimony explaining that fulfillment, does not mean the underlying conditions and promises have changed. What we're going to unpack is what “the blood of the covenant” means, what the promises and elements of the new covenant are, and what all of this means to us while we’re still in flesh bodies.
I would also like to address that covenant does not mean law. Laws are simply instructions within a covenant to ensure the conditions are understood and kept by the party coming into agreement with the author of the covenant. Our Author blessed us with clearly defined instructions so that we would not be lost and seeking our own ways. His instructions outlined in the covenant are intended to prepare our hearts and strengthen our faith as we wait to receive the fullness of promise- The New Covenant.
In His Blood
What is the significance of the blood? Scripture defines blood as the carrier of life: Gen, 9:4-6, Lev. 17:10-14, and Deut. 12:23 are a few examples. We can find many New Testament verses describing the completely righteous life of Yahusha by mentioning His blood: Eph. 1:7, 1 Pet. 1:18-19, Rom. 5:10, Gal. 1:4. His blood was so pure that He was able to lay down His life and take it up again; He had authority over death because of the righteous life He lived. If biblically blood=life and Yahusha’s life=righteousness, then His blood is what gave Him the ability to resurrect and assume His prophesied position as High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. This position and authority over death is what gives Him the ability to resurrect the saints at the end of age and gather us to His Father’s Kingdom. In other words- His blood sealed the deal for the New Covenant. This is the context of the following verses, “My blood of the new covenant.”
Matthew 26:27-29 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Mark 14:24-26 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 22:15-20 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Notice that in each account He mentions not drinking the wine, representing the New Covenant, until we are brought to the Father’s Kingdom. In Luke’s account specifically, He says that the passover will not be fulfilled until that time. That is because the Passover is prophetic of the resurrection when the dead in Messiah are raised to eternal life, gathered into the Kingdom, and the wrath of the Almighty passes over us. This is the picture we see for-shadowed in Exodus as the blood of the passover lamb covers the people from death. Keep the Exodus in mind as we continue. Feasts & Prophecy Blog here.
The Mediator
Yahusha, as our High Priest, is the mediator of the New Covenant as Hebrews 8:6 states. This covenant is said to be founded on better promises so let’s look at what exactly those promises are.
Hebrews 8:6-12 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
This is quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34 for reference. We are going to break down the elements of this New Covenant Promise and connect lots of scripture dots.
So, the elements we have of the New Covenant include: the days Israel and Judah become one nation, His laws are engraved on hearts and minds, everyone will know Him, and sin will no longer be an issue. Let’s look at some other scriptures that describe these same elements
Jeremiah 30:3 For behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’
Ezekiel 36:24-28 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 37:11-14 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”
Ezekiel 37:19-23 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 37:24-28 “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
Notice the language used, “in those days” and compare it to Hebrews 8:13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. There are tenses used in this statement that indicate the “new” has not yet come to pass. Although the old is ready to vanish away, we are still awaiting “those days” where all of the elements are fulfilled and the covenant with flesh is made obsolete.
Kingdom Come
The better promises of the New Covenant are directly connected to His referencing His Father’s Kingdom when taking the cup of the covenant. The Kingdom of Elohim is the core of the promise! Which makes, “Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” make a lot more sense. Yahusha came proclaiming the Kingdom, taught about what the Kingdom is like, and associated His blood of the New Covenant with the Kingdom. He taught the gospel as something different than we have been taught, The Gospel of The Kingdom- we have added testimony because of His life, death, and resurrection but that does not replace what He called ‘Good News’. The New Testament is the testimony of Him fulfilling the prophecy of His first coming which prepared the way for His second coming with the Kingdom.
Our Messiah has the power and authority over death so that on the day of His return, dry bones will come to life and a new Spirit will be placed inside of them; they will be gathered into the Kingdom where Elohim and the Lamb dwell in their (our) midst forever. These are the better promises laid out in Hebrews, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and throughout the New Testament. None of these qualifications have yet come to pass for us to be abiding in the New Covenant. Let’s look at more end times scriptures to come to grips with the time these promises are said to be enacted. Pay close attention to the same elements we have already gone over:
Isaiah 26:19-21 Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.
Joel 2:1-3 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.
Revelation 11:18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.
Matthew 24:30-31 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
These verses lay out the resurrection occurring at the time Yashua descends from heaven, angels gather the saints dead and alive into the protection of the Kingdom (this is where we meet Him in the clouds, 1 Thess. 4:17), and then Yahusha pours out wrath on the evil of the earth. (For a more in depth study of tribulation events leading up to this moment, click here to get the Revelation Road Map). After these events take place and the land is purified according to Joel 2:3, the New Jerusalem comes down filled with the righteousness of the saints. New Jerusalem is also referred to as Zion, Paradise, and the Garden of Eden- keep the Eden in mind for later.
Revelation 21:9 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God
Revelation 21:2-5 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
These verses line up perfectly with what we see in Ezekiel 37! All of the earlier prophecies about the resurrection and Kingdom coming include “I will,” and here in Revelation we see further confirmation “God will.” He will make all things NEW at this prophesied time.
Old versus New
Now that we have explored the elements of the New Covenant and discovered what the ‘better promises’ are, let’s take a look at some of the New Testament passages that compare the old and the new covenants. This is the part where things get twisted with much of modern church doctrine, but it doesn’t have to be confusing! Elohim is not the author of confusion, He is the author of clearly defined covenants that show humanity His heart and plan for redemption.
The OLD is not where our hope lies…
Hebrews 12:18-19 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
Galatians 4:24-25 For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
*Note- the Jerusalem that is currently still alive and well on this earth, represents Israel still in bondage.
The NEW is where our hope lies but points us to it…
Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Galatians 4:26-27 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.” (Isaiah 54)
*Note- These verses speak of the New Jerusalem where Elohim dwells, the saints are gathered, and we have freedom. These are the elements of the New Covenant, the elements that have not yet come to pass.
So what is Paul talking about? He is using allegory to reveal the meaning behind Siani and the New Jerusalem- that our hope is not in the flesh but in the Spirit; old vs. new. He is using prolepsis to speak of what is to come as if it already is- faith! Another literary device Paul uses is juxtaposition to closely compare two concepts. We see this in the following verses that speak of how the flesh wars against the Spirit:
Galatians 4:28-29 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.
Galatians 5:16-18 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Romans 7:5-6 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
Romans 7:22-23 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Romans 7:25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 8:4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Okay, let’s put these pieces together! Mt. Siani/ bondage / Ishmael = flesh, the flesh desires sin as Paul emphatically explains in Romans 7. In order to keep the flesh in check and understand what sin is according to Yahuah, the letter of the law was given as a guardian. New Jerusalem/ free woman/ Isaac = Spirit, the deposit of the Spirit we currently have was given to lead us to understanding the fullness of the Spiritual nature that is to come at the resurrection. Juxtaposition was used by Yahuah in Jeremiah 31:31-33 to describe this exact concept. The Covenant He made when He led them by the hand out of Egypt was made with sinful people- flesh. The covenant He makes with Israel “after those days” is made with those who take part in the first resurrection- Spiritual, perfected bodies. The first Passover at the Exodus brought out flesh. The future Passover will be the gathering of the resurrected saints. This is how the New is not like the Old.
Sinful Flesh and Perfect Spirit
The scriptures above are describing how our flesh is the bondage that desires to sin against Yahuah; it is contrary to the law of Yahuah. Remember, laws are simply the instructions of covenant behavior. The law isn’t the bondage, our sinful nature that transgresses the law is what binds us. This is why a crucial element of the New Covenant is that we are no longer in flesh but clothed in new spiritual bodies with the law engraved on our hearts and minds- it will literally be impossible to sin again and that, my friend, is FREEDOM!
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
The reality of this current era is that we still struggle with sin. We do still have fleshly desires, thoughts, and heart positions that we have to take captive to the obedience of Messiah. We have to deny ourselves! But, because we have such a strong, secure hope in our redemption through Yahusha Messiah, we have the strength to overcome all things through Him! The deposit of the Spirit within us will convict our hearts and minds to want to obey the instructions of Yahuah and deny our flesh.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Did you catch that last line? Disobedience is punished when our obedience is fulfilled. That is the key to overcoming sinful flesh, obedience! Our obedience- our agreement to walk according to covenant behavior- is powerful to overcome the sin that so easily ensnares us. We have a deposit of the Holy Spirit to seal us for the day of redemption and to sanctify us to walk worthy of the calling- to walk in obedience to Messiah, not the flesh. That is the definition of walking in the Spirit. Though we are in the flesh, we can choose to do our best to walk in obedience to the Spirit of Elohim. This is setting our minds on things above knowing this flesh will be taken off and the imperishable will be our inheritance. Read Bride of Messiah: The Inheritance of Israel blog here.
2 Corinthians 5:1-8 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:42-45 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:50-54 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
John 3:3-6 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The New Covenant is about the imperishable, spirit bodies we will receive at the resurrection- entering the Kingdom clothed in perfection. The Old Covenant is about walking in obedience while we’re in the flesh- the process of discipleship and sanctification we are currently walking through.
Why is the NEW needed?
The reason we need the New Covenant is because WE break the first, we break His commands and disobey His will. It wasn’t just ancient Israel, ALL have sinned and fallen short!
Romans 5:18-19 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Romans 3:23-25 For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.
Romans 8:7-8 For if that first had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says:
Jeremiah 31:31-32 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke
Hebrews 2:14-16 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
All flesh is under the curse of the law- meaning all people have broken the conditions of the covenant. The very definition of sin is exactly this- breaking the law of Yahuah (1 John 3:4). However, we have a High Priest who lived a sinless life and was able to defeat death. His power and authority is much greater than those of the earthly priesthood. He removes the curse of sin = death when we have faith that He will resurrect us on the day of Yahuah. The New Covenant is necessary because only He can raise the dead, it’s not something we have the ability to do because of the sin-nature of our flesh. Adam lived in the perfection of Eden and sinned, thus cursing all of humanity. Yahuah knows the end from the beginning and made the Way for humanity to be redeemed and brought back to Eden to dwell in His presence once again. The resurrection itself is the curse literally being removed- no longer in bondage of sinful flesh, but clothed in the Spirit of life. THIS is salvation!
The Hope of Glory
I hope you are able to see now that the promises to come are so much greater than what we are currently living in while we wait for His return. If we were already in the New Covenant, there would be no hope. Yahusha is the one who will meditate and bring forth the New Covenant at the end the age as He spoke of returning with His Father’s Kingdom. This is the reason for our hope- He spoke it so we can be confident that He is faithful and just to perform it.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
Our faith is in the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Nobody has received the promises yet, so yes, we are still in the Old Covenant but are able to live out our faith with the revelation of the New that is coming! The Holy Spirit we are given a portion of is only a portion…imagine how much greater the fullness will be! The presence of Elohim we carry now is not even close to the glory we will experience in His direct presence! Our faith and our hope is a very real, literal, tangible thing. Belief is the substance of what is expected, the proof of what is not seen, (Heb. 11:1). If you read all of Hebrews 11, you’ll see #1 Abraham knew the true promise land was a land and a city whose builder and maker is Elohim (Heb. 11:10)- The New Jerusalem. And #2 Not even the most faithful of old have received the promise yet (Heb. 11:13, 11:39-40). All will receive the promise at the same time- the resurrection. All will enter the Kingdom, the true promised land, at the same time. Every Old Testament reference of Yahuah promising to bring back Israel to the land of their Fathers, is this New Covenant promise. The promise given to Abraham that he will father many nations who will inhabit the land between the Nile and the Euphrates, is this New Covenant promise. Every mention of dwelling with His people, even the Tabernacle itself, points to the New Covenant promise when His heavenly tabernacle will literally be in our midst forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
In Conclusion
We have now uncovered what the blood of the New Covenant means, what the elements of the New Covenant are, and when the New Covenant is said to be fulfilled. So the question is, what does that mean for us now? We have been so heavily indoctrinated to believe “the law = the old covenant and we’re in the new covenant now so we don’t have to obey the law.” But now that we can see scripturally how we are not yet in the new covenant, we have to look at what that means regarding the law. To put it simply, it means we learn it. The law is an integral part of both the old and the new covenant so regardless, it’s something we should pay attention to. And before you start to worry- no that does not mean we need to make sacrifices! The sacrificial system is very complex (it’s not just about sin sacrifices) and worth studying but we do not have a standing temple that is ordained by Elohim nor do we have an active earthly priesthood so none of those laws are physically possible. But what we can do is allow the Holy Spirit to teach us as 1 John 2:27 says to do. We can yield to the instructions of our Father and trust that His word is for our good. We can learn and practice the behavior that we will be doing innately in the Kingdom. We can put off our sinful flesh that wars against the law of Elohim and put on the holy ways He gave us to keep as a blessing.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 4:21-24 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s whole duty.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Deuteronomy 30:15-16 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
You can read the original The New Covenant? blog post here.
“We know the nation of Israel was scattered and Judah went into exile. Some turned back to Yahuah and were brought back to land, but only for a short period of time in the grand timeline. This promise of everlasting blessing has not yet come to pass. Waves of God's people are turning back to Him and obeying His commandments, this again is partial fulfillment of His promise. But our enemies have not yet been squashed and abiding in Zion with perfect peace is still what we hope for.”