What is the Renewed Covenant?

***Here is a disclaimer before you read this. I am not pointing out any one's transgression in this post or attempting to make anyone feel guilty. I am simply sharing what I have learned and how it has personally blessed me in my life. I will go before my Adonai personally and give an account for my life, alone, as you will one day too. We all are responsible for our own choices so lets not judge one another, but seek to learn from one another. I am presenting what I personally believe to be hidden in plain site "meat". If you find some bones, spit them out. But really look at the Word, all of it and you might be very surprised what you learn. I am not perfect and I make mistakes and like everyone else I am learning. Adonai bless you! Humbly, More than a Conqueror***

Many believers say that they are under the "new covenant" and that the "old covenant" has passed away, meaning according to many, that everything before the book of Matthew is just interesting reading material and none of it is applicable now that Yahshua our Messiah(Jesus) has come. Nothing could be further from the truth. Or they will say that they don't need to follow the instructions (Torah) because that is just law and we are not under that. Can I tell you that the law Yahshua refers to in a negative sense in the new testament is the teachings and traditions of men and not the Torah. Specifically the oral rabbinical law, but it could apply to some men's teachings today very easily as well. When Yahshua referred to the scriptures was He referring to the new testament? No, it hadn't even been written yet. When Paul referenced scripture was he referring to the new testament? No, again, it had not been written yet. Yahshua, Paul and all the apostles refer back continually to the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets. Did Yahsua come to abolish the Torah? No. Yeshua (Jesus) was a Torah observant, tallit-wearing, Seventh Day Sabbath and Biblical Feast-keeping, kosher Jew as was Paul and the other apostles! Are you saved by doing these things, no. However, in obedience there is blessing. Personally, and this is just me, I want to be like Jesus and do what he did! That is very exciting to me.

Yahshua said in Matthew 5: 17 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!"

Lets first examine the word "new covenant". In Hebrew the words used here are B'rit Chadasha or Hadasha. The word Brit means covenant. A covenant is an a formal sealed agreement, contract or promise. A marriage is a covenant. What the Hebrew people had with Yahweh in the book of Exodus was in effect a marriage covenant in a spiritual sense. Both Aramaic "khawdata" and Hebrew "chadasha" mean to renew, make anew or to repair. So a more accurate translation from the text would be a "Renewed Covenant." So if something is renewed, repaired or made to look like new are you starting over or are you using material that was previously there? Obviously the old has not been done away with but renewed.

During Shavuot, which means "weeks", Yahweh gave his people the Torah. As a Groom gives a bride, it was conditions of their covenant (marriage) as a people and an Elohim (God). This was the original Pentacost and Yahweh wanted to meet with his people, but out of fear His people refused to meet with Him and instead sent Moses up the mountain. Read Exodus 34 and Deuteronomy 16 to get a better understanding of this particular Feast of the Lord.

So the people took Yahweh to be their Elohim and Yahweh took the people to be his people or if you will His bride. When you marry your husband or wife does anything go? Can you run around with another man or woman? Are you supposed to dishonor them? Do you submit one to another or do you behave as a single person? Are there any conditions or requests that you honor? You would be fooling yourself if you said no. If you took the same vows that I did when I was married, then there were certain promises that you made. There was an agreement when you were married, a covenant if you will, and depending on what faith you were married in this can be very specific or very broad, but none the less it is something that you agreed to on your wedding day and hopefully you keep in your marriage. The marriage ceremony itself contains some pretty good instructions for a good marriage. If you break that covenant or ignore the instructions for marriage you might cause disharmony and in the worst case scenario you and your spouse might divorce. This agreement that God's people made with Yahweh was contained in the Torah. Yahweh later divorced his people in a sense. Read the book of Hosea to better understand how and why this occurred and what Adonai planned to do to remedy the situation.

So what happened to break the covenant? I am going to answer that very simply, but I do recommend you study 1 and 2 Kings, Jeremiah and Hebrews. Yahweh considers idolatry or the worship of other gods, adultery and in the all through the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets He makes that very, very clear. King Solomon, among others, committed idolatry and in effect committed adultery against Yahweh. Some marriages can tolerate many things, but adultery is a tough one and in this case the adultery continued on and on and on. Yahweh's patience, love and forgiveness for his people was incredible, but at some point a line had to be drawn as they were continually unfaithful to Him. The consequence of this was that a divorce decree was given to Israel, but not to Judah. Separation occurred in the kingdom and became what is now known in history as the Northern and Southern Kingdoms and subsequently the scattering of the ten tribes of Israel occurred throughout the nations. Yahweh did not put away or divorce Judah because of a promise He had made to King David.

So if a woman is given a certificate of divorce in the Torah can she remarry the husband that divorced her? The answer is no. According to Torah she may not remarry the husband that divorced her. There is one way however that she could remarry or recovenant and that is if the former husband dies. That is exactly what happened when Yahshua (Jesus) came. Yahshua is the Word (Torah), He is Yahweh (God), and He came to earth in the flesh of a man and died on a cross, was buried and resurrected, ascended into heaven now seated at the right hand of the Father and will be returning soon for His bride. His death was not only payment for her sins, but also made it possible for the covenant to be "renewed" with her. We who are His bride will soon be reunited with Him when comes back because of His sacrifice.

The Torah is the instructions for a good marriage with our King. Most of the mizvot or instructions can not be kept today because there is not a temple or sacrificial system, however many of the commandments do still apply in the messianic faith. Honestly, when I first thought about keeping Torah I thought that might be difficult or burdensome, because that is what I had been told my entire christian walk, but most of the instructions in the Torah are common sense on how to worship the Lord during His appointed times (His Feasts), how to get along in society and with others and how to take care of the body the Lord has given me. It is all very good and has been a tremendous blessing to my family and myself. Frankly I feel more freedom because I know very clearly where the boundaries are so there is no guess work. If sin has been defined as missing the mark, what is this mark everyone keeps talking about missing? The mark are the instructions in the Torah. That is what we should be aiming for!

For a more detailed and challenging teaching I recommend to watch Rico Cortes at www.wisdomintorah.com Click on "Teaching", "Watch Rico on TV" and then scroll down and click on the pt. 1 of the "What is the Renewed Covenant?". Rico is very detailed and will probably answer more of your questions accurately and thoroughly through his teaching.

Blessings to you!! SHALOM ALEICHEM!