What is the New Covenant?First I want to share some of the sweetest words in the whole of Scripture, taken from Hosea2:19-20 (21-22 in the Hebrew).Va'erastikhli l'olam b'tsedek uv'mishpat uv'chesed uv'rachamim, va'erastikhli b'emunah, v'yada'atet Adonai. And I will betroth you unto Me forever, yea, I will betroth you to Me inrighteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth youunto Me in faithfulness and you shall know Adonai.These are loving words of a Bridegroom to His Bride. They melt the heart. What bride would notlove to hear these words? They are a vow and a contract. And oh! the heartbreak of all themarriages shipwrecked in divorce as one or both parties break their vows. There is ONEBridegroom, however, who will never break those vows. So we have to define who is the Brideand who is the Bridegroom in this passage from Hosea. We need to take a brief look at theancient Jewish wedding.There are many in depth studies of the Hebraic wedding on the internet. Briefly, a marriageoccurred in stages. A couple did not get engaged after falling in love and then married as they dotoday. First- usually marriages were arranged. The prospective Bridegroom would visit hisintended's family to make a contract, or ketubah. The parents were involved. An offer was madeand a contract of responsibillity drawn up, which were sealed by a cup of wine. The bride price,or dowry, was settled. When the young woman was called in, she either drank from the wine cupor not, depending on if she accepted or rejected the offer. Then the couple was consideredbetrothed, a legally binding stage of marriage. The prospective groom would then depart to startbuilding a home for his bride. When the Father saw and was satisfied with the home, he wouldtell the son he could go get his bride. Then the marriage was finally consummated and a feastwas held. A final cup of wine was shared to seal the wedding contract. This is only a VERY brief summary of the wedding.As we all know Israel was betrothed to her G-D at Sinai. Many Scriptures speak of Israel as abetrothed wife. The contract was the Torah, the ketubah. Israel said "I do" but then she didn't.As we stated, G-d's will is never divorce. He hates divorce. In the case of divorce what happensto the marriage contract? Regarding divorce, G-d says in Jeremiah 3:8, " And I saw, when for allthe causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her abill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also."In Malachi 2:13- 16 G-d says that He hates divorce. Malachi 2:16 "For the L-RD, the G-d of Israel, says that He hates putting away: for one covers violence with his garment, says the L-RDof hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously." The ONLYaccceptable provision for divorce in any part of Scripture is found in Matthew 5:32 " But I sayunto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes herto commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery." TheTorah says that the parties caught in adultery should be stoned to death. Leviticus 20:10 "Andthe man that commits adultery with another man's wife, even he that commits adultery with hisneighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." G-D, the Holy

One, cannot do that. So if He has divorced Israel, He cannot re-marry her...Mark 10:11 "And Hesaid unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery againsther." EXCEPT if....In Hebrews 9:16-17 there is an interesting passage: " For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise itis of no strength at all while the testator lives." Adonai made a covenant with Israel. Israel wasHis promised kallah, or wife. Israel broke that covenant. And now the Bridegroom has onechoice. He dies. The covenant is broken. Now He can make a new Covenant in His blood.It is my belief that there is only one Bridegroom, Yeshua, G-D in human flesh, and only onebride. He marries the kallah, the espoused/betrothed wife, Israel. The question now is, who isIsrael? We know that the Scriptures speak of Israel as His wife (betrothed, not yet together).Ephesians 2 says that those who WERE called Gentiles by the circumcision (Jews) are in fact,now part of the commonwealth of Israel. Verses 11- 15 of Ephesians 2 state this. One new man-the Bride of Messiah, the church, Israel. I believe that Israel the Bride consists of BELIEVINGIsrael and the grafted in former Gentiles, and that there is no difference between the two. Lastnight Pastor George shared who he thought were the invited guests at the wedding. Since I amconvinced that BELIEVING Israel is the Bride, with the grafted in Church, it is possible that allthe believers before Sinai are the invited guests. They WERE believers. They will be in theKingdom. But there was no ketubah with them as yet, as Moses had not yet taken them to Sinai.January 1st started the year 2010 for us, but we have also come to the end of the Biblical year of 5770. In Exodus 12, the Scripture says that Aviv or Nisan would be the first of the year for thechildren of Israel. What an awesome time to reflect on what He did for us, in becoming ourPesach (Passover) lamb, as is stated in 1 Corinthians 5:7 "Purge out therefore the old leaven, thatyou may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Messiah our Pesach/Passover issacrificed for us."On the night before He was betrayed, our Lord had a last celebratory supper with His followersand offered a cup of wine to them with these words "For this is my blood of the new testament(covenant) which is shed for many for the remission of sins." In a traditional Passover seder,there are four cups of wine or grape juice offered. The cup of redemption, this third cup,represented what Yeshua's blood would do in paying the price of our sin.There is a lot of confusion about what the New Covenant is, as opposed to the "Old Covenant."In this time of spring, the time of remembrance of Yeshua's crucifixion and resurrection, thistime of new things being made, I think it's a good thing to examine what is really meant by theNew Covenant. It may come as a shock to many, but the Old Covenant is NOT the OldTestament and the New Covenant the New Testament as the Scriptures are laid out. The OldCovenant is NOT for the Jews while the New Covenant is for the Christians. The New Covenantdid NOT start with the book of Matthew although the Messiah IS the central figure of the NewCovenant.The first mention of the "new" covenant is given for us in the book of Jeremiah chapter 31. Inverses 31 and 32, the Bible says "behold the days come, says the L-RD, that I will make a new

covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant thatI made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant they broke! although I was a husband to them, says the L-RD." Therewas no church when the Most High proclaimed these words through His prophet. But whatexactly is the new covenant? First we need to clarify what the OLD covenant was.The Old Covenant was not the "Law of Moses", the Torah. Neither can we say that the NewCovenant is not the Torah. A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties. Thecovenant given to Israel is predicated by obedience to the Torah, or the "Law of Moses."Remember that Israel kept this for only about 40 days! They said they would obey and rightaway they sinned in the golden calf incident. They did not keep their agreement! The OldCovenant incorporated the instructions given to Moses but is in and of itself not the law of Moses. There was an IF /THEN clause. IF the children of Israel kept the instructions, then G-dsaid "I will be their G-d and they will be My people." (Jeremiah 32:28 and other places.)As we know from Scripture, Israel dismally failed in keeping the law given at Sinai. In G-d'sgrace He provided a sacrificial system that allowed men to draw near to Him in the continualflow of a blood sacrifice. The covering of the Ark, the Mercy Seat, was called a Kaporet, fromthe word 'kaphor' meaning covering. Here atonement was realised, especially on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, for the putting away of sins. Some say grace is not in the OldTestament Scriptures but it certainly was, in the provision animals to temporarily be the bloodwhich would put aside the sin of man.So what is the New Covenant? Simply that G-d knew we could not keep His commandmentsperfectly so before our world began (Revelation 13:8), He ordained that Yeshua would come andpay the price of sin. He is the Lamb of G-d, the Passover, that takes away the sin of the world.The New Covenant did not come with a new set of laws for us, while the old are passed away.The New Covenant was the agreement that IF we took the provided sacrifices for our sins,Yeshua, the penalty for breaking His commandments was paid.The New Covenant began with Yeshua's death and resurrection but is not fully come yet. Thetext in Jeremiah says there are several things which must happen first. In verse 33, He says that"I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts." This happened atShavuot/Pentecost, 50 days after His resurrection, when the Ruach HaKodesh or Holy Spiritcame to indwell believers. The other things have not happened yet. Israel is not restored. Menstill have to teach each other to "Know the LORD". The New Covenant will be totally in placewhen Messiah comes to reign in His kingdom. Then we will have the fulfillment of thisprophecy!So the "Old Covenant" is still in place. Yeshua said "If you love Me, keep my commandments."The New Testament had not been written yet when He said this. We cannot keep thecommandments that have to do with the temple, the priesthood, and the sacrificial system. Hehas paid for that part in His blood. We have His forgiveness and where the Old Covenant said IFyou obey Me, the New Covenant says "Now you CAN obey me! My law is in your hearts andyou are a new creature and no longer slaves to sin." See Romans 6:17 and 18.