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Index
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Index
Figure 1. Signed contract also confirmed with a handshake.
And they, as Adam, transgressed a covenant,
There they dealt treacherously against me.
(Hosea 6:7 YLT)
Fig.1: Schematic of simple secular contract.
With contracts, as opposed to gratuitous agreements, there is giving of consideration by both parties. The term 'consideration' is the price for which the promise of the other is bought.
Consideration is a required feature of all contracts. Definitions:
“A valuable consideration, in the sense of the law, may consist either in some right, interest, profit, or benefit accruing to the one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility, given, suffered, or undertaken by the other” - Lush J (Currie v Misa (1875) LR 10 Ex 153)
some act or forbearance or the promise thereof is the price for which the promise of the other is bought, and the promise thus given for value is enforceable - Sir Frederick Pollock
Each party must benefit from each of the other parties yet, at the same time, each must give up something to each of the other parties (ie, suffer detriment).
[Assignment: Contracts: background reading.]
[Assignment: Write notes on salient features of contracts.]
The offerer safeguards are enshrined in law. Note that with regard to the Covenant, annulment of the Covenant - as mandated by Paul et al - will deprive the Lord of recourse to the Law in the event of any dispute. Paul strikes yet again, attributing his wrongdoing to the authority and guidance of the Lord Spirit.
[Essay: Safeguards in contracts.]
Covenants, i.e. contracts, are bargains made between parties (AQA Law for A2 (fifth edition)), as opposed to covenants, i.e. promises, which are gifts. For example, the rainbow was a sign gifted to mankind:
12 God further said, “This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. 13 I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature among all flesh, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures, all flesh that is on earth. 17 That,"God said to Noah, “shall be the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and all flesh that is on earth.” (Genesis 9:12-17 (Tanakh))
The term 'covenant' meaning 'gift' will be referred to as a 'promise'. This will require interpretation of third party usage, as in the case of the rainbow above. Using 'covenant' to mean 'promise' is ambiguous and likely to lead to confusion and error within the context of the Covenant [Contract].
It is perhaps helpful to think of 'covenant' - itself a contract - as the name of the container for the component contracts which are enclosed within. Note that the Covenant can exist in the abstract at the Spiritual Level, with its instantiation in the physical world. instantiation may take place in the Heavenly Realm or in the known universe.
To only see a Covenant contract at the Physical Level is an error.
The Covenant contract:
If the instantiation is missing, then reference must be made to the abstract component at the Spiritual Level - as is the case with David's fallen Tent.
If a scriptural contract exists at the Physical Level without a valid abstraction at the Spiritual Level, then that contract is false. Avoid! By way of example, Paul's so-called 'law' is wrong, and exists only at the Physical Level in his mind:
[14] For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 NRSV)
Since a [Covenant] contract, in whatever form it may take, originates with the Lord God, it necessarily must exist at the Spiritual Level. Initially, in the formative stages, the contract will exist at the Spiritual Level without any instantiation in the physical world.
It exists as an abstract entity which details God's declarations and requirements. It doesn't go into details about how His aims are to be achieved: for that to happen it must be mapped by the Lord God to a real-world (Heavenly Realm or Earth) context.
The Lord God maps the abstract contract to a real-world context with a set of commandments. However, over time, the context may change. These changes are mapped back to the abstract contract, where the Lord God can assess them and see if any changes to the instantiation are necessary. For example, at the Spiritual Level, the Lord God wanted to avoid starvation in Israel. So, one of His laws required farmers to leave the gleanings for the poor and the stranger†. However, while this would work in the countryside, it would not be practical for citizens living in large cities today, who would need a different, more practical. form of relief.
[† 22 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the LORD am your God. (Leviticus 23:22 (Tanakh))]
There are several Covenant contracts - listed here by name:
These exist at the Spiritual Level, and are mapped to the real-world.
However, when the Lord God gave the Law to Moses13C, it was called the 'Covenant'.
When the Covenant is dissected, it can be seen to comprise all the specific contracts listed above, either explicitly or implicitly. Here is a young children's schematic of the Mosaic Covenant, but with the Melchizedek Contract omitted for simplicity:
[Assignment: Show that the Melchizedek Contract is an implied component of the Covenant as given to Moses13C.]
What this means is that the Covenant is a contract which acts as a container for other - specific - contracts.
The Covenant today.
As can be seen from the schematic, the Covenant - because it is both contract and container - acts as an interface which allows access to its components. Furthermore, this interface allows the Lord God to dynamically change the contents of the Covenant. Thus, in the New Jerusalem, the Rescue Contract can be safely dropped, since sin and imperfection will no longer be present:
[3] Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; (Revelation 22:3 NRSV)
Because the Covenant is a container, the parties, terms, penalties, and safeguards, can each be formed from the union of the components. Here is the children's schematic for the terms (aka the Law):
At Jacob's well in the city of Sychar, Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman that the time was coming when worship would be conducted entirely at the Spiritual Level:
[19] The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. [20] Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." [21] Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. [22] You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:19-24 NRSV)
These truths became incorporated into the Messianic Amendment of the Covenant.
On another occasion, Jesus answered this question on the Law:
[36] "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" [37] He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' [38] This is the greatest and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' [40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40 NRSV)
Jesus' definition of the Law confirms that Paul's definition (Galatians 5:14 NRSV) is a lie. Not least, it is a lie Paul attributes to the authority and guidance of the Lord Spirit.
A Covenant contract has two components. There is the abstract contract which exists at the Spiritual Level. It states God's requirements, but not how His intentions are to be implemented. Being abstract, it can exist on its own without physical instantiation. Since a contract is generated in response to a need, instantiation must await a real-world situation.
instantiation exists at the Physical Level, either on Earth in the Heavenly Realm, and explains how God's wishes are to be carried out. Although the abstract contract can exist on its own, the instantiation must be linked to its abstract parent. A [scriptural] instantiation which has no abstract counterpart is an error:
Contract: concept and implementation.
For example:
Components may be added to the Covenant or dropped, as required. So, expect the components of the Covenant to change across the Timeline:
Visual schematic:
The evolution of the Covenant across the Timeline
Although David's Tent currently lies in ruins, it remains accessible at the Spiritual Level - much to the chagrin of the House of Desolation and the new-covenant church.
Today, outreach is so often driven by fear of hellfire and damnation. In new-covenant church meetings or on street corners can be heard the call, 'Come to Jesus [and be saved]!' While this is true, what follows is gross oversimplification backed up by evil new-covenant doctrine.
For those who rally to the new-covenant-church call, there is only the illusion of deliverance (see: Error)
[Essay: Fear as a foundation for outreach.]
[Essay: The error of over-simplification.]
[Dissertation: Pauline Error and his 'new covenant'.]
The Scriptures explain the approach taken by the Covenant:
This is My servant, whom I uphold,
My chosen one, in whom I delight.
I have put My spirit upon him,
He shall teach the true way to the nations.
He shall not cry out or shout aloud,
Or make his voice heard in the streets.
He shall not break even a bruised reed,
Or snuff out even a dim wick. He shall bring forth the true way. (Isaiah 42:1-3 T)
Neither in the synagogue nor on the street corner does Jesus go shouting the odds! No oversimplification for Jesus! Instead, He teaches the true way to the nations:
This is My servant, whom I uphold,
My chosen one, in whom I delight.
I have put My spirit upon him,
He shall teach the true way to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1 T)
One of Jesus' assignments is that of education. But how does He educate? Does He defile and annul the Covenant, as implied by Paul, who cites the guidance of the Lord and the Spirit for his evil doctrine? Or, does He update the Covenant with the Messianic Amendment, and then restore David's fallen Tent? For obvious reasons the two options are mutually exclusive!
But Jesus' assignment is so much more than educating people about the Rescue Contract.
Jesus knows and understands the Covenant. For Him, it is a way of Life. And Jesus desires to welcome people into a community who enjoy His company. It is not a community paralysed by fear. It is a community based on respect, awe, and appreciation of what He has done. Their fear of the Lord is constructive, based on awe, encouraging a deepening of their relationship with Him, and commanding their obedience to the current Covenant contract.‡
‡ Note that fear is sometimes translated as 'fear' or as 'reverenced awe':
[Essay: Destructive fear is for those who do not know God; whereas, constructive fear of the Lord is for those who know and understand Him.]
Moreover, it is a community which does not have to wait for the New Jerusalem in order to dwell with the Lord. Rather, it is a community which knows that they can dwell with the Lord in this life; for they know that the Lord's Name, heart, and eyes are in Zion:
And now I have chosen and consecrated this House [the Jerusalem Temple] that My name be there forever. My eyes and My heart shall always be there. (2 Chronicles 7:16 T)
Although not everyone would be able to dwell with the Lord in Jerusalem at the Physical Level, everyone can dwell with the Lord in Zion at the Spiritual Level:
5 I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line.
6 “Where are you going?" I asked.
“To measure Jerusalem," he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be.”
7 But the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him.
8 The former said to him, “Run to that young man and tell him:
“Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains. 9 And I Myself—declares the LORD—will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it. (Zechariah 2:5-9 (Tanakh))
Those choosing to dwell in Zion during this life will have their names recorded in the Register of Zion:
Indeed, it shall be said of Zion,
“Every man was born there.”
He, the Most High, will preserve it.
The LORD will inscribe in the register of peoples
that each was born there. Selah. (Psalms 87:5-6 T)
For those whose names are in the Register of Zion, the New Jerusalem will be a natural continuation of this life.
Currently there are several approaches to Life/Redemption:
Of course, there are consequences attached to each option:
The new-covenant is corrupt beyond words. The House of Desolation reject their Messiah, and follow their own defiled version of Moses' Covenant. As for the Messianic Jews, their Bible - like that of the new-covenant-church - contains corrupt content guaranteed to lead people astray.
The initial choice, of whether or not to dwell with the Lord, is relatively straightforward. However, if one chooses to dwell with God, then there are immediate problems! For those choosing to dwell with God within the framework of JudaismMessianic Amendment, I have tried to find a commmunity living within that framework. Alas, I have failed miserably. Hence this upload of the Judaic Covenant, with its call to rally to the Banner:
[10] In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. [11] In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
[12] He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. (Isaiah 11:10-12 NIV)
Since there is no infrastructure for the MessianicallyAmendedCovenant, the available options each lead to Death. This is why there is an urgency to the restoration of David's fallen Tent, and the provision of the necessary infrastructure so that people may meet together and with the Lord.
Version: 20-Feb-2024