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Figure 1. Model (Israel Museum) of Second Temple, destroyed in 70 CE.
“Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains. And I Myself — declares the LORD — will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it.
Zechariah 2:8b-9 (Tanakh)
The Covenant Model has existed ever since the Covenant came into being in the Garden Annex. Inevitable it has changed over the years. The first major change came with the amendment of the Eden Covenant to the Post-Eden Covenant. The Model was later amended to conform to the Mosaic Covenant. And now, with the introduction of the Messianically Amended Covenant, the Model has changed again.
[Dissertation: The Covenant Model and its evolution up until the birth of Jesus.]
Following Jesus' sacrifice, the Messianically Amended Covenant came into effect. And with it, the Messianically Amended Covenant Model. Having set the historical evolution of the Covenant Model as an assignment, the way is now clear to concentrate on the [Messianically Amended] Covenant Model.
At the time Jesus was alive, the Covenant was also known as "David's Tent".
Following Jesus' sacrifice, the Covenant ceased to exist at the Physical Level. However, as Jesus explained, it remained fully operational at the Spiritual Level.
The reasons for the failure of the Covenant at the Physical Level are threefold:
The period we are now in corresponds to "David's Fallen Tent":
Covenant Evolution.
However, David's Fallen Tent will be rebuilt:
"In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, [12] so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name," declares the Lord, who will do these things. (Amos 9:11-12 NIV84)
The rebuilding of David's Tent will be accompanied by the instantiation of the Covenant Model. The Model will work in both the Kingdom of Israel and abroad. However, with the death of the Two Witnesses, the infrastructure will start to crumble - see Matthew chapter 24 for the reasons. And once again, the Covenant and its Model will persist at the Spiritual Level ... right up until the End of the Age.
[ie, within the period of David's Fallen Tent.]
Scripture teaches that God made his home in Zion.
The immediate question is, "Is the Lord God at home in this moment in time (17-Dec-2024)?
At the Spiritual Level, the Lord continues to reside in Zion, for the Lord is constant in his feelings towards Zion.
However, the Physical Level is another matter altogether! In order to understand what is taking place at the Physical Level, it is necessary to get into the mind of the Lord God!
The Lord is currently absent from his Earthly Residence 'Zion'. Jesus explains:
"Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Luke 13:35 NIV)
This absence is entirely consistent with the Father's earlier remarks regarding Israel's disobedience:
14 But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments, 15 if you reject My laws and spurn My rules, so that you do not observe all My commandments and you break My covenant, 16 I in turn will do this to you: I will wreak misery upon you—consumption and fever, which cause the eyes to pine and the body to languish; you shall sow your seed to no purpose, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set My face against you: you shall be routed by your enemies, and your foes shall dominate you. You shall flee though none pursues.
18 And if, for all that, you do not obey Me, I will go on to discipline you sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break your proud glory. I will make your skies like iron and your earth like copper, 20 so that your strength shall be spent to no purpose. Your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
21 And if you remain hostile toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will go on smiting you sevenfold for your sins. 22 I will loose wild beasts against you, and they shall bereave you of your children and wipe out your cattle. They shall decimate you, and your roads shall be deserted.
23 And if these things fail to discipline you for Me, and you remain hostile to Me, 24 I too will remain hostile to you: I in turn will smite you sevenfold for your sins. 25 I will bring a sword against you to wreak vengeance for the covenant; and if you withdraw into your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into enemy hands. 26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven; they shall dole out your bread by weight, and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied.
27 But if, despite this, you disobey Me and remain hostile to Me, 28 I will act against you in wrathful hostility; I, for My part, will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your cult places and cut down your incense stands, and I will heap your carcasses upon your lifeless fetishes.
I will spurn you. 31 I will lay your cities in ruin and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not savor your pleasing odors. 32 I will make the land desolate, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled by it. 33 And you I will scatter among the nations, and I will unsheath the sword against you. Your land shall become a desolation and your cities a ruin. (Leviticus 26:14-33 (Tanakh))
Doesn't Leviticus 26:14-33 (Tanakh) accurately describe the state of Israel today? Israel - once a Kingdom serving the Most High - has been reduced to a state by the nations who now seek to control and silence it. As the nations seek to enforce Israel's subservience, they pay little heed to those who seek Israel's harm.
[Essay: The nations' enforcement of Israel's subservience; the nations' failure to take any real action against those who seek Israel's harm or destruction.]
What can be said of the covenant model portrayed by the state of Israel today? The House of Desolation is - itself - divided on the subject (qv)!
In contrast, from the Lord's perspective:
With the imminent rebuilding of David's Fallen Tent, it is time to turn our attention to the true Covenant Model! Not that we should disregard past mistakes, but rather that we should learn from them and avoid them.
There is a temptation to jump straight in to Model definition and production! However, hasty action is to be avoided! Much better to await the Lord's appointment of Priests in the Order of Melchizedek, and their research into the Messianic Amendment to the [Mosaic] Covenant.
Version: 2024-12-17