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Chapter 10 – CLUES POINTING TO THE END – CLUE #3
ALPHA ~ OMEGA
THE COVENANTS – HIS PERFECTION
(THE NECESSARY, ALBEIT, SLOW STEPS TO GOD’S PERFECT DESIGN)
(The following blue text, on this page, is taken as an excerpt from the Gotquestions.org website, “What is a Covenant”)
The Bible speaks of seven different covenants, four of which (Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic, Davidic) God made with the nation of Israel. Of those four, three are unconditional in nature; that is, regardless of Israel’s obedience or disobedience, God still will fulfill these covenants with Israel. One of the covenants, the Mosaic Covenant, is conditional in nature. That is, this covenant will bring either blessing or cursing depending on Israel’s obedience or disobedience. Three of the covenants (Adamic, Noahic, New) are made between God and mankind in general, and are not limited to the nation of Israel.
I. The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts: (a) the Edenic Covenant (innocence) and (b) the Adamic Covenant (grace) (Genesis 3:16-19).
The Edenic Covenant is found in Genesis 1:26-30; 2:16-17. The Edenic Covenant,
- Outlined man’s responsibility toward creation and
- God’s directive regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The Adamic Covenant included,
- The curses pronounced against mankind for the sin of Adam and Eve, as well as
- God’s provision for that sin (Genesis 3:15).
HIS PURPOSE IS HIS PERFECTION
This explanation tells us about the Adamic Covenant, but what we should be looking for is the purpose of the covenant, that is, where this covenant takes us, in time.
God is moving all of His creation, the heavens the earth, all the inhabitants and all of humankind toward perfection.
We should ask ourselves, why does God need to enact SEVEN covenants? Is He fickle? Did men and women out-think or outsmart God, so He would need to amend each previous Covenant as a response? No, to each of those questions.
Each covenant is a step toward God’s perfection. It is God’s design, as described in Matthew 5:48, for us to “be perfect, (teleio), even as He is perfect, (teleios)”.
In Matthew 5:20, Jesus says, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Again, 1 Corinthians 13:9, tells us, “For we know in part and prophesy in part; verse 10, but when the perfect, (teleios), comes, the partial will be done away with.”
Hebrews 6:1, commands us, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection (teleiotés); not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,”
Just as when God, as recorded in Genesis 6, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them”, He will once again, judge the world, in a final judgment.
Satan, Sin, Evil, Death Eradicated
Revelation 20:7-15, says, “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Judgment at the Throne of God
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Perfection Attained – A New Heaven and Earth
Revelation 21:1-4, tells us, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I 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 the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
Verses 22-27, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. he nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
THE NECESSARY, ALBEIT, SLOW STEPS TO GOD’S PERFECT DESIGN
It was because God had created mankind with the power of choice, with a free will and because God created man with a dubious character (Genesis 1:27), the Adamic Covenant was the FIRST NECESSARY, ALBEIT, SLOW STEP toward perfection.
2. The Noahic Covenant was an unconditional covenant between God and Noah (specifically) and humanity (generally). After the Flood, God promised humanity that He would never again destroy all life on earth with a Flood (see Genesis chapter 9). God gave the rainbow as the sign of the covenant, a promise that the entire earth would never again flood and a reminder that God can and will judge sin (2 Peter 2:5).
3. Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3, 6-7; 13:14-17; 15; 17:1-14; 22:15-18). In this covenant, God promised many things to Abraham. He personally promised that He would make Abraham’s name great (Genesis 12:2), that Abraham would have numerous physical descendants (Genesis 13:16), and that he would be the father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4-5). God also made promises regarding a nation called Israel. In fact, the geographical boundaries of the Abrahamic Covenant are laid out on more than one occasion in the book of Genesis (12:7; 13:14-15; 15:18-21). Another provision in the Abrahamic Covenant is that the families of the world will be blessed through the physical line of Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 22:18). This is a reference to the Messiah, who would come from the line of Abraham.
4. Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). The Palestinian Covenant, or Land Covenant, amplifies the land aspect that was detailed in the Abrahamic Covenant. According to the terms of this covenant, if the people disobeyed, God would cause them to be scattered around the world (Deuteronomy 30:3-4), but He would eventually restore the nation (verse 5). When the nation is restored, then they will obey Him perfectly (verse 8), and God will cause them to prosper (verse 9).
5. Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 11; et al.). The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God’s direct blessing for obedience or God’s direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel. Part of the Mosaic Covenant was the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the rest of the Law, which contained over 600 commands—roughly 300 positive and 300 negative. The history books of the Old Testament (Joshua–Esther) detail how Israel succeeded at obeying the Law or how Israel failed miserably at obeying the Law. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 details the blessing/cursing motif.
6. Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16). The Davidic Covenant amplifies the “seed” aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises to David in this passage are significant. God promised that David’s lineage would last forever and that his kingdom would never pass away permanently (verse 16). Obviously, the Davidic throne has not been in place at all times. There will be a time, however, when someone from the line of David will again sit on the throne and rule as king. This future king is Jesus (Luke 1:32-33).
7. New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The New Covenant is a covenant made first with the nation of Israel and, ultimately, with all mankind. In the New Covenant, God promises to forgive sin, and there will be a universal knowledge of the Lord. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and create a new covenant between God and His people. Now that we are under the New Covenant, both Jews and Gentiles can be free from the penalty of the Law. We are now given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).
It is through this final Covenant in Christ that we find these words, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
In addition to the historical timeline chart, I have added a presentation named the “Alpha & Omega” which is a brief outline and overview of some of the important Biblical events we have discussed in chronological order. These add to our base of clues and strengthen our understanding of the timeline that leads us to The End of the Age.
The next chapter: THE PREMILLENNIAL PRE-WRATH RAPTURE
PREVIOUS: PERFECTION – Chapter 9 – Clue #2
NEXT: PREFECTION – Chapter 11 – The Pre-Wrath Rapture
Go here for the entire book: The Journey Toward Perfection – God’s Ultimate Plan
IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF “GOD’S PROGRESSIVE COVENANTS” AS DESCRIBED IN THE BIBLE, YOU WILL BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE IN THE FINAL DAYS OF THE FINAL WEEK BEFORE JESUS RETURNS, USHERING IN THE “GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD”.
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