In our lives whenever we strive in faithfulness and obedience to God to be good, the devil is there to deceive and destroy.
I thank you for your publication “Covenant Nations” and the discussion on aspects of the history of Our LORD God’s promise:
Exodus 19.5
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,
I love the wonderful encouragement of
Proverbs 3.5-7
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
I wish to overview simply and briefly the Old Covenant history and move shortly to references there about Jesus coming.
But firstly about how it was then:
From the time of the Judges, God’s people, His treasured possession were becoming more and more evil and again as before the time of Noah. God sent Judges.
This is a lengthy passage below, but today there is a great need to read and believe Holy Scripture.
During the time of the Judges, the devil attacked God’s people.
The passage below also teaches of God’s anger.
Judges 2.6-23
6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.
7 The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.
9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heresin the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.
12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger
13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
14 In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.
17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD’s commands.
18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.
19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
20 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me,
21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.
22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.”
23 The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.
Isaiah 5.1-9
1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
Jeremiah 5.1-19
1 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ still they are swearing falsely.”
3 O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
4 I thought, “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God.
5 So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God.” But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many.
7 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.
8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife.
9 Should I not punish them for this?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
10 “Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the LORD.
11 The house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the LORD.
12 They have lied about the LORD; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.
13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”
14 Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says: “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.
15 O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, “I am bringing a distant nation against you an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand.
16 Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors.
17 They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not destroy you completely.
19 And when the people ask, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’
We know that the Northern Kingdom of Israel went into captivity in Assyria in 722BC and the Southern Kingdom of Judah went into captivity in Babylon in 586BC.
Isaiah 29.13
13 The Lord says; “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
The problem was disobedience which caused “divorce” and captivity.
Isaiah 50.1
Israel’s Sin and the Servant Obedience
50 This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Jeremiah 8.8
8 How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD’” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?
Jeremiah 18.11-12
11“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’
12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
How important it is to actually read the truths above. We do not often truly read scripture and lean on the truth. We know the Northern Kingdom of Israel went into captivity in Assyria in 722BC and the Southern Kingdom of Judah went into captivity in Babylon in 586BC. Further, briefly, we know that remnants remained, and also over time, migration occurred east and north and then to all parts of the known world.
And thus, this is where I thank “COVENANT NATIONS” for their work as I remember Christmas time which has just passed. Our Lord Jesus through His Holy Spirit has encouraged this overview of several well known truths about His coming into His world a which we need to read. Why? Because in the weakness of our human nature and complacency we tend to forget! We have serious problems in our Covenant Nations.! Our Christian civilisations, our Christian heritages and ways of life are being threatened more than ever before. More than 1938-1939 to 1945 – more than Churchill could ever imagine. But he did,[1] Churchill saw the problem today, even before 1938! He saw the problem in 1899.
We simply need to go back to our first love – Jesus. He is the Person on whom our civilisation depends – on whom the Coronation Service is based. Truly looking to Jesus. We need to refocus on our Christian ministry.
Thus, now to the Old covenant references of His coming which need to be read:
Genesis 3.15
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspringand hers; he will crushyour head, and you will strike his heel.”
Deuteronomy 18.15
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
Isaiah 7.14
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, andwill call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9.1-2
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9.6-7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Isaiah 11.1-5
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
LORD
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
Jeremiah 23.5-6
5 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to Davida righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness
Jeremiah 31.31-34
31 “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Ezekiel 36.26-27
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Daniel 7.13-14
13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before
me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Zechariah 9.9
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Malachi 4.5
5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.
6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
Malachi 3.1, 4-5
1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty
4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
5 “So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the
LORD Almighty
The references above in Malachi speak of a messenger – The Lord’s messenger to prepare His way (3.1) Elijah – John the Baptist (4.5) – to prepare the way for Jesus the Messenger of His New Covenant for the true Covenant Nations who will “see” Jesus. Awesome!
Mark 1.15
15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!
There are a couple of important points to mention here to tie the Old Covenant to His New Covenant and His Covenant with His Nations. Those elect chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1.4) would certainly “see” Jesus (John 6.40). They have been given by the father to the Son (John 6.37, 17.2,6) and will never lose their salvation (John 5.24). This truth is given to encourage and to spur me on to love, good deeds and evangelism. Our Christian heritage in each of our Covenant Nations is in trouble. I will elaborate on this after the following important points.
In the Spring of AD28, Jesus taught the parable of the Treasure in the field. This parable was an illustration of spiritual responsiveness for us to understand that Jesus was to give His all to redeem His Treasured Possession – His House of Israel (Matthew 13.44).
Related to the above truth, a year later in Spring of AD29, Jesus taught the Canaanite woman that He was sent only the lost sheep of the House of Israel. For her answer He had compassion on her, acknowledged her faith and healed her daughter, (Matthew 15.24 ff).
What is wonderful as we remember Christmas and Our LORD God’s gift of Jesus coming into His world is that the Old Covenant and New Covenant are gloriously linked. Those true and obedient believers – the remnant – from the Old Covenant and the faithful elect Jews and gentiles of the New Covenant – all will be together in glory. Jesus died for the sins of the remnant of the Old Covenant (Romans 3.25) and those elect saved in the New Covenant. All will be grafted into the House of Israel – the House of Israel will be saved:
Romans 11.25-26
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved.
As elect our saving faith has given us salvation and eternal hope to eternal life. But what of our serving faith?
Has Britain’s elect – indeed the elect in all Covenant Natons – been unfaithful to the Covenant of Christ on which the Nations were built? Have the elect today been unfaithful to the legacy of our Christian heritage given by our Christian forefathers? Serving faith has to do with meeting specific needs. The way of life. There are 87+ Sharia Courts in Britain. There are people who cannot obey British law nor give a pledge of commitment and also want to take over the Nation. This applies to all Covenant Nations.
As we remember Jesus coming in His righteousness let us all renew our commitment to Him in Holy Faith (Jude 20,21) and to our forefathers and to Jesus’ work and our in our Covenant Nations.
[1] The River War’ Winston Churchill, 1899