Yahweh said to Moses, 'Leave this place, with the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel I would give their descendants. I will send an angel in front of you; I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites. Go on to the land where milk and honey flow. I shall not go with you myself - you are a headstrong people - or I might exterminate you on the way.' On hearing these stern words the people went into mourning, and no one wore his ornaments.

Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Say to the sons of Israel, "You are a headstrong people. If I were to go with you, even for a moment only, I should exterminate you. Take off your ornaments, then, that I may know how to deal with you!"' So, from Mount Horeb onward, the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments. - Ex. 33:1-6 -

The activities of the Israelites tribes during the period between their departure from Egypt under Moses and the time when they encamped by the Jordan River, ready to be led into Canaan by Joshua. The period of time covered by these events is traditionally 40 years.

God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai (Horeb) and entered into a relationship with the twelve tribes, which bound them to God, Himself and made them, in effect, the nation of Israel. The relationship was in the form of a "Covenant".

This "Covenant" is fundamentally important for Israelite history. Through it a number of independent tribes were bonded together into one Hebrew/Israel nation and given a specific destiny as the "people chosen by God" as a channel for divine revelation. The Israelites, however, were not to behave just like any nation of the ancient world. All of these were pagan, following depraved and corrupt moral practices as part of their worship. The Israelites were to live as a religious community in which each member cared for the others.

Throughout their history, God' covenant people were meant to be an example or model of spirituality to the world. This, rather than political activity or territorial conquest, was to be their true destiny. Unfortunately, much of Israelite history was marked by periodic disobedience of the covenant laws. In fact, Israelite history began badly with an idolatrous act. The people made and worshiped a golden calf while Moses was still on Mount Sinai. - Ex. 32:1-6 -

After their punishment, the "Covenant" was renewed and work began on the building of the "Tabernacle". The structure was portable, and it moved with the Israelites whenever they wandered in the wilderness. Subsequent Hebrew/Israel/Jew temples were to reflect something of its structure.

After the rebellion had been put down, Moses went up into Mount Sinai again and there received the "Ten Commandments" a second time. - Ex. 20:1-21, Deut. 5:1-22 -

Yahweh said to Moses, 'Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain, and I will inscribe on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by morning, and come up to the mountain of Sinai at dawn; await my orders there at the top of the mountain. No one must come up with you, no one be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and herds may not graze in front on this mountain.'

And so Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first and, with the two tablets of stone in his hands, he went up the mountain of Sinai in the early morning as Yahweh had commanded him. And Yahweh descended in the form of a cloud, and Moses stood with Him there.

Moses called on the name of Yahweh. Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed, 'Yahweh, Yahweh, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; for thousands He maintains His kindness, forgives faults, transgression, sin; yet He lets nothing go unchecked, punishing the father's fault in the sons and in the grandsons to the third and fourth generation.' And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped. 'If I have indeed won Your favour, Lord' Moses said 'let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as Your heritage.' - Ex. 34:1-9 -

"THE  COVENANT"  -  EXODUS  20:1-21,  DEUTERONOMY  5:1-22  -

Yahweh said, 'I am about to make a Covenant with you. In the presence of all your people I shall work such wonders as have never been worked in any land or in any nation. All the people around you will see what Yahweh can do, for what I shall do through you will be awe-inspiring. - Ex. 34:10 -

When Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai - as he came down from the mountain, Moses had the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands - he did not know that the skin of his face was radiant after speaking with Yahweh. And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much that they would not venture near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron with all the leaders of the community came back to him; and he spoke to them.

Then all the sons of Israel came closer, and he passed on to them all the orders that Yahweh had given him on the mountain of Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever he went into Yahweh's presence to speak with Him, Moses would remove the veil until he came out again. And when he came out, he would tell the sons of Israel what he had been ordered to pass on to them, and the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he returned to speak with Yahweh. - Ex. 34:29-35 -

Covenant refers to an agreement between two people or two groups that involves promises on the part of each to the other. The concept of covenant between God and His people is one of the most important theological truths of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. By making a covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless His descendants and to make them His special people.

Abraham, in return, was to remain faithful to God and to serve as a channel through which God's blessings could flow to the rest of the world. - Gen. 12:1-3 - Even before Abraham time, God also made a covenant with Noah, assuring Noah that He would not again destroy the world by flood. - Gen. 9 - Another famous covenant was between God and David, in which David and his descendants were established as a royal heirs to the throne of the nation of Israel. - 2 Sam. 7:12, 22:51 -

This covenant agreement reached its highest fulfillment when Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of the line of David, was born in Bethlehem about a thousand years after God made this promise to David the king.

A covenant, in the scriptural/biblical sense, implies much more than a contract or simple agreement. A contract always has an end date, while a covenant is a permanent arrangement. Another difference is that a contract generally involves only one part of a person, such as a skill, while a covenant covers a person's total being.

The word for covenant in the Old Testament also provides additional insight into the meaning of this important idea. It comes from a Hebrew root word which means "to cut". This explains the strange custom of two people passing through the cut bodies of slain animals after making an agreement with each other. - Jer. 34:18 -

A ritual or ceremony such as this always accompanied the making of a covenant in the Old Testament. Sometimes those entering into a covenant shared a holy meal. - Gen. 31:54 - Abraham and his children were commanded to be circumcised as a sign of their covenant with God. - Gen. 17:10-11 - Moses sprinkled the blood of animals on the altar and upon the people who entered into covenant with God at Mount Sinai.

To Moses God had said, 'Come up to Yahweh, yourself and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and bow down in worship at a distance. Moses alone must approach Yahweh; the others must not, nor must the people go up with him.

Moses went and told the people all the commands of Yahweh and all the ordinances. In answer, all the people said with one voice, 'We will observe all the commands that Yahweh has decreed.' Moses put all the commands of Yahweh into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices. Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar. And taking the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, 'We will observe all that Yahweh has decreed; we will obey.' Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people. 'This' he said 'is the blood of the Covenant that Yahweh has made with you, containing all these rules.' - Ex. 24:1-8 -

The Old Testament contains many examples of covenants between people who related to each other as equals. For instance, David and Jonathan entered into a covenant because of their love for each other. This agreement bound each of them to certain responsibilities. - 1 Sam. 18:3 - But the striking thing about God's covenant with His people is that God is holy, all-knowing, and all powerful; but He consents to enter into covenant with man, who is weak, sinful, and imperfect.

In the Old testament, God's Chosen People confirmed their covenant with God with oaths or promises to keep the agreement. At Mount Sinai, the nation of Israel promised to perform 'all the words which God has said". - Ex. 24:3 - When the people later broke this promise, they were called by their leaders to renew their oath. - 2 Kin. 23:3 - By contrast, God does not break promises. His oath to raise up believing children to Abraham is an "everlasting" covenant. - Gen. 22:16-17, 17:17 -

The New Testament makes a clear distinction between....

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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless. 

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Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -