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November 2024
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God’s Covenants

GOD’S COVENANTS – and a few Bible texts where men have made Covenants.
The EVERLASTING COVENANT between GOD and EVERY LIVING CREATURE.” Genesis 9:16 = COVENANT of GRACE.
COVENANT with NOAH; with ABRAHAM and his seed, with ISAAC, and with JACOB.
Moses took the TABLES of the COVENANT = the LAW of TEN COMMANDMENTS.
COVENANT of REDEMPTION; COVENANT of SALT; COVENANT PERPETUAL MEMORIAL; PERPETUAL GENERATIONS.
1. The COVENANT of GRACE
The COVENANT of the GRACE of CHRIST commenced before the world was made. It existed FROM ETERNITY and it is named the EVERLASTING COVENANT.
The terms of this oneness between God and man in the great COVENANT of REDEMPTION were arranged with Christ FROM all eternity. The COVENANT of GRACE was revealed to the patriarchs.
But known unto God are all His works, and FROM eternal ages the COVENANT of GRACE (unmerited favor) existed in the mind of God. The plan of salvation was not conceived after the fall of man, but it was that which was “kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested and by the Scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith.”
Romans 16:25 Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Romans 16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
Romans 16:27 To God only wise, [be] glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
The PURPOSE and PLAN OF GRACE existed FROM all eternity. Before the foundation of the world it was according to the determinate counsel of God that man should be created and endowed with power to do the divine will. The fall of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent. Redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam, but an eternal purpose, suffered to be wrought out for the blessing not only of this atom of a world, but for the good of ALL THE WORLDS that God had created.
The Law stands in all its original force and purity; not one jot or tittle was to be set aside or altered; for the LAW is the TRANSCRIPT of the CHARACTER of GOD. But the Lord made a COVENANT of GRACE whereby His mercy is extended to fallen man, and provision is made so ample and powerful that souls ruined by the fall may be uplifted to glory, honor, and immortality.
As the Bible presents two laws, one changeless and eternal, the other provisional and temporary, so there are two COVENANTS. The COVENANT of GRACE was first made with man in Eden, when after the Fall there was given a divine promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. To all men this COVENANT offered PARDON and the ASSISTING GRACE of God for FUTURE OBEDIENCE through FAITH in Christ. It also promised them eternal life on condition of fidelity to God’s Law. Thus the patriarchs received the HOPE of SALVATION.
Under the COVENANT of GRACE God requires from man just what He required in Eden,–perfect obedience and harmony with God’s Law, which is holy, just, and good. The believing sinner, through His divine Substitute and Surety, renders obedience to the Law of God.
This same COVENANT was renewed to Abraham in the promise, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 22:18. This promise pointed to Christ. So Abraham understood it (see Galatians 3:8, 16), and he trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was this faith that was accounted unto him for righteousness. The COVENANT with ABRAHAM also maintained the authority of God’s law. The Lord appeared unto Abraham, and said, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1. The testimony of God concerning His faithful servant was, “Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. And the Lord declared to him, “I will establish My COVENANT between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an EVERLASTING COVENANT, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.” Genesis 17:7.
Though this COVENANT was made with Adam and renewed to Abraham, it could not be ratified until the death of Christ. It had existed by the promise of God since the first intimation of redemption had been given; it had been accepted by faith; yet when ratified by Christ, it is called a NEW COVENANT. The law of God was the basis of this covenant, which was simply an arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with the divine will, placing them where they could obey God’s law.
Another compact–called in Scripture the “OLD” COVENANT–was formed between GOD and ISRAEL at SINAI, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the “second,” or “new,” covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God–the “two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie.” Hebrews 6:18.
There is hope for us only as we come under the Abrahamic covenant, which is the COVENANT of GRACE by faith in Christ Jesus.
If it were not possible for us to keep the COMMANDMENTS of GOD, we should all be lost. But under the Abrahamic Covenant, the COVENANT of GRACE, every provision for salvation has been made. “By grace ye are saved.” “For as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.”
The INCARNATION of CHRIST is a mystery. The UNION of DIVINITY with HUMANITY is a mystery indeed, hidden with God, “even the mystery which hath been hid from ages.” It was kept in eternal silence by Jehovah, and was first revealed in Eden, by the prophecy that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, and that he should bruise his heel.
Colossians 1:26 [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints:
It was in order that the HEAVENLY UNIVERSE might see the conditions of the COVENANT of REDEMPTION that Christ bore the penalty in behalf of the human race. The THRONE of JUSTICE must be eternally and forever made secure, even tho the race be wiped out, and another creation populate the earth. By the sacrifice Christ was about to make, all doubts would be forever settled, and the human race would be saved if they would return to their allegiance. Christ alone could restore honor to God’s government. The CROSS of CALVARY would be looked upon by the unfallen worlds, by the heavenly universe, by Satanic agencies, by the fallen race, and every mouth would be stopped. In making His infinite sacrifice Christ would exalt and honor the Law. He would make known the exalted CHARACTER of GOD’S GOVERNMENT, which could not in any way be changed to meet man in his sinful condition.
It is a GREAT ASTONISHMENT to the HEAVENLY UNIVERSE that we place so little dependence upon Christ. Only those who walk with Christ will walk safely. It is only such who will not lift up their souls unto vanity. We are to live as seeing Him who is invisible. Nothing but the righteousness of Christ will entitle us to the blessings of the COVENANT of GRACE.
The GLORY of the GOSPEL of GRACE is the IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS of CHRIST, providing a way of salvation through obedience to the Law of God by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
It is utterly impossible for man to sanctify, purify, and bless himself. God alone is our helper. HIS GRACE, through the EVERLASTING COVENANT symbolized by the RAINBOW ABOUT HIS THRONE, will be IMPARTED to every soul who sincerely desires it.
Christ looks up to heaven with thanksgiving for the security of the COVENANT of REDEMPTION. He opens His heart of love, and looking round on the people, beyond the priests and Pharisees, He makes an offer of salvation to all the children of men, rich and poor, high and low, learned and unlearned. To all the children of men He presents the inestimable gift of eternal life. All are invited to unite with God in the COVENANT of GRACE. He offers to all a balm for all sorrow of sin, all disquietude of thought.
Nothing but His {Christ’s} righteousness can entitle us to one of the blessings of the COVENANT of GRACE.
Jesus is a living Saviour; the grace of Christ is our only hope of salvation.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The ATONEMENT of CHRIST sealed forever the EVERLASTING COVENANT of GRACE.
In giving the HOLY SPIRIT, it was IMPOSSIBLE for God to give more. To this GIFT nothing could be added. By it all needs are supplied. The HOLY SPIRIT is the VITAL PRESENCE of GOD, and if appreciated will call forth praise and thanksgiving, and will ever be springing up unto everlasting life. The RESTORATION of the SPIRIT is the COVENANT of GRACE. Yet how few appreciate this great gift, so costly, yet so free to all who will accept it? When faith takes hold of the blessing, there comes rich spiritual good. But too often the blessing is not appreciated. We need an enlarged conception in order to comprehend its value.
By the COVENANT of GRACE those who are baptized become members of the royal family.
2. The EVERLASTING COVENANT
The COVENANT of MERCY was made before the foundation of the world. It has existed FROM all eternity, and is called the EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Psalm 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
FATHER and SON have clasped their hands, and are mutually pledged to fulfill the terms of the EVERLASTING COVENANT, to give fallen man another chance.
John 3:16 ¶ For GOD so loved the world, that HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {The word BEGOTTEN means derived from something which is already in existence.
Note: God did not send His Son to be begotten. God sent His Only Begotten Son. God already had an Only begotten Son; and in His Love to restore fallen man, this is what God gave. How did He give? The Eternal Father, the unchangeable one, gave his only begotten Son, TORE FROM HIS BOSOM Him who was made in the express image of his person, and sent him down to earth to reveal how greatly he loved mankind. ….. {Review & Herald, July 9, 1895 par. 13}
The condition for having everlasting life is to believe that GOD has given HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON and to believe in Him. This is as the baptisms mentioned within Acts.}
The Lord made a COVENANT with ABRAHAM and HIS SEED, and gave them the right [rite] of circumcision as a token {sign} that he had separated them from all nations as his peculiar treasure. Had the descendants of Abraham faithfully kept this covenant, they would have escaped a great temptation to indulge in the sinful practices of other nations, and would not have been seduced into idolatry.
Again the promise is more definitely repeated to Abraham. “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish MY COVENANT with him for an EVERLASTING COVENANT, and with his seed after him.” Angels are sent the second time to Abraham on their way to destroy Sodom, and they repeat the promise more distinctly that Sarah shall have a son.
By the ACT of CIRCUMCISION they solemnly agreed to fulfill the conditions of the COVENANT made with ABRAHAM on their part, to be separate from all nations, and be perfect. If the DESCENDANTS of ABRAHAM had kept separate from other nations, they would not have been seduced into idolatry.
But God did not forsake His people while they were in Egypt, because of HIS COVENANT with ABRAHAM. He suffered them to be oppressed by the Egyptians, that they might turn to Him in their distress, and choose His righteous and merciful government, and obey His requirements.
God looked upon His Son as the faithful servant of the EVERLASTING COVENANT, and approved of the work He accomplished by His life of humiliation, toil, and suffering.
The EVERLASTING COVENANT is sealed with the BLOOD of HIS CRUCIFIXION.
This EVERLASTING COVENANT the Lord makes with all who seek Him with the whole heart and comply with the CONDITIONS of SALVATION.
Hebrews 13:20 Now the GOD of peace, that BROUGHT AGAIN FROM THE DEAD OUR LORD JESUS, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the BLOOD of the EVERLASTING COVENANT,
Hebrews 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do HIS {God’s} will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in HIS {God’s} sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.
3. The RAINBOW – COVENANT with NOAH
The RAINBOW spanning the heavens with its arch of light is a token of “the EVERLASTING COVENANT between GOD and EVERY LIVING CREATURE.” Genesis 9:16. And the RAINBOW encircling the THRONE ON HIGH is also a token to God’s children of His COVENANT of PEACE.
As the BOW in the CLOUD results from the UNION of SUNSHINE and SHOWER, so the BOW above GOD’S THRONE represents the UNION of HIS MERCY and HIS JUSTICE.
Psalm 89:14 JUSTICE and JUDGMENT [are] the HABITATION of THY THRONE: MERCY and TRUTH shall go before thy face.
“I have set before thee an open door.” Through this was shown the THRONE of GOD, overshadowed by the RAINBOW of PROMISE, the token of the EVERLASTING COVENANT, showing that MERCY and TRUTH are not together, and drawing from the beholder praise to the Lord.
And lest man should be terrified with gathering clouds, and falling rains, and should be in continual dread fearing another flood, God graciously encourages the family of Noah by a promise. “And I will establish MY COVENANT with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the token {sign} of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for PERPETUAL GENERATIONS. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a COVENANT between ME and the EARTH. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the EVERLASTING COVENANT between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
Genesis 9:16 And the BOW shall be in the CLOUD; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the EVERLASTING COVENANT between GOD and EVERY LIVING CREATURE of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. {The (rain)bow was given just after the Great Flood of 2348BC. God has honoured this EVERLASTING COVENANT for over 4370 years. Why? Because, like the Sabbath, it is a perpetual / everlasting Covenant between God, who does not change, and man.} {The rainbow was the appropriate natural emblem of preservation from a flood; and the removal of the foreskin was the fit symbol of that removal of the old man and renewal of nature, which qualified Abraham to be the parent of a holy seed. As the former sign foreshadows an incorruptible inheritance, so the latter prepares the way for a holy seed, by which the holiness and the heritage will at length be universally extended. This was the sign in the Old Testament Church as baptism is in the New, and hence the covenant is called “covenant of circumcision” in Acts 7:8 and “sign of circumcision” in Romans 4:11.}
Genesis 9:13 I do set my BOW in the CLOUD, and it shall be for a token {sign} of a COVENANT between ME and the EARTH.
In the COVENANT with NOAH it {the word ‘seal’} is used in the sense of assurance, or evidence of stability. The BOW in the CLOUD was given as a sign or token that God would not again destroy the earth by a flood. Genesis 9:13. In the COVENANT with ABRAHAM, circumcision was the token or sign.
The RAINBOW of God’s promise, which was a token of HIS COVENANT with NOAH, was seen by John encircling the THRONE ON HIGH,–a pledge of God’s mercy to every repentant, believing soul.
Revelation 4:3 And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a RAINBOW ROUND ABOUT THE THRONE, in sight like unto an emerald.
4. MOSES
Moses took the TABLES of the COVENANT, the LAW of TEN COMMANDMENTS, and descended from the mount.
On the FIRST TABLE of STONE were inscribed the four precepts showing the DUTY of MAN to GOD; and on the SECOND TABLE were the six showing the DUTY of MAN to his FELLOW MAN.
A FEW WEEKS ONLY had passed since they had made a solemn COVENANT with God to obey His voice. They had listened to the words of God’s law, spoken in awful grandeur from Sinai’s mount, amid thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes.
As they had broken their COVENANT with God, Moses, in breaking the TABLES, signified to them, so, also, God had broken HIS COVENANT with them. The TABLES, whereupon was written the LAW of GOD, were broken.
The Lord then graciously condescended to come down upon Mount Sinai, not to give a new Law, but to speak with an audible voice, in the hearing of all the people, the Law which had been from the beginning the FOUNDATION of HIS GOVERNMENT. He would not permit even angels to communicate these sacred precepts to men, nor did He trust them to the memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements. He would remove all possibility of misunderstanding, of mingling any tradition with the TEN COMMANDMENTS of the MORAL LAW, or of confusing the divine requirements with the practices of men; and to do this, He not only spoke the TEN WORDS of the MORAL LAW in the hearing of all Israel, but He wrote them with HIS OWN FINGER upon TABLES of STONE.
Moses came down, and having assembled the elders of Israel, he repeated to them the message of God. When it was made known to them, they answered: “All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do.” Here they entered into a solemn COVENANT with God to accept Him as their ruler, by which they became, in a special sense, the subjects of His divine authority.
The Law of the TEN COMMANDMENTS, given in awful grandeur from Sinai, can never be repealed while the heavens and the earth remain. All enlightened law and government had its origin in those TEN WORDS of the Almighty.
God requires of His subjects obedience, not to nine-tenths of the law, but to every one of the ten precepts. They are like the links of a chain; if one is broken the chain is of no value. The violation of one commandment makes us commandment breakers
5. COVENANT with ABRAHAM and JACOB – recalled before JOSHUA’S death
Before the death of Joshua the heads and representatives of the tribes, obedient to his summons, again assembled at Shechem. No spot in all the land possessed so many sacred associations, carrying their minds back to God’s COVENANT with ABRAHAM and JACOB, and recalling also their own solemn vows upon their entrance into Canaan. Here were the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, the silent witnesses of those vows which now, in the presence of their dying leader, they had assembled to renew. On every side were evidences of what God had wrought for them; how He had given them a land for which they did not labor, and cities which they built not, vineyards and oliveyards which they planted not. Joshua reviewed once more the history of Israel, recounting the wonderful works of God, that all might have a sense of His love and mercy and might serve Him “in sincerity and in truth.”
6. COVENANT of [LIFE and] PEACE
Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the COVENANT of MY PEACE be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
Malachi 2:5 My COVENANT was with him of LIFE and PEACE; and I gave them to him [for] the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
The COVENANT of “LIFE and PEACE” God had made with the sons of Levi–the COVENANT which, if kept, would have brought untold blessing–the Lord now offered to renew with those who once had been spiritual leaders, but who through transgression had become “contemptible and base before all the people.” Malachi 2:5, 9.
The graves were opened, and those who had died in faith under the third angel’s message, keeping the Sabbath, came forth from their dusty beds, glorified, to hear the COVENANT of PEACE that God was to make with those who had kept His law.
And the rainbow encircling the throne on high is also a token to God’s children of His COVENANT of PEACE.
He {Moses, when permitted to look down the stream of time} heard God’s COVENANT of PEACE with those who have kept His law, as He {God} utters His voice from His holy habitation and the heavens and the earth do shake. He {Moses} saw the second coming of Christ in glory, the righteous dead raised to immortal life, and the living saints translated without seeing death, and together ascending with songs of gladness to the City of God.
7. COVENANT of SALT
Leviticus 2:13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with SALT; neither shalt thou suffer the SALT of the COVENANT of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer SALT.
Numbers 18:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it [is] a COVENANT of SALT for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
Numbers 18:20 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I [am] thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
2 Chronicles 13:4 ¶ And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which [is] in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;
2 Chronicles 13:5 Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, [even] to him and to his sons by a COVENANT of SALT?
2 Chronicles 13:6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.
As salt was regarded as a necessary ingredient of the daily food, and so of all sacrifices offered to God (Leviticus 2:13), it became an easy step to the very close connection between salt and covenant-making. When men ate together they became friends.
Compare the Arabic expression, “There is salt between us”; “He has eaten of my salt,” which means partaking of hospitality which cemented friendship; compare “eat the salt of the palace” (Ezra 4:14).
Ezra 4:14 Now because we HAVE MAINTENANCE FROM [THE KING’S] PALACE, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;
Ezra 4:14 LSG Now, since we EAT THE SALT OF THE PALACE and it does not seem proper to us to see the king despised, we send this information to the king.
Covenants were generally confirmed by sacrificial meals and salt was always present. Since, too, salt is a preservative, it would easily become symbolic of an enduring covenant. So offerings to God were to be by a statute forever, “a COVENANT of SALT for ever before the LORD” (Numbers 18:19).
David received his kingdom forever from God by a “covenant of salt” (2 Chronicles 13:5).
In the light of these conceptions the remark of our Lord becomes the more significant:
Mark 9:49 For every one shall be SALTED with fire, and every SACRIFICE shall be SALTED with SALT. [Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34-35]
Mark 9:50 SALT [is] good: but if the SALT have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have SALT in yourselves, and have peace one with another. [Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:49; Luke 14:34-35]
8. The SABBATH – A PERPETUAL COVENANT / PERPETUAL MEMORIAL
The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a PERPETUAL COVENANT.” And now the reason is given. “It is a sign between ME and the CHILDREN of ISRAEL forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” The Sabbath is then a sign between GOD and HIS CHILDREN, and is to be a PERPETUAL MEMORIAL of His creative power in making the world, in creating man in six days. “For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
To us as to Israel the SABBATH is given “for a PERPETUAL COVENANT.” To those who reverence HIS HOLY DAY the SABBATH is a sign that God recognizes them as His chosen people. It is a pledge that He will fulfill to them HIS COVENANT. Every soul who accepts the sign of GOD’S GOVERNMENT places himself under the divine, EVERLASTING COVENANT. He fastens himself to the golden chain of obedience, every link of which is a promise.
God gave the SABBATH to His people to be a CONTINUAL SIGN of HIS LOVE and MERCY and of their obedience. As He rested on this day and was refreshed, so He desired His people to rest and be refreshed. It was to be a CONSTANT REMINDER to them that they were included in HIS COVENANT of GRACE. Throughout your generations, He said, the SABBATH is to be MY SIGN, MY PLEDGE, to you that I am the Lord that doth SANCTIFY YOU, that I have CHOSEN YOU and set you apart as MY PECULIAR PEOPLE. And as you KEEP the SABBATH HOLY, you will BEAR TESTIMONY to the nations of the earth that you are MY CHOSEN PEOPLE.
In Exodus 31:17 and Ezekiel 20:12, 20, the Sabbath of the Lord is called a sign. It is a memorial of the Creator’s work, and so a sign of His power and Godhead. Romans 1:20. This is also an institution as was circumcision; but there was this distinction: circumcision was a sign in the flesh, while the Sabbath was a sign in the mind. “hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God” Ezekiel 20:20.
The Sabbath is the sign of God; it is the seal of His Law. Isaiah 8:16. It is the token of His authority and power. It is a sign whereby we may know that He is God, and therefore it is appropriately said to be placed in the forehead. The worshipers of the beast (Revelation 13) are said to receive his mark in their foreheads or in their hands. As the forehead represents the intellect, the hand represents power, as Psalm 89:48, “shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?” compulsory worship is not acceptable to God; His servants are sealed only in their foreheads. But it is acceptable to wicked powers; it has always been craved by the Romish hierarchy. The sign or seal of God is His Sabbath, and the seal or mark of the beast is in direct opposition to it; it is a counterfeit sabbath on the “day of the sun.” in the message of the third angel (Revelation 14:9-12) they who do not receive the mark of the beast keep the commandments of God, and the Sabbath is in the fourth precept; they keep the Sabbath of the Lord; they have His sign or seal. The importance of this sign is shown in this, that the fourth commandment is the only one in the Law which distinguishes the Creator from false gods. Compare Jeremiah 10:10-12; Acts 17:23, 24; Revelation 14:6, 7; etc. And it is that part of His Law for keeping which His people will suffer persecution. But when the wrath of God comes upon the persecutors who are found enforcing the sign or mark of the beast, then they will realize the importance of the Sabbath,–the seal of the living God. They who turn away from that which the Lord spoke when His voice shook the earth, will confess their fatal error when His voice shall shake the heavens and the earth. Hebrews 12:25, 26: Joel 3:9-16, and others.
Those who have an intelligent knowledge of the truth need not be deceived by the sophistries of the enemy. They may take the Word of God and read what the Lord has said regarding HIS HOLY SABBATH DAY.
9. JESUS CHRIST – The LADDER from EARTH to HEAVEN
Truth Moves Us Toward Heaven
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
True faith works by love and purifies the soul. Truth is an active, working principle, molding heart and life so that there is a constant upward movement, climbing the ladder Jacob saw, to the Lord above the ladder. In every step of climbing, the will is obtaining a new spring of action. The moral tone is becoming more like the mind and character of Christ. The progressive Christian has grace and love which passes knowledge, for divine insight into the character of Christ takes a deep hold upon his affections. The glory of God revealed above the ladder can only be appreciated by the progressive climber, who is ever attracted higher, to nobler aims which Christ reveals. All the faculties of mind and body must be enlisted.
“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” 2 Peter 1:10. We need not have a supposed hope, but an assurance. To make our calling and election sure is to follow the Bible plan to closely examine ourselves, to make strict inquiry whether we are indeed converted, whether our minds are drawn out after God and heavenly things, our wills renewed, our whole souls changed. To make our calling and election sure requires far greater diligence than many are giving to this important matter. “For if ye do these things”—live on the plan of addition, growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ—ye shall mount up, step by step, the ladder Jacob saw, and “ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Let us consider this ladder which was presented to Jacob. The human race was cut off from intercourse with God. They might look at a paradise lost but could see no means of entering it and holding communion with heaven. The sin of Adam cut off all intercourse between heaven and earth. Up to the moment of man’s transgression of God’s law, there had been free communion between earth and heaven. They were connected by a path which Deity could traverse. But the transgression of God’s law broke up this path, and man was separated from God.
As soon as Satan seduced man to disobedience of God’s holy law, every link which bound earth to heaven and man to the infinite God seemed broken. Man might look to heaven, but how could he attain it? But joy to the world! The Son of God, the sinless One, the One perfect in obedience, becomes the channel through which the lost communion may be renewed, the way through which the lost paradise may be regained. Through Christ, man’s substitute and surety, man may keep the commandments of God. He may return to his allegiance, and God will accept him.
Christ is the ladder. “By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9.
This is the ladder, the base of it resting upon the earth, the top reaching to the highest heavens. The broken links have been repaired. A highway has been thrown up along which the weary and heavy laden may pass. They may enter heaven and find rest.
The ladder is the medium of communication between God and man. Through the mystic ladder, the gospel was preached to Jacob. As the ladder stretched from earth, reaching to the highest heavens, and the glory of God was seen above the ladder, so Christ in His divine nature reached immensity and was one with the Father. As the ladder, though its top penetrated into heaven, had it base upon the earth, so Christ, though God, clothed His divinity with humanity and was in the world “found in fashion as a man.” The ladder would be useless if it rested not on the earth or if it reached not to the heavens.
God appeared in glory above the ladder, looking down with compassion on erring, sinful Jacob, addressing to him words of encouragement. It is through Christ that the Father beholds sinful man. The ministering angels were communicating to the inhabitants of the earth through the medium of the ladder. The only way that man can be saved is by clinging to Christ.
We ascend to heaven by climbing the ladder—the whole height of Christ’s work—step by step. There must be a holding fast to Christ, a climbing up by the merits of Christ. To let go is to cease to climb, is to fall, to perish. We are to mount by the Mediator and all the while to keep hold on the Mediator, ascending by successive steps, round above round, stretching the hand from one round to the next above. In the work of redemption, we may have a knowledge of Jesus Christ by planting the feet on one round after another in perfect obedience to all the commandments of God. This is a necessity for each individual, striving and making progress at every step. It is simply impossible to enter heaven without constant striving. There is fearful peril in relaxing our efforts in spiritual diligence for a moment, for we are hanging, as it were, between heaven and earth.
We must keep the eye directed upward to God above the ladder. The question with men and women gazing heavenward is, How can I obtain the mansions for the blessed? It is by being a partaker of the diving nature. It is by escaping the “corruption that is in the world through lust.” It is by entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, laying hold of the hope set before you in the gospel. It is by fastening yourself to Christ and straining every nerve to leave the world behind, laboring to diminish by successive steps your distance from God, who is at the top of the ladder. It is by being in Christ and yet led by Christ, by believing and working, trusting in Jesus, yet working upon the plan of addition, holding onto Christ and constantly mounting upward toward God.
Yet He was earnest, rather than vehement. He spoke as one who had a definite purpose to fulfill. He was bringing to view the realities of the eternal world. In every theme God was revealed. Jesus sought to break the spell of infatuation which keeps men absorbed in earthly things. He placed the things of this life in their true relation, as subordinate to those of eternal interest; but He did not ignore their importance. He taught that heaven and earth are linked together, and that a knowledge of divine truth prepares men better to perform the duties of everyday life. He spoke as one familiar with heaven, conscious of His relationship to God, yet recognizing His unity with every member of the human family.
10. PRESENT and FUTURE EVENTS
The Law of God existed before man was created. It was adapted to the condition of holy beings; even angels were governed by it. After the fall, the principles of righteousness were unchanged. Nothing was taken from the Law; not one of its holy precepts could be improved. And as it has existed from the beginning, so will it continue to exist throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.
By this Law, which governs angels, which demands purity in the most secret thoughts, desires, and dispositions, and which “shall stand fast forever,” all the world is to be judged in the rapidly approaching DAY of GOD.
There is great lack of the DILIGENT SEARCHING of GOD’S WORD which He has enjoined. If men were not so content with the surface truths of revelation; if they would make earnest investigations of GOD’S WORD, giving no weight to human customs or traditions, thousands who are now in error would come to the knowledge of the truth. We are to take the Bible alone, and by EARNEST, PRAYERFUL STUDY, seek for the truth as for hid treasures.
God spoke the DAY and HOUR of Jesus’ coming, [Ezekiel 12:25. Mark 13:32.] and delivered the EVERLASTING COVENANT to His people, [Ezekiel 20:37. Hebrews 12:22-25.] He spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth! [Jeremiah 25:30, 31.]
While these words {from the 144,000} of holy trust ascend to God, the clouds sweep back, and the starry heavens are seen, unspeakably glorious in contrast with the black and angry firmament on either side. The glory of Heaven is beaming from the gates ajar. Then there appears against the sky a hand holding TWO TABLES of STONE folded together. The hand opens the TABLES, and there are revealed the PRECEPTS of the DECALOGUE, traced as with a pen of fire. THE WORDS ARE SO PLAIN THAT ALL CAN READ THEM. Memory is aroused, the darkness of superstition and heresy is swept from every mind, and God’s TEN WORDS, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, are presented to the view of all the inhabitants of earth. Wonderful CODE! wonderful occasion!
11. Other RELATED BIBLE TEXT
Genesis 6:18 But with thee {Noah} will I {God} establish MY COVENANT; and thou shalt come into the ARK, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Genesis 9:8 ¶ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Genesis 9:9 And I, behold, I establish MY COVENANT with YOU, and with YOUR SEED after you;
Genesis 9:10 AND WITH EVERY LIVING CREATURE that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
Genesis 9:11 And I will establish MY COVENANT with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Genesis 9:12 And God said, This [is] the token {sign} of the COVENANT which I make between ME and YOU and EVERY LIVING CREATURE that [is] with you, for PERPETUAL GENERATIONS: {implying forever}
Genesis 9:13 I do set my BOW in the CLOUD, and it shall be for a token {sign} of a COVENANT between ME and the EARTH.
Genesis 9:14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Genesis 9:15 And I will remember MY COVENANT, which [is] between ME and YOU and EVERY LIVING CREATURE of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Genesis 9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the EVERLASTING COVENANT between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. {The (rain)bow was given just after the Great Flood of 2348BC. God has honoured this EVERLASTING COVENANT for over 4370 years. Why? Because, like the Sabbath, it is a perpetual / everlasting Covenant between God, who does not change, and man.} {The rainbow was the appropriate natural emblem of preservation from a flood; and the removal of the foreskin was the fit symbol of that removal of the old man and renewal of nature, which qualified Abraham to be the parent of a holy seed. As the former sign foreshadows an incorruptible inheritance, so the latter prepares the way for a holy seed, by which the holiness and the heritage will at length be universally extended. This was the sign in the Old Testament Church as baptism is in the New, and hence the covenant is called “covenant of circumcision” in Acts 7:8 and “sign of circumcision” in Romans 4:11.}
Genesis 9:17 And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token {sign} of the COVENANT, which I have established between ME {God} and ALL FLESH that [is] upon the earth.
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a COVENANT with ABRAM, saying, Unto THY SEED have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Genesis 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
Genesis 17:4 As for ME, behold, MY COVENANT [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Genesis 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called ABRAM, but thy name shall be ABRAHAM; for a father of many nations have I made thee. [Romans 4:17]
Genesis 17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Genesis 17:7 And I will establish MY COVENANT between ME and THEE and THY SEED after thee in their generations for an EVERLASTING COVENANT, to be a God unto THEE, and to THY SEED after thee. [Galatians 3:16] {The COVENANT was given by God to Abram/Abraham in 1897BC. God has honoured this EVERLASTING COVENANT for over 3920 years. Why? Because, like the Sabbath, it is a perpetual / everlasting Covenant between God, who does not change and man.}
Genesis 17:8 And I will give unto THEE, and to THY SEED after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. [Acts 7:5]
Genesis 17:9 ¶ And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep MY COVENANT therefore, THOU, AND THY SEED after thee in their generations.
Genesis 17:10 This [is] MY COVENANT, which ye shall keep, between ME and YOU and THY SEED after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
Genesis 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the FLESH OF YOUR FORESKIN; and it shall be a TOKEN {sign} of the COVENANT betwixt ME and YOU. {The (rain)bow was given just after the Great Flood of 2348BC. God has honoured this EVERLASTING COVENANT for over 4370 years. Why? Because, like the Sabbath, it is a perpetual / everlasting Covenant between God, who does not change, and man.} {The rainbow was the appropriate natural emblem of preservation from a flood; and the removal of the foreskin was the fit symbol of that removal of the old man and renewal of nature, which qualified Abraham to be the parent of a holy seed. As the former sign foreshadows an incorruptible inheritance, so the latter prepares the way for a holy seed, by which the holiness and the heritage will at length be universally extended. This was the sign in the Old Testament Church as baptism is in the New, and hence the covenant is called “covenant of circumcision” in Acts 7:8 and “sign of circumcision” in Romans 4:11.}
Genesis 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which [is] not of thy seed.
Genesis 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and MY COVENANT shall be in your flesh for an EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Genesis 17:14 And the uncircumcised man child whose FLESH OF HIS FORESKIN is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken MY COVENANT.
Genesis 17:15 ¶ And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name SARAI, but SARAH [shall] her name [be].
Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother] of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish MY COVENANT with him {Abraham’s son Isaac} for an EVERLASTING COVENANT, [and] with his seed after him.
Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Genesis 17:21 But MY COVENANT will I establish with ISAAC, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Genesis 21:22 ¶ And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God [is] with thee in all that thou doest:
Genesis 21:23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: [but] according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.
Genesis 21:24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
Genesis 21:25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
Genesis 21:26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I [of it], but to day.
Genesis 21:27 And ABRAHAM took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto ABIMELECH; and both of them made a COVENANT.
Genesis 21:28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
Genesis 21:29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What [mean] these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
Genesis 21:30 And he said, For [these] seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
Genesis 21:31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.
Genesis 21:32 Thus they made a COVENANT at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
Genesis 21:33 ¶ And [Abraham] planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
Genesis 21:34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.
Genesis 26:25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.
Genesis 26:26 ¶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
Genesis 26:27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
Genesis 26:28 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, [even] betwixt us and thee, and let us make a COVENANT with thee;
Genesis 26:29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou [art] now the blessed of the LORD.
Genesis 26:30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
Genesis 26:31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Genesis 26:32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
Genesis 26:33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city [is] Beersheba unto this day.
Genesis 31:41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Genesis 31:42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked [thee] yesternight.
Genesis 31:43 ¶ And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, [These] daughters [are] my daughters, and [these] children [are] my children, and [these] cattle [are] my cattle, and all that thou seest [is] mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?
Genesis 31:44 Now therefore come thou, let us make a COVENANT, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
Genesis 31:45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up [for] a pillar.
Genesis 31:46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.
Genesis 31:47 And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
Genesis 31:48 And Laban said, This heap [is] a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
Genesis 31:49 And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.
Genesis 31:50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take [other] wives beside my daughters, no man [is] with us; see, God [is] witness betwixt me and thee.
Genesis 31:51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold [this] pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee;
Genesis 31:52 This heap [be] witness, and [this] pillar [be] witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.
Genesis 31:53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
Genesis 31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
Genesis 31:55 And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.
Exodus 2:23 ¶ And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
Exodus 2:24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His COVENANT with ABRAHAM, with ISAAC, and with JACOB.
Exodus 2:25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto [them].
Exodus 3:1 ¶ Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb.
Exodus 6:1 ¶ Then the LORD said unto MOSES, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
Exodus 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I [am] the LORD:
Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto ABRAHAM, unto ISAAC, and unto JACOB, by [the name of] GOD ALMIGHTY, but by My name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Exodus 6:4 And I have also established MY COVENANT with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Exodus 6:5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered MY COVENANT.
Exodus 19:2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come [to] the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
Exodus 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exodus 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep MY COVENANT, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth [is] Mine:
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. [1 Peter 2:9]
Exodus 24:3 ¶ And MOSES came and TOLD THE PEOPLE ALL THE WORDS of the LORD, and ALL THE JUDGMENTS: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
Exodus 24:4 And MOSES WROTE ALL THE WORDS of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an ALTAR under the hill, and TWELVE PILLARS, according to the TWELVE TRIBES of ISRAEL.
Exodus 24:5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
Exodus 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put [it] in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exodus 24:7 And he took the BOOK of the COVENANT, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled [it] on the people, and said, Behold the BLOOD of the COVENANT, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. [Hebrews 9:19-20]
Exodus 34:4 ¶ And he hewed TWO TABLES of STONE like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the TWO TABLES of STONE.
Exodus 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands {of generations – LSG}, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].
Exodus 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
Exodus 34:9 And he {Moses} said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it [is] a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
Exodus 34:10 ¶ And He {God} said, Behold, I make a COVENANT: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou [art] shall see the work of the LORD: for it [is] a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
Exodus 34:27 And the LORD said unto MOSES, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a COVENANT with THEE and with ISRAEL.
Exodus 34:28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the TABLES the WORDS of the COVENANT, the TEN COMMANDMENTS.
Leviticus 24:8 Every SABBATH he {Aaron, the 3 year older brother of Moses} shall set it in order before the LORD continually, [being taken] from the children of Israel by an EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Leviticus 26:9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish MY COVENANT with you.
Leviticus 26:10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
Leviticus 26:11 And I will set MY TABERNACLE among you: and My soul shall not abhor you.
Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. [Exodus 29:45; Zechariah 2:10; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3]
Leviticus 26:13 I [am] the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
Leviticus 26:14 ¶ But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments;
Leviticus 26:15 And if ye shall despise MY STATUTES, or if your soul abhor MY JUDGMENTS, so that ye will not do all MY COMMANDMENTS, [but] that ye break MY COVENANT:
Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of [MY] COVENANT: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Leviticus 26:42 Then will I remember MY COVENANT with JACOB, and also MY COVENANT with ISAAC, and also MY COVENANT with ABRAHAM will I remember; and I will remember the LAND.
Leviticus 26:43 The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised MY JUDGMENTS, and because their soul abhorred MY STATUTES.
Leviticus 26:44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break MY COVENANT with them: for I [am] the LORD their God.
Leviticus 26:45 But I will for their sakes remember the COVENANT of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I [am] the LORD.
Leviticus 26:46 These [are] the STATUTES and JUDGMENTS and LAWS, which the LORD made between HIM {God} and the CHILDREN of ISRAEL in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
Numbers 10:33 ¶ And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ARK of the COVENANT of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.
Numbers 14:42 Go not up, for the LORD [is] not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
Numbers 14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
Numbers 14:44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ARK of the COVENANT of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
Numbers 25:10 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Numbers 25:11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
Numbers 25:12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him MY COVENANT of PEACE:
Numbers 25:13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, [even] the COVENANT of an EVERLASTING PRIESTHOOD; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 4:13 And He {God} declared unto you HIS COVENANT, which he commanded you to perform, [even] TEN COMMANDMENTS; and He {God} wrote them upon TWO TABLES of STONE.
Deuteronomy 4:22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
Deuteronomy 4:23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the COVENANT of the LORD your God, which He {God} made with you, and make you a graven image, [or] the likeness of any [thing], which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
Deuteronomy 4:30 When thou art in TRIBULATION, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice;
Deuteronomy 4:31 (For the LORD thy God [is] a merciful God;) He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the COVENANT of thy fathers which He sware unto them.
Deuteronomy 4:32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and [ask] from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been [any such thing] as this great thing [is], or hath been heard like it?
Deuteronomy 5:2 The LORD our God made a COVENANT with us in Horeb.
Deuteronomy 5:3 The LORD made not this COVENANT with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth COVENANT and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations; {implying forever}
Deuteronomy 7:10 And repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not be slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face.
Deuteronomy 7:11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
Deuteronomy 7:12 ¶ Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the COVENANT and the mercy which He sware unto thy fathers:
Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for [it is] He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish HIS COVENANT which He sware unto thy fathers, as [it is] this day.
Deuteronomy 9:8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.
Deuteronomy 9:9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, [even] the TABLES of the COVENANT which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
Deuteronomy 9:10 And the LORD delivered unto me TWO TABLES of STONE WRITTEN with the FINGER of GOD; and on them [was written] according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Deuteronomy 9:11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, [that] the LORD gave me the TWO TABLES of STONE, [even] the TABLES of the COVENANT.
Deuteronomy 9:12 And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted [themselves]; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.
Deuteronomy 9:13 Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it [is] a stiffnecked people:
Deuteronomy 9:14 Let Me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
Deuteronomy 9:15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the TWO TABLES of the COVENANT [were] in my two hands.
Deuteronomy 9:16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God, [and] had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.
Deuteronomy 9:17 And I took the TWO TABLES, and cast them out of my two hands, AND BRAKE THEM before your eyes.
Deuteronomy 9:18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, FORTY DAYS and FORTY NIGHTS: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
Deuteronomy 10:8 ¶ At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ARK of the COVENANT of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name, unto this day.
Deuteronomy 10:9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD [is] his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.
Deuteronomy 17:2 ¶ If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing HIS COVENANT,
Deuteronomy 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Deuteronomy 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard [of it], and inquired diligently, and, behold, [it be] true, [and] the thing certain, [that] such abomination is wrought in Israel:
Deuteronomy 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, [even] that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
Deuteronomy 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. [Deuteronomy 19:15]
Deuteronomy 17:7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
Deuteronomy 29:1 ¶ These [are] the WORDS of the COVENANT, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the COVENANT which He made with them in Horeb.
Deuteronomy 29:9 Keep therefore the WORDS of this COVENANT, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. [1 Kings 2:3]
Deuteronomy 29:12 That thou shouldest enter into COVENANT with the LORD thy God, and into HIS OATH, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
Deuteronomy 29:13 That He may establish thee to day for a people unto Himself, and [that] He may be unto thee a God, as He hath said unto thee, and as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Deuteronomy 29:14 Neither with you only do I make this COVENANT and THIS OATH;
Deuteronomy 29:15 But with [him] that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with [him] that [is] not here with us this day:
Deuteronomy 29:19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
Deuteronomy 29:20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.
Deuteronomy 29:21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the COVENANT that are written in this BOOK of THE LAW:
Deuteronomy 29:25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the COVENANT of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
Deuteronomy 31:9 ¶ And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ARK of the COVENANT of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.
Deuteronomy 31:16 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go [to be] among them, and will forsake Me, and break MY COVENANT which I have made with them.
Deuteronomy 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 31:20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke Me, and break MY COVENANT.
Deuteronomy 31:21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
Deuteronomy 31:24 ¶ And it came to pass, when MOSES had made an END of WRITING the WORDS of THIS LAW in a BOOK, until they were finished,
Deuteronomy 31:25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ARK of the COVENANT of the LORD, saying,
Deuteronomy 31:26 Take this BOOK of THE LAW, and put it in the side of the ARK of the COVENANT of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
Deuteronomy 33:8 ¶ And of Levi he said, [Let] thy Thummim and thy Urim [be] with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, [and with] whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
Deuteronomy 33:9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
2 Samuel 23:5 Although my {David’s} house [be] not so with God; yet HE {God} hath made with me {David} an EVERLASTING COVENANT, ordered in all [things], and sure: for [this is] all my salvation, and all [my] desire, although he make [it] not to grow.
1 Kings 3:15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, [it was] a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ARK of the COVENANT of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
1 Kings 8:9 [There was] nothing in the ARK save the TWO TABLES of STONE, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made [a COVENANT] with the CHILDREN of ISRAEL, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
2 Kings 13:23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of HIS COVENANT with ABRAHAM, ISAAC, and JACOB, and would not destroy them, neither cast He them from His presence as yet.
1 Chronicles 16:13 O ye seed of Israel His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen ones.
1 Chronicles 16:14 He [is] the LORD our God; His judgments [are] in all the earth.
1 Chronicles 16:15 Be ye mindful always of HIS COVENANT; the word [which] He commanded to a THOUSAND GENERATIONS; {implying forever}
1 Chronicles 16:16 [Even of the COVENANT] which He made with Abraham, and of His oath unto Isaac;
1 Chronicles 16:17 And {the LORD our God} hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, [and] to Israel [for] an EVERLASTING COVENANT,
1 Chronicles 16:18 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;
1 Chronicles 16:19 When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it.
2 Chronicles 5:10 [There was] nothing in the ARK save the TWO TABLES which Moses put [therein] at Horeb, when the LORD made [a COVENANT] with the CHILDREN of ISRAEL, when they came out of Egypt.
Nehemiah 9:7 Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
Nehemiah 9:8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a COVENANT with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it, I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:
Psalm 105:8 He hath remembered HIS COVENANT for ever, the word [which] HE COMMANDED TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS. {Implying “never ending”.}
Psalm 105:9 Which [COVENANT] He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac;
Psalm 105:10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a Law, [and] to Israel [for] an EVERLASTING COVENANT:
Psalm 105:11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:
Psalm 105:12 When they were [but] a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.
Isaiah 24:3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
Isaiah 24:4 The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. {The earth and world have a limited time left – because of man’s defilement.}
Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have TRANSGRESSED THE LAWS, CHANGED THE ORDINANCE, BROKEN THE EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Isaiah 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the COVENANT of MY PEACE be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an EVERLASTING COVENANT with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.
Isaiah 55:4 Behold, I have given Him {God’s Son Jesus} [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
Isaiah 55:5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation [that] thou knowest not, and nations [that] knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He {the Holy One of Israel – God’s Son Jesus} hath glorified thee.
Isaiah 61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an EVERLASTING COVENANT with them.
Jeremiah 32:39 And I will give them {God’s people} one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Jeremiah 32:40 And I will make an EVERLASTING COVENANT with them {God’s people}, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.
Jeremiah 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them {God’s people} to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole soul.
Ezekiel 16:59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the COVENANT.
Ezekiel 16:60 ¶ Nevertheless I will remember MY COVENANT with thee {God’s people} in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Ezekiel 34:23 And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, [even] My servant David {a term for God’s Son Jesus} ; He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd.
Ezekiel 34:24 And I the LORD will be their God, and My servant David {a term for God’s Son Jesus} a Prince among them; I the LORD have spoken [it].
Ezekiel 34:25 And I will make with them a COVENANT of PEACE, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
Ezekiel 37:24 And David MY servant {a term for God’s Son Jesus} [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one Shepherd: they shall also walk in MY judgments, and observe MY statutes, and do them.
Ezekiel 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, [even] they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and MY servant David {a term for God’s Son Jesus} [shall be] their Prince for ever.
Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a COVENANT of PEACE with them; it shall be an EVERLASTING COVENANT with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set MY SANCTUARY in the midst of them FOR EVERMORE.
Ezekiel 37:27 MY TABERNACLE also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be MY people.
Ezekiel 37:28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when MY SANCTUARY shall be in the midst of them FOR EVERMORE.
Malachi 2:4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that MY COVENANT might be with LEVI, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 2:5 My COVENANT was with him of LIFE and PEACE; and I gave them to him [for] the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name.
Malachi 2:6 The LAW of TRUTH was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Malachi 2:7 For the PRIEST’S LIPS SHOULD KEEP KNOWLEDGE, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he [is] the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Acts 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the COVENANT which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. [Genesis 22:18]
Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up HIS SON JESUS, sent Him {Jesus} to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Acts 7:8 And HE {God} gave him {Abraham} the COVENANT of CIRCUMCISION: and so [Abraham] begat Isaac, and circumcised him {Isaac} the eighth day; and Isaac [begat] Jacob; and Jacob [begat] the twelve patriarchs.