Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yonah Mishael" <yonahmishael AT gmail.com>]

> HH: The fact that God does not change in his essential character (Mal
> 3:6) does not mean that he does not act differently at different times,
> for the Bible shows that he does. You must prove claims such as there
> being "one covenant" from the Bible itself, which you have not done so
> far. There are actually quite a number of covenants, and to suggest that
> they cannot imply a change in God's procedures is a big claim. Frankly,
> Jer 31:31-33 itself shows that it is unsustainable because it posits a
> difference between the Mosaic covenant and the new covenant., which, as
> Gary, stressed, is not like the old covenant.
>
> HH: Your claim to not be a Christian is odd in the face of your comments
> above. You are putting yourself forward as a disciple of Y'shua by your
> comments above, not to mention you quotation of Gal. 3:27-29 at the
> bottom of your posts. You may be giving a technical meaning to the word
> "Christian" that is not true to the NT, which uses it as an umbrella
> terms for all the disciples of Y'shua. By the way, you need to add the
> chapter number 3 to your quote of Gal 3:27-29. Right now all you have
> are the verse numbers and the book abbreviation.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard

Harold,

לֹא כַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אֶת אֲבוֹתָם בְּיוֹם הֶחֱזִיקִי בְיָדָם
לְהוֹצִיאָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר הֵמָּה הֵפֵרוּ אֶת בְּרִיתִי
וְאָנֹכִי בָּעַלְתִּי בָם, נְאֻם ה׳
L) KBRYT )$R KRTY )T )BWTM BYWM HXZYKY BYDM LHWCY)M M)RC MCRYM )$R HMH
HPRW )T BRYTY W)NKY B(LTY BM, N)M H'.

The fact that it would be "not according to/as/like the covenant which
(HaShem) made with (our) fathers" does not mean that it is essentially
a different covenant. It means that it has a different outcome -- it
is not broken or abused. The terms of this "new covenant" are no
different that the many times a "covenant of peace" or "everlasting
covenant" are mentioned in regard to the גאולה G)WLH [redemption]. The
terms are even clear in this passage:

1. It is a covenant with the two divisions of Israel -- namely, Israel
and Judah. It is prophecied very plainly throughout the writings of
the prophets that the two divisions would be joined together again and
become one sceptor in the hands of Mashiach, the rightful and anointed
king of Israel.

2. It would entail God's dwelling among the people forever, and the
people would be eternally covenanted to him and never again be called
"not my people" (as in Hosea's prophecies).

3. There will be forgiveness of iniquity (specifically, that of the
idolatry of previous ages) and full knowledge of Torah and of God.

I just cannot agree with your basic premise, that the "new covenant"
is essentially different from the covenant made with the fathers. It
is a renewed version of the same covenant -- centered on Torah -- but
it will not have the weakness of the former covenant, since it will be
a more complete redemption, and the people will know HaShem fully
without needing to be instructed. It is the same as the other
covenants mentioned in the words of the prophets. If you need a list
of references, I will provide one from a concordance.

Best wishes,
Yonah Mishael
Joplin, MO