The purpose of the Covenant is to bring God’s children home

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

The purpose of the Covenant is to bring God’s children home—for them to leave the world of death, destruction, separation, and human oppression, so that they are free to enter our Heavenly Father’s household and live with Him. To demonstrate this goal tangibly in human history, Abraham’s offspring would be enslaved by man in one of the most religious, political, and militant places on earth—a place called “mitsraym – the crucible.” There they would be forced to work for their mortal salvation. Oppressed by men, they would suffer and die separated from God.

But that would not be the end of the story—only its beginning. Just as Abram had been led out and away from the religious, political, economic, and militant milieu of Babylon, and into a Familial Covenant Relationship with our Heavenly Father, so too would the Children of Yisra’el. Temporarily separated from God, and smothered by men for a “dowr – prescribed period of time,” they would return—they would come “dowr – home.” And yet the evil they would endure in the crucible was not yet in full bloom in the Promised Land, so a long intermission was required. But more on that in a moment.

There are hundreds of places throughout God’s Word where time is quantified. This is one of them. And as with all of these presentations, we can assume either that God’s references are of no material or prophetic consequence and ignore them, or we can appreciate the fact that He shared these insights for a reason and then try to ascertain what that might have been. Virtually every Christian will tell you that since their bibles say “no one knows the day or the hour,” there is no value even trying to determine the dates God’s Scriptural promises have been or will be fulfilled—or even if those dates are relevant in any way. (Paul, after all, claims that Yah’s Feasts are of no consequence.) So the faithful’s head-in-the-sand approach is indicative of their disdain for the Hebrew Scriptures, and their universal ignorance of the Greek text underlying Yahowsha’s testimony. In this case, the Ma’aseyah is translated using oida—in the present tense—to say: “no one is currently aware of the day or hour” of His Taruw’ah Harvest or Yowm Kippurym return, depending upon which question you think He was answering. That means mankind’s collective ignorance of these dates was limited to those who were literate and open minded, with access to Yah’s Word in Yahuwdah (Judea) in 33 CE, at a time when the first four Called-Out Assemblies had not yet been fulfilled precisely on the most important schedule in God’s inventory.

God did not say that we were so stupid that we wouldn’t ever be able to put the pieces together. Although He would have been accurate if He had said that not one in a million would bother to consider the countless clues He has strewn throughout His Word. But to suggest that God provided us with a veritable mountain of prophetic evidence and an equal number of precise fulfillments to affirm that He has a consistent and unchanging plan based on a simple mathematical formula, only to suggest that we are too ignorant and irrational to understand any of this, flies in the face of everything we know about Yahowah’s character and Word.

Since there is no penalty for thinking, for evaluating the evidence we have been given and making prudent connections, be aware that relative to a dowr, the only place a “lifespan” is defined in Scripture it is set at seventy years—in full recognition that some people will live longer and shorter lives. But since dowr speaks more of a generation than a lifespan, we should probably focus our attention on the age differences between parents and their children. During their incarceration in Egypt, the average lifespan of Abraham’s offspring was reduced to less than thirty years, and a generation was constrained to less than twenty. Four times twenty, four times thirty, four times seventy, do not equate to four hundred years, no matter how you crunch the numbers. So, either God can’t add, or He is communicating something else He wants us to consider with raby’y dowr.

The simplest approach to resolve this apparent conflict is to render dowr “a generation of time.” We can then divide the four-hundred year period quantified in the thirteenth verse by four, which thereby equates a “generational period of time” to one hundred years. Then, if we are on our toes, we can compare this insight to a statement Yahowsha’ made in the midst of His Olivet Discourse, in which He said that the “generation” which witnesses world war, the holocaust, worldwide outbreaks of terrorism, global climate change (manifest through increased storms, famine, and pestilence), as well as the return of Jews to Israel, would be the same generation which witnesses His return. In that many of the predicted events were fulfilled in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and recognizing that the remainder are being manifest today, escalating in frequency and severity not unlike birth pangs, this monumental event cannot be more than thirty years away.

But more than this, “raba’ – four,” and its derivative, “raby’y – fourth,” are being reestablished as the length of time a period of testing and reflection will last. This is reinforced by the forty days and nights it rained during the flood, by the four hundred years and four generations the Children of Yisra’el were enslaved in Egypt, by the forty years Abraham’s descendants wandered in the wilderness, and by the forty days and nights Yahowsha’ was tested prior to engaging in His mission. Based upon this precise repetition and consistency, we’d be foolish to ignore this pattern. At some point it becomes obvious that we should use multiples of four and forty when we seek to understand Yahowah’s timeline.

The word raba’ itself provides some clues. It is similar to what we will learn about Shabat, the Sabbath, in that it is a time to “rest, reflect, and regenerate so that all things can be made square and right again.” It is therefore little wonder then that four, along with seven (the basis of shabat), provides the framework upon which human history and Yahowah’s plan of salvation are unfurled.

Dowr is one of my favorite Hebrew words because it reveals so many things. It is equally comfortable being translated: “generation, lineage, family line, group of related people, pathway, threshold, home, house, dwelling place, to be surrounded and encircled in a spherical object, to reside, to dwell, to live, to abide, a generation or duration of time, a period, an age, or an era.” And as diverse as these concepts may seem, in Yahowah’s Covenant, they are all related. God wants His family to follow the path He has provided over the course of time, and cross the threshold He has enabled so that as a result of the Covenant’s lineage, we might enter and abide in God’s home for an extended period of time.

Not that God owes us one, but this passage reveals an explanation few consider: “because indeed and for the reason that the distortion, perversity, and depravity (‘aown – the wickedness and wrongdoing, mischief and iniquity, liability and guilt) of the ‘Emory (‘emory – those who pontificate evil, immoral soothsayers and wicked wordsmiths) is not yet fully finished or totally complete (lo’ ‘ad salem).” Those who criticize Yahowah, openly slandering and demeaning Him, do so because of those who were killed on His instructions once His children returned to the Promised Land some six hundred years after this prophecy was given. And indeed, three-thousand four-hundred years ago, over the lifespan of one generation, in a place we know today as Yisra’el, a man named Yahowsha’ (errantly known as Joshua), following Yahowah’s instructions, decimated the inhabitants of a score of villages spread over less than one-one-hundredth of one-percent of the planet’s inhabitable surface.

From a Scriptural perspective, of the 600,000 words in the Hebrew text, and 23,000 verses, redeeming and nurturing terms outnumber hostile ones by over ten thousand to one, and supportive statements outnumber the relatively few which mandate violence by nearly the same margin. So to say that the “Old Testament” is fixated on vengeance and violence is inaccurate to the point of being ignorant.

To put this in perspective quantitatively and geographically, and as a point of reference, today Israel is less than 8,500 square miles (0.01% of the Earth’s landmass), and only a portion of it was conquered by Yahowsha’. By comparison, and as a residue of the Ottoman Empire, Islamic dictators today control over 6,145,000 square miles of territory surrounding Israel in Northern Africa and the Middle East. But long before they oppressed the world, the first Muslims began a conquest which would last one-thousand four-hundred years, during which time Islamic Jihadists murdered, robbed, and enslaved hundreds of millions of people in an area exceeding 12,000,000 square miles (21.05% of the Earth’s landmass)—all on open-ended orders from their god. Their reign of terror, which continues today, was significantly larger in scale, and vastly more brutal, than the conquests of Imperial Rome or the British Colonial Empire at their worst. Even the United States forcibly deprived millions of native peoples of their lives and homes to capture 3,787,000 square miles of territory in what has been justified as “manifest destiny.” But neither Roman, Muslim, Ottoman, British, nor American conquests are criticized much today, only those directed by God.

Beyond the almost incomprehensible differences in the scope of these conquests, as it relates to the area, time, and human toll, there are three distinct differences which serve to exonerate Yahowah. The first of these is obvious. We exist in His universe. He created it. So it is His to do with as He pleases. He did not steal it from anyone and therefore He is free to give a portion of it (0.01% to be exact) to anyone He chooses.

Second, God conceived life. No matter how long or short, our mortal existence is His gift. So, whether our mortality succumbs to natural causes in seventy years, or His actions truncate it at seven, the duration remains an unearned benefit we would not otherwise have had. Suggesting that it is somehow unfair that some live longer than others do, is not unlike saying that it isn’t generous to give a family welfare checks for seven years if they are not continued for seventy. Does the money which has been transferred, spent, and enjoyed become less of a gift after seven years, during which time the beneficiaries were neither thankful nor willing to acknowledge their benefactor’s advice, if the charity isn’t extended into perpetuity?

Third, God has provided the means for us to be enriched, to be empowered, to live in peace, and to extend our lives forever. This offer is available to everyone. He has provided the instructions and done all of the work required for us to receive these benefits. So, during our mortal lives, we can choose to capitalize on His Covenant and live forever. We can choose to ignore His offer, and our souls will simply fade into oblivion at the end of our mortal existence. Or we can choose to be completely and totally ‘aown, wicked to the point our “perversity and depravity” risks the lives of others, and where our “distortions” of God’s plan corrupt His message so significantly and so ubiquitously that mankind’s religious counterfeits and political corruptions become pervasive and ingrained within our culture to the extent that all hope is lost. Should these conditions be allowed to spiral out of control everywhere on our planet, God’s Word would cease to be of value to anyone—as it would be essentially unknown. The ‘Emory, from which we derive “immoral,” had not yet reached this place, but they would, which is why their eradication would be delayed.

Mind you, God did not owe us an explanation, but He gave us one anyway—one the ‘Emory today, those who pontificate distortions, want us all to ignore. Human societies can and often do become so deceived and delusional, so corrupt and immoral, so destructive and deadly, that there is absolutely no hope whatsoever for anyone conceived within them. The lethal traditions of parents poison their offspring to the point that when their children become mothers and fathers, they poison their children. Lies are so passionately promoted, and the truth is so aggressively quarantined within such societies, that deadly deceivers become cultural heroes while the few who dare reveal the truth are crucified.

Allowed to fester in evil, everyone’s conscience eventually rots, and with it the capacity to be civil, just, moral, and rational. The ‘Emory would come to epitomize these conditions, as have the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Romans, Muslims, and most recently Maoists, Stalinists, Nazis, and Islamic Jihadists. Showing any of these communities mercy, being tolerant of them, allowing any of these perverse ideologies to endure, is merciless. They not only destroy the lives of their children, they are all covetous, wantonly stealing life, liberty, and property from everyone within reach of their deadly grasp.

The hosts of such evil schemes have always been human souls. We are the carriers of these, the most deadly and destructive diseases. So they cannot be eradicated by burning books or banning propaganda—not even by foreshortening the lives of their leadership. Either the hosts are eliminated and the vessel in which the corruption festered is cleansed, or the disease will spread and infect everyone.

So, God had a choice. He could have allowed new generations of ‘Emory to live, to deceive their children, and to destroy the hope of others, even those living outside their villages. In this case, the delusional and deadly disease which had made them perverse would have immediately spread into the Yisra’elite community, corrupting them. And while this eventually occurred, because they were only briefly separated from this evil, the Children of Yisra’el had sufficient time to become God’s witnesses. They would record and retain the Divine Writ—the path to relationship and salvation, and thus life eternal. And through these implements, as flawed as they may have been, Yahowah was able to reveal His Covenant. And at the same time, with this control group, with this one race and in this one place, He was able to demonstrate the benefits of paying attention to His advice, as well as reveal the consequence of ignoring His instructions.

Once the ‘Emory’s “‘aown – perversity, delusions, depravity, and distortions” were “salem – complete,” the trade God made was to foreshorten by a score of years the mortal lives of a few thousand diseased individuals, none of whom had any hope of salvation, to make it possible for thousands of others to live forever. Had He not done so, you wouldn’t be reading this book. You would not have had any access to the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms. The path to salvation would be unknown to you and to everyone else. Equally horrible, without God’s moral compass and restraint, humankind would have already destroyed itself and our planet. He made the most rational, moral, and compassionate choice at the right time and place.

By using “salem – totally complete” after “lo’ ‘ad – not yet,” God was saying that cultures sometimes begin a downward spiral which will eventually put them outside and beyond the reach of salvation. There comes a time when societies become so morally lost, so sexually perverted, so religiously deceived, so politically misguided, so economically selfish, so academically bewildered, so nationalistic and militaristic, that there is no longer any hope for anyone—including children. The ‘Emory were approaching this place, and so are we.

Understanding this sad reality is essential to knowing why Yahowah endorsed the annihilation of a handful of ‘Emory towns at the conclusion of the Exodus. By the time these people were eliminated, their culture had become perverse and depraved to the point there was no chance that anyone was going to choose right over wrong, God over the Adversary. Societies such as these become so poisoned with human edicts that individuals living within them no longer retain the capacity to see the truth, much less understand it, or embrace it. In this regard, the ‘Emory culture was very similar to those cultivated by Roman Catholics, Muslims, and Socialist Secular Humanists, even today.

So while there is no hint of violence in this passage, Yahowah’s description of ‘Emory culture 400 years hence, provides the rationale for their annihilation. God recognizes what modern man rejects. Tolerating evil is being intolerant of good. Displaying mercy toward the wicked is merciless. Wickedness and wrongdoing which rise above the level of individual guilt to societal liability, are the product of religious and political schemes which must be condemned and contained. Such dogmas thrive in the minds and hearts of men and women—even boys and girls. To eradicate them, the doctrines must be exposed, and their hosts must be rendered incapable of infecting others.

As a result, a place would be set-apart apart unto Yahowah and His children where the Covenant would be conceived and allowed to grow. “On (ba – in) this (huw’) day (yowm), Yahowah (efei) cut (karat) the Familial Covenant Relationship (beryth – nurturing relational agreement, binding promise, solemn oath, and mutual alliance and pledge based upon a marriage vow and home which fosters and encourages) with (‘eth – in association with) ‘Abram (‘Abram – Father who Uplifts) to promise (la ‘amar – to communicate and confirm): ‘To your offspring (zera’ – seed) I give (natan – bestow and devote) therewith (‘eth) this (ze’th) land (‘erets – established realm and firm, reliable place).” (Re’syth / Beginning / Genesis 15:18)

The Hebrew word translated “cut” is karat. It is routinely deployed in connection with the formation of the Covenant and describes the manner business associates or a judge might “cut a deal.” God selected it for two reasons. First, the purpose of the Covenant is to separate God’s Chosen from the world, and to set them apart unto Him. Second, karat is used in connection with circumcision, and circumcision will become the “sign of the Covenant.”

And while it is seldom translated, much less considered, let’s not neglect “’eth – with.” A covenant isn’t something anyone can do alone—even God. It is a relationship, and that requires at least two consenting parties.

Among all of the words found in Yahowah’s Word, uirb beryth may be the single most important. Based upon beyth and barah, the “beryth – agreement” is designed to “barah – nurture” a “beyth – family.” We know this because barah means “to nourish, providing that which is required to live and grow.” And uib beyth is a “family, home, and household.”

If we were to boil the whole of Yahowah’s witness down to a single term, it would be beryth – Covenant.” God revealed Himself through the inspired writings of prophets and scribes in order to form a family-oriented covenant relationship with mankind. The beryth is a “legally binding and valid agreement between parties to do, or not to do, the things which are specified.” This covenant is a “compact,” a term Webster defines as a “joining together, a thing that is firmly built and solid, something that is expressed concisely to form a close union.”

The dictionary’s definition of “league” is also relevant to our understanding of beryth, as it is a “covenant or compact made between parties for the promotion or maintenance of common interests, for mutual assistance and service.” It is the “aggregation and association of parties to achieve a common goal.”

And lest we forget, by any definition, a relationship is contingent upon the participation of two parties. In this case it describes a partnership between mankind and God. Yahowah only honors His side of the agreement with those who honor our responsibilities within the relationship. There are very specific things Yahowah has asked us to accept. Unfortunately, however, very few of these conditions have made their way into the any of the popular Christian salvation schemes, where God or the Church does everything, and the participants do almost nothing, save make a profession of faith.

In Ancient and Paleo Hebrew, the script of revelation, the first letter in “beryth – covenant,” is b Beyth – which also serves as the Hebrew word for “family and home.” Not surprisingly, it was written by drawing a picture of a tent, which was symbolic of a family living securely in a home. It therefore serves to define the beryth, picturing it as a home sheltering and protecting one’s household.

The second letter, r Rosh, was scribed by illustrating an individual’s head. It was designed to convey the idea that something is the first order of business, the most important thing to accomplish, and the top priority. Nothing is more important to Yahowah than this “beryth – Family Relationship.”

The third letter, the Hebrew i Yowd, was depicted by illustrating an arm and hand. It was used to visually communicate the will, authority, and ability to do whatever is required to achieve a goal. And Yahowah, the ultimate power and authority in the universe, will stop at nothing, save compromising His integrity and infringing upon freewill, to achieve His heart’s desire: the formation of a Familial Covenant Relationship with humankind.

If t Taw is the final letter in beryth, it described what had to be achieved to facilitate the priority of enlarging our Heavenly Father’s family. The Taw was drawn in the form of an upright pillar. It designates a doorway and a tent pole, which when erected, serves to enlarge a shelter, while also providing it with a reliable entrance. Yahowsha’ is the Upright Pillar who enlarges Yahowah’s family and home—which in turn is embodied by the Festival of Shelters. He is the Doorway to Heaven—which is represented by Passover.

And should the related u Theth actually denote beryth’s final character, then we have a picture of us being protected by Yah and bearing His signature. That would be a fine and fitting conclusion.

While these visualizations are enlightening, no matter how you look at it, God’s top priority is to “karat – cut” His “beryth – familial covenant relationship” with His creation so that nurtured and protected, we might live forever in His home. As promises and agreements go, there are none more valuable than this one.

As we have discussed, “‘erets – land” is used to describe a literal geographical place, Yisra’el, as well as being symbolic of living with God. It is derived from an unused Hebrew root which means: “firm, reliable, and established.” Similarly, Yisra’el is a material place with a spiritual designation. A compound of ‘ysh sarah ‘el, it describes “’ysh – individuals” who “sarah – strive, engage, exist, and endure” with “’el – God.”

It is exceedingly common for God to use something tangible, such as the ‘erets of Yisra’el, to communicate something which is intangible, such as living with Him in His home. In this vein, He is especially fond of agricultural metaphors—particularly those which relate to preparing the ground so that it is receptive, to pulling the weeds of deception, to tending to the crop, to separating wheat from chaff, and to ultimately harvesting saved souls. Therefore, in this passage which is announcing the “cutting of the Covenant,” we should see the “’erets – land” which has been “’amar – promised” as an actual material place and as the establishment of God’s spiritual family. They both exist, one in the material world and the other in the spiritual. Yahowah wants to campout with those who want to be with Him in both places.

Along these lines, when Yahowah’s prophetic promises are fulfilled, and the Children of Yisra’el are led away from the crucible of human oppression and to the Promised Land, the first step of their journey from bondage to freedom, from death to life, from corruption to perfection, from separation to reconciliation, begins by walking through the Doorway labeled “Passover.” Smeared with the sacrificial blood of an unblemished lamb, Pesach serves as a portal from mortality to immortality.

But even this gateway to eternal life, this first of seven steps leading to God, is of no benefit without Unleavened Bread—which was and is celebrated the following day. Matsah, the second step to living in God’s presence, describes God’s willingness and means to remove every form of corruption from our souls, perfecting us, so that we might exist with Him.

This then leads to the third step on the third day, to FirstFruits, where we are born into God’s family. On Bikuwrym our souls adopted and harvested by Yah.

The fourth step along the Way we are invited to walk to God occurs seven Sabbaths later, which is why it is called Seven Sabbaths. After walking away from human oppression for seven weeks, each day separating ourselves further from religious and political schemes, we find ourselves approaching the very presence of God. And that is why on this day the Children of Yisra’el were given the Towrah on this day—representing the presence of God in our world. So to celebrate, we are instructed to invite everyone we know, regardless of race, age, gender, wealth, or status, to walk with us on this path from man’s material world to God’s spiritual realm. On Shabuw’ah we are empowered spiritually to accurately present what is known about Yahowah, His relationship agreement, and the way He has provided for us to walk to His home, so that everyone has the opportunity to choose to participate in the “beryth – Covenant.”

The fifth step, called Taruw’ah, but known as Trumpets, like Seven Sabbaths, is both an announcement and a harvest. Those who have followed the path Yahowah has provided are asked to proclaim the good news: God has provided a means to survive our mortal existence (Passover), and to live forever. He has provided a means to escape judgment (Unleavened Bread), and to become vindicated, so that we might come to be perfect in His presence. He has provided the means to adopt us into His family (FirstFruits), so that we might live as His children. He has invited everyone to participate (Seven Sabbaths), so that we might stop relying on man’s political, religious, economic, and military promises, and start relying on His promises. But since we are free to choose to walk this path from man to God, Yahowah has instructed those who have made this choice to issue a warning to those who have not. There is a consequence of ignoring, even disrespecting, Yahowah’s seven Called-Out Assembly Meetings—as do virtually all Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Secular Humanists. Reliant on false promises, they will never enter God’s presence, be cleansed of corruption, escape judgment, or transcend their mortality. The end of their mortal lives will be the end of their existence. Their souls will simply fade into oblivion, ceasing to exist.

We know this because God told us on Passover, on Unleavened Bread, and twice on the Day of Reconciliations that those who ignore these invitations to meet with Him will cease to exist. Specifically, those who reject Yahowah’s summons to come into the presence of our Spiritual Mother, the Set-Apart Spirit, on Yowm Kippurym, which follows Pesach, Matsah, Bikuwrym, Shabuwa, and Taruw’ah, will be cut off from God’s family and their souls will be annihilated. Such is the consequence of choosing to ignore God’s Way—to reject the path He has provided for us to walk away from man’s corruption to His perfection, from separation to reconciliation.

Those who choose to participate in the Covenant, those who decide to walk to God along the path He has provided, will be reconciled with their Heavenly Father. They will be redeemed and renewed, all in preparation for the seventh step along the Way—the destination: Sukah/ Shelters. During the Seventh Called-Out Assembly Meeting our walk is over, because we are now camping out with our Heavenly Father. We have reached the Promised Land. We are now God’s children

********

“An Introduction to God” is found at

And Was Writen by Craig of

All Glory be to Yahweh!

*******

Build a Swimming Pool in Kenya

*******

The Nairobi Business Directory –

*******

Make Money Online – For Real –

.