Sunday, April 20, 2014

Confirmed With an Oath

God, who cannot lie, counseled believers with prophecy, then lifted his hand and confirmed the matter of end times, with an oath. “God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath (Hebrews 6:17).” “I make this covenant and this oath… also with him that is not here with us this day (Deuteronomy 29:14-15).” The words of God’s oath were written and recorded in the thirty second chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. “Hear, O earth, the words of my mouth (Deuteronomy 32:1).” “For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever (Deuteronomy 32:40).”

God’s oath was written to believers in the words of a song. “Write ye this song for you… that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 31:19).” The song that God swore unto believers on that day, was a promise to bring the curse. “The day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste (Deuteronomy 32:35).” “It shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness (Deuteronomy 31:21).” Before surmising the logic of the curse, consider the wonderful message of God's blessing:

“Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day (Deuteronomy 9:1).” Prior to entering into the promised land, Israel stood and listened as God's oath concerning the blessings and cursings, was read unto them. “Ye stand this day… 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 29:10-12).” The blessed event was rallied by the words “this day.” “Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God (Deuteronomy 27:9).” On that day believers were aggressively informed that they should keep, and do all the commandments of that day. The words of Moses' testimony wherein he repeatedly warned God's people that they should keep do the commandments of that Day, were written, and they were rewritten, in order to impress upon believers the importance of keeping and doing all of the commandments of that law, just as it was presented unto them on that day. “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is for your life (Deuteronomy 32:46-47).” “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you (Deuteronomy 4:2).”

"I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)." 
In the law of God's oath, believers were given a detailed list of the many blessings that God promised to bring upon every believer that kept his commandments, however God's oath also included other promises which were given to encourage perseverance: “It shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain (Deuteronomy 11:13-14).” “If ye hearken… God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he swore unto thy fathers (Deuteronomy 7:12)” 

Which brings us to two solemn reasons why God has sworn to bring the curse (Daniel 9:11). The first reason is because the curse is, in effect, a act of God's love, for God is correcting the corrupted seed, and causing everyone who is called by his name, to worship him, and obey his word with true integrity. The second reason is because an oath makes it official: it takes away the need for debating and striving about whether or not God will bring the curse. “When it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it (Isaiah 27:8).” “An oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife (Hebrews 6:16).” Knowing that God has sworn to bring the curse, empowers believers with the truth of it, and it emboldens them to speak out and warn others. “Before it came to pass I showed it unto thee (Isaiah 48:5).” “It will surely come, it will not tarry (Habakkuk 2:3).”

The curse is about cleaning up religion's mistakes. It will end religious warfare by correcting everyone that is religiously deceived. “Thou shalt consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee (Deuteronomy 8:5).” God is correcting religion's mistakes for the good of his people, and for the good of their children (Jeremiah 32:39). “When all these things come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee… and thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice… then the Lord thy God will turn… and have compassion on thee (Deuteronomy 30:1-3).”

“This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth… I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name (Zechariah 5:3-4).” God is testifying and verifying that the curse will come upon deceived priests, as well as their corrupted congregations. The word, 
thief, pertains to the religious leaders that are telling lies, because their lies are robbing God of his children. The word, house, pertains to the sanctuary, or in other words, the places wherein God's people gather to worship. God does not take pleasure in bringing the curse upon the thief, nor upon his house. “Truly this is grief, and I must bear it (Jeremiah 10:19).” “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end (Deuteronomy 32:29)!”

God, who cannot lie, swore to bring the curse upon every believer who hears the words of his oath, and then arrogantly believes that the curse does not pertain to them (Deuteronomy 27:26). “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… Then 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 29:19-20).”

“It shall be, as with the people, so with the priest (Isaiah 24:2).” God has also sworn that he will not spare any priest that has corrupted himself and is not obeying his voice (Deuteronomy 32:5). “He abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters (Deuteronomy 32:19).” “They ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity (Ezekiel 44:12).” “I will heap mischiefs upon them; and I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction (Deuteronomy 32:23-24).”

After deceived priests are caused to bear their shame, if they repent, then God will put the curse upon their enemies. “The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee… and the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee (Deuteronomy 30:3, 30:7).” “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; 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 7:9-10).” “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good (Numbers 23:19)?”

Israel has kept the charge of God's request, for Israel has continually had some believers that did hearken and do the commandments of their covenant. Throughout each generation a seed did serve the Lord their God, and God accounted their perseverance as righteousness for their generation. “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation (Psalms 22:30).”

“If ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers (Deuteronomy 7:12)” Because Israel did keep God's charge, God is now keeping the promises which he swore unto Moses and all believers, for he is going to fulfill those oaths which were made with Abraham, and with Isaac: God is establishing a new and everlasting covenant with their seed (Genesis 17:7; 17:19; 1Chronicles 16:17). “The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of the our enemies might serve him without fear (Luke 1:73-74).”

“I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord (Zechariah 11:10-11).” There are two reasons why the old covenant which God gave his people through Moses will be dissolved on the day that God brings the curse. The first reason is because the old covenant was based upon the promise to bring the curse, and second reason is because God is delivering the people's long anticipated, new and everlasting covenant. “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. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people (Isaiah 55:3-4).”

David was selected by God to be a witness which represented the people: He was the man that stood and listened as God swore an oath, and confirmed his promise to reveal and uphold a new, and everlasting covenant. “He hath made with me an everlasting covenant (2Samuel 23:5).” David’s name was attached to the oath, like a parable, because it made a way for those children which are of the believing seed of David, to connect all of the verses that pertain to the new covenant. “I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: With whom my hand shall be established (Psalms 89:20-21).” “I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore (1Chronicals 17:14).”

Just as God called Moses a father to Israel, David is a father of everyone that obeys the new covenant (Numbers 11:12). David's name was also chosen and used, because David was the first king that was given understanding of these things. In essence, David's name in prophecy pertains to every believer that acknowledges and confesses the new covenant. “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it… If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it (Psalms 132:11-14).” These are the rejoicing words of God’s oath, and in them God confessed and promised that he planned to reveal a new covenant unto the seed of David, and he verified that this new covenant would be his will for the people. These same words also confirm that if God's people will keep and believe the new covenant, then their children will sit upon the throne of God's mercy for evermore. “Mercy shall be built up forever (Psalms 89:2).”

Like the law of the old covenant which Israel received through Moses, this law of the new covenant comes with promises of blessings for obedience, and it also comes with a promise that God will punish those people that forsake it. “If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statues, and keep not my commandments; Then I will visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail… I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven (Psalms 89:30-37).” This is God's promise that he will continually be with believers that preform the words of the new covenant, and he will correct them, and their children, whenever it is necessary.

God’s oath unto David is also an answer to religion's ever debated question: “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne (Psalms 132:11).” This verse is evidence and proof that God swore unto David that Messiah would come through his lineage: Jesus Christ is the realization of that oath. Furthermore, God has also raised his hand and sworn that Jesus Christ would be our new heavenly priest, forever. “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalms 110:4).” “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1Timothy 2:5).”

“The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17).” “Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).” “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).”

The Lord has given Jesus’ teachings as our new covenant. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me (Matthew 11:29).” The new covenant is fashioned to work like a marriage covenant, because of its unity, and its vows. If you vow to learn of Jesus, and preform that vow, then God will be your God. It is not surprising that studying scripture is our new covenant, for this is God's way, and God never changes. In the old testament, God suggested that his love towards his people is like that of a protective, nurturing husband; and God afirmed that he looks upon the covenants as being the vows which unite us. “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine (Ezekiel 16:8).”

“He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises (Hebrews 8:6).” There are a host of beneficial reasons why God's people should want to obey the new covenant, and many of them are written in the one hundred and third Psalm. The new covenant has been established by an oath of God, and it was built upon the promise of everlasting life, for us, and for our children. “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those who remember his commandments to do them (Psalms 103:17-18).”

“Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of his covenant… that I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers (Jeremiah 11:3, 11:5).” God is obsoleting the old covenants, and bringing the curse upon every believer that refuses to believe the words of his new covenant. Christianity has been partaking in the new covenant, however they were unaware of it. Consequently, even those Christians which have already entered into the everlasting kingdom, must acknowledge and confess God's new covenant, or else they will be afflicted, and shame will cover them.  “Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground…. Thou hast covered him with shame. How long Lord? Wilt thou hide thyself forever? Shall thy wrath burn like fire? (Psalms 89:44-46).” We already know the solution. “When all these things come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee… and thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice… then the Lord thy God will turn… and have compassion on thee (Deuteronomy 30:1-3).”

David left a message behind for the priesthood: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after the rain (2Samuel 23:3).” These words are meant for encouragement and comfort unto those priests which have faithfully served the Lord, for they prophesy a secret. God will bless those priests which have been faithful, with blessings, and he will show their righteousness before their congregations. “I will clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish (Psalms 132:16-18).”

“It shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth… then shall they be built in the midst of my people (Jeremiah 12:16).” The new covenant is requiring Muslims and Jews to learn the ways of Jesus, however even Christianity must know and confess who it is that they are serving: which is why God has given us his name: “The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob… this is my name for ever, this is my memorial unto all generations (Exodus 3:15).” “The king shall rejoice in God; everyone that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped (Psalms 63:11).”



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