Jer
31:31-34 Behold, the days
come, saith the LORD, that I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of
Judah:
(32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the LORD: (33) But this shall be the covenant
that I will
make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will
put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and
will be their God, and they shall be my people. (34) And
they shall
teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
These very words from Jeremiah were repeated in Hebrews 8. We read the old covenant from the time of Egypt's Exodus was broken.
Heb 8:7-12 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. (8) For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: (9) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. (10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: (11) And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. (12) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. There was a fault with the old covenant. When you read his book, you find Jeremiah had preached to Judah and told them again and again that God was punishing them for disobedience to the law of God.
Read the following SABBATH YEAR law, and we will then show you how this was the primary reason Israel was bound in Babylon: Leviticus 25:3-5 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; (4) But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. (5) That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. Leviticus 25:20-21 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: (21) Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: (21) To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. Notice above that Jeremiah was consulted.
Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Israel wound up breaking 70 sabbath years.
Recall that Jesus said we are to forgive someone UNTIL 70 x 7. Mat 18:21-22 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? (22) Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Jesus practiced what he preached!
And in the same chapter we then read: Mat 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So Israel paid the sabbath years back to God and spent 70 years in Babylon. Getting back to the covenant issue, Daniel 9 also mentions 70x7.
Dan 9:2-3 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (3) And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: Then God speaks about another 70X7 years!
Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks (70 x 7) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. Understand that A WEEK in this chapter means simply a SEVEN.
Remember that Jeremiah said God was going to give Israel a NEW COVENANT.
But notice 69 SEVENS pass by before He comes!
Heb 8 (8) For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: The NEW COVENANT would allow them to BE ABLE TO KEEP GOD'S LAWS. And THAT IS WHY WE READ that by the time 70 SEVENS passed AGAIN, these following things would occur: Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. MAKE AN END OF SINS! Hebrews 10 repeats this prophecy of Jeremiah 31 where we read about a new covenant, and says Jesus' Sacrifice would MAKE AN END OF SINS! Heb 10:14-18 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (15) Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, (16) This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; (17) And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (18) Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Reconciliation for iniquity would occur.
Why, again?
Since Daniel was praying about those years of captivity due to the breaking of covenants, and reading Jeremiah's words about those seventy years, it is no wonder Daniel was told there would be an END OF SINS, and then said MESSIAH WOULD COME after the first 69 sevens!
Heb 10:1-2 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (2) For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. Jesus sacrifice makes u s perfect so sacrifices CEASE TO BE OFFERED! So all of this tells us that MESSIAH COMES at the last minute!
He comes at the last moment! He comes in the nick of time! Similarly, If you are not trusting in Jesus very well, God will let you make mistakes after mistakes, and at the last minute SHOW YOU THAT IF YOU JUST TRUST IN JESUS, you will make no mistakes! He lets you try everything else first, when you should have tried Jesus.
But what do they do when Jesus comes?
Now, the book of Hebrews has helped us understand these things so much so far tonight.
Heb 12:18-21 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (19) And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (20) (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: (21) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) This old covenant that Jeremiah said was faulty and unable to help the people continue in it and keep it, first was given on Mount Sinai as we have just read.
Exo 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: And God's words were so profound and terrifying that the people prayed He not speak to them any more, since they were too frightened. Exo 20:18-19 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. (19) And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. That was when the old covenant was given.
Heb 12:22-24 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. We are dealing with a MOUNTAIN called SION and the CITY of God, heavenly Jerusalem!
Recall that the very first day God gave them the covenant THEY BROKE IT! Exo 32:1-4 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. (2) And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. (3) And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. (4) And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. They worshiped AN IMAGE OF A BEAST.
Exo 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. Exo 32:26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And when we back up in Hebrews 12, we see something similar to what Israel did when Jesus came. Heb 12:15-17 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (16) Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. (17) For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. When this NEW COVENANT with Jesus was rejected and Jesus was crucified, ISRAEL SOLD THEIR BIRTHRIGHT.
When you cannot keep the laws of God because the covenant has fault, and God gives you a new covenant that allows you to be able to keep it, AND YOU REJECT IT, you sell your birthright and you are in trouble. Some people think they commit a sin and they feel they are like Esau who cannot repent again.
God stressed the thought that without Him we can do nothing.
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