There is none so foolish as those who say that God made more than one true covenant with mankind, and that therefore salvation for the Gentiles was a mere “afterthought.” They are completely ignorant of scripture, and forget that God is the great king, that he is the God of all flesh. No man’s person means anything to him, and flesh shall not stand before him and boast.

When God covenanted with our father Abraham, he said “in thee shall all nations be blessed.” When it came time for the LORD to fulfill his word to Abraham and bring his descendants out of the land of Egypt, which was the house of bondage and tribulation, does it not plainly say that “And the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth, about 600,000 on foot, men, besides the children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks and herds, very much cattle.” (Exodus 12: 37-38) From the very beginning the Gentiles were there. They came up to follow the LORD. As it says in verse 41 “All the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” They were delivered from bondage, and they heard God speak from Horeb; and they too said of the words of the covenant: “We will do it.” Moses commanded before his departure that representatives of all the tribes and the strangers that sojourn amongst them (Gentiles) should come and gather, and at the reading of the law there was no exception made. All would answer: “We will do it.” “For the LORD your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great, and strong, and terrible God, who does not accept persons, nor will he by any means accept a bribe: executing judgment for the stranger and orphan and widow, and he loves the stranger to give him food and raiment. And ye shall love the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10: 17-19)

From the very beginning, the Gentiles were there and walked with Israel. They did not have to become Jews to inherit the resurrection. They were to have a right heart and walk before God and man justly, and they were, as Israel, to keep the things whereof God commanded them.

And again in Isaiah it is written: “Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold I am a dry tree. . . Also, the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” (Isaiah 56: 1-7) Those who loved God were not to be prevented from coming to him in any way— ever.

Indeed, God declared that a new covenant he would make. “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: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day I took them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD. But this shall be my 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. 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.” (Jeremiah 31)

Isaiah also speaks of this covenant (Isaiah 59:20) “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this shall be my covenant with them, saith the LORD: My spirit which is upon thee, and the words which I have put in thy mouth, shall never fail from thy mouth, nor from the mouth of thy seed, for the LORD hath spoken it, from henceforth and forevermore.”  

The New Covenant would not be different, but he would write this upon our hearts and engrave his laws upon our souls. He would set us upon the path at last, finally revealing himself to us so that we would finally, finally, keep to righteousness from a pure heart and not from from ritual and from mindless precepts. The Covenant would come by “that prophet” whom Moses said God would raise up from amongst us. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” God would not speak direct anymore because we pled at Horeb that he would not, for no man could hear the voice of God and bear it. Perhaps it was more this: no one can bear the very knowledge that he was confronted by the Most High.

God said it was “well said” of our fathers. He would raise up a prophet like unto Moses, one who would declare the very words of God directly. He would raise him up from amongst us. Moreover, it is written that he should come from the house of David. Over time, the coming of that special envoy from God, who would set things right, that Savior, was clarified, elaborated upon and explained. It was openly and plainly declared unto us that the Gentiles would hear his voice and they would hearken unto him: (See Men & Brethren) (Messianic Prophecies)

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isaiah 60:1)

“A shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The spirit of the LORD will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by appearances, nor decide by what he hears, but with righteousness he will obtain justice for the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the land. He will strike the land with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips the wicked will be killed. Righteousness will be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion will graze together, and a little child will herd them. The cow and the bear will graze together; and their young will lie down, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  A baby will play on the viper’s hole, and the toddler will put his hand on the dens of adders. They will not hurt or destroy on my holy mountain. For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

“On that day, the root of Jesse, which stands as a banner for the peoples— the nations will seek him, and his dwelling will be honored. On that day, my Lord will extend his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people that are left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Nubia, Elam, Shinar, Harnath, and the coast lands. He will raise a signal for the nations and assemble the banished of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the corners of the earth...” (Isaiah 11: 1-12)

There it is again— the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God because of a man coming from the heritage of David, to him the Gentiles will seek. And then at the same time as Israel is gathered again, there the standard is raised and he shall call his people back.

And again, he shall take of Israel out from the invented traditional worship of their dispersion and call the Gentiles to him; and that he should come in the flesh to do so (Hosea 2):

Therefore, behold I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her. I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth me unto thee for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sew her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

Thus there was no 2 covenants. There is 1 covenant. Abraham had the promise; our fathers were kept in store at Horeb; and at the Cross our fathers saw the execution of the contract: it is fulfilled. The Gentiles, as a fraction, heard the words of this covenant at Horeb. But with “that prophet” they heard en mass, and they heard in their heart, and they would seek the messenger of it, the Redeemer. But for our people, because we had heard in our ears for so long of his coming, but not in our hearts, we should suffer what God told Moses of “that prophet”— that “anyone who does not hearken unto that prophet I will take vengeance on him.” Zechariah made it clear that only one third of Israel would hearken and the others would be cast off and Jerusalem would then be destroyed. So it all came to pass.

Once again, Moses declared that “that prophet” should come. His coming was an integral part of the promise of God to his people, an integral part of the covenant. For it is clear that God certainly refused to tell Moses everything, and also held him unworthy. . . and Moses implicitly understood this. It would only be from “that prophet” that God would speak directly to his people. In his song, before he bid farewell to Israel, Moses proclaimed his coming, showing that God would come upon the earth, raise his right hand toward heaven and swear that he lives for ever. Moses plainly sang: “Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him.” Now, Moses would not suggest that angels worship a man. He spoke of the LORD’s coming. It was the whole purpose of the Covenant. What was the purpose of the coming of the LORD if it was not expected? What poignancy had it? Our problem is: we didn’t listen. God’s language to Moses and the language of Moses’ song of departure are plain and clear.

Clear also was Moses’ language in his Book of Job, chapter 19, verse 25-27: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Lives is in the present tense, so long ago in Moses’ day. Yet he says of he who already lives that he shall stand upon the earth in the latter days. Because of this we shall see the resurrection, and we shall see God in our flesh.

Despite latter-day claims in our dispersion, after the destruction of the Second Temple Period, that we were “never expecting a divine messiah,” both scriptural and non scriptural Hebrew writings made it very clear that we were— the Similtudes of Enoch, for instance:

“And there I saw One who had a head of days; and His head was white like wool; and with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man. And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.

   And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that  Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, and why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and said unto me: This is the son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth righteousness, and who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, because the LORD of Hosts hath chosen him; and whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the LORD of Hosts in uprightness for ever.

   And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, and the strong from their thrones; and shall loosen the reins of the strong, and break the teeth of the sinners. And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms because they do not extol and praise Him, nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them. And he shall put down the countenance of the strong, and shall fill them with shame.

And darkness shall be their dwelling, and worms shall be their bed; and they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, because they do not extol the name of the LORD of Hosts.”

Why indeed did God have to come in the flesh as a part of the covenant with Abraham?

This was all a part of God’s plan to teach man of his nature. Adam and Eve certainly knew little of God . . . not until they were thrown from the garden for their sin. Then they began to learn the holiness of God, his mercy, his justice; and they learned something they never had: faith and hope— also, a longing for home; a paradise of rest again. The whole purpose of life is to learn of God, for God to reveal himself and his nature to mankind. It is the way. God did not make us to sin. That we did ourselves, and this he knew when he created us. He gave us so much of his divine spirit, created us so perfect, that he knew he would have to redeem us from our sins. It was worth it to him. Otherwise there was no way such a marvelous creation as humankind could learn of somebody that is the only one worthy to learn of .

One Covenant unto all mankind. It was not a different covenant between Gentiles and Jews. The Gentiles, who from the beginning were a minority that heard and followed, yes, heard even Moses’ voice and God’s commandments from Horeb, would now hear en mass and would repent at the sight of the Messenger, “that prophet.” We didn’t. Now Israel became just a remnant. We were wasted and persecuted, driven from the land by our own abominations. The Gentiles heard and they hearkened, and they were blessed. It was no two different covenants for Jew and Gentile. Part of the covenant involved the physical sons of Isaac: that as the candle holders for God’s light they would not escape his wrath if they did not hearken unto “that prophet” who would come. We didn’t hearken, and you see what has happened in the last 2000 years. (See Chronological Anchors)

God made it very plain to Ezekiel what shall be the fate of those who of the nations have clung to God and then forsake him: (Ezekiel 14)

 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God, Be converted, and turn from your evil practices, and from all your sins, and turn your faces back again. 7 For any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who shall separate himself from me, and conceive his imaginations in his heart, and set before his face the punishment of his iniquity, and come to the prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him, according to the things wherein he is entangled. 8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him desolate and ruined, and will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

What if the Gentiles have now corrupted the way of the “New” Covenant? So did we after Joshua died. No matter what, God’s holy spirit went out and methodically fulfilled his good word. Though the Gentiles went into unusual doctrines, practices and even some of them into idolatry again, in the process forming God’s church after the ways of ancient Rome, nothing could stop his kingdom. He said the nations would call upon him. He continued his work, whether inside or independent of the church corporate. Was this not the same with us? After Joshua had died so did we go off into idolatry for centuries. Indeed, the times of the Gentiles almost strangely mimic our own. Though Israel constantly sinned before God, and only a remnant remained faithful in all the land (only 7000 in Elijah’s time), God continued to preserve his remnant. His holy spirit could not be stopped. He had covenanted with Israel, and he would maintain that covenant for his great namesake. So what if most Israelites fell back? God continued to declare his word and enforce his covenant, always warning through his prophets what should happen if we failed to believe and hearken unto his word.

After our destruction at the hands of the Babylonians we never went again into idolatry. It took a heavy hand like that to bring us to our senses. After Ezra and the scribes codified so much of the law after the return of the captivity, we did not go unto other gods again, ever. Judah had returned and returned unto God, a remnant preserved according to the New Covenant that God swore to bring. It was written in every Jew, and no more was their idolatry in Israel. God was paving the way for the messenger of this New Covenant, which was foreshadowed by how God brought out Israel from actual idolatry once and for all. Now he would spiritually do that and fulfill the New Covenant, bringing the Gentiles to him as well.

And so have the times of the Gentiles progressed like Israel’s of old. They heard the words of God, the words of “that prophet.” For 1935 years God has plundered the nations and drawn unto him his believers. Many corrupted the way, some fell back, there will always be imperfect understanding. But the covenant expanded and conquered. And his kingdom expands even now. 

The Covenant remains, and shall always remain. When the Apostles were told that the Gentiles were also believing en mass, they were astounded. None had been literate (except perhaps Matthew), and had only learned scripture from hearing it read on the Sabbath day. They didn’t know the Gentiles would hearken. When they did, James the Just was moved by God’s holy spirit, advising them that they did not have to become Jewish converts (just like at Horeb, indeed we laid off circumcision in the desert), but that they were to abstain from idols, blood, etc.; and that whatsoever else they needed to learn of ordinances, etc., could be found by going to the synagogue every Sabbath day. “And after that they held their peace, James answered, saying: Men and brethren, hearken unto me. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for him name. And to this agree the words of the prophets. . . Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is this: that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.”

Good advice. It was too costly for the apostles to have the scriptures transcribed (a very costly process especially if scribes were commissioned from the temple.) The most urgent and needful commands had been given, and the Nazarene Gentiles flocked to the synagogues and there listened. The Apostles and teachers made it clear these things were to be done, as written in Moses, with a right heart. This was not salvation, but these were the good ways of God given unto man for the benefit of all.

The apostles’ answer was in response to Jews who said that the Gentiles must also be circumcised or they cannot be saved. Such was clearly a violation of everything that God had instructed. There is no evidence that the Gentiles who came up out of Egypt had all been circumcised (though most likely many had since Egyptians practiced that as well). And as mentioned above, we did not even circumcise in the wilderness . . . and yet God led us every day. (It is amazing that a ritual done only to men is regarded as a requirement for inheriting the Resurrection.) The apostles, through Simeon Peter’s testimony, now realized that the Gentiles were being saved while yet uncircumcised. This probably wasn’t anything new. It just wasn’t being taught. The easy-to-perform rituals of the covenant were being taught. Circumcision obviously was not salvation, for the Egyptians practiced it long before the Hebrews (and, once again, only males were circumcised anyway).

Let us amplify this point again: the children of Israel had stopped circumcision while in the wilderness. God led them and kept them 40 years while an entire new generation remained uncircumcised until the people practiced it again. God was making it very clear that such rituals were not salvation and redemption. But by the time of the Second Temple Period, the “peasant preachers”— the Pharisees—  and their limited scope of the purpose of the law were indeed teaching such rituals as necessary and not as signs.

Perhaps if the Apostles had agreed it would have eased the contention between the Judaizers and the Nazarenes. But those Pharisees who insisted on it were outside of the law themselves, for it was not written that any “stranger that sojourned” amongst Israel had to become a Jew per se, and indeed the place of a “Proselyte” was well known in Jewish law. No where did the law require total conversation to Judaism. Indeed, many sects within Judaism today do not encourage total conversion.

Then there were others of our people who believed that salvation did come merely from keeping the works of the law without having any right heart and motivation whatsoever. They too insisted that the Gentile Nazarenes become as the Jewish Nazarenes. This was denied. Salvation was, as always, by the grace of God. He had done the great work, not man. Believe on him, love God more than everything, and do the works as a result of this faith— just as Abraham. He believed God first, and this was counted unto him for righteousness. Righteousness was to believe in God— and to believe in God was to go do what he said.

The Gentiles have heard and believed.

The Covenant is still in effect and shall never cease. God made it clear, both by his words while amongst us, and by the Apostles, that Israel would be cast off for their sins until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24) “For I would not have, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved.”  (Romans 12)

Just as God preserved Israel so that the great day of the LORD could come to pass for all mankind some 1975 years ago, so has the LORD endured and preserved the nations until the day that the LORD should turn his people, so that once again what he did 1975 years ago can be raised up amongst all nations again and never be forgotten.

Even now these times are coming upon us, and once again the Spirit of God goes out to recover his people the second time. They shall hear the words of the Covenant again, and they shall believe. Isaiah’ prophecy is at the door: “On that day, the root of Jesse, which stands as a banner for the peoples— the nations will seek him, and his dwelling will be honored. On that day, my Lord will extend his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people that are left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Nubia, Elam, Shinar, Harnath, and the coast lands. He will raise a signal for the nations and assemble the banished of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the corners of the earth...” (Isaiah 11: 10-12) (See Double Extension in Prophecy)

I tell you now that Jesus, called Christos in Greek, is “that prophet;” that he is God come to us, as God himself swore by David: “O LORD my God, thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, and in thy thoughts there is none who shall be likened unto thee: I declare and spoke: they exceeded number. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me. Whole burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require. Then said I, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me— I desire to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I will not refrain my lips; O LORD, thou knowest my righteouesness. I have not hid thy truth within my heart, and I have declared thy salvation; I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation.” (Psalm 40)

God said he should come and dwell amongst us, as Moses declared of that prophet in his song before his departure.

The complete, totally revealed Covenant the nations now abhor, as they do the Messenger, as it was foretold. (See Messianic Prophecies) All Israel is now called upon to believe, as they always were called upon. No Jew is called upon to be a Gentile, nor is a Gentile ordered to convert and be a Jew. At no time did God command that. He said “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” This he sees, and no man’s flesh can stand before him. No Hasid is called to cut off a lock of his hair, nor change his clothes. No Gentile is called upon to be a Jew. Salvation has been written in our hearts by the doings of God. We have no excuse, and ritual can never purge our souls before God.

It is time to believe. It is time to go do. Salvation is coming again to Israel. Hear the words of the Covenant, and live. A mighty hand wrote it, and a mighty soul brought it to fruition.