There is no prophecy in the T'nach (bible) that the messiah would "be" the new covenant. The concept is impossible since the Hebrew word בְּרִית b'rit means an agreement or a pact or a treaty. Ergo the list maker is claiming that Jesus was a contract. Jesus was a treaty. Jesus was an agreement. Jesus was a "pact." Nonsense. Not to mention that the T'nach tells us time and time and time again that the covenant G-d made with the Jews at Sinai is eternal and will never be replaced. G-d says He will never desert the Jews. NEVER. Judges 2:1: "I will not break my covenant with you FOREVER." G-d promises to punish the Jews for our sins -- but NOT to reject us. Yirmiyahu / Jeremiah 46:27. "You fear not, O Jacob My servant, and be not dismayed, O Israel! for behold, I will redeem you from afar and your children from the land of their captivity, and Jacob shall return and be quiet and at ease, and there shall be none who disturb his rest. 28. You fear not, My servant Jacob, says the L-rd, for I am with you, for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end, but I will chastise you justly, and I will not completely destroy you." T'hillim / Psalms 105:8-10: "He remembers His covenant forever, the word He had commanded to the thousandth generation, 9. Which He had made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, 10. And He set it up to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an EVERLASTING COVENANT" G-d repeatedly tells us that He will not break His covenant with Israel EVER. Here are just a few: Vayikra / Leviticus 26:44-45: "But despite all this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them nor will I reject them to annihilate them, thereby breaking My covenant that is with them, for I am the L-rd their G-d. 45. I will remember for them the covenant [made with] the ancestors, whom I took out from the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations, to be a G-d to them. I am the L-rd." Y'chezkel / Ezekiel 16:59-60: "For so said the L-rd G-d: I have done with you as you did, that you despised an oath to violate a covenant. 60. But I shall remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I shall establish for you an EVERLASTING COVENANT." Stop and think. G-d made a covenant with Abraham. Did He break that contract? No, of course not. G-d made promises to Abraham which culminated in the בְּרִית מִילָה (brit milah / covenant of circumcision) found in B'reshit / Genesis 17 -- where we are told that בְּרִית מִילָה will be an eternal agreement between G-d and the Jews. G-d renewed Abraham's covenant with Abraham's son, Isaac. But did G-d break that covenant? Nope. G-d renewed that covenant with Isaac's son, Jacob. Finally, at Sinai G-d reaffirmed the earlier contracts were still firmly "in place" and He reaffirmed His word that his promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the entire Jewish nation were eternal, everlasting and forever. So. If that is the case. What does the prophet Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah mean when he speaks of a new covenant? The translation “new” at the end of Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 31:30 (the Christian number is 31) really means “renewed” because verse 32 (33 in Christian versions) clearly states that the “new” b'rit (covenant) is going to be G-d’s Torah -- just as the Sinaic covenant is G-d's Torah. "For this is the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel after those days, says the L-rd: I have put (נָתַֽתִּי / “I have put") My Torah (תּֽוֹרָתִי֙ / my Torah / my instructions) among them, and I will inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their G-d and they shall be My people." Each covenant builds on the previous -- none "does away" with, vanishes or "grows old" as says Hebrews. Likewise those who insist Jeremiah is speaking of a replacement covenant with Jesus and Christianity seem to ignore "I have put (נָתַֽתִּי / “I have put") My Torah (תּֽוֹרָתִי֙ / my Torah / my instructions) among them, and I will inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their G-d and they shall be My people." Torah. Not Jesus. They also mistranslate חֲדָשָׁה at the end of verse 30 as "new." Thisis incorrect and ought to be “renewed”, because verse 32 clearly states that the “new” b'rit (covenant) is going to be G-d’s Torah -- just as the Torah is the covenant of Sinai. This is a renewal of the earlier covenant. G-d made a covenant (a contract) with Abraham -- and He promised that this covenant was eternal -- with Abraham and his heirs. " "I (G-d) will sustain My covenant between Me and between you and your descendants after you throughout their generations, an eternal covenant; I will be a G-d to you and to your offspring after you." B'reshit / Genesis 17:7. Read those words to a missionary: "throughout their generations, an eternal covenant" When Abraham died G-d did not replace His promises, His covenant -- He renewed it with Abraham's son Isaac: "I will keep My covenant with Isaac.'" B'reshit / Genesis 17:21. He renewed it with Isaac's son, Jacob, see B'reshit / Genesis 28 and Sh'mot / Exodus 2:14 "G-d heard their cries, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob." When Jacob died G-d did not walk away from His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. No, He renewed His promises to the entire Jewish nation at Mount Sinai. See Sh'mot / Exodus 34. The Torah makes it clear time and again that this covenant is eternal. What then of Jeremiah? The prophet is declaring that in the messianic era G-d will again renew his covenant with the Jewish people. This time the covenant is different from the previous b'rit (covenant) in one way only: Israel (Jews) broke the previous covenant, but we will not do this when the messiah comes and we enter the messianic age. Why is there no concern that anyone will break the contract? Everyone will know G-d. In the messianic age there will be a global knowledge of G-d and no one will need to be taught about G-d or about being good people -- it will be part of each of us. Most translations of Y'rimayahu / Jeremiah 31:32 has "I shall put my Torah among them" -- but this is a mistranslation. The literal text is נָתַֽתִּי אֶת־תּוֹרָתִי בְּקִרְבָּם (“I have put My Torah among them”), -- the verb נָתַֽתִּי is in the past tense. The verb נָתַֽתִּי natati is the simple past tense and means I HAVE PUT (the future tense form “I shall put” would have to be אֶתֵּן ĕttén, which occurs 79 times in the T'nach). Let's explore:
G-d is saying that His Torah was already given to the Jewish nation, and that this renewal of the covenant will be different in that in the days of the messiah Jews will no longer stray after idolatry (including Christianity). The translation “new” for חֲדָשָׁה at the end of verse 30 is misleading. It should be translated as "renewed" since verse 32 clearly states that the “new” b'rit is going to be G-d’s Torah -- the Torah we received at Sinai. G-d is saying the covenant of the true messianic age will be the SAME as the previous b'rit with one difference. Israel broke the previous contract, but we will not break the renewed contract. If this is a "new" covenant were about Jesus why is G-d saying in this passage that He has already put the Torah among the Jews? Why is He saying that this Torah will be inscribed in our hearts when the messiah comes -- when Christianity does not follow the mitzvot of the Torah, but states that Jesus "replaced" the need to keep kosher, and perform the other mitzvot? Hebrews changed the word of G-d and actually reverses it! If this were about Jesus, why is the Torah not inscribed in the heart of every Jew alive today -- and clearly there are Jews who become atheists, even Christians or Muslims! Ergo Jesus did not fulfill this prophecy of Jeremiah -- and the "new" covenant is not Christianity. Jeremiah also states clearly that this renewed covenant is with the Jewish people -- not a replacement covenant with Jesus and Christianity. "Behold, days are coming, says the L-rd, and I will form a covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, a renewed covenant." Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 31:30 (31 in Christian versions). It is a fundamental principle of Judaism that the Torah received at Sinai will never be changed nor become obsolete. This concept is mentioned in the Torah no less than 24 times, with the words: "This is an eternal law for all generations" (Sh'mot / Exodus 12:14, 12:17, 12:43, 27:21, 28:43, Vayikra / Leviticus 3:17, 7:36, 10:9, 16:29, 16:31, 16:34, 17:7, 23:14, 23:21, 23:31, 23:41, 24:3, Bamidbar / Numbers 10:8, 15:15, 19:10, 19:21, 18:23, 35:29, D'varim / Deuteronomy 29:28). Christians have been lied to about this as they have about so much. For additional information on the "new covenant" please read Jeremiah 31:30-36 - Will the Real "New Covenant" Please Stand Up!.
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