Hebrews 8

Hebrews 8:2, 5, The true tabernacle…heavenly things. The Tabernacle of Moses was merely an earthly or physical replica of the one that exists in heaven where Yeshua is no ministering as our Great High Priest before the throne of YHVH Elohim the Father (see Heb 9:11, 23–24; Rev 8:3–5; 9:13; 14:17, 18; 16:7, 17; 11:19; 15:5, 6). 

Hebrews 8:6, Better covenant … better promises. (See Heb 9:11–15.) In the Greek, the word better is kreitton meaning “more useful, more serviceable, more advantageous, more excellent.” The Renewed Covenant is a better covenant for the reasons discussed in the notes in verse eight. In 2 Cor 3:7 calls it “the ministry of the Spirit” and refers to it as “more glorious” than the former covenant. The Renewed Covenant comes with Yeshua’s promise that from within our heart the Set-Apart Spirit will empower and lead us into all truth. Moreover, under the Renewed Covenant, the promise of salvation resulting in eternal life in the kingdom of Elohim is spelled out more clearly. The Renewed Covenant also carries with it relief from the penalty of the law, which is death, for those who put their faith in Yeshua’s atoning and substitutionary death (see notes at 2 Cor 3:7). Through the Spirit and blood of Yeshua, one’s sin conscience is now cleansed in that the guilt from sin is removed (Heb 9:14). Also, as discussed in the verse eight notes, the covenant (or contract) is the actual agreement between two parties. The terms and conditions of a covenant (or contract) are something else. Torah was the terms and conditions of YHVH’s agreement between himself and his people. When the author here uses phrase like “better covenant,” this in no way implies that the Torah has been abrogated. If this were true, then this flies in the face of what is said elsewhere in the Testimony of Yeshua to the contrary (e.g. Matt 5:17–19; Acts 21:24; 24:14; 25:8; Rom 3:31; 7:14; 1 John 2: 3–6; 3:4; Rev 12:17; 14:17; 22:14).

Hebrews 8:8, Finding fault with them. What was the fault of the first covenant? The Torah-law of Elohim, or the people who failed to abide by the terms of the covenant, i.e, the Torah? The next verse gives us the answer: “because they continued not in my covenant…” The Israelites were at fault.

YHVH gave Israel his Torah-laws (or instructions in righteousness) to teach them how to love him and to love their neighbors (Mark 12:29–31). If they followed his Torah-instructions, he promised to bless them (Deut 28:1–14), and declared that all would go well with them (Deut 4:30). Of course, we know the sad history of ancient Israel and how they rebelled against YHVH again and again. There was nothing wrong with his Torah laws, which said, you shall not murder, steal, commit adultery, lie, covet, kidnap, commit homosexuality or incest, worship false gods, take YHVH’s name in vain, keep his Sabbaths, don’t practice divination, honor your parents and so on. What’s wrong with these? Nothing. The fault was with the people who failed to abide by these standards of righteousness, and this is exactly what the author of Hebrews is saying here. Because the people broke their contractual or covenantal agreement with YHVH and literally abandoned him for false gods, he was forced to make a new covenant with other people who would have the heart and love and obey him. This is exactly what Jeremiah prophesied would occur, and the writer of Hebrews is simply quoting Jeremiah in this passage. What is the main difference between the first and second covenants? As the Israelites of old didn’t have the heart to obey YHVH because of the hardness (or carnality) of their hearts (Heb 3:8, 15; 4:2, 7), YHVH promised through Jeremiah to renew his covenant with the descendants of the ancient Israelites (i.e. the house of Israel and the house of Judah, Jer 31:31; Heb 8:8), but this time, by his Spirit, he would write his Torah-laws on their hearts and in their inward parts, so they wouldn’t resist obeying him, but would desire to be pleasing in his sight. So the fault was with the hard-hearted Israelites, not with YHVH standards of righteousness called his Torah-laws!

New covenant. (For a discussion on the etymology behind the phrase new covenant see notes at Matt 26:28.)The (renewed) covenant of Jeremiah 31:31 is the same covenant to which the writer of Hebrews makes reference in Hebrews 8:7–13. From the author’s perspective, the renewed covenant isn’t fully in place yet, and the former covenant is decaying (wearing out), growing old and vanishing away (disappearing). The indication is that it has not totally gone away yet.

Yeshua initiated the renewed covenant at his last Passover supper (Luke 22:20). The renewed covenant has already been presented for believers in Yeshua, but it hasn’t been universally applied to all Israel yet. This will occur when the two houses of Israel will return to the Promised Land after they have been set free from spiritual Babylon. 

YHVH’s Word tells us that no man can add or subtract from the terms of the renewed covenant (Gal 3:15). When Yeshua initiated this covenant at his Passover, the Torah was in force then, and not one jot or tittle was removed from the Torah, which are the terms of the former and renewed covenants. Any traditions that came into the Christian (Sunday, Christmas, etc.) or Jewish religious systems which are contrary to the Torah are men’s additions, and are therefore invalid.

Even as there was a gradual process of phasing in the former or first (old) covenant, the same is true of the renewed covenant. With the former covenant, the Israelites put the blood or the lamb on their door posts at Passover, prepared themselves for to meet YHVH at Mount Sinai (Exod 19), were then presented with the terms and conditions of the Sinai Covenant at Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, Exod 20–23), and then the covenant was ratified (Exod 24). After that, subsequent generations of Israelites automatically entered into that covenantal agreement as they were born (Deut 29:12–15). Similarly, Yeshua initiated the renewed covenant with redeemed Israelites in his day when his blood was put on the cross at Passover, and when he wrote his Torah (the terms and conditions of the renewed covenant on their hearts by his Spirit on Pentecost. This began the process of regathering scattered and adulterous Israel back to YHVH through the blood of Yeshua the Lamb of Elohim.

This process of redeeming or regathering Israel will continue into and through the millennium, pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, which is the time of the great fall harvest. During the Millennium, those who have already entered into the renewed covenant and who have kept YHVH’s Torah commands and have the testimony, faith or patience of Yeshua (Rev 12:17; 14:12) and who have been preparing themselves to be the bride of Yeshua by keeping their lamps full of oil and by putting on spotless white wedding garments, which are the righteous deeds or works of Torah, before the second coming will be Yeshua’s kings and priests in his millennial kingdom. What will they be doing? They will be teaching a world full of physical humans the ways of Torah and faith in Yeshua.

Elsewhere, the other scriptures point to YHVH establishing a covenant with both houses of Israel during or at the end of the millennium after all the scattered people of Israel have returned to the land of Israel (Ezek 34:25; 37:26; Jer 32:40 cp. 30, 32, 37, 39, 40; 50:5 cp. 4, 5, 8; Isa 55:3–4 cp. 54:11–17).

Hebrews 8:13, Ready to vanish away. Many who read this verse assume that the writer is saying that the Torah-law was ready to vanish away ergo the law has been done away. This belief is orthodox Christianity! But is this what the author is saying here? Read it again? Is he saying that the law is vanishing away or the covenant is vanishing away? The latter! 

So what is the difference between the former and latter covenants? The covenant was nothing more than a contract between YHVH and the people of Israel that he made with them at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–24). Think of a modern contract (e.g. buying a car, a house or agreeing to pay for services rendered). A contract is nothing more than an agreement between two or more parties. Then you have the terms of the contract. If one party fails to keep up his end of the agreement, does that mean that the terms of the contract are evil? Not at all. It means that one party failed to keep his word and the contract was then voided. The same was true with the contract of the “Old Covenant” that YHVH made with the Israelites. The terms were that if they would worship him and obey his Torah-laws, he would bless them, and if not, he would punish them. They agreed to these terms three times (Exod 19:8; 24:3,7), yet they ended up not keeping their word and instead worshipped false gods and broke his laws again and again. After hundreds of years of unfaithfulness, they finally totally abandoned YHVH. The covenant was broken for good. 

But did Israel’s unfaithfulness to his Torah-laws mean that his instructions in righteousness were evil, or rather that their hearts were evil? Logic dictates the answer to be the latter. To say that the Torah was evil and needed to be obliterated (or done away with) is like saying when you get a speeding ticket, the laws prohibiting speeding should be eliminated. Of course, this is absurd, and so it is to say that the laws of YHVH need to be eliminated because the people violated the covenant thus rendering it null and void.

More on the Old Covenant Vanishing Away and Giving Way to the New or Renewed Covenant

(Also see notes at 2 Cor 4:11.) According to Jeremiah 31, the new covenant will be made (or finalized) after YHVH has gathered (or redeemed, v. 11) all the families of Israel (v. 1; i.e. the houses Ephraim or Israel [i.e. Christians] and Judah [i.e. the Jews], vv. 9, 20, 27, 31) who will be returning from the north country, the coasts of the earth and the isles (vv. 8, 10) back to Zion with joy, singing and dancing (vv. 12–13, 24). This will occur after Ephraim (the church) repents (v. 20) of its Torahlessness, and YHVH’s spiritual daughter turns away from her backsliding (vv. 21–22), and upon coming out her captivity in the end times (v. 23; from spiritual Egypt or Babylon the great). At that time, YHVH will make a new (or renewed) covenant with the two houses of Israel (vv. 31–33; loosely speaking, the Jews and the Christians), and all Israel will know Elohim from the least to the greatest. This prophecy has yet to be fulfilled.

The author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31:31–33 (Heb 8:7–13) asserting that the new covenant is the same covenant about which Jeremiah prophesied. From that author’s perspective (Heb 8:13), the new covenant isn’t fully in place yet, and the first covenant is decaying (wearing out), growing old and vanishing away (disappearing). The implication is that the old covenant has not totally gone away yet (see also 2 Cor 3:11).

We know that Yeshua initiated the new (or renewed) covenant at his Passover seder (also called the last supper; Luke 22:20). This covenant has been given to believers in Yeshua, but it hasn’t been universally applied to all Israel yet. This will occur when the two houses of Israel will return to the Promised Land after they have been set free from spiritual Babylon at Yeshua’s second coming. 

YHVH’s Word tells us that no man can add or subtract from the terms of the old covenant (Gal 3:15). Although YHVH made this covenant with men, it is a divine covenant, and YHVH himself (not men) determines its terms and conditions! When Yeshua initiated the new covenant at his Passover, the old covenant and the Torah were still in force, and not one jot or tittle will be removed from the Torah until heaven and earth pass away (Matt 5:18). The Torah determine the terms of both the old and new covenants. Any traditions that have come into the Christian (e.g. Sunday, Christmas, Easter, the law being annulled by Yeshua, etc.) or Jewish religious systems that are contrary to the Torah are men’s additions, and are therefore invalid and irrelevant.

Even as there was a gradual process of phasing into the first (or old) covenant, the same is true of the new covenant. With the former covenant, the Israelites put the blood of the lamb on their door posts at Passover, prepared themselves to meet YHVH at Mount Sinai (Exod 19), were then presented with the terms and conditions of the Sinai covenant on the Feast of Weeks (Heb. Shavuot, Exod 20–23), and then the covenant was ratified (Exod 24). After that, subsequent generations of Israelites automatically entered into that covenantal agreement as they were born (Deut 29:12–15) even as Americans, for example, are still bound to the U.S. Constitution many generations after its ratification. Similarly, Yeshua initiated the new covenant with Israel in his day when his blood was put on the cross at Passover, then wrote his Torah (the terms and conditions of the new covenant) on their hearts by his Spirit on Pentecost. This began the process of regathering scattered and adulterous Israel back to YHVH through the blood of Yeshua the Lamb of Elohim. When the process of regathering Israel is finally completed (during the Millennium). YHVH will finalize his new covenant agreements with them. It will be called the everlasting covenant (Jer 32:40; Ezek 37:26; Isa 55:3) or the covenant of peace (Isa 54:10; Ezek 34:25; see also 59:10; Hos 2:19–19).

This process of redeeming or regathering Israel will continue into the millennium as pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles (Heb. Sukkot), which is the time of the great fall harvest. During the Millennium, those who have already entered into the new covenant and who have kept YHVH’s Torah commands and have the testimony, faith or patience of Yeshua, and who have been preparing themselves to be the bride of Yeshua by keeping their spiritual lamps full of oil (a metaphor for the Torah and the Holy Spirit), and by putting on spotless white wedding garments (which is a metaphor for the righteous deeds or works of Torah) before the second coming will be Yeshua’s kings and priests. What will they be doing? They will be teaching a world full of physical humans the ways of Torah and faith in Yeshua.

Not all people will submit to Yeshua during the Millennium. Everyone will be tested with regard to their allegiance to YHVH-Yeshua and his word. During the millennium, YHVH will enter into covenant with all Israel who will be saved, but when Satan is released at the end of the Millennium to test mankind, many will follow the devil in rebellion against Yeshua. This corresponds to Hoshana Rabbah, which means “save us O Great One,” which is the last or seventh day of Sukkot. This corresponds to the time of the great white throne judgment of Revelation 20 when all the wicked who followed Satan’s rebellion and who fell in with Gog and Magog, along with all the wicked dead will stand before YHVH to receive the reward of rebellion against him—to be cast into the lake of fire. 

After the white throne judgment occurs Shemini Atzeret, which is the last of YHVH’s seven biblical holidays and prophetically pictures the coming of the New Jerusalem. Only those who have become spirit-born children of YHVH and who have passed the spiritual tests laid out before them and have continued in their obedience to Torah and their faith in Yeshua the Lamb of Elohim will be a part of YHVH’s everlasting spiritual kingdom, which is epitomized by the new heavens, the new earth and the New Jerusalem.

More Scriptures on the Renewed Covenant 

The following scriptures point to YHVH establishing a covenant with both houses of Israel during or at the end of the millennium after all the scattered people of Israel have returned to the land of Israel. 

• Ezek 34:25, YHVH will make a covenant of peace with the lost and scattered sheep of Israel and David (Messiah Ben David or Yeshua from the cross onward as well as King David during the Millennium) will rule over them. This prophecy began to be fulfilled at the time of Yeshua and will be fully fulfilled. Edom, the perpetual enemy of Israel will be destroyed (at the second coming, Ezek 35).
• Ezek 37:26, YHVH will make an everlasting covenant of peace with reunited Israel/both houses (after the destruction of Edom, the Valley of Dry Bones and the reuniting of the two sticks of Israel) and David will be ruling over them in the Millennium. After this, at the end of the Millennium, YHVH will test the inhabitants of the earth by letting Satan loose for a little season. Satan will entice Gog and Magog and a multitude as the sand of the sea to rise up against the saints, and YHVH will destroy them (Rev 20:7–10). There may be two Gog/Magog events: one just before the second coming of Yeshua and one at the end of the Millennium.
• Isa 55:3, YHVH to make an everlasting covenant with Israel and David shall be a leader and commander of YHVH’s people (v. 4). This covenant is formulated sometime in the future in relationship to the establishment of the New Jerusalem (54:11–17).
• Jer 32:40, YHVH will make an everlasting covenant with the children of Israel and the children of Judah (vv. 30,32) after he has gathered them out of the countries where he scattered them and has brought them back to the land of Israel (v. 37). He will make them one by giving them one heart and one way (v. 39), which corresponds to the two sticks of Ezekiel 37 coming together (a process which started at the time of Yeshua and will continue to the end of the millennium), and then he will make an everlasting covenant with them (v. 40).
• Jer 50:5, YHVH will make a perpetual covenant with the children of Israel and Judah after they have reunited to seek YHVH together (v. 4) as they are returning to Zion (v. 5) from out of Babylon (v. 8). This occurs after Babylon is fallen/defeated at Yeshua’s second coming (Rev 18 and 19).

The Covenants and the Spirit—No Spirit…No Reunion

The Holy Spirit—The Driving Force Behind a New, Circumcised Heart, the New Covenant and the Reunification of the Two Sticks of Israel: So Let the Spirit of Elohim Drive YOU!

What I will show from the Word of Elohim is that the Holy Spirit is that the driving force behind the New Covenant, and it is the main difference between that covenant and the Old Covenant is the Holy Spirit. 

Furthermore, until YHVH fulfills his promise to pour out his Holy Spirit (through a relationship with the Messiah of Israel) in a major way upon the end times Israel (all twelve tribes) and give them a spiritual heart transplant (Ezek 36:25–28; etc.), the tribes of Israel will not whole-heartedly repent of their spiritual backsliding (i.e, the sin of Torahlessness and failure to understand and accept the Messiah), will not be regathered from the nations where they have been scattered, the two sticks of Israel (i.e., Ephraim/the Christians and Judah/the Jews) will not be reunited, they will not be brought back into a covenantal-marital relationship with YHVH Elohim, nor they will return to the land of Israel to the full degree that the prophecies of the Old Testament predict. Therefore, we must seek the Holy Spirit in our own lives so that we can become Holy Spirit infected change-agents in the hands of YHVH Elohim to hasten the reunification of the two houses of Israel and hasten the coming of Yeshua.

The Foundation: No Longer Aliens to the Covenants of Promise

When one comes to Yeshua, one is no longer a Gentile without hope and Elohim, or a stranger from the commonwealth of Israel, but is joined to or grafted into the nation of Israel, and becomes a son of Abraham and part of YHVH’s covenants (plural) of promise with Israel—all through the blood of Yeshua (Eph 2:11–13; Gal 3:29). 

These covenants of promise include the Abrahamic, Mosaic (Old), and New Covenants. The Abrahamic Covenant isn’t the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant is the Mosiaic Covenant, which YHVH made with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai—which covenant they broke repeatedly subsequently. The Abrahamic Covenant is the covenant upon which our salvation is based according to Paul in Romans 4. This covenant is still valid today, is unconditional, has never been broken, and contains major promises YHVH made to the patriarchs that have yet to be fulfilled. The Old and New Covenants are simply subsections of the Abrahamic Covenant. They are the mechanics of by which aspects of the Abrahamic are fulfilled in the life of the (redeemed) Israelite believer, and will be ultimately fulfilled corporately to the whole house of Israel. Let’s not forget that YHVH never made any salvational covenants with the Gentiles. In YHVH’s scheme of things, Gentiles have no hope of salvation or eternal life. They can’t be part of the kingdom of Elohim until they come into a spiritual relationship with Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah of Israel. He is their ticket into the covenants of Israel that spell out the conditions for being saved from one’s sins, becoming part of redeemed Israel, and being eventually adopted Spirit-born children and members of the family of Elohim.

Transition Phase Between the Old and New Covenants

According to Jeremiah 31, the new covenant will be finalized after YHVH has gathered (or redeemed, v. 11) all the families of Israel (v. 1; i.e., the houses Ephraim or Israel [i.e., Christians] and Judah [i.e., the Jews], vv. 9, 20, 27, 31), who will be returning from the north country, the coasts of the earth and the isles (vv. 8,10) back to Zion with joy, singing and dancing (vv. 12–13,24). This will occur after Ephraim has returned to YHVH and repented (v. 19) of Torahlessness, and YHVH’s daughter turns away from her spiritual backsliding (vv. 21–22), and upon coming out her captivity in the end times (v. 23; in spiritual Egypt or Babylon the great). At that time, YHVH will make a new covenant with the two houses of Israel (vv. 31–33), and all Israel will know Elohim from the least to the greatest. This prophecy has not been fully to fulfilled.

The text itself gives two clues that this process of regathering Israel began at the time of Yeshua, but the whole prophecy clearly hasn’t yet come to pass, since many aspects of it are yet unfulfilled. 

The first indicator that this prophecy began to be fulfilled in the first century is the prophecy of Rachel weeping for her children (v. 15), which we know had a partial fulfillment in Matthew 2:17–18 when Herod killed all the male infants in Bethlehem and environs, which is were Rachel’s tomb is located. But, the majority of the babies killed by Herod were Jewish babies, not Ephraimite infants, which, technically, Rachel is the mother of, since she was the grandmother of Ephraim, whose descendants became the Christians. Why is Rachel weeping? Perhaps it is because her children (who became the Christians) have forsaken YHVH and have become spiritually backslidden. 

The second indicator that Jeremiah’s prophecy has a first century fulfillment, at least in part, is found in verses 29 and 30, which indicates that sin would now primarily be imputed individually, and not so much in a corporate manner to the nation of Israel as had been the case to that point. That is to say, when one sins, he will pay for his own sins, and not his offspring or (by implication), the nation as a whole. This implies individual responsibility for sin, and individual punishment. Although, the Torah prescribes penalties for individuals, Jeremiah posits this concept in the context of “the days are coming” (vv. 27, 31), which is a future prophecy regarding a new covenant. Clearly, he had something new and different in view than had occurred under the old covenant. As we look back with 20-20 hindsight in view of the gospel message, is it possible that he is prophesying about individual salvation for individual sinners? Likely so, for he goes on to elaborate later about the Torah being written in the minds and hearts of future Israelites where obedience will come from an internal force within the individual (namely, via the Holy Spirit). At the same time, YHVH promises to forgive Israelites’ sins as he enters into an intimate (and personal?) spiritual relationship with them (vv. 33–34). This seems to be another clear reference to the basic tenets of the gospel message as presented in the Testimony of Yeshua (NT). 

Next, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31:31–33 (Heb 8:7–13) asserting that the new covenant is the same covenant about which Jeremiah prophesied. From that author’s perspective (Heb 8:13), the new covenant isn’t fully in place yet, and the first covenant is decaying (or wearing out), growing old and vanishing away (disappearing). The implication is that the old covenant has not totally gone away yet (see also 2 Cor 3:11).

This we know for sure. Yeshua initiated the new covenant at his Passover seder called the last supper (Luke 22:20). This covenant has been given to individual believers in Yeshua, but it hasn’t been universally applied to all Israel yet. This will occur when the two houses of Israel will return to the Promised Land after they have been set free from spiritual Babylon at Yeshua’s second coming, for the Old Testament prophets speak of YHVH making a covenant in the Millennium with the both houses of Israel as we shall discuss below.

YHVH’s Word tells us that no man can add or subtract from the terms of the old covenant (Gal 3:15). Although YHVH made this covenant with men, it is a divine covenant, and YHVH himself (not men) determines its terms and conditions! When Yeshua initiated the new covenant at his Passover, the old covenant and the Torah were still in force, and he declared that not one jot or tittle would be removed from the Torah until heaven and earth pass away (Matt 5:18). The Torah determines the terms of both the old and new covenants. Any traditions that have come into the Christian or Jewish religious systems that are contrary to the Torah are men’s additions, and are therefore invalid and irrelevant.

Even as there was a gradual process of phasing in the first (or old) covenant, the same is true of the new covenant. With the former covenant, the Israelites put the blood of the lamb on their door posts at Passover, prepared themselves to meet YHVH at Mount Sinai (Exod 19), were then presented with the terms and conditions of the Sinai covenant at Shavuot (Exod 20–23), and then the covenant was ratified (Exod 24). After that, subsequent generations of Israelites automatically entered into that covenantal agreement as they were born (Deut 29:12–15) even as Americans, for example, are still bound to the U.S. Constitution many generations after its ratification. 

Similarly, Yeshua initiated the new covenant with Israel in his day when his blood was put on the cross at Passover, then wrote his Torah (the terms and conditions of the new covenant) on his disciples’ hearts by his Spirit on Pentecost. By this, YHVH began the process of regathering scattered and adulterous Israel back to himself through the blood of Yeshua the Lamb of Elohim. When the process of regathering Israel is finally completed (during the Millennium). YHVH will finalize his new covenant agreements with the reunited houses of Israel. It will be called the everlasting covenant (Jer 32:40; Ezek 37:26; Isa 55:3) or the covenant of peace (Isa 54:10; Ezek 34:25; see also 59:10; Hos 2:19–19).

This process of redeeming or regathering Israel will continue into the millennium as pictured by Sukkot, which is the time of the great fall harvest. During the Millennium, those who have already entered into the new covenant and who have kept YHVH’s Torah commands and have the testimony, faith or patience of Yeshua, and who have been preparing themselves to be the bride of Yeshua by keeping their spiritual lamps full of oil (a metaphor for the Torah and the Holy Spirit), and by putting on spotless white wedding garments (which is a metaphor for the righteous deeds or works of Torah) before the second coming will be Yeshua’s kings and priests. What will they be doing? They will be teaching a world full of physical humans the ways of Torah and faith in Yeshua.

Not all will submit to Yeshua. All must be tested with regard to their allegiance to YHVH-Yeshua and his word. During the millennium, YHVH will enter into covenant with all Israel who will be saved, but when Satan is released at the end of the Millennium to test mankind, many follow him. This corresponds to Hoshana Rabbah, which means “save us O Great One” and is the last or seventh day of Sukkot. This corresponds to the time of the great white throne judgment of Revelation 20 when all the wicked who followed Satan’s rebellion and who fell in with Gog and Magog, along with all the wicked dead will stand before YHVH to receive the reward of rebellion against him—to be cast into the lake of fire. 

After the white throne judgment occurs Shemini Atzeret, which is the New Jerusalem. Only those who have become spirit-born children of YHVH and who have passed the spiritual tests laid out before them and have continued in their obedience to Torah and their faith in Yeshua the Lamb of Elohim will be a part of YHVH’s everlasting spiritual kingdom, which is epitomized by the new heavens, the new earth and the new Jerusalem.

The Initiating of the New Covenant

Yeshua has initiated us into the new covenant at Passover through betrothing us and giving us his Spirit as a downpayment or bridegroom’s gift to us his betrothed bride. Since that time, he has continued to prepare his bride for the last 2000 years. This corresponds to the two days preparation (prophetically, 2000 years) that the Israelites prepared to meet YHVH at Mount Sinai (Exod 19:10–11) where they entered into a marital relationship with him with the Torah as the terms of that covenant—the old covenant (Exod 24 cp. Ezek 16:8; Jer 2:2; 31:32). This same two-day period (or 2000 years) is referenced in Hosea 6:2 (read 5:15–6:3). 

The New Covenant will be finalized when the two houses of Israel are regathered into the land of Israel. This is the message of Jer 31.

But this process of YHVH preparing his bride by writing his marriage/new covenant Torah-laws in her heart began on the Day of Pentecost in Acts two when he poured out his Spirit upon his disciples. That’s why Peter thought that it was a fulfillment of Joel 2 because of the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2. He thought the second coming was near (as did all the apostles), since the context of Joel 2 is the fall feasts, which are he likely assumed that this was YHVH preparing his people for the second coming­—that this outpouring was a fulfillment of Ezekiel 11:19; 36:25ff and Jer 31:31. What Peter was mistaken about is that the Acts 2 outpouring of the Spirit was merely the beginning of the process of preparing a kingdom of priest/a wise virgin bride for Yeshua to be ready at his second coming (both those who are alive then, and those who will be resurrected to meet him in the air), and this whole process will culminate after Yeshua’s second coming, which Peter didn’t know was still two days or two thousand years hence.

In 1 Cor 3, Paul talks in the present tense about the New Covenant being written on our hearts—not as if it were some future event. But he admits that the Old Covenant is passing away in verse 11. The corollary passage in the New Testament to this is Heb 8:11–13 where the author, quoting Jer 31:31, speaks in the future tense as if the New Covenant were yet to come. Who is right, Paul who speaks in the present tense with regard to the New Covenant, or the author of Hebrews who speaks in the future tense? Both are correct. The Old Covenant is presently vanishing away. For us, who are in Yeshua, it’s past and we’ve been initiated into the New Covenant through his blood and body. But there’s a whole world of lost Israelites and lost Jews who are either under no covenant, or who fancy themselves as still being under the Old Covenant. They must be gathered into the New Covenant through Yeshua’s blood as outlined in Ephesians 2:11–19 and elsewhere.

The Finalizing of the New Covenant

Numerous scriptures in the Old Testament speak about a covenant that YHVH will make with the two houses of Israel in the Millennium.

Isa 54:10, For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith YHVH that hath mercy on thee.

Isa 55:3, 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.

Isa 59:21, As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith YHVH; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith YHVH, from henceforth and for ever.

Jer 31:31, Behold, the days come, saith YHVH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Jer 32:40, And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Jer 50:5, They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to YHVH in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

Ezek 34:25, And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Ezek 37:26, Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

Hos 2:18–23, And in that day will I 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 thee unto me 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 YHVH. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith YHVH, 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 sow 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 Elohim.

What’s Unique About the New Covenant (Compared to the Old Covenant)?

It’s all about a heart transplant for the whole house of Israel! It’s all about the heart and the Spirit vis-a-vis the Torah/obedience to YHVH. It’s all about loving YHVH-Yeshua by keeping his Torah-comments (John 14:15). It’s about Spirit and truth (John 4:23–24). It’s all about knowing YHVH intimately by obeying him (Matt 7:21–23; 1 John 2:3–6). Paul makes this clear in 1 Cor 3. Those Jews in his day who were still laboring under the old covenant couldn’t see the glory of Yeshua even as the Israelites couldn’t behold the glory of the veiled Moses who had just descended from Mount Sinai the second time—a picture of the Yeshua at his second coming. However, once one comes to faith in Messiah, the veil is removed from the hearts and minds of people and they can receive the Spirit and through the glory of the new covenant love Yeshua and keep his Torah-commands by the help of the Spirit and thereby become transformed into the image of the glorious Yeshua. Again, it’s all about the heart of man and the Spirit of Elohim working together as we see from the numerous passages below.

Jer 31:33, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHVH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.

Jer 24:7, And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am YHVH: and they shall be my people, and I will be their Elohim: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Isa 51:7, Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

Ezek 11:19–20, And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their Elohim.

Ezek 36:25–27, Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Ps 37:21, The law of his Elohim is in [a righteous man’s] heart; none of his steps shall slide.

Ps 40:8, I delight to do thy will, O my Elohim: yea, thy law is within my heart.

2 Cor 3:3, Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Messiah ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living Elohim; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Heb 8:10, 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 Elohim, and they shall be to me a people.

Spiritual Revival Occurs ONLY By the Outpouring of the Spirit of Elohim

This world’s only hope is the outpouring of YHVH’s Spirit. The same is true of the church, the Messianic Movement, and everything. It is the answer to all of men’s problems. Men are so sold out to Satan, the world and the flesh—even Christians and Messianics, that there’s no hope for us without the outpouring of the Spirit.

Only a sovereign move of YHVH of him pouring out his Spirit and causing people keep/walk in his Torah(see Ezek 36:27) will save the world and move things in the right direction. The two houses will not be regathered and reunited until this happens. That’s what the prophets say again and again! The two houses will not be reunited until YHVH pours out his Spirit on them. The Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was the beginning of this, since there were people there from all nations of the known world. The church age began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will end with another global outpouring upon the regathered two houses of Israel during the Millennium.

In this regard, note Ezekiel 36:16–38—especially verses 25–28:

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your Elohim.

Ezek 37:14, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I YHVH have spoken it, and performed it, saith YHVH.

Ezek 39:29, Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord YHVH.

Isa 44:3–4, For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

Isa 59:21, As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith YHVH; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith YHVH, from henceforth and for ever.

Joel 2:28–29, And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Seek Therefore the Holy Spirit!

You as the Elijah and John the Baptist generation who are helping to prepare the way for Yeshua’s return must seek for the Holy Spirit like never before. How badly do you long for the Holy Spirit in your life? It’s just for your personal benefit. It’s the Holy Spirit, not the Selfish or Narcissistic Spirit of Elohim! It’s about outreach, gathering, and a river that flows outward from a source and waters a dry land.

• YHVH promises to pour out his Spirit upon him who is thirsty like dry ground (Isa 44:3–4).
• Only those who recognize that nothing can be accomplished by the weak arm of flesh, but only through the power of the Spirit will receive it (Zech 4:6).
• Must ask, seek and knock (Luke 11:9).Yeshua promised that the Father would give the Holy Spirit is given to those ask for it (Luke 11:13).
• Those who believe on Yeshua will have the Spirit flowing out of him like a river of life (John 7:38–39).
• The Holy Spirit wants to live/abide in us forever (John 14:16). 
• We must earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 14:1).
• Be zealous or on fire for the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 14:12)
• They are not for purposes of personal aggrandizement, but to edify, exhort and comfort the body of Yeshua (1 Cor 14:3).
• You receive not because you don’t ask, or ask for the wrong (fleshly, selfish) reasons (Jas 4:3). 
• To the degree that YHVH is able to pour out his Spirit upon you is dependent upon

1. Your level of desire.
2. How much do you want Yeshua to be the Lord of your life and literally possess you. How surrendered are you to do whatever he wants? Are you his slave and bondservant, or are you still serving your masters: the world, the flesh and the devil?
3. How focused is your spiritual vision? Do you see yourself as preparing the way for Messiah Yeshua? As helping to regather the lost sheep of Israel? As an ambassador for the kingdom of Elohim? As one who walks in the power of the Spirit of Elohim and is a river of life to all those around you?