The Everlasting Covenant
The great miracle of God interacting with His creation within the confines of time
Thank God for His Everlasting intention – the purpose that resulted in the creation of Adam in His Image and Likeness. And, with God being God, the promises and conditions that govern that intent and that creation. God has His Plan; the fulfillment of His Plan included the payment of a Price; a Price that would make the Way for Mankind to be fit for Eternity.
The Book of Redemption details that Way – with the extra-ordinary details of His Plan hidden behind the seals…until! (The detailing of those seals and their opening can be found in the series which begins with the introduction post of the “Unsealing of the Terms and Conditions”.)
Historically, when the Lord was speaking to a select person or group regarding the details of how the relationship between them would be governed, it is designated or merely described as a covenant (or would at least disclose what we could call the “language of covenants”). There are a few examples with Abraham and Isaac when covenants between men or tribes are described as well (see Gen.21:22-34; 26:26-33). In truth, covenants are not nearly as complicated as they might seem – that is not to say that they are unimportant.
Covenants are, in their basic form, contracts between parties to adhere to or comply with agreed upon behaviors. From a Biblical perspective, the core definitions remain in place – what is expanded, especially when God is a party to the covenant agreement, are the implications. The entirety of Biblical content describing and disclosing covenants is beneficial to our understanding of God; they provide us with significant insight into the dealings of God with His creation through their depth of detail and the wonders woven into their words. Below is a fairly brief description of what is typically included in a covenant – and very common to those of the Old Testament era. In the Old Testament we become familiar, in particular, with the category of covenants in which all parties involved have agreed to be held accountable to certain, stated conditions – what would be considered bi-lateral covenants.
Covenantal Element: Description
Parties: Who is a participant of the agreement either by condition or as beneficiary
Promises: What conditions, benefits, and consequences constituted the agreement
Price: What was “given up” by any party in order for the agreement to be enacted
Proof: How are adherents to the covenant identified
Why the Old Testament in particular? Because the majority of covenants between God and Mankind occurred during the third and fourth “days of the Lord” after creation. Even the New Covenant is defined in the words of the “Age of the Son”, which begins with Isaac (as a “type” or image of Christ) and concludes with Jesus’ earthly ministry.
By some counts, there are between six and nine covenants described between God and His creation. The variances in the count would be less about the parties involved and more about specific promises, prices and proofs. The common list is below, with a relatively brief description of each, listed in roughly chronological order (with the Everlasting Covenant held until last).
Commonly Included Covenants Between God and Men
The Edenic Covenant:
Made between God and His creation before sin entered the world. The promises can be seen in the days of the week of creation, including the seventh day, the cessation from labor for the purpose of refreshing; this is a unilateral covenant. The price is a little less clear but is typically considered the blood shed by Adam when a side of him (the word usually rendered “rib” would be better translated “side” and is usually used in reference to construction) is removed in order to build the woman and/or the sacrifice Jesus made before creation. The proof (or signs) would also be included in creation – specifically the lights in the heavens which we are told were for “signs and for seasons and for days and years”.
The Adamic Covenant:
Made with creation, and especially Man, after sin entered the world. The promises included those for blessing and cursing as the result of the entry of sin; it is the first bilateral covenant with conditions and promises that were assigned to all parties. The price was symbolized by the death of the first “soul” lives in order for God to cover Adam and the woman (whom Adam will name Eve) and ultimately fulfilled by the death of the “seed of the woman” on the Cross. The proof (or sign) of the covenant was death – the consequence of sin – impacting all life.
The Noahic Covenant:
Made with all of the creatures who departed from the ark. The promises and conditions were assigned to Man and to God, making it a bilateral covenant, and they included a reiteration of the commission of the Edenic covenant to be fruitful. The changed conditions of the earth and the resulting implications of them are noted (i.e. that Man could eat the flesh of all moving creatures and that the fear and dread of Man would be on the beasts). The price of the covenant appears to be the sacrificing of some of the clean animals that had been on the ark. Though that was done before the covenant was actually made by God, it is the only sacrifice (shedding of blood) by Noah noted after he and his family left the ark. It is the first of the covenants actually referred to as an everlasting covenant. Genesis 9:8-17 refers to it as an everlasting covenant (specifically in verse 16) “between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” – language that fits in the Age of the Father with its language of creation.
The Abrahamic Covenant:
Made between God and Abram and confirmed with his descendants to and through the delivery of the Law. There are as many as eight phases to the promises and terms of this covenant when we include the extension seen in the promises of Kingship given to David. Abram himself experienced six covenant-related encounters with the LORD; a detailed look of all of Abram’s encounters is a study in and of itself. The price of the covenant also seems to be paid in stages. The proof (or sign) of the covenant, though physically and naturally circumcision, also included the promise of descendants numbered like the dust of the earth, the sand of the seashores, and the stars of the heavens.
The Mosaic Covenant:
Made between God and the descendants of Jacob who had gone down to Egypt 215 years before the Exodus (135 years before Moses’ birth). It should also be noted that though the covenant was made with Israel, there were with the people of Israel those of other nations who followed them out of Egypt, and who, as sojourners and foreigners, participated in the Mosaic covenant – a foreshadowing of the “two into one new man mystery” of which Paul speaks in his letter to those in Ephesus (see Eph.2:11-21).
An entire book could be (and I am sure has been) written to address the Mosaic Covenant. It is wonderful in its complexity; so much so that it is almost a shame to abbreviate it. It is the clearest example in time and on earth of the principles of the Everlasting Covenant; with every element, sacrifice, material, feast, and act a dim shadow of the Real in the Heaven that is God’s presence.
It begins with a promise to make the entire nation a kingdom of priests, which if the people had accepted the offer, would have enabled the fulfillment of the covenant promises to Abraham (Ex.19:3-15). A case can be made that, had they done so (though God knew the choice they would make) the details of the Aaronic priesthood and segregation of the tribe of Levi would not have been required (note the original ransom price of the first-born – the lamb – in Exodus 13:11-16).
It was only when they rejected God’s offer to speak to them all voice to voice (Ex.20:18-21) that God allowed Moses to be the intermediary of His words (Exodus 20:21 – Deut. 32:47). This covenant, thereby, became a bridge between the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant while at the same time prophesying of the elements of the Everlasting Covenant that we see in the Revelation, specifically in chapter 4. The proof and sign of the covenant was the principle of cessation (“sabbath”) epitomized in the year of release (what we call the “Jubilee”, but what is actually called the “yobel” - the “Ram’s Horn”) showing their complete and utter dependence on the mercy and provision of God.
The New Covenant:
Though it can easily be perceived that this is the Everlasting Covenant manifested within the confines of time and in the “natural” created world, I will treat it as a separate covenant; otherwise, there would only be the one covenant with its various manifestations and foreshadows – in which case we would enumerate them as such and still review them separately.
Made between the Godhead and all of Mankind as a bilateral covenant that promises the “new birth” by the ransoming of our souls, as well as the redemption of our inheritance, on the condition of our placing our faith and confidence in the trustworthiness of Him. The price was paid, the life-blood of a sinless Man, by Jesus on the Cross. The proof or sign of the covenant is the new birth; being born of the Spirit and all that that means. In it we are provided the fulfillment of the old covenants. The New Covenant reveals Jesus as the one who Tabernacled Among Us, became our Passover Lamb, and ascended so that the Out-pouring and In-filling of the Holy Spirit and the fruitfulness of the Pentecost could be experienced.
The letter to the Hebrews (see Hebrews 7:22-10:10 in particular) holds the greatest detail regarding the New Covenant and its institution by the works of Christ. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke we are given its official inauguration by Jesus Himself in the first instance of what we think of as the “Lord’s Supper”:
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed, He broke and gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for forgiveness of sins.” Matt.26:26-28
It could be said that the entirety of the New Testament provides us with the details of the covenant; but it is important to note that many of the promises seen under the Old Testament passages regarding the “Everlasting Covenant” provide insights, promises, and implications of the New Covenant – with particular focus on the Lord’s advents. (I will leave the review of those references for our first and final covenant, the Everlasting Covenant.)
The Everlasting Covenant:
Made within the Godhead before creation. The promises and words are considered to be the Bible as a whole and specifically the Book of Redemption and the Book of Life (or the Lamb’s Book of Life) discussed in the Bible; this is a unilateral covenant – only God was required to fulfill its words. The price paid for this covenant is God’s willingness to be the propitiation for all sin and iniquity by means of the sacrifice of the Lamb slain before the foundations – which was realized within the confines of time with the incarnation, death, justification, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The proof (or sign) of the covenant is creation. As seen, the other covenants, directly or indirectly hearken back (or ahead) to the Everlasting Covenant.
The words behind “Everlasting” and “Covenant”, in both the Old and New Testaments, mean “of long duration” and “covenant” – pretty straight forward, though the nuance as regards the duration does help explain some of the details.
The only reference in the New Testament is found in the letter to the Hebrews. Much is said in this letter (and is well worth studying) regarding the New Covenant, and the blood of it (as noted above). In chapter 13, verses 20 & 21, as the letter closes, we are told:
Now the God of peace, Who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep in the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
There are seventeen references to the “Everlasting Covenant” in the Old Testament. Of the seventeen references, fourteen are addressing occasions when the term is spoken by the Lord Himself, either directly or prophetically; the remaining three are assertions or songs by David or Asaph.
The invocation of the term “Everlasting Covenant” is first seen in regard to the covenant between God and all the birds and land animals that came off of the ark, along with Mankind and the earth itself; that He would not destroy the earth with a flood of water again (Genesis 9:8-17). What we think of as the Noahic covenant, made during the Age of the Father. The word “covenant” is used a total of seven times in this passage, the sixth time referencing its eternal nature.
In Genesis 17:1-44 we find the next example. This passage, though covering a single conversation, invokes the term three times (with a total of 11 uses of “covenant”). As the Age of the Father draws to a close, God makes a covenant with Abraham that marks the beginning of the Age of the Son – by promising that Abraham will have a son by his wife Sarah. In verse 7, in the first of three times, the Lord declares the covenant an Everlasting Covenant – promising the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. Verse 13, regarding the sign of the Abrahamic covenant (circumcision), God declares “thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant”. In verse 19, after Abraham advocates for Ishmael, his son from Hagar, God says,
“No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”
It is to be noted that this is the first bi-lateral covenant that is also an everlasting covenant. Which, we can understand to mean: it will stand for as long as the condition that God places on it is fulfilled by Abraham and his descendants. In this case, that condition is also the sign and seal of the covenant: circumcision.
The third of the major covenants between God and mankind that is referenced by Him as being everlasting is the covenant made with the people of Israel after they were delivered from Egypt.
In Exodus 31:16-17 we see the first occasion when the “Mosaic Covenant” is referred to as an Everlasting Covenant. Exodus 31 tells of the final words to Moses from God after the people: had affirmed the covenant three times; had deferred to Moses as their intermediary; and, as such, Moses had spent 40 days on the mountain receiving the Ten Words on stone tablets and the complete instructions for the design and construction of God’s earthly dwelling place among men and the priesthood that would serve in it.
The Lord ends the conversation by reminding Moses that the seal of the covenant is the sabbath – the observation of cessation – and by referencing the origin of the principle; the week of creation. It is here that He refers to the perpetual or everlasting covenant and the sabbath as an everlasting sign between God and the sons of Israel. Just as circumcision of the flesh was a proof or sign of adherence to the Abrahamic Covenant; so, the keeping of the sabbath was a proof or sign of the Mosaic: and in each of those declarations we have the context of the everlasting covenant.
“So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath…throughout their generations as a perpetual (everlasting) covenant. It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever for in six days the LORD made the heaven and the earth, but on the seventh day He ceased and was refreshed.” Ex.31:16-17
The words – promises and conditions of the covenant – are woven through the next three books of the Bible; the basics though are: this is a covenant with conditions – but that as long as the people of the covenant keep their side of the agreement, then it is an everlasting covenant.
[It is a side-bar worth reviewing: By the observation of cessation during the week of creation, God Almighty was “refreshed”. This word is used only three times in the Old Testament – twice in regard to the seventh day – but only here to apply to God. It is a verb form that comes from a very complex Hebrew noun (“nephesh”) which is often used (625 times) but has caused Hebrew scholars much consternation – resulting in some 70 different translations of the word. The most common: life/lives (180); person/persons/people (90); and soul (238). When applied to a person, the verb form here (“naphash”) would suggest being energized, encouraged and made alive. But dare we apply those same meanings to God?
As He completes the first week of history (the week of Creation that is measured by the very signs He placed within creation; days that consist of evenings and mornings) He allows Himself a time of cessation; a time to be encouraged, refreshed and energized before the next week would start. That “next week” is the week of Redemption, as measured by the “days of the Lord” which would equate to a thousand years per day, as those same signs in the heavens would account for the passing of time. Another week that we are told will also culminate with a Lord’s day of restoration and refreshing.
And to reinforce the everlasting aspect of this cessation that brings refreshing, we find in Revelation 22:1-2 (while John is being shown the true Eternal City by one of the messengers who poured out a bowl of wrath) the Tree of Life which bears fresh fruit each month and whose leaves are for the healing (“therapy, care and comfort”) of the nations. So, in the New Heaven and New Earth, where there is no sickness or death, God gives us a perpetual source of refreshing – an eternal “sabbath”!]
We also see, in Leviticus 24:5-9 what seems an odd declaration of an everlasting covenant – until we consider the Table of the Lord in the New Covenant. After the details describing how to make the twelve loaves (one for each tribe) that are to be laid out on the Table in the Holy place, Moses instructs the high priest that:
“Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel.”
The last reflection of the everlasting covenant found in the words and promises of the covenant with the sons of Israel that we call the Mosaic covenant, is found in Numbers 18:12-20. When describing the portion that belongs to the tribe of Levi – those selected as priests when the people as a whole rejected that offer – we find a bit of an aside describing the ransoming of each firstborn of Mankind (the word is often translated “redeem” but it is the Hebrew word “padah” that means “to ransom by paying the price”). The section culminates with the statement:
“It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you.”
This idea of the ransoming of the first born (which was touched on above) is first declared right after the first Passover – as or before the people begin their departure with the spoils of Egypt (see Exodus 13). Clearly this is a concept of great importance to God – He claimed the rights to every firstborn – man or beast.
We see this ransoming first fulfilled in Numbers 3, which occurs after the law has been given and the Tabernacle built – a little more than a year after they had left Egypt (we are told the census began on the first day of the second month of the second year – so precisely 1 year and 15 days after the Exodus). After the numbering of the people, a numbering of the firstborn (“that which opens the womb”) was taken. There was a total of 22,273 firstborn males from one month old and upward. However, there were only 22,000 Levite males one month or older. The sons of Levi were accounted as a life for a life ransom for 22,000 of the firstborn from the other tribes; the remaining 273 were ransomed by the payment of five shekels of silver for each life – so a total of 1,365 shekels of silver – which went to provide for the needs of the Levites. This declares the change in the ransom from the lamb of Exodus 13 to either a first-born Levite or the price of silver.
What we read in Numbers 18 – which occurs after the Israelites refused to enter the land of promise – is the establishment of the ongoing ransoming of the firstborn as an everlasting covenant of salt. From this point forward the price of the ransom of a first born would be silver. God’s original plan was the ransom of a lamb; He adjusted that – due in part to the rejection of the offer to be a kingdom of priests – to the offset of a Levite first-born OR silver (as needed); and ultimately accepts ransom by silver because of the hardness of their hearts.
The remaining mentions of the Everlasting Covenant either reiterate what we have seen with these three or are minor “conditions” (meaning specified details within the Mosaic or Abrahamic Covenants) that the Lord declares as being Everlasting – until we get to the prophetic books.
In the prophets (especially in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel), references to the Everlasting Covenant are clearly addressing the rules of interaction between God and Mankind as impacted by the work of Christ and the Cross. The focus in the prophetic books speak to both the Ransom and the Redemption aspects; directing the reader both to eternal life and to the restoration of our inheritance and rulership over His creation.
There are five prophetic references to the Everlasting Covenant that find their fulfillment, in time, in the ministry of Jesus and therefore the New Covenant. The first is found in the passage from Isaiah 61:1-11 from which Jesus read in the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth.
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God…” Isa.61:1-2a
All but the last 8 words were what Jesus read. After stopping in the middle of the sentence, He then declared that these words were being fulfilled in their very midst (see Luke 4:8).
What is not always noticed is the result of the Messiah’s mercy:
“…and I will faithfully give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.” (vs.8)
The next reference is found in Jeremiah 32 – a very pivotal chapter to our understanding of the Book of Redemption and its ultimate disclosure to John in Revelation chapter 5. It is in that chapter of Jeremiah where we find the other instance of a sealed book and what the meaning of such a book was (and is). A “book of redemption” or a “deed of purchase” was the document used to identify when and how an inheritance, sold or transferred, could be bought back (redeemed) by a near kinsmen.
As for the background, Jeremiah had been accused by the king of collaborating with the enemy (Babylon) by suggesting that the people of Israel surrender because God had ordained their captivity. What is related in Jeremiah chapter 32 is actually the account of the prophet defending himself against the accusation by recalling the full details to King Zedekiah.
While being under house arrest, the Lord gave Jeremiah a word regarding the act of redeeming his nephew’s land – letting him know that Hanameel was on his way to make the request. Short story – since the details will be provided elsewhere – Jeremiah does as his nephew requests, completing all of the legal documents of the deed of purchase in two versions: a public version available for anyone to read and a sealed version that contained the terms and conditions of the redemption and could only be opened by a near kinsman who was both willing and able (worthy) to pay the redemption price; who could then open the sealed copy and review the private terms and conditions.
After this transaction, Jeremiah asks the Lord to explain why He had required Jeremiah to engage in the transaction. The Lord explains His intent:
“Behold, I will gather them (all the people of Israel – not just Judah) out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in My great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety (v.37).”
He then says:
“They shall be My people and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them…” (vs.38-40a).
And though there was a partial realization of this promise after the 70 years of “cessation” were accomplished in the land and some of Judah returned – the full promise applies to all of spiritual Israel – whether Jew or Gentile – who choose to accept the ransom price Jesus paid and to participate in the redemption and restoration of our inheritance – lost by Adam.
In a prophecy by Jeremiah against Babylon, found in Jeremiah 50:4-5, we find the next occasion of a reference to the Everlasting Covenant that must be fulfilled after the Cross. Jeremiah speaks of the fall of Babylon when the Median-Persian alliance defeats it. He then prophesies of the weeping of the “sons of Israel” and of the “sons of Judah as well” as they go. Of course, it will be Cyrus of Persia who decrees the return of the Jews to their promised land (Ezra 1:1-4). And it is noted that it is only a small representation of the Jews (around 50,000) who actually returned (Ezra 2). As is the case with many words from the Lord, there are both natural and spiritual (or ultimate) fulfillments:
“They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.”
The next two notations are found in the book of Ezekiel. There were three main voices that the Lord used to speak to His people at the time of their captivity. Ezekiel prophesies from among the captives of Babylon themselves, from near the river Chebar; whereas Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem (for the most part) and Daniel prophesied from the courts of Babylon.
In chapter 16 of the book of Ezekiel, we find a prophecy which centers on the unfaithfulness of the people of Judah and particularly of Jerusalem. Using very descriptive imagery, the Lord, through Ezekiel, tells of the history of the city, of His love for “her” and His decision to protect “her” and share His love with “her”. He then describes the harlotries (the idolatries) of “her” and His attempt to regain “her” loyalty. Until, finally, He is left with no other choice but to remove His protection from the people of Jerusalem and for them to suffer the consequences of their unfaithfulness. In about verse 40 of this chapter, the language shifts from the metaphor of an unfaithful wife to that of the history of the capital of the kingdom that the Lord, by covenant had established, describing its complete destruction and comparing His judgment on Jerusalem to that which was experienced by Sodom and by Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel). All because the people of God had broken the oath of the covenant!
And then in verse 60:
“Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you, from the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you…when I have forgiven you for all that you have done…”
Lastly, we have the reference from Ezekiel 37:21-28, when, having been instructed by the Lord, Ezekiel takes two sticks. On one he is to write “For Judah and the sons of Israel, his companions”; on the other “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.” And then the Lord speaks the following; the details are worth noting:
“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. “They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. “And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.””’
Taking this at face value requires that we filter the promises and particulars through the New Covenant. David the king, spoken of by Ezekiel, was clearly symbolic of the Messiah; the work done by Christ is the only means by which we can be cleansed forever and dwell with Him as His people. Similar promises are made in the 21st chapter of the Revelation and the idea of two “nations” becoming one new man is what is described in Eph.2:11-22:
Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” performed in the flesh by human hands— that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the ones sent and those who tell before, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
I believe all of these references point us to a single conclusion – apart from and as an overriding covering to all of the covenants God made with Man, there exists an everlasting covenant. A covering and overriding Covenant that reflects all of the promises noted independently as “everlasting” within the time bound covenants with Man.
What this implies is that the preservation of the earth from a flood as a promise to all creatures, is superseded by the eternal promise of the New heaven and earth – after the old flees away. Circumcision in the flesh becomes the more eternal principle of the circumcision of the heart that Jeremiah prophesies. Canaan, the promised land of the covenant with Abraham and Moses, becomes the New Heaven and the New Earth that Isaiah and Daniel envision. And the sabbath of the seventh day, becomes the tree of eternal life with its fruit and leaves that bring rest to those who dwell with Him in eternity.
And if that can be accepted, then the words of the Everlasting Covenant are included in both the Book of Redemption – regarding our inheritance; and the Book of Life (the Lamb’s Book of Life) – regarding our salvation. Together they have demonstrated that we cannot experience the restoration without first being ransomed from death. And that being ransomed from death, though qualifying us to experience our restoration, does not trigger it – that (our restoration) will be fulfilled after all of the conditions of the Book of Redemption are met; after the Seals of the Scroll have been opened and fulfilled.