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The Sinai Covenant:
Plus Isaiah's Prophecy of the Gentile's
Relation to It in The New Covenant.
1. The People Embrace The Ten Commandments
Before the Law was ever given, God gives Moses an instruction on the mountain. The sons of Israel — previously named Jacob — were at the bottom of the mountain. On the mountain above, Yahweh speaks to Moses, and makes an offer of a covenant. God wants a promise in return for the offer. We read in Exodus 19:3-6 (Names of God Bible):
3 Then Moses went up the mountain to Elohim, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, “This is what you must say to the descendants of Jacob. Tell the Israelites, 4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to my mountain. 5 If you carefully obey me and are faithful to the terms of my promise [or “terms of my covenant”] then out of all the nations you will be my own special possession, even though the whole world is mine. 6 You will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words you must speak to the Israelites.”
What are the terms?
1. Obedience by the people to the terms of God’s covenant.
2. In return, God will make these people his treasured possession — obviously serving Him as priests and they would be Yahweh’s own holy nation.
The king in this covenant was God. God refers to the people as “my kingdom” and “my nation.” The benefit was mercy by an individual's committed course corrections -- repentance -- each time an ancestor of Israel fell.
Next, Moses delivered these terms to the people, and the people accepted -- making the covenant binding on themselves and their ancestors:
7 So Moses went down and called for the leaders of the people. He repeated to them all the words that Yahweh had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together, “We will do everything Yahweh has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to Yahweh. (Exodus 19:3-6, NOG).
Next, Yahweh God in Exodus 20 is told of the people’s agreement, and God then sets up a meeting with the people to hear His voice, but they must take two days to make themselves holy:
9. Yahweh said to Moses, “I am coming to you in a storm cloud so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always believe you.” Moses told Yahweh what the people had said.
10 So Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people, and tell them they have two days to get ready. They must set themselves apart as holy. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the day after tomorrow. On that day Yahweh will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch. (Exodus 19:9,10-11, NOG.)
The spectacle leading up to this was seemingly too much for the people.
16 On the morning of the second day, there was thunder and lightning with a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud blast from a ram’s horn was heard. All the people in the camp shook with fear. (Exodus 19:16, NOG.)
Now what we will next lay out is known as the Ten Commandments. Before you read it, please realize that the reaction was fright at the scene, as if they could not listen attentively. So imagine the earth is quaking, and there is smoke and thunder, and you hear these commands—evidently done in this way so the people would react with obedience:
1. Then Elohim spoke all these words:
2 “I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me (Ed: Commandment 2).
4: Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5: thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; because I, Yahweh your Elohim, am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me. 6 But I show mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “Never use the name of Yahweh your Elohim carelessly. Yahweh will make sure that anyone who carelessly uses his name will be punished.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Ed: Commandment 4)
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Yahweh, your Elohim. In it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;
11 In six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live for a long time in the land Yahweh your Elohim is giving you.
[From this point forward, I use the Name of God Bible because it is more comprehensible.]
13 “Never murder.
14 “Never commit adultery.
15 “Never steal.
16 “Never lie when you testify about your neighbor.
17 “Never desire to take your neighbor’s household away from him.
“Never desire to take your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.”
2. God's Promise In Return: Mercy On His Conditions.
Please note importantly verse 6—the condition of mercy is what? What triggers grace in this verse?
6 But I show mercy [Heb. hesed] to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments.
Moses explains this key aspect that "YHWH ... is God, the faithful God, keeping the covenant and mercy [Heb. weha hesed] for those who love Him and who observe His commandments." (Deut. 7:9. Friedman & KJV.)
Nothing changes about the mercy granted in the New Covenant that Jesus declared. Jesus in John 15 declared:
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
When Jesus is asked how to have eternal life in Matthew 19, Jesus answers with the same principle as Exodus 20:6: "obey the commandments." The asking party -- a rich young man -- responds by asking "which ones?" Jesus begins to answer by quoting several of the ten commandments before Jesus is interupted with a response: "I have done all that." The rich young man wants to know what else he must do. Thereupon, Jesus then gives the man a work worthy of repentance for a life of greed. The man is grieved, for he had to give up all his wealth to the poor. On why this is so, please see the study on Matthew 19 where the Hebrew Matthew allows restoration of a verse that was dropped which explains to the apostles that the man's lifetime of greed is why the man is required to give all his money to the poor. See the article hosted here Hebrew Matthew Has Extra Text that Explains Matthew 19.
Apostle John in 1 John 2 speaks similarly about the principle of what brings mercy -- a course correction of one's life to obey the Messiah:
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
3. The Word "Covenant" Was Short-Hand Thereafter
The Ten Commandments were called "the Covenant" as short-hand thereafter. This stemmed from Moses using that expression multiple times in that manner. Moses in Deuteronomy 9:9 (Friedman trans.) explained how "I went up to the mountain to get the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant." Then Moses described when he came down the mountain that "I ... went down the mountain -- ... and the two tablets of the covenant were on my two hands." (Deut. 11:15 Friedman.) Lasly, Moses also described in reference to the Ten Commandments that God is "faithful" (obedient) to its terms, "keeping the covenant" that He is merciful / kind to those "who love Him and obey His commandments" (Deut 7:9 Friedman-KJV -- a quote from within the Ten Commandments at Exodus 20:6, as mentioned before.
Hence, the repeatedly used term "the covenant" represented what was on the two tables of stone. Nothing existed upon them other than the ten commandments which, lest we forget, included God's promise of mercy on His terms in Exodus 20:6.
This explains why when the two tables were put in the Ark, it became known as "the Ark of the covenant." Nothing else from the Torah was included in the concept of the covenant. It was solely the two tablets of THE COVENANT.
The word "the Covenant" or "my Covenant" thereafter always is meant to harken back to the Ten Commandments. This is distinct from what followed in the days and years thereafter.
For example, right after the Ten Commandments comes a distinct section. The Jewish scribes called this the Covenant Code. However, it calls itself the Judgments. See Exodus 21:1 Friedman ("And these are the judgments that you shall set before them....") The Hebrew word of "judgments" is hammi-spatim. See Hebrew page link to Exodus 21:1 here.
Please note that the obedience to "commandments" in Exodus 20:6 that bring God's mercy is a reference to a distinctly different word - miswotay. See link here. Thus, just like "judgments" is not the same as "commandments" in English, the word hammispatim is not the same as miswotay in Hebrew.
So what is the Judgments section that follows the Ten Commandments?
This section is series of judgments of how to assess damages and penalties for wrongdoing in highly detailed and specific circumstances. It is God's will we obey them but the promise of mercy in the ten commandments (miswotay) does not necessarily extend to fulfilling all those judgments (hammispatim).
For example, God never says the failure to pay damages for injurying a party means God's forgiveness is withheld until you pay. Such standard is only implicit in the commands we find in the ten commandments - the miswotay -- but not the hammispatim of the Judgment's Section.
This is not to say the Judgments Section is unimportant. There are two reasons.
First, our Lord Jesus said the Pharisees improperly did not teach "the judgments, mercy and obedience" from the Torah-Law. See Matthew 23:23 KJV ("judgment[s]" "mercy" & "faith") NIV ("justice" "mercy" & "faithfulness" = obedience).
Second, God can still "command" (me-saw-weka) a judgment ("hammiswa"). See Deut. 30:11. In that passage, God refers to the Ten Commandments as starting as hammiswa that He "commanded" (me-saw-weka) to be obeyed. Thus, when in Exodus 20:6, God says His mercy extends to those obeying His miswotay ("commandments"), this means those who obey judgments which became commandments.
Hence, the Judgments section must be taught, but God's mercy and love are not materially impacted by the duty to pay debts, etc. In fact, it may be important to realize that for long sections of the Judgments, Yahweh is never quoted. This implies many of these were actually judgments by Moses or others aiding Moses to serve as a judge over the people. Just something to consider when reading this part of Torah that immediately comes after the Ten Commandments. Frankly, the Judgments Section is very comparable to American tort and business law. Hence our society has effectively incorporated the Judgments Section into American law.
Is Mercy Dependent On Obeying 613 Commandments?
Hence, when you hear the freightening number of "commands" to obey is 613 commandments, please realize most of them come from this Judgments Section.
The only other section of the Law that amplifies the moral code in the Ten Commandments is known as the Holiness Code section in Leviticus. This is chapters 17 to 26 of Leviticus. See link. Jesus expounds on commands in this section multiple times, such as "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. 19:18) wherein Jesus explains who is one's neighbor in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Hence, based upon Jesus' teaching moral truths from the Holiness Code as vital, this section of the Torah-Law can be regarded as "commandments" in the Exodus 20:6 sense -- the obedience to which is a predicate to receiving mercy. This is because the Holiness Code appears as commandments in the same sense of miswotay of the Ten Commandments rather than to be seen as the hammispatim of individual life-circumstances in the Judgment's section. As mentioned before, they do not match the concept of miswotay in Exodus 20:6.
Then within this Holiness Code, much of it only applies to Sons of Israel -- a nation which God obtained their agreement to follow a high level of holiness. This section typically only expressly says it applies to "children / sons of Israel," and only infrequently says the same principle applies to sojourners / foreigners. When it does say it applies simimilarly to a gentile,, then the "same law" applies in that situation to the sojourner / foreigner. The "same law" statement is taken out of context by those who wish again to make the Law appear very burdensome to a Gentile. See Law Applicable to Gentiles.
And the Clean-Unclean laws (e.g., dietary laws) are solely health laws, and do not affect salvation by their very definition that breaking them only result in uncleanness - not exclusion from the people or some serious penalty.
But the Pauline church does not point out these minimizing factors built into the Law's literal terms. They like to exaggerate the Law, and make it appear very burdensome and hence unattractive. This makes Paul's abolition of it in Romans 7:1-7 a relief.
Yet, as Yahweh says, it is the contrary. God in Deuteronomy 30:11 assures us obedience to the laws which He “commanded is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.” (ASV.) As Apostle John said: “And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:2-3.)
This is no suprise for the Torah-Law of serious concern to a Gentile is only the Ten Commandments, and the gentile-specific commands in the Holiness Code between Leviticus 17 and 26.
4. The Eternal Quality of The Covenant Commands.
While Paul says the Law given Moses was fading away soon after Yawheh gave it, and has been "done away" with (2 Cor. 3:6-17), the Law's true character is repeatedly declared to have statutes and ordinances which shall be "eternal for all generations." Yahweh says so twelve times. See
Ex.27:21; 30:21; Lev.6:18; 7:36; 10:9; 17:7; 23:14, 21, 41; 24:3; Num. 10:8
So as long as there are generations on earth, the ordinances in the Law continue. When a new heaven and earth arrive, Jesus said there is no more giving and taking in marriage. Hence, generations cease when the heavens and earth disappear.
It is thus no surprise that Jesus said the Law would not pass away until "heaven and earth pass away." (Matt 5:18.)
Thus, until the heaven and earth pass away when generations cease, and a new heaven and a new earth are created, the ordinances and statutes of Yahweh continue.
What then of a teaching that the Law is abrogated prior to the ceasing of generations on earth?
It is known as apostasy -- the sign the speaker is a false prophet trying to "seduce" you from obeying the law on tablets given at Sinai. This is found in Deuteronomy 13:1-5 -- soon after the ten commandments were just recorded being given. Yet, Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23 also quotes this part in part and paraphrases it in part. This is where Jesus says anyone who teaches "anomia" (law-negation / apostasy) must be rejected even if they have "signs and wonders" and do many miracles "in Jesus' name," for they are workers of "law-less-ness." Jesus will tell them "I never knew you." See discussion of Matthew 7:21-23 in our article on the meaning of Anomia as Apostasy.
God says in Deuteronomy that he tests us by allowing such prophets to test whether we love him with our "whole heart mind and soul." (Deut 13:1-5.)
5. Who Is the Obvious Apostate To Test Us?
In Second Corinthians, Paul calls Moses' ministry was one of "death" and "condemnation." Paul calls Christianity a ministry of Spirit and liberty. The Law of Moses supposedly only kills. The Law of Moses is "done away with." Its "glory was to be done away with." It is "done away." Finally, it is "that which is abolished." All these quotes are found in 2 Corinthians 3:6-17.
Enough said.
6. God Promises Salvation to Sojourners Who Obey Sabbath and Cling to The Covenant
In Isaiah 56:1-7, we read about the salvation terms for the "son of the stranger" (i.e., the non-Jew who joins with the Jews) in a coming reign by God's Servant whom in Isaiah 53 is obviously Jesus. This passage reads in pertinent part:
1Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
2Blessed 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.
3Neither 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.
4 ****
5****
6Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD [YHWH], to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD [YHWY], to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
7Even 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 KJV.)
Jesus quotes this passage when He cleanses the Temple of money-changers, quoting that God says this is "My house of prayer," while these merchants made it a "den of thieves." (Matt 21:13.) Hence, by Jesus doing so, that gives added importance to this passage's message that the Servant will offer the Gentile salvation as long as they take hold of our Sabbath rest, and "cling to the covenant" -- meaning there the ten commandments.
7. Did Jesus Ever Say We Must Obey Sabbath?
Given the foregoing, it should come as no suprise that Jesus did have a verse at one time that required we obey Sabbath.
Why would this verse be suppressed?
We must learn that Constantine's major agenda in 325 AD was to refashion Christianity at Rome as Pontifex Maximus to match his favorite god - Sol Invictus. The Unconquered Son.
As Emperor and a publicly well-known adherent of the Sol Invictus Cult -- he put his allegiance on all coins of the Empire -- Constantine had declared in 321 AD - 4 years before he claimed that since 315 AD he had an experience with Jesus in the wilderness - that all subjects of Rome must rest on the Day of the Sun -- the origin of our "Sun-Day." Constantine invented this name for a new day of the week to honor Sol Invictus. The statute he issued in 321 AD called it the "venerable day of the Sun" -- the word venerable meaning in its Latin cognate version "worship-worthy."
Thereafter, resting on the Sabbath - the term the Empire had allowed the Jewish influence to make its subjects even refer to as the day prior -- was now banned. Hence, Constantine and his lackeys, by coercion of every type -- including creating a paid priesthood for the first time -- in 325 AD made eradication of Sabbath a key focus. See Constantine's Damage to Christianity.
So here is the verse that was made to disappear from our Bibles, but was found in several confirming fragments that strongly support it was originally in the "Gospel according to the Hebrews" -- another name for the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, as will be explained momentarily. It reads:
"If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom of God. If you do not obey the sabbath as sabbath, you will not see the Father." (Original Gospel of Matthew 6:24.2.)
That is perfectly in line with Isaiah 56:1-7 which Jesus quoted from in Matthew 21:13, as previously mentioned. This verse rising from the archaeologists's work multiple times actually conveys the same point as Isaiah 56:1-7. Sabbath observance and holding to "the covenant" -- the Ten Commandments -- are the simple yet critical twin basic requirements of salvation for a Gentile.
Here is footnote 172 from Standford Rives, OGM explaining the full basis to restore this verse to the true Gospel of Jesus:
This saying is at pOxy 1:4-11—the Gospel of Thomas Saying (Logion) 27. The Coptic Gospel of Thomas likewise in the last sentence reads: “If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the Father.” The Oxyrhyncus Papyrus 655 contains a portion of the “Gospel according to the Hebrews” (per Wikipedia (Oxyrhyncus Papyrus”). OxyP655 has several logion that match the Gospel of Thomas in proximity to Logion 27—24, 36-39. Because the fragments are substantial, it is certainly conceivable that OxyP 655 originally had the same passage as Logion 27 from the Gospel of Thomas. Because this sabbath injunction is a pro-Sabbath position, it certainly makes sense it would have been in GATHM [i.e., Gospel According to the Hebrew Matthew] before Thomas ever copied it.
Hence, Sabbath is not optional, of all things, in the covenant with Gentiles as prophesied in Isaiah. And as repeated by Jesus in Matthew 19, and in OGM 6:24.2.
Then please note the one who tests us most is not Constantine's lackeys, but Paul himself yet again. Paul not only abolishes Sabbath, but says in Galatians that Gentiles who try to observe it to be right with God have "fallen away from grace," and are cursed. See Paul Abolished Sabbath.
NOTES.
The Covenant at Sinai was like a covenant of marriage, Isaiah later explains.
Your husband is your maker.
His name is Yahweh of Armies (Tsebaoth).
Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel (Qedosh Yisrael).
He is called the Elohim of the whole earth.
6 “Yahweh has called you as if you were
a wife who was abandoned and in grief,
a wife who married young and was rejected,” says your Elohim. (Isaiah 54:5-6, Name of God Bible, modified to match KJV in part.)
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