The Unbreakable Covenant

Rabbi Ken Alpren
May 21, 2011
Sermon Notes: Teresa Bennett, Pharm.D.

Leviticus 26:3-9, ‘"'If you live by my regulations, observe my mitzvot and obey them; 4 then I will provide the rain you need in its season, the land will yield its produce, and the trees in the field will yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing time will extend until the grape harvest, and your grape harvesting will extend until the time for sowing seed. You will eat as much food as you want and live securely in your land. 6 "'I will give shalom in the land -you will lie down to sleep unafraid of anyone. I will rid the land of wild animals. The sword will not go through your land. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before your sword. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand -your enemies will fall before your sword. 9 "'I will turn toward you, make you productive, increase your numbers and uphold my covenant with you.”’

We must consider the seamlessness of the Old and New Testament; realizing there are differences, and know that according to 1 Corinthians 10:11, ‘These things happened to them as prefigurative historical events, and they were written down as a warning to us who are living in the acharit-hayamim.’

Know we are in covenant with the Living G-d, and that blessings and curses depend upon our obedience!

Also, know that He will never leave us or forsake us!

Hebrews 13:5, ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God himself has said, "I will never fail you or abandon you."’

The L-rd knows whose are His (2 Timothy 2:19)!

John 10:2-4, ‘“But the one who goes in through the gate is the sheep's own shepherd. 3 This is the one the gate-keeper admits, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep, each one by name, and leads them out.”’

We will be disciplined and chastised, but will never be taken out of His hand and nor can we even take ourselves out of His hand!

Romans 8:38-39, ‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers, neither what exists nor what is coming, 39 neither powers above nor powers below, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which comes to us through the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.’

We are in safe keeping, but that doesn’t mean we should live any way we want to live and in that way, the brit’ or covenant could be good or bad; it could be glorious or disastrous for Israel as well as for us.
Did you know that the L-rd has an order by which He will deal with us; for the Jew first and then the Gentile?

Romans 2:7-11, ‘To those who seek glory, honor and immortality by perseverance in doing good, he will pay back eternal life. 8 But to those who are self-seeking, who disobey the truth and obey evil, he will pay back wrath and anger. 9 Yes, he will pay back misery and anguish to every human being who does evil, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile; 10 but glory and honor and shalom to everyone who keeps doing what is good, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.’

The Hebrew word for honor is ‘kavod’ and also means weight. Kavod means honor and value but could also mean burden. There is privilege but also responsibility, prosperity and poverty, blessing and frustration, punishment and curse as well as success and disaster.

When referring to Israel, G-d says, in Amos 3:2, ‘"Of all the families on earth, only you have I intimately known. This is why I will punish you for all your crimes."’

Being in covenant with the L-rd is a serious matter.

Why was Israel chosen?

Genesis 12:3, ‘“I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed."’ Indeed, the L-rd has blessed us through Messiah as well as generally, through Jewish people.

We are in relationship with the one and only Living G-d and He answers our prayers!

Deuteronomy 4:7-8, ‘For what great nation is there that has God as close to them as ADONAI our God is, whenever we call on him? 8 What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire Torah which I am setting before you today?’

In Leviticus 26 there is a 3:1 ratio of bad consequences for disobedience versus good consequences for obedience.

Our natural tendency is to turn away from Him and disobey. Four different times in the passage of Leviticus 26, He admonishes us to listen and then the bad consequences would stop. His heart is for us to turn and listen! Interestingly, in this passage the consequences get progressively worse ranging from distress, drought, invasion of wild animals, disease, siege of moral indecency, and finally, dispersion with enemies taking over the land.

Even so, our G-d does not give up on us, nor does He give up on the Israelites in Leviticus.

Leviticus 26:40-42, ‘Then they will confess their misdeeds and those of their ancestors which they committed against me in their rebellion; they will admit that they went against me. 41 At that time I will be going against them, bringing them into the lands of their enemies. But if their uncircumcised hearts will grow humble, and they are paid the punishment for their misdeeds; 42 then I will remember my covenant with Ya'akov, also my covenant with Yitz'chak and my covenant with Avraham; and I will remember the land.’

G-d’s door to restoration is always open! He won’t let us go. Can things be difficult and miserable? Yes! But He does bless us when we put Him first! The blessings can be more noticeable inwardly as expressed by Paul in Philippians 4, but G-d knows; He is familiar with the unknown, the unnamed and the unseen.

2 Corinthians 6:9, ‘unknown and famous. And we commend ourselves as God's workers headed for death, yet look! we're alive! as punished, yet not killed;’

We naturally gravitate toward those like ourselves or those who are well known or seemingly important. Even the prophet Samuel and David’s father weren’t looking for G-d to choose David, but He did choose Him.

Messiah Himself had an appearance that was not particularly outwardly attractive as expressed in Isaiah 53:2.

Let us be careful not to miss G-d because we gravitate toward being comfortable and toward those most like ourselves.

Further Reading: Psalm 89:31-38, John 15:4-8, Ephesians 2:11-12, 2 Timothy 2:16-17, Luke 8:18, Hebrews 12, Exodus 19:6, Deuteronomy 7:6-7, Ephesians 3:14, Revelation 1:13-15, Revelation 2:1, Hebrews 6:10, Psalm 139, Romans 16:8-9, Galatians 6:10, Hebrews 6:10, 1 Samuel 16