The Everlasting Covenant - 11.2 New Covenant Reference

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11.2 References TNC2
by Hubert F. Sturges, www.everlastingcovenant.com, March 2009

References and Notes:
                     1. A Day for a Year 12. All Families to be Blessed
    2. The Vision to be Sealed 13. A Heaven on Earth
    3. Starting Date for 2300 Days 14. Ark of the Covenant
    4. Chronology of Captivity 15. Temperance and Diet
    5. Futurism 16. An Holy Nation
    6. Influence of a Good Family 17. Jesus is Satisfied
    7. Satan Revealed 18. A Covenant Ceremony
    8. When God’s People Sin 19. The Work of Grace
    9. Reconciliation for All 20. I Will Fear No Evil
  10. Robe of Christ’s Righteousness 21. The Gift of Life
  11. Views of Daniel 9:24
 22. Second Death on Calvary

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1. A day for a year: An important application of this principle is in Daniel 8:14:  “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

    34 “After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise” (Numbers 14:34 (KJV)).
      6 “And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year” (Ezekiel 4:6 (KJV))
    24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24 (KJV))

The “day for a year” principle is very important in understanding prophetic time.  The “seventy weeks” of Daniel 9:24 is 490 days or years.  Daniel 9:25 indicates the events at the beginning of the 490 years, and Daniel 9:26, 27 the EVENT at the conclusion.
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2.  The Vision to be Sealed until the time of the end.
Daniel 8:26  wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.”
Daniel 9:24  to seal up the vision and prophecy,
Daniel 12:9 “the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”
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3.  the starting date for both the 2300 year and the 490 year prophecies(Daniel 9:25)

    25 “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times” (Daniel 9:25 (KJV)).

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4. Chronology of the Captivity and the Restoration.  There were three battles against Jerusalem, and three decrees for its restoration.
       606 bc     First siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar
  605 bc Jehoiakim 3rd year Dan 1:1-3 Temple vessels, royal family
captive to Babylon
  604 bc Jehoiachin 2 Kings 24:8-16;
Eze 1:1-3; 33:21; 40:1		 10,000 chief men taken
captive.
  587 bc Zedekiah 10th year Jeremiah 32:1 Jerusalem destroyed, people
captive or scattered
  586 bc Zedekiah 11th year 2 Kings 25:2-8; Jeremiah 52:5, 12 Jerusalem falls, most Jews
captive.
                
  536 bc Cyrus 2 Chronicles 36:22; Ezra 1:1; 5:13 1st Decree. Temple repair
begun.
  520 bc Darius 1 Ezra 6:14, 15
2nd Decree. Temple
finished 515 bc
  457 bc Artaxerxes Ezra 6:14; 7:27
3rd Decree. Wall finished;
Jewish autonomy
                           
The starting date for the 2300 day and the 490 day prophecies is taken to be 457 bc, as it was at that time that Jerusalem was given a degree of autonomy.
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5. Futurism
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm

Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) was a Jesuit doctor of theology, born in Spain, who began writing a lengthy (500 page) commentary in 1585 on the book of Revelation.  His purpose was to  remove the Catholic Church from consideration as the antichrist power, a doctrine made common in the Reformation. Ribera proposed that the first few chapters of the Apocalypse applied to ancient pagan Rome, and the rest he limited to a yet future period of 3 1/2 literal years, immediately prior to the second coming. During that time, the Roman Catholic Church would have fallen away from the pope into apostasy. Then, he proposed, the antichrist, a single individual, would:

    * Persecute and blaspheme the saints of God.
    * Rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
    * Abolish the Christian religion.
    * Deny Jesus Christ.
    * Be received by the Jews.
    * Pretend to be God.
    * Kill the two witnesses of God.
    * Conquer the world.

Ribera taught that the 1260 days and 42 months and 3 1/2 times of prophecy were not 1260 years, but a literal 3 1/2 years.  More specifically, the last 3 1/2 years of the “week” of Daniel 9:27. Therefore none of the book of Revelation had any application to the middle ages or to the papacy.  Instead it pointed to the future, to a period immediately prior to the second coming, hence the name Futurism.

Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, supported these beliefs.  Writing between 1581 and 1593, he also denied the day = year principle in prophecy and pushed the reign of antichrist into a future period of 3 1/2 literal years.

Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921), greatly influenced by the writings of J. N. Darby, incorporated Futurism in the notes of his Scofield Reference Bible. First published by Oxford University Press in 1909, one million copies were printed by 1930. The Scofield Bible was instrumental in firmly establishing the Jesuit inspired Futurist interpretation in the Protestant Bible schools of the United States in the 20th century.

Now the truly amazing part of all this is that the Futurist theory dominates Protestant teaching today. About all you hear or read about today is the yet-to-appear antichrist, who will be unveiled in the last 3 1/2 years of Daniel's 70th week, when he declares himself to be God in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:24 from the standpoint of futurism.  http://preceptaustin.org/daniel_924.htm#9:24
Walvoord John F.: Bibliotheca Sacra, volume 101, page 30, Jan-Mar, 1944.   Daniel: The Key To Prophetic Revelation. Moody, 1971

This topic is included here as Futurism does much diminish the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary, and renders meaningless the statement in Daniel 9:27 that Jesus would “confirm the covenant” in the midst of the week.
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6. Influence of a well ordered family:
         One well-ordered, well-disciplined family tells more in behalf of Christianity than all the sermons that can be preached. Such a family gives evidence that the parents have been successful in following God's directions, and that their children will serve Him in the church. Their influence grows; for as they impart, they receive to impart again. The father and mother find helpers in their children, who give to others the instruction received in the home. The neighborhood in which they live is helped, for in it they have become enriched for time and for eternity. The whole family is engaged in the service of the Master; and by their godly example, others are inspired to be faithful and true to God in dealing with His flock, His beautiful flock. 
         The greatest evidence of the power of Christianity that can be presented to the world is a well-ordered, well-disciplined family. This will recommend the truth as nothing else can, for it is a living witness of its practical power upon the heart.  White EG: The Adventist Home, 33
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7. Satan Revealed
“Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he  could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ's brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.”  White EG: The Desire of Ages, p. 761.
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8. When God’s people sin. Hebrews 6:4-6. White EG: The Great Controversy, p. 489

9. Reconciliation for all. Romans 3:21; 1 John 2:2; Hebrews 9; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15

10. Robe of Christ’s Righteousness. Matthew 22:11; Phil 3:9; Hebrews 9:14;15; Revelation 19:8)

11. Views of Daniel 9:24.  SDA Bible Commentary; 852
• Bible Study Manuals, http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/dan9v27.htm
• http://www.parentalguide.com/Documents/Bible_Prophecy/Daniel_9_11_12.htm
• Ark of the Covenant, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ark_of_the_Covenant#Concealment
• History of The Ark of the Covenant, Dr. Gerald N. Shapiro: http://www.arkstory.com/
• Does the Ancient Ark Still Exist?  http://jewishmag.com/13MAG/ARK/ark.htm
• Where is the Ark of the Covenant?  by Thomas S. McCall, Th.D. “Christianity Through Jewish Eyes,”  Zola Levitt Ministries
• Jewish Temples, by Nathan Mates:  http://www.visi.com/~nathan/xtian/templedata.html

12. “All families of earth to be blessed.”  (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 27:29; 28:14; Galatians 3:16).
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13. “A heaven on earth” portrayed in Isaiah:
Many of these references seem to indicate a kingdom of God on this earth before the second coming of Christ. This introduces several problems in prophecy, which I propose is the reason that the vision of Daniel 8 was sealed till the time of the end. This vision may have been a conditional prophecy to be fulfilled only if Israel failed to fulfill God’s purpose as outlined in Daniel 9:24.

There are other possible interpretations, especially that of reading a spiritual interpretation into these prophecies.  Here is a list of the prophecies in Isaiah which seem to point to a kingdom of God on this earth:

Isaiah 2:1-4    in the last days the temple shall be open to all people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares
‘’  4:1-6        the Branch shall be glorious; The remnant in Zion shall be cleansed and holy
‘’11:1-16    the Branch; remnant of His people gathered, they shall defeat Philistines, Edom, Moab, Egypt
‘’32:1-20    wicked people are not honored; Holy Spirit poured out to bring in righteousness and peace
‘’40:1-11    the voice in the wilderness; the glorious coming of the Messiah
‘’41:17-20    water for the poor and needy
‘’42:1-4        He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He hath set judgment in the earth
‘’52:7-15    beautiful good news of peace; God will go before and after you; all the earth shall see His salvation
‘’53:1-12    sufferings of Christ prophesied
‘’54:13-17    peace; no weapon formed against thee shall prosper
‘’60:1-22    Gentiles shall come to thy light; glory of the temple (vs 7); sons of strangers shall build thy walls.
‘’61:4-7        Israel restored; shall build and restore; strangers will do the work; Ye shall be priests/ministers
‘’62:1-12    the righteousness of Jerusalem a lamp for the Gentiles.
While the above passages seem to indicate a kingdom of God on this earth, much of what is said also points forward to the beauties of the New Earth.  The following passages point exclusively to the New Earth:

Isaiah 1:28-31    destruction of the wicked; are consumed; none shall quench them
‘’12:2-6        With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation
‘’25:6-12    swallow up death; wipe away tears; no more enemies
‘’28:16-21    Jesus the cornerstone; God will do His work, His strange work; judgment
‘’30:19-26    trials now; no more weeping then; light of the sun seven-fold
‘’33:20-24    Look upon Zion, Jerusalem quiet, peaceful; no sickness; sins forgiven
‘’35:1-10    Promises for the new earth, healing, safety
‘’43:19, 20    New Earth, rivers in the desert
‘’51:11,12,14    restoration; the redeemed of the Lord shall return
‘’55:12, 13    joy; peace; singing; beauty; no more thorns or briers
‘’65:8-10    a remnant saved, inherit the beauty of Israel.
‘’65:17-25    New Heaven and New Earth
‘’66:21-24       ‘’                         ‘’
Passages in other books include:  Jeremiah 33:17,18; Ezekiel 34:25; 36:24; 37:21-28
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14. Ellen White on the ark of the covenant:
         By these words Christ has placed this matter beyond all the sophistry of human conjecture. "And He [Christ] gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (Exodus 31:18). Nothing written on those tables could be blotted out. The precious record of the law was placed in the ark of the testament and is still there, safely hidden from the human family. But in God's appointed time He will bring forth these tables of stone to be a testimony to all the world against the disregard of His commandments and against the idolatrous worship of a counterfeit Sabbath.  White EG: The Law. Manuscript 122, Nov 23, 1901, pp. 1-4.
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15. Holiness promoted by temperance and diet. Leviticus 10:9-11; 11:43-47; Proverbs 23:1-3; 31:4,5; Ezekiel 44:21-23; Daniel 1:8

16. “An holy nation” prepared to see Him come. Daniel 12:3; Revelation 7:3; 12:17; 14:4; 22:11.

17. Jesus is satisfied to see His people in Heaven:
    • Isaiah 53:11    “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.”
    • Daniel 7:27    “The kingdom and dominion... shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
    • Hebrews 12:2    .... “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
    • Romans 14:11 .... “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
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18.  A Covenant Ceremony.  Even as Abram believed the promise of God, he still needed reassurance that the promises would be fulfilled. On God’s direction a ratification ceremony was carried out. Animals were taken and divided in half. At sundown Abram fell into a deep sleep, “and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him” (Genesis 15:12).

There is a peculiar significance in these words that is not explained here. A number of verses tell us that God is light and is the source of light. Here is one:

    “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

There are also verses that associate sin and evil with darkness and the absence of God. “An horror of great darkness” indicates that Abram looked into an eternity of darkness without life and without God. This was a portrayal of the great darkness that Jesus looked into when on the Cross he cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

The concept is sometimes expressed that Jesus died the second death for sinners.  Since all sinners die the death of sleep until He comes again, for Jesus to simply “sleep” would not be adequate.  When He died on Calvary, He saved us from the second death, and only by experiencing the second death could the atonement be made.

The problem in this is that He was resurrected on the third day, and there is no resurrection from the second death.  I believe that Abraham was given an experience as an example of what Jesus was to suffer.

In Gethsemane, during the trial and crucifixion, Jesus could not “see through the portals of the tomb.”  In His humanity, He shrank from the separation from the Father that His becoming sin for us would cause.  On the Cross, when He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” He was experiencing the “horror of great darkness.”  He looked into an eternity without God, without life, and without hope.

Then His faith was revived.  He remembered when the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  These words sustained Him in the 40 days in the wilderness, and they came back to strengthen Him now.  The “faith of Jesus” is to hold onto God’s promises when there seems no reason to hope.  Jesus bowed His head, and said, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” His victory on the cross is for each one of us.
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19. The work of grace in changing your life is a super-natural creative act of God. Please read the following verses:

   17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)).

    6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
    7 “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
    8 “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8 (KJV)).

   26 “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”  (Ezekiel 36:26 (KJV)).

   33 “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33 (KJV)).

   15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15 (KJV)).

   18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV)).

   18 “And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit”  (2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMP)).

      6 “And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you”  (Philippians 1:6 (AMP)).
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20. Murray, CA: I Will Fear no Evil.  Pacific Press 2001, 110-111

“If a person is in the spiritual habit of going to Jesus first when he loses something as insignificant as a set of keys, then he will know how to find Him when he suffers a major loss such as a job or a husband or a wife or a home or a car.

“If we have accustomed ourselves to run to Him during the rain showers, we will know where, how, and when to find Him when life throws its hurricanes, typhoons, and tornadoes at us.  Everything that touches us, touches Him.  If we bring Him into the little things, He’ll be there for the big ones. ... It isn’t a matter of brilliance or particularly adroit thinking; it is, to repeat, repetition!  A habitual pattern, constantly reinforced so that no real thought is required.

“That is the way it must be between us and Jesus.  When a stimulus is perceived (trouble comes), the flight to Christ needs to be second nature.  The path to His throne needs to be walked daily, particularly in the good times.  Then when the hard times, the dark days, come, and we may not be able to see Him – when our eyesight is made dim by pain or sorrow or loss – we will be able to find our way to Christ in the darkness.  We will be able to turn to Him without stumbling because we have walked that path so many times before.  Turning to Christ has become habitual, ingrained, automatic – even with the light out.  We can walk to Him blindfolded.  I believe it is a little late to go about searching for Jesus in a storm.  We must walk the path daily during the sunshine.  We must wear a run, as it were, to the throne of grace in the good times so that we can walk it blindfolded if need be.”
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21.  The Gift of Life.

    12 “Sin came into the world because of what one man did, and with sin came death. This is why everyone must die--because everyone sinned.
    15 “But God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But the grace from God was much greater; many people received God's gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
    16 “After Adam sinned once, he was judged guilty. But the gift of God is different. God's free gift came after many sins, and it makes people right with God.
    17 “One man sinned, and so death ruled all people because of that one man. But now those people who accept God's full grace and the great gift of being made right with him will surely have true life and rule through the one man, Jesus Christ.
    18 “So as one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people, one good act that Christ did makes all people right with God. And that brings true life for all” (Romans 5:12, 15-18, New Century Version).
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22. Did Jesus Die the Second Death on Calvary?

Even as Abram believed the promise of God, he still needed reassurance that the promises would be fulfilled. On God’s direction a ratification ceremony was carried out. Animals were taken and divided in half. At sundown Abram fell into a deep sleep, “and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him” (Genesis 15:12).

There is a peculiar significance in these words that is not explained here. A number of verses tell us that God is light and is the source of light. Here is one:

   “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

There are also verses that associate sin and evil with darkness and the absence of God. “An horror of great darkness” indicates that Abram looked into an eternity of darkness without life and without God. This was a portrayal of the great darkness that Jesus looked into when on the Cross he cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

The concept is sometimes expressed that Jesus died the second death for sinners. Since all sinners die the death of sleep until He comes again, for Jesus to simply “sleep” would not be adequate. When He died on Calvary, He saved us from the second death, and only by “experiencing” the second death could the atonement be made.

The problem in this is that He was resurrected on the third day, and there is no resurrection from the second death. I believe that Abraham was given an experience as an example of what Jesus was to suffer.

In Gethsemane, during the trial and crucifixion, Jesus could not “see through the portals of the tomb.” In His humanity, He shrank from the separation from the Father that His becoming sin for us would cause. On the Cross, when He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” He was experiencing the “horror of great darkness.” He looked into an eternity of darkness  without God and without hope.

Then His faith was revived. He remembered when the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” These words sustained Him in the 40 days in the wilderness, and they came back to strengthen Him now. The “faith of Jesus” is to hold onto God’s promises when there seems no reason to hope. Jesus bowed His head, and said, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” His victory on the cross is for each one of us.
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