Expert: Brenda Martin - 2/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: This is a new question which deserves two follow ups.
What bible translation do you use??

ANSWER: I use many different translations; but the one I quoted was the New World Translation, but as I said it is irelevant because--

Natural Jews today, those who are the fleshly descendants of the patriarch Abraham, cannot deny that the old Mosaic Law covenant was to be superseded by a new and better covenant. They cannot expunge from their manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures (In any bible) the words of God at Jeremiah 31:31: “‘Look! There are days coming,’ is the utterance of YHWH, ‘and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a NEW covenant.’”

The words of Psalm 110:4 apply to Jesus: “YHWH has sworn (and he will feel no regret): ‘You are a priest to time indefinite according to the manner of Melchizedek!’”—Hebrews 7:20, 21.

With the exception of a small remnant, the nation of natural Israel rejected Jesus Christ as the Mediator of the new covenant. Thus “the house of Israel” with which God made the foretold new covenant proved to be a spiritual Israel, “the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:16)

That spiritual Israel was brought to birth on the day of Pentecost, 33 C.E. Being spiritual, it could take into its citizenship believing non-Jews, or Gentiles. (Acts 15:14) Peter addressed it as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.” (1 Peter 2:9) This “holy nation” is composed of the spiritual sons of the Greater Abraham,YHWH, the Maker and Fulfiller of the Abrahamic covenant.

so please let me know what YOUR bible says at Jeremiah 31;31-34

Brenda



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Jeremiah 31:31-34""The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my
covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,"
declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their
hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man
teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because
they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the
Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no
more." (NIV)
Even yours doesn't mention "replacement". You fail to read further in
Jeremiah 31--"35 This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to
shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs
up the sea so that its waves roar-- the Lord Almighty is his name: 36 "Only
if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the Lord, "will the
descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me." 37 This is what
the Lord says: "Only if the heavens above can be measured and the
foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the
descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the Lord. 38
"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when this city will be rebuilt for
me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line
will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah.
40 The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the
terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the
Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or
demolished."
Sounds to me like God is saying NOTHING can replace Israel as the "apple of
his eye" (Zec 2:8)
We, Brenda, are simply grafted into the olive tree, of which the root is Israel.  
Love is a choice. It is not something you fall in and out of. By your
interpretation you are saying God fell out of love with Israel, when he
himself chose them to bring forth his message (salvation comes from the
Jews-John 4:22). Are you married, Brenda? Do you have children? When they
do bad things, do you stop loving them? Do you reject them? With that in
mind, God disciplines, he doesn't reject! Let yourself experience God's love
and really read his word through the eyes of the men who wrote it--Jewish
men!

ANSWER: “Jeremiah 31:31-34""The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT (WHY)…., BECAUSE THEY BROKE MY COVENANT though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (NIV)

Seems pretty clear to me; God is faithful, rewarding and blessing the covenant keeper. (Heb. 11:6) And he is just as faithful in punishing the covenant breaker according to the punishments specified in the covenant. (Deut. 7:9, 10)

As a nation the Israelites failed to demonstrate appreciation for God’s loving-kindness, even after their deliverance from Egypt “they kept sinning still more against by rebelling against the Most High.” (Psalm 78:17)

Over the centuries, they rebelled again and again, leaving YHWH and turning to false gods and pagan practices that brought nothing but defilement. Still, God did not break his covenant. Instead, through the prophet Jeremiah he implored his people: “Do return, O renegade Israel . . . I shall not have my face drop angrily upon you people, for I am loyal.” (Jeremiah 3:12)

As noted in Chapter 25, however, most of the Israelites were not moved. Indeed, “they were continually making jest at the messengers of the true God and despising his words and mocking at his prophets.” With what result? Finally, “the rage of YHWH came up against his people, until there was NO HEALING.”—2 Chronicles 36:15, 16.

“JEREMIAH 31;"35-40-- GOD IS SAYING NOTHING CAN REPLACE ISRAEL.

Read verse 34--YHWH promised regarding THOSE IN THE NEW COVENANT: “I shall forgive their error, and their sin I shall remember no more.”

These SPIRITUAL Israelites are the “holy nation” of which we read in Jeremiah 31:35, 36, right after God’s promise of the new covenant: YHWH could no more let spiritual Israel pass out of existence than he could let the heavenly luminaries that regulate light for our earth cease to be.

“(SALVATION COMES FROM THE JEWS-JOHN 4:22).

Look at the previous verses--Calling attention to a difference between the worship of the Samaritans and that of the Jews, the Samaritan woman said: “Our forefathers worshiped in this mountain; but you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where persons ought to worship.” (John 4:20) Did Jesus tell the Samaritan woman that was correct, or did he say that specific things are required to please God?

Jesus’ reply was: “The hour is coming when neither in this mountain NOR IN JERUSALEM will you people worship the Father.” (John 4:21) Jesus Christ said that neither that place nor Jerusalem would be important in true worship.

To please YHWH, what did Jews, Samaritans, and others of the past have to do? They had to worship him “with spirit and truth.” So must we.

“FELL OUT OF LOVE WITH ISRAEL?”

Although the Israelites were born into a dedicated nation, each individual had to make a personal decision to serve God. Before they entered the Promised Land, Moses told them: “I do take the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you today, that I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the malediction; and you must choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving YHWH your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him; for he is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell upon the ground that God swore to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give to them.” (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20) Hence, the Israelites individually had to choose to love YHWH, to listen to his voice, and to stick to him. Since the Israelites had free will, they would have to bear the consequences of their choice.—Deuteronomy 30:16-18.

**God never stopped loving Israel, they stopped loving him; in the days of the prophet Malachi, the Israelites offered blemished animals. Hence, Malachi told them: “‘No delight do I have in you,’ YHWH of armies has said, ‘and in the gift offering from your hand I take no pleasure.’ . . . ‘You have brought something torn away, and the lame one, and the sick one; yes, you have brought it as a gift. Can I take pleasure in it at your hand?’ YHWH has said.”—Malachi 1:10, 13; Amos 5:22.

At the time the Israelites became a nation dedicated to YHWH, he promised them: “IF you will strictly OBEY MY VOICE and will indeed KEEP MY COVENANT, then (and only then) you will certainly become my special property out of all other peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me. And you yourselves will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5, 6)

The promised Messiah would appear in their midst and give them the first opportunity to become members of God’s Kingdom government. (Genesis 22:17, 18; 49:10; 2 Samuel 7:12, 16; Luke 1:31-33; Romans 9:4, 5) But the great majority of the Israelite nation proved false to their dedication. (Matthew 22:14) They rejected the Messiah and eventually killed him.—Acts 7:51-53.

God was not going to ignore the disgraceful conduct of the Israelites. He made his position clear when he said: “I shall hold an accounting against you for all your errors.” (Amos 3:2)

“GOD DISCIPLINES, HE DOESN'T REJECT”

Note the reason why YHWH had a legal case against the Israelites: “Because the knowledge is what you yourself have rejected, I shall also reject you from serving as a priest to me.” They were dedicated to YHWH and surrounded by dedicated family members. Yet, individually they lacked true “knowledge of God.”—Hosea 4:1, 6.

That nation had proved unworthy of continued favour, so YHWH rejected it. (Matthew 23:37, 38) You can see proof of that in what occurred in 70 C.E. You can be just as sure that God chose instead “the Israel of God,” a spiritual nation of 144,000 taken from all nations. (Galatians 6:16; Romans 3:25, 26)

I am keenly interested in God’s promise to Abraham that through his seed people of ALL nations will be blessed. (Gen. 22:18)

All the best
Brenda




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tell me then, Brenda--why does a people, for all practical purposes should
have already been wiped from existence, yet they continue to this day prosper
if they have been rejected??

Answer
“WHY DO JEWS CONTINUE TO PROSPER IF THEY HAVE BEEN REJECTED?”

In what way do you see modern Jews today “prospering?”

In the first century, many of “the sons of Israel” responded appreciatively to the preaching of Jesus and his apostles. (Acts 10:36) As was true then, a number of sincere Jews today are wholeheartedly embracing the truth—not only in Israel but also in Russia, the United States, and other countries. These ones are “prospering” spiritually.

However the majority of Jews today are languishing in captivity to the false religious traditions of first-century Judaism. (Matthew 15:3-6) I don’t see that as “prospering” do you?

Is the republic of Israel today bringing forth the fruits of the kingdom of God in proof that they are his nation? No; no more than their forefathers nineteen hundred years ago did. Jesus’ sentential words to them continue true until now: “Look! your house is abandoned to you.” (Matt. 23:38) To this day they have no temple at its old location in Jerusalem. To this day they have no priesthood of the chosen family of Aaron, the brother of Moses. Their government is not a theocracy. Their republic is trying to bring forth the fruits of the United Nations organization.

Modern Jewish self-determination offers little hope for the future. By trusting in human politics to realize their Messianic hope, Judaism has ignored the words of its own sacred writings: “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. . . . Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”—Psalm 118:8; 146:3, The Holy Scriptures, published by the Jewish Publication Society of America.

Speaking of those who ARE prospering spiritually today, we are told through the prophet Isaiah: “Look! My own servants will eat, but you yourselves will go hungry. Look! My own servants will drink, but you yourselves will go thirsty. Look! My own servants will rejoice, but you yourselves will suffer shame. Look! My own servants will cry out joyfully because of the good condition of the heart, but you yourselves will make outcries because of the pain of heart and you will howl because of sheer breakdown of spirit.” (Isaiah 65:13, 14)

Those who are truly prospering today are well fed spiritually, that’s what we need to be looking at.

All the best
Brenda