Everlasting

This month we are looking at an event that I believe is the most under-appreciated event recorded in the Bible: The Last Supper.

This week we are looking at God's Plan. Last week, we looked at how God's Seven Feasts from Leviticus 23 gave an overview of God's Plan. We saw that the first Four Feasts were fulfilled and ended the Dispensation of the Law and brought in our current Dispensation. I stated that I believe the final Three Feasts will bring back the Dispensation of the Law for seven years and the remaining Feasts will occur during key dates throughout that seven year period.

This means our Dispensation actually occurs WITHIN the Dispensation of the Law...that there is a "break" within the Dispensation of the Law. This week we will see the Biblical passages that supported this belief.

In the previous post, we saw some Biblical examples of this BREAK in the Dispensation of the Law. I stated one of the reasons that people of the fifth Dispensation did not see the BREAK was because they misunderstood what it meant that their covenant was everlasting. Today, we will look at this "everlasting" covenant.


EVERLASTING
In the Sequel, we see that God made a covenant with Abram:

"18 In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite." (Genesis 15:18-21, ASV)

We saw that Abram broke this covenant with God by having a son with Hagar.

God then made ANOTHER covenant with this same person...however, God changed Abram's name to Abraham. He also made an "everlasting" covenant:

"1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:1-8, ASV)

"everlasting" was Strong's #5769 owlam or olam - "prop. concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; gen. time out of mind (past or fut.), i.e. (practically) eternity"

EVERYTHING about this word was focused on ETERNITY...something that will go on forever. Notice, (and this is Resolution) this did NOT mean it wouldn't be stopped for a period. It could cease and begin again as many times as necessary...however, when we look in ETERNITY, it will continue to exist.

Thinking that "everlasting" meant "without a BREAK" would contradict the Bible because God's Covenant with Abraham is CURRENTLY NOT in effect:

"7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; For they continued not in my covenant, And I regarded them not, saith the Lord." (Hebrews 8:7-9, ASV)

In The Sequel, we covered how covenants were broken and ended. When one of the participants in the Covenant broke the conditions of the Covenant, the other participant became the Master of the Covenant...they had the choice to continue the Covenant or END the Covenant. Israel continually broke the Covenant and God would choose to continue. Eventually, God told Israel that He was ENDING the Covenant because God got weary:

"1 Then said Jehovah unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
2 And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith Jehovah: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
4 And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who will have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who will bemoan thee? or who will turn aside to ask of thy welfare?
6 Thou hast rejected me, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward: therefore have I stretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee; I am weary with repenting." (Jeremiah 15:1-6, ASV)

In The Sequel, we saw that God looked at this Covenant as His Marriage to Israel...and the ENDING of the Covenant as a Divorce. However, God will eventually remarry Israel...He will continue the Covenant and it will be everlasting.

In January, we covered the Book of Romans. Taking in everything that we have read this week, let's look at a critical passage from Paul's Letter to the Romans with new eyes.

ROMANS 11
"16 And if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree;
18 glory not over the branches: but if thou gloriest, it is not thou that bearest the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in."

(Paul was stating that Israel is the olive tree and we are the wild olive tree. The Dispensation of the Law is the olive tree and our Dispensation with The Untamed Holy Spirit inside us is the WILD olive tree. At Pentecost, the olive tree branches were broken off of the root...the firstfruit...Jesus. At Pentecost, the wild olive branches were grafted in and connected to God. Paul said that we shouldn't see ourselves as better than the original olive tree branches OR better than the root...we shouldn't think of ourselves as the CAUSE. Instead, we should recognize the root/God is the CAUSE. It is difficult to understand Paul if you don't have a firm understanding of CAUSALITY.)

"20 Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee.
22 Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off."

(Paul BLATANTLY stated the REASON the original branches were BROKEN off was because of THEIR unbelief. Paul also stated that God will also break us off because of OUR unbelief...that would make it OUR fault, NOT God's.)

"23 And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?"

(Paul stated that Israel is ABLE to get grafted back in! Next, Paul was going to tell us revelation...he was going to explain a mystery!)

"25 For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in;
26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 And this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins."

(Paul stated the Israel will be saved AFTER the fulness of the Gentiles comes in!)


SUMMARY
The conditions of the everlasting Covenant that God cut with Abraham during the fifth Dispensation is NOT currently in effect AND will come back into effect once our Dispensation ends. When this Covenant comes back into effect, it will go on for ETERNITY.

Tomorrow we will look at the event that ends our Dispensation...

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