I want to approach our understanding of the Bible from a different slant, that of its covenants. As I already taught my class, the covenants are the "crossroads" in the Bible that lay out the plan and purpose that God has for us. In other words, every so often in biblical history (or crossroads) God gives a covenant to His people that portray their purpose and outcome. What are the biblical covenants? Well, we have those with Adam (dealing with the consequences of sin and a promised redeemer), we have those pertaining to Noah, to Abraham, Moses, Israel as a nation, to King David, and the promise of a New Covenant. Most of these are unconditional, i.e., that man does not have to keep any part of a bargain for them to happen, but one is conditional. As I list each covenant, I will state whether it is conditional or unconditional. I will also state the popular interpretation and state the meaning of it from our perspective here at Eternalthroneofdavid.com.
Whether anyone realized it or not, this whole "lost tribes" theology that we teach here has its very solid foundation in the Abrahamic Covenant, although we just did not teach this from a covenantal point of view, or to put it another way, point out the covenant first, and then elaborate on it. We just quoted the scripture from it and applied it practically. I will only deal with the covenants from Abraham's time onward, since from Abraham came the very specific people that formed nations of people, Christ, and the church. That's the most relevant covenants today, although I by no means want to disregard the earlier ones.
This was an UNCONDITIONAL COVENANT. We find various iterations of this covenant (or should I say various aspects of it) throughout Genesis chapters 12,13,15,17,21 and 22 to say the least. Most mainline Christendom will claim it focuses on "land" (Palestine) and "seed" (Christ as a means to bless all nations). Later covenants will focus on a Kingdom perhaps, or whatever else. We here at Eternalthrone do not believe this is the case. As we will see soon as we elaborate more on each covenant, that the Abrahamic covenant included ALL THE ELEMENTS of the others and the others merely focused in more on the specifics. To see what the covenant of Abraham entailed, simply go to our message on the Key Verses in Understanding Genesis message and see if you don't agree. Modern day Christianity severely waters down all that God promised Abraham. Although, like most of Christianity, we DO believe these promises are UNCONDITIONAL and to an ACTUAL people that God promised would come from Abraham. Paul made that point in Romans 4 and other chapters regarding the nature of that covenant was by faith and not the Law. This covenant antedated the Law and unfaithfulness to the Law did not make the promises void. As we shall see next, the Law had to do with the Mosaic Covenant.
This was a CONDITIONAL covenant with the people of Israel and is commonly referred to as "The Law". We find detailed elements of the Law especially in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Basically it says, "Do this and you will live...." (And don't do it and you're in BIG trouble!!!). We find in Leviticus 26 for examples promises of blessings and cursings of the Law to Israel, and that includes WITHHOLDING (but not nullifying) some of the promised things to Abraham's seed FOR A TIME, otherwise quoted as the "seven years" punishment. In short, this Law of moral and ceremonial behavior for the Israelites to follow is what is commonly referred to as the "Old Covenant" (not to be confused with the other Old Testament Covenants that are still in effect).
This is an UNCONDITIONAL covenant found in Deuteronomy 30:1-10 and re-emphasizes the right that the "Jew" has to the land of Israel (but here at Eternalthrone we know that Israel is more than just the Jew). Actually, to us here at Eternalthrone, this is just a reiteration of the many times it was stated to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and by rights we do not really consider this a separate covenant at all. Rather, it's just a more detailed specification regarding that aspect of the covenant. Notice there is a hint at the "new" covenant in these passages that we will elaborate on shortly. Keep in mind that your average run-of-the-mill evangelistic and other mainline Christian group just sees "seed" and "land" in the Abrahamic covenant. They fail to see many people, nations, and power coming from Abraham (and that was the whole point of God changing Abram's name to 'Abraham'). To this end, God (for their sake perhaps) re-emphasized the land aspect here, and in the next Davidic Covenant, he will emphasize the "seed" aspect.
This is also and UNCONDITIONAL covenant found in II Samuel 7:8-16, and this is one of the major covenants this whole site is based on. It focuses on the Kingly aspect of the Abrahamic covenant. However, unlike the previous covenant regarding the land, here at Eternalthrone we DO believe this is a separate covenant because it not only goes into detail, but also is a covenant specifically with King David. King David was not around yet when the Abrahamic covenant was given, so this is an addendum to the original. It promises to King David an eternal throne, lineage (descendents) and Kingdom for these descendents to rule over FOR ALL GENERATIONS the bible teaches (Psalm 89). Being unconditional, it matters not how the kings acted. However, God did promise that they'd be punished (in a similar manner to Israel disobeying the Law) if they did not keep God's Law. This included a fallen temple, ruins, and exile, but not an end to the throne.
Christians see this covenant as the "seed" aspect of the Abrahamic covenant that portrays Christ, but what they fail to see are several things: first, that King David would have sons, not just one son, reigning eternally. The throne is a literal, earthly throne not to be terminated at the captivity only to be continued "in our hearts" when Christ ascended to heaven, and lastly, eternal means uninterrupted earthly kings de facto from King David's lineage. They seem to have severe trouble understanding that last concept.
The genealogies of the Kings can become quite complex, but were carefully researched since the rights of a Kingdom can stand or fall depending on the ability of a King to prove his lineage. This is something that your average waif Christian may not understand when they quote passages like Titus 3:9 as if to dismiss genealogies they do not understand with a simple wave of a theological hand. In other words, nobody would go to bed and "just dream these genealogies up". Bloody battles have been fought throughout history to secure the right of kingdoms. In fact, mainline Christendom see only two genealogies to Christ in David's line and that's it. We here at Eternalthrone show 3 main ones (and others from Zorah as well)---- the first one is from Zedekiah that transferred to Ireland and are in fact the kings de facto. Christians generally are totally unaware of this critical lineage that is the actual fulfillment of the Davidic sons reigning "for all generations." Secondly, there is the legal lineage of Jesus in Matthew showing his right to the throne through King Jehoiachin, but we pointed out there was a major problem with that lineage. It was cursed. So anyone blood born to that lineage, even though they are the legal line, is cursed and their kingship does not mean diddlysquat to God. So, Jesus came from the third lineage, that of Nathan, which made him a blood son of David through the non-cursed line. But having the legal lineage of the other line connected him to them. Because he did not have this curse, he could one day restore that line and become "the restorer of the breach". Remember, here at Eternalthrone we taught there was a breach in the Pharez line only to be continued in the Zorah lineage over in Ireland as prophesied in Genesis 38. King Jehoiachin had the curse and Zedekiah (the alternate lineage) was told to remove the crown there in the land only to have his daughters pass on the kings de facto in other lands: one daughter's line became the recognized line of David over the nations of the lost tribes in the isles.This is complex, but here are two links to read here at Eternalthrone that will give the story in detail.
The Overturning of David's Throne
This is what most Christians understand the best, and thankfully so, and it is an UNCONDITIONAL covenant. It was coming whether man obeyed the Law or not. This covenant replaced the "old" conditional one mentioned in item #2 (Mosaic). This does not mean that the moral laws of the Old Covenant are not valid, but rather that the focus shifted from one keeping God's commands by works, vs. the ability of keeping them by the Spirit through faith. Therefore, this is commonly referred to as the New Testament as that is the covenant that the NT books are based on. The OT was based on the Mosaic Covenant. The other covenants are still in effect and indeed, Paul pointed that out in Romans 4 for example and Romans 9-11 regarding the promises to Israel (still future in his time AFTER the New Covenant was instituted). The New Covenant is most clearly expressed in Jeremiah 31:31-34:
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: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 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. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
I bet the average Christian thought the New Covenant just started "out of the blue" when Christ mentioned it at the "last supper". No, it was prophesied clearly in the OT, and elements of grace showing this covenant are clearly shown in the Abrahamic covenant with "blessings to all nations". Also notice that the "Palestinian Covenant" has elements of this covenant regarding their hearts being circumcised.
This covenant realizes (as did the Law of Moses) one's personal relationship with God, although it extended nationally beings the nation(s) is composed of people. However, the other national and family covenants mentioned were unconditional regardless of the personal relationship to God, other than the fact there may be a withholding of blessings. This was because Israel was the earthly means to give light of the two covenants (Mosaic and New) to the fallen world. However, God still wanted ALL of His people to have a right personal relationship with Him. That was always His intention, and indeed was prophesied that these earthly people would have a New Heart. For newer Christians, I always suggest reading the books of Romans and Galatians to understand the New Covenant, and it's relationship to the Old Covenant, the Law.
And that's your covenants (and crossroads of the Bible) wrapped up in one easy message. Take note. If you understand these and how they relate to each other and events that transpired in the bible, you will understand the whole bible story quite well. Everything else is just the details that will easily fall into place.