Why We Should Keep & Guard Covenants & Constitutions: To Preserve Our Children & Children's-Children's From Chaos!

 

Keep & Guard Our Covenants (Constitutions) 

Now we can  look  at  the  word  הלא  (alah) meaning  an  “oath”  or  “covenant.”  The  more  common Hebrew  word  for  a  “covenant”  is  תירב  (beriyt)  from  the parent  root  רב  (bar)  meaning  “grain.”  The  grain  is  fed  to the  livestock  for  fattening.  These  fat  animals  were  then used  for  sacrifices.  Whenever  a  covenant  was  entered into,  such  as  between  a  king  and  his  people,  a  fatted animal  was  cut  into  two  pieces.  The  blood  was  then sprinkled  on  the  parties  of  the  covenant.  Where  the English  phrase  “made  a  covenant”  appears,  we  find  the Hebrew  phrase  תירב  תרכ  (karat  beriyt)  behind  it.  

This phrase  is  literally  translated  as  “cut  the  fatted  meat.” Essentially  the  two  members  of  the  covenant  are  saying by  this  cutting  “if  I  break  this  covenant  you  may  do  the same  to  me,”  as  can  be  seen  in  the  following  passage. 

• “The  men  who  violated  my  covenant, who  did  not  lift  up  my  words  of  the covenant  which  they  cut  before  me,  I will  make  them  like  the  calf  that  they cut  into  two  and  passed  between.” Jeremiah  34:18

Throughout our history our Biblical understanding of constitutions, covenants and sound-minded moral laws;  we have  seen  God  as  the  king,  making covenant  with  his  people. As well as, kings and presidents making covenants which are now labeled “constitutions,” In  these  covenants (constitutions)  both  parties agree  to  the  terms  of  the  covenant.  In  the  case  of  the covenant  God  makes  with  Israel  at  Mount  Sinai,  God promises  to  provide  for  them  as  a  good  king,  while  the people  agree  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  king.

Keeping  Covenant; aka, Keeping Constitutional Covenants

The  Bible  often  refers  to  the  keeping  and  breaking  of  a covenant  and  it  is  usually  interpreted  as  obedience  or disobedience  to  the  covenant.  If  disobedience  were  the meaning  of  “breaking,”  Israel  would  never  have  been  able to  remain  in  covenant  relationship  so  long  as  they  did because  of  their  continual  disobedience  to  the  terms  of  the covenant.  Let  us  examine  these  two  words  within  their Hebraic  context  beginning  with  the  word  for  “keep”: 

• “Now,  if  you  will  intently  listen  to  my voice  and  keep  my  covenant,  they  will be  for  me  a  treasured  possession  from all  the  people,  for  all  the  land  is  mine.” Exodus  19:5 

In  the  above  passage,  the  Hebrew  word  behind  the English  word  “keep”  is  רמש  (shamar).  If  we  interpret  this word  as  obedience,  we  can  easily  interpret  this  passage  to mean,  “obey  the  covenant.”  As  we  shall  see,  this translation  is  not  always  suitable  to  the  context  of  the passage.

• “The  LORD  bless  you  and  keep  you.” Numbers  6:24  

(NIV) Obviously  the  word  רמש  (shamar),  also  translated  as “keep”  in  this  verse,  cannot  be  interpreted  as  “obey,” otherwise  it  would  read, 

•  “The  LORD  bless  you  and  obey you.”  

We  can  clearly  see  that  the  word  “obey”  is  a  poor interpretation  for  the  Hebrew  word  רמש  (shamar).

The  original  use  of  this  word  is  a  corral  constructed  out  of thorn  bushes  by  the  shepherd  to  protect  his  flock  from predators  during  the  night.  The  רמש  (shamar)  was  built  to “guard”  the  flock  and  we  can  see  this  same  imagery  in  the passage  above  by  interpreting  it  as 

•  “The  LORD  bless  you and  guard  you.”

  

We  now  see  that  “keeping  the  covenant” is  not  strictly  about  obedience,  but  “guarding  the covenant.”  The  individual’s  attitude  toward  the  covenant is  the  issue,  does  he  guard  it  as  a  shepherd  does  his  flock, or  does  he  “break”  the  covenant.

Breaking  Covenants; aka, Breaking Constitutions

Just  as  the  word  “keep”  has  been  misunderstood  in  the context  of  the  original  Hebraic  meaning,  the  word  “break” has  also  been  misunderstood,  as  the  word  does  not  mean “disobedience.”

•  “If  you  reject  my  decrees  and  if  you cast  away  my  judgments  and  you  do not  do  all  my  commands,  breaking  my covenant,  then,  I  will  do  this  to  you;  I will  bring  upon  you  sudden  terror, disease  and  fever.”  Leviticus  26:15,16

The  Hebrew  translated  as  “break”  in  the  above  passage  is ררפ  (parar).  The  original  use  of  this  word  was  the “treading”  over  grain.  The  harvested  grain  was  thrown onto  the  threshing  floor  where  oxen  would  trample  over the  grain  breaking  the  hull  open,  releasing  the  edible seeds  inside.  The  “breaking”  of  a  covenant  is  the  total disrespect  for  the  covenant  where  one  literally  throws  it  to the  ground  and  tramples  on  it.  As  we  can  see,  the  keeping and  breaking  of  a  covenant  is  the  respect,  or  lack  of,  that one  has  for  the  covenant.

GOD-YAHWEH WANTS THE “BEST” FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...DO YOU?

The Hebrew word for a covenant is ברית (b'riyt, Strong's #1285 ), a noun derived from the verb ברה (B.R.H, Strong's #1262), which means "to select the best."

• He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. (1 Samuel 17:8, ESV)

In this passage the Hebrew verb ברה (barah) is used for the choosing of the best man to fight Goliath. This word can also mean to eat, in the sense of selecting, such as we see in the following verse.

• So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” (2 Samuel 13:6, ESV)

The Hebrew language is a root oriented language, meaning that every Hebrew word is derived from a root word and that root word is the foundation to other Hebrew words. Each word derived from one root will be closely related in meaning to all the other words derived from the same root.

In the case of the word ברית (b'riyt) we found that it was derived from the root verb ברה (B.R.H), but also derived from this verbal root are the nouns ברות (barut, Strong's #1267) meaning "choice meat" and בריה (bir'yah, Strong's #1274) meaning "fattened." Livestock that will be slaughtered are fed special grains to make them fat and thereby making the meat of the fattened livestock the choicest.

So how is fattened choice meat related to the word for "covenant?" The phrase "make a covenant," such as we saw in the verse that began this study, appears eighty times in the Hebrew Bible and in every instance it is the Hebrew phrase כרת ברית (karat b'riyt), which literally means "cut a covenant."

A covenant was instituted by the two parties of the covenant who would take a fattened animal, the best of the flock or herd, and "cut" it into two pieces. Then the two parties of the covenant would pass through the pieces symbolizing their dedication to the covenant and by this action are saying,

•  "If I do not hold to the agreements of this covenant, you can do to me what we did to this animal." This methodology of "making" a covenant is clearly recorded in Jeremiah 34:18-20.

And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, 

• I will make them like[a] the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. (ESV)

THE MARRIAGE COVENANT (CONSTITUTIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS ) BROKEN BY DECEIT, CORRUPTION AND COWARDS

The History of Marriage and The Blessings of An Marriage Covenant

Also in the above passage we read; "they broke my covenant though I was a husband to them". The covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai was in fact a marriage covenant between the husband, God, and the bride, Israel. Isaiah chapter 54 shows this marriage relationship.

"Your Maker is your husband - the LORD Almighty is his name - the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit - a wife who married young, only to be rejected," says your God. "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer. "To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Thought the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:5-10)

Also, if we look at God's calling out of Israel in the book of Exodus we will see some verbs showing the marriage between God and Ancient Israel.

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD." (Exodus 6:6-8)

Looking at the highlighted verbs above, we can see a picture of a husband's relationship to his wife. The husband will bring her out of her parents home, free her from her parents authority, redeem her from her past, take her to be his own, bring her into his home and give to her his own possessions.

If God had actually cancelled the "marriage covenant", he would have been divorcing his bride/wife, Ancient Israel. I do not believe that the God who said, 

• "I hate divorce" (Malachi 2:16) would divorce his own wife, Ancient Israel. 

If God made a new marriage covenant with Israel, he would be remarrying his first wife. This does not sound like the God of the Bible. Although the Isaiah 54 passage states that God did abandon Israel for a brief moment; he did not remove the covenant; God did not end the first covenant or divorce Ancient Israel. How then can God make a new covenant?

The Hebrew word for new in this passage is chadash. Chadash can either be translated as new or renew. For example, a new moon is not really a new moon but rather a renewed moon. The new covenant can be looked at in this same manner, as a renewed covenant.

Therefore, this renewed covenant will be different than the original covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai. This passage does not give us all the details of this renewed covenant, but there is enough information in this passage to get an idea of how this new covenant is different.

WHEN THE WICKED, EVIL & IMMORAL WORK IN AGREEMENT TO DESTROY!

 Covenants & Constitutions Are Destroyed By Crimes, Corruption & Chaos

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.  And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.  And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.  So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Genesis 11: 1-9

Websites &  Works Cited

AHLB - Tet, www.ancient-hebrew.org/ahlb/tet.html.

“Hebrew Word Definition: Covenant: AHRC.” Hebrew Word Definition: Covenant | AHRC, www.ancient-hebrew.org/definition/covenant.htm.